Squid Eats: The Dutch Mill

The Dutch Mill is across the street from the Shelburne Museum, one of the world's more unusual tourist attractions.  Beyond the impressive art and Americana, including an original Monet, the museum boasts a collection of... buildings.  On the grounds are an apothecary shop, a jail, a lighthouse and the steamboat Ticonderoga among others - all originals from elsewhere put on a truck and moved to Shelburne.

From the outside, The Dutch Mill Restaurant fits right in with the rest of the neighborhood:

via The Dutch Mill

Hard to miss, yet we'd lived in Vermont nearly 20 years before finally trying it this past weekend.  The inside is a more conventional diner, family photos and Boston sports memorabilia plastered all over the walls and page-long specials menus for both breakfast and lunch.  

I've made a lot of new friends at work this year.  That, in itself, is not unusual.  Teachers come and go, especially these days.  What is rather new for me is the 20-something range of my new gang, all of them closer to my teenage daughter's age than mine - closer by multiples.

Foremost among them is PQ, short for Prom Queen.  She and I share a morning advisory at school.  She's 4.5 years older than my daughter, a fact that blows my mind on a daily basis as I watch her going confidently about the job.  Her boyfriend, we shall call him GerMAN, is one of my new colleagues this year, too.  I'll leave it to you, clever reader, to deduce what he teaches.  The Dutch Mill was one of PQ's favorite spots in high school (not so long ago for her, I remind myself) and she suggested it for lunch.  It was my family's first time meeting my new friends - kind of a big deal in my humble, little world.

As discussed in a post nearly (Sweet Jesus!) ten years ago, I judge a diner by its club sandwich.  My feeling is that if they do a club right, I'm safe ordering anything.  The Mill's Club Combo Sandwich comes with both ham and turkey, though one can request one or the other exclusively.  Having tried it, I think the combo is essential.  The turkey, in thick chunks rather than thin slices, would have been too dry on its own, the ham too salty.  Together, they're just right.  The bacon isn't too salty.  The lettuce and tomato are offered in acceptable amounts.  The mayo layer is modest and the white bread only lightly toasted.  Taken all together, it's a darn tasty sandwich.  You may notice something important missing in the photo, though: a pickle.  The menu promised a pickle!  Oh well.  Next time.  The club was still good enough for there to be a next time.

The service is what I would call diner friendly: amiable, efficient and a little impatient.  I mean the last as a compliment, perhaps even an atmospheric necessity.  It's what I want and expect a diner server to be.  It's a tough job feeding people.  I don't mind being reminded of that in such an establishment.

It was a nice lunch.  I always enjoy bringing the important people in my life together.  Daughter, often quite shy, held her own just fine.  Perhaps the smaller age gap made it less intimidating for her.  I'm hoping it won't be too long until next time.