Pages

▼

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Squid Eats: Sweetwaters

Burlington, Vermont was under a boil-water advisory from Saturday night through Monday morning.  As one might expect, this wreaked havoc upon the restaurant industry on Sunday.  Many places simply closed their doors for the day.  We, with three hours to kill between our daughter's call and her concert, struggled to find a place for lunch but Sweetwaters accommodated.

Sweetwaters, yet another American bistro with locally sourced ingredients, has been one of the mainstays on Church Street for many years, well preceding our time in Vermont, yet we'd never been before.  We haven't avoided it for any particular reason, just never got around to it. The water restriction had only minimal impact on the menu: no coffee, tea or sodas.  We both ordered lunch specials: I the fried chicken sandwich, she the grilled cheese with soup.  Both were nice, though apparently for my wife, the sandwich was better than the soup.  Service was friendly and professional.


Squid on the Vine

Clovis, Syrah Blend 2016
Rich, dry, spicy
Chocolatey nose
Our Valentine's Day dinner wine, pairing with the beautiful duck breast and potatoes my wife prepared.  Mmm... duck!
My wife decanted this one thinking that quite a lot of our wine club wines - as this one was - would have benefited from opening up a little.
My rating: 8.2
at

10 comments:

  1. angryparsnipFebruary 19, 2020 at 3:39 PM

    Duck is a favorite here also.
    Son uses the Alton Brown Cookbook. Fabulous !
    parsnip

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Armchair SquidFebruary 24, 2020 at 1:30 PM

      I love duck. Duck confit is a regional specialty of the area of Quebec closest to us. We're lucky!

      Delete
  2. Andrew LeonFebruary 20, 2020 at 12:16 AM

    Nice looking place.

    So... whiskey...
    We got Rittenhouse straight rye whiskey.
    I've only done Manhatten experiments so far.
    I'll have more to say about it later.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Armchair SquidFebruary 24, 2020 at 1:34 PM

      So glad to know you're exploring whiskey!

      Surprisingly, Rittenhouse is not available in Vermont liquor stores! Bars have it, though. I'll be interested to know more of your thoughts.

      Delete
    2. Andrew LeonFebruary 24, 2020 at 2:17 PM

      I like the flavor of it.
      But, then, it's the first whiskey I've really had, so I don't know if I like it in particular or not.

      Delete
    3. The Armchair SquidFebruary 24, 2020 at 9:01 PM

      Someday, I'd love to go on a whiskey tour through Kentucky and Tennessee and try as many as possible. Probably best I let someone else drive...

      Delete
  3. Commander ZaiusFebruary 22, 2020 at 6:39 AM

    Columbia has two non-franchise dominated dining locations with about dozen restaurants each. Five Points serves the college crowd around the University of South Carolina while the Vista is a little further out and mainly caters to white collar professionals.
    Curiously enough both locations are recent creations since Columbia use to be famous for its utter lack of dining much beyond McDonalds and Waffle House.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Armchair SquidFebruary 24, 2020 at 1:37 PM

      At least it's starting to grow. There is so much good food in the South! That part of the country should definitely be more of a foodie destination than it is.

      Burlington does alright for a city its size. And, Montreal isn't far and Montreal is amazing!

      Delete
  4. Musings of a Creative WriterFebruary 23, 2020 at 3:51 PM

    Yum! This place sounds amazing, and I hope they have GF options! I want to visit New England at some point, with Vermont being top on my list. How far are you from the Vermont Teddy Bear factory?

    Have a great Sunday and I hope you had a fun weekend eating. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Armchair SquidFebruary 24, 2020 at 1:49 PM

      Not too far from the Teddy Bear factory, I suppose. We've never been. Their line of bears isn't always kid-friendly. Now, if we had a Gund factory nearby where you could make your own, I'd be more excited!

      Delete