Country Roads and Hidden Treasures

We spend a lot of weekends in VT enjoying my family’s vacation house. Just like at home we tend not to eat out much, but when we do finding a new place is always a fun way to enjoy somebody else’s cooking.

Because the area where our house is located is near several large ski resorts there are lots of restaurants to be found in the high traffic areas, but the random find seems to be the best way to get out for a local bite. This weekend we happened upon Stoddard’s in Londonderry, VT. Mom & Dad had a gift certificate from the Fireman’s Auction in 2010, but didn’t know where the place was. It turns out we have driven by the place hundreds of times, never registering it was a restaurant; and all day breakfast & lunch diner at that!

I had a club sandwich with fries, and everyone else had a burger. Margot opted for onion rings which turn out to be a great measuring stick of a restaurant. Both the rings and fries were perfectly cooked and very clean tasting with minimal salt. There was no commercial packaged food here and the bacon on my club and my parents’ burgers had been deep fried! The burgers were the real deal, made by hand on site. When paired with the deep fried bacon and some VT cheddar cheese they easily satisfied our crew.

Next time you are in the Londonderry, VT area check out Stoddard on Main street right near the junction of routes 100 and 11.

Cheers!

Jason

Ignite Bar & Grill – Manchester, NH

Margot is back working in Manchester. This is a joyous thing for several reasons. This time I work from home a couple days a week so meeting up for lunch in the city once a month is a snap.

For our first outing we picked Ignite Bar & Grill on Hanover street. We have read several reviews of this place, seen their ads in the local papers but hadn’t stopped in yet. They have a great location right near the Palace Theater. I could see this place getting busy before and after shows. The bar has seating for a decent sixed crowd. There are also two open rooms with seating sporting modern décor and at least when we were there some groovy music playing.

We started with the fried pickles. Seriously, when you see something like that on a new menu can you really refuse? The best asset of these is that they are salty, and that saltiness prohibits eating them by the container-full! They were fantastic. A light breading covers your typical pickle chip. Perfectly fried and not greasy. There was a Jamaican Ranch dipping sauce provided, and it only added character to this already winner of a starter.

Margot went with the ostrich burger (Big Bird) and I had the fish & chips. Both were again excellent, although I think Margot liked the fish better. The ostrich burger is what you would expect a lean white meat burger to be. It has more structure (think less fat) than a beef burger and isn’t quite as soft. I thought the flavor was great and the sweet potato fries were surprisingly good.

The fish and chips were cooked extremely well. This is an easy dish to screw up and clearly the folks at Ignite know that and came through. The batter on the fish was light and just this side of cooked so it was crispy, but not hard. The fish was flaky and clean tasting. The standard fries were great and since they show up on quite a few of the plates, getting them right is pretty important. I had a Long Hammer IPA with my fish & chips and found it to be a worthy partner with the meal.

I would definitely recommend Ignite as a new place to try in Manchester. With so many places to try I’m not sure how soon we will get back there to try more selections from the menu. If you go be sure and let us know what you had and what your experience was like.

Cheers!

Jason