Thank You!

With appreciation for the support of our
neighbors, friends, and staff, we share
a few memories with you
from our opening weekend....

(photos 1-16 by Heather Gray)

Open to the World!

Thank you everyone for such a warm welcome to Main Street and an astounding opening weekend. We appreciate the outpouring of support and interest and we were so pleased to see so many of our friends and neighbors at the open house. We'll be posting photos of the first events shortly.

Opening Hours:

Daily 3:00-10:00, until 11:00 on Thursday and Friday; Closed Wednesdays
Dinner served 5:00-9:00

Look for Lunch and Weekend "Blunch" Hours Coming Soon

Main Street
Hardwick, Vermont

802 472 7053

Local Inspirations

This week, 7 Days features our chef, Steven, as the first to be thrown on the barbeque for their new column, Grilling the Chef. Take a look!

http://www.7dvt.com/2008grilling-chef



And we are eager to see you at Claire's... below see how things are revving up...

This week, we did manage to have our first meal at Claire's!

Grand Opening

Hardwick Spring Festival

Open Studio Weekend

Saturday, May 24
Open House 10:00-3:00

We will be open daily except Wednesdays

41 Main Street
Hardwick, Vermont

472 7053

www.clairesvt.com

Moving Right Along!

Work 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....

Above: One of our comfortable bar stools; Vermont Maple flooring with Vermont Natural Coating finish. Left: color possibilities.









Below: Two views of the bar; tin ceiling detail.

Looking Forward

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/

CSR Model Goes National

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!