Grand OpeningWork on the restaurant space is progressing in leaps and bounds. Take a look around with us:
Behind The Scenes........
Inside the kitchen area
Looking into the kitchen from the lower dining area.
Below: The walk-in cooler was installed today!
Welcome, Guests....
Maple flooring with Vermont Natural Coating finish. Left: color possibilities.
This week, Hardwick area farms and businesses have received a little more attention across the state.
On Sunday, the Burlington Free Press profiled the Meyer's organic dairy and Vermont Soy business in the industrial park. You can find the story online and an additional slide show narrated by Andrew Meyer.
New Story:
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008803300312
Slide Show:
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/legacy/slideshows/031208meyer/index.html
On Wednesday, Vermont Edition featured UVM professor and author Amy Trubek discussing her new book, The Taste of Place. Claire's chef Steven Obranovich joined the conversation, along with others who noted the diversity of food production in our area or anticipated the opening of Claire's.
You can listen to Vermont Edition from Wednesday by clicking on "listen" or "mp3" at the link below:
http://www.vpr.net/episode/43294/
On NPR recently, Morning Edition listeners across the country had the opportunity to enjoy a bit of the ambience of the Bee's Knees in Morrisville. In the national version of a segment previously produced for VPR, Vermont reporter Jane Lindholm highlights the sense of community behind the CSR model:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19357345
A few more "degrees of separation" bring us to the national food blog "Eater," reporting on a New York City restaurant that, like the Bee's Knees, is generating support for an expansion through CSR sales. But its all part of the family, as the restaurant's owners worked at the famed Lespinasse, where Michael Kloeti of Michael's on the Hill in Waterbury Center also cut his chops. Claire's chef, Steven Obranovich, has been Kloeti's co-conspirator for three years... that is, until Saturday night, when he leaves his post to devote himself full time to opening Claire's in May.
To read about Riverdale Garden in NYC:
http://eater.com/archives/2008/02/riverdale_garde.php
And don't forget to sign up for a CSR at Claire's before the last one is snapped up!
The new restaurant business model championed by Claire's is winning converts, and generating coverage in Vermont and nationally.
Today, VPR features a story on the CSR program - Community Supported Restaurant coupons - we launched over the Summer and that the Bee's Knees has adopted to fund their own expansion. We expect the story to be distributed nationally by NPR, but in the meantime, here's a link to the coverage in Vermont - you can read the full story or listen on your computer:
http://vpr.net/news_detail/79214/
What's Natural for the Feds? Monday is the Last Day to Comment
USDA regulators are considering new rules that will redefine terms like "naturally raised" for packaging and marketing materials. But farmers are concerned that big agribusiness has pushed the USDA too far, with the regulations even allowing "naturally raised" to apply to cloned animals raised on factory farms.
Monday, January 28 is the last day to comment on the regulations. You can do so directly at the USDA website:
http://www.regulations.gov/
In the "Comment or Submission" box, type "naturally raised" and hit "go." You will be directed to your search results. The first, "United States Standards for Livestock and Meat Marketing Claims..." is what you are looking for. You can click on the link for more details, or proceed directly to "Send a comment or submission."
For more information:
Organic Consumers Association
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/oca/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=22287
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_9591.cfm
Center for Rural Affairs
http://www.cfra.org/node/1008
A Vermont Hog Farmer's Take on the Proposal
http://www.ethicurean.com/2008/01/10/naturally-raised/?cat=57
