I had to spend the night in Burlington, VT for a conference being held the next day. I spent around eight hours this past weekend getting the demo equipment ready, drove up Monday afternoon, and then set it up that night. The next day was spent with customers as they watched presentations and then asked questions about the demo equipment.
The one good thing about this trip was the dinner we had that night. The hotel is co-located with the New England Culinary Institute and they run the restaurant there. The menu was limited: three choices for appetizer, one salad, five entree choices, and a pre-determined dessert platter, but the food was awesome.
I've always wanted to try foie gras and it was one of the appetizer choices. I picked the beef tenderloin for my entree because it had a foie gras reduction sauce and it was awesome. Foie gras doesn't sound like something I'd typically like but it was tasty when spread on a toast point and with a bit of the port jelly that was included on the plate. I definitely want to have it again.
It was interesting eating at a restaurant run by a culinary institute. When the waiter poured wine you'd see an older looking person observing him from a distance so you know that he/she was being graded on how they did. Each course was triumphantly marched out to the table by a whole squad of servers so that everyone got the course at the same time.
I chose the wine, for those that were drinking it, and selected the 2002 Ridge Pagani Ranch Zinfandel. The wine was awesome and a perfect pairing with the beef tenderloin. It was also a pleasure to drink by itself.
Posted by bbarton at May 25, 2005 09:14 AMI'm thinking that I have to give that place in Dover a try if they are open again.
Posted by: Bob on May 25, 2005 01:50 PMI'm fortunate to work for a company with what I would call 'extremely liberal' travel policies, where per diems go out the window as long as you submit a receipt, so I fully appreciate a good meal. I think the formal experience you had at the culinary institute is great, one which I haven't experienced in probably 12 years or so when my wife worked at a 4 diamond hotel. Glad to hear it was a great meal.
Is Burlington as picturesque as I remember it?
Posted by: Jim on May 26, 2005 01:40 AMIt is picturesqe, Jim. The day I drove out there it was raining and that made it hard to enjoy the scenery while driving. On the way back it was sunny and beautiful for most of the trip.
Posted by: Bob on May 26, 2005 06:51 AM
I used to have lunch at the culinary academy in Dover about once a month (until it closed for a while). The food was always very good and quite inexpensive and I got to try a lot of different "fancy" things I wouldn't normally try or that wouldn't be offered at the kinds of restaurants I usually go to.
Posted by: Chosen on May 25, 2005 01:17 PM