Upper Valley Restaurants: We Gain, We Lose, We Take a Prof to Lunch
Roma’s Butchery: The sigh of satisfaction some time ago after a midday meal at Roma’s Butchery in South Royalton VT was later followed by a cry of anguish when I learned Roma’s had stopped serving lunch. Recently I shouted something like a hallelujah upon discovering that it had resumed lunch operations. My memories are of great burgers, but I could be headed there for a Reuben soon (photo, above). Roma’s is also a retail butcher shop with its own and other local products for sale. Directions and hours here.
Taste of Punjab is the Upper Valley’s first Punjabi food truck. The bright blue trailer (photo, below) has been parked regularly at Lebanon’s Colburn Park, offering a variety of meat-based and vegetarian dishes, and my favorite Indian dessert, gulab jamun. And mango lassis. When they will close the trailer for the winter is weather-dependent, but their best guess is sometime between mid-November and after Thanksgiving. They also cater. Check out the menu.
Trail Break Taps and Tacos will be closing its White River Junction VT location, regrouping, and moving to its new Quechee site, reopening in the spring. According to a statement by owner Topher Lyons on social media, “Make your reservation today and DON'T FORGET, we are going on winter hibernation (relocation) around 11/21 so get your grub + grog while you still can!”
Trail Break is the third food establishment to leave downtown White River, after Piecemeal Pies—which still stands vacant—and JUEL Modern Apothecary now home to Fontinalis, self-described as “a wine & provisions shop that carries tinned fish, cheese, cider, and many other specialty snacks.” In the meantime, give the new pop-up (at the moment, scheduled to be open until November 10) Ghost Light Coffee Bar (click here) at Northern Stage a try; it serves the requisite hot beverages and King Arthur baked goods, including brownies big enough for two.
Saap in Randolph VT, our nationally famous James Beard Award winner, will be temporarily closed from November 12 to December 15 while its owners Steve and Rung Morgan travel to—where else?—Thailand.
Bistro Midva had brightened downtown Windsor VT and the entire Upper Valley. It was a restaurant owned by chef Chad Lumbra and his wife Arlanda Erzen that opened in 2021 and closed about a month ago after an inability to reach an agreement with the landlord. They may be temporarily down but not altogether out. Chad Lumbra told the Valley News: “We’re ready to close this chapter, but we’re not done being business owners in Windsor.” Stay tuned for any info about their future endeavors. Meanwhile, it was Chad who photographed that mouthwatering Reuben and fries (above) at Roma’s Butchery.
Follow Oakes and Evelyn on Facebook for a glimpse of its new furniture—tables and chairs, banquettes, bar stools—as chef/owner Justin Dain and team work to bring their exquisite restaurant back after the flooding in Montpelier VT.
Those two (or up to four) people at the next table at Hanover’s tony Pine Restaurant are either engaged in animated conversation or searching awkwardly for something to say. Could be either, according to Annabelle Zhang and Ria Parikh at The Dartmouth, who took a recent look at Dartmouth College’s “Take Your Professor to Lunch Program.” The students do the inviting; the College picks up the tab. Read it here.
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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.