Offbeat Eats

On Memorial Day, we decided to drive up to Burlington, Vermont, and go bike riding on the Island Line bike trail. Afterward, we then headed into downtown Burlington for some dinner, ending up at American Flatbread after stops at Three Needs for some beer and Hong’s Chinese Dumplings for a quick snack. We’ve long been fans of American Flatbread. Being first introduced to them via their frozen pizzas (which have outstanding quality, unlike most frozen pizza), we then visited their main bakery in Waitsfield, VT back in 2001. That place is an experience; they’ve taken an old barn, and 4-5 days a week they produce the frozen pizzas there, and for the weekends they put away the assembly line, rolls out tables with red-checked tableclothes, and run a very informal restaurant and bar. It’s quite the experience, and one I recommend (I’d write it up here, but I still don’t have photos from there), since it is about as “Vermont” as things get around here. In 2005, American Flatbread opened up a location in downtown Burlington, which brings a good part of the Flatbread experience to town.

(Moved) There’s always something compelling about food sold from little street carts, and despite the many challenges that street food cooking can have, I’m always astonished by how good the food from some street vendors can be (taco trucks are a particularly good example). And, for any given pedestrian mall, you can usually find some yummy treats out there. Burlington’s Church Street is no exception. In particular, for the last several years I’ve made it a point to visit Hong’s Chinese Dumpling every time I’m shopping on Church Street.