From Kristina:

Greetings everyone!

Wow! I don't know if I can remember ever seeing such incredibly stunning fall foliage. I hope you are all enjoying it. If the trees aren't on fire where you are, come visit us in our neck of the woods - and of course have a meal at Claire's. :)

Music News: This week's Thursday music is Jeff Nicholson. He is a singer-songwriter from around Stowe parts. He has just released a CD which should be available at the show. You can hear some of his newly recorded tunes at www.jeffnich.com. Music starts at 7:30.

Also, we will be having Third Thursday acoustic music jams at Claire's beginning in November. They will be hosted and coordinated by the man behind the Greensboro Blues Jam Ted Donlon. So, all you musicians out there, get excited and come down and play with us.

Great news - the Highfields Institute benefit dinner at Claire's has sold out and has a waiting list! It should be a great night - diners will enjoy local food donated by local farmers and bakers and prepared by Claire's chef Steven Obranovich and great conversation with Bill McKibben. Although the dinner is full, you can still come out to hear Bill at the Hardwick Town House. He will speak from 5:30 to 6:30. This Wednesday, October 1. Contact the Highfields Institute for more information at 472-5138 or visit their website at www.highfieldsinstitute.org.

And, this is not to be missed - from the Galaxy Bookshop and Claire's:

Mad Farmer Poets
Tuesday, October 28 7:00 PM
At Claire's Restaurant

A celebration of farming and poetry! The Galaxy Bookshop and Claire's Restaurant invite you to join us for a special evening featuring some of the Hardwick area's own farmers, reading poems from Wendell Berry's new book, Mad Farmer Poems.

"During the otherwise quiet course of his life as a poet, Wendell Berry has become "mad" at what contemporary society has made of its land, its communities, and its past. This anger reaches its peak in the poems of the Mad Farmer, an open-ended sequence he's found himself impelled to continue against his better instincts. These poems can take the shape of manifestos, meditations, insults, Whitmanic fits and ravings--and are often funny in spite of themselves. This edition is illustrated with beautiful etchings by Abigail Rover. The book is a wonderful testimony to the power of anger and humor to bring even the most terrible consequences into a focus otherwise impossible to obtain."

Cooking on Main Street: For you vegetarians and even you omnivorians, Steven's Warm Greens, Grains, Seeds and Sprouts - all stuffed into some kind of vegetable (tomato, pepper, squash - depending on the night) and smothered with mozzerella cheese - is a must try dish. It has been getting rave reviews from some of our regulars who have it every time they come in! It's always a little different to keep things interesting.

That's all for now. We look forward to seeing you soon.

peace.

kristina

Claire's Launches Website

Welcoming you at the door is our greatest pleasure. In between visits, we enjoy keeping you informed about all the news from Claire's and Hardwick on this blog. As well, we've launched a new website - http://www.clairesvt.com/ - where folks looking for Claire's or looking for a nice place to eat and to have a good time will find all the basics about us and what we do. This new website provides easy access to learn about Claire's and a bit about our friends and neighbors. New Vermont Cooking will continue to be our "paper of record," where we talk about the restaurant, our food, music, agriculture, and Hardwick. Our listings at the blog will remain up to date, and our links always current.

Check it out! We'd love to hear what you think.

Claire's Happenings

From Kristina

Hi all,

Music Notes: I'm getting this out a little early because lots of notices have gone out about Wolcott poet David Budbill's mini tour in Hardwick on September 25. He and and New York City based bassist William Parker will be performing at the Hardwick Town House at 7:00 PM. Admission is $12.00. Following their performance at the Town House, they will lead audience members in a musical march down the street to Claire's to play a late night set of poetry and music beginning around 9:00 PM. This is their Zen Mountains - Zen Streets tour. A duet for poet and improvised base. You can read more about them here: http://www.davidbudbill.com/zenmount.html

What you may not know is that we will be having another show of music earlier in the evening at Claire's. Starting at 7:00 PM, the great singer and songwriter Lewis Franco (check him out at www.lewisfranco.com) will be performing. Lewis will be joined by his band the Missing Cats who add a scat-meets gypsy-swing sound. Lewis and David are friends and we may even be privileged to have them jam some together during David's later set.

Cooking on Main Street: Steven has scored some beautiful Tenderloin from our friends Helm and Nancy Notterman at Snug Valley Farm. Tender grass fed beef grown two miles from Claire's! New on the menu also is a yummy gingerbread with warm local apples on top.

We're gearing up for the peepers! Enjoy the show everyone.

peace.

kristina

Claire's Happenings

From Kristina Michelsen

Hey all,I hope everyone is enjoying this incredible weather! My favorite time of year. A few trees up here are turning with many more to come. The summer folks have gone home to their winter habitats. We wish you all a happy and healthy year. I must say that this summer we met some incredibly wonderful people at Claire's and we look forward to your return.

Music and Events in Hardwick: Last Thursday, the fabulous vocal and songwriting powerhouse Erin McDermott with her band the Dixie Red Delights entertained us at Claire's. On Wednesday October 1, the Highfields Institute brings author and environmental activist Bill McKibben to the Hardwick Town House. He will be speaking from 5:30 to 6:30 PM. Admission is $10.00 and all proceeds go to Highfields Institute, a cutting edge composting facility in Hardwick. To learn more about what Highfields does and for more info about the Bill McKibben event, you can go to their website at http://www.highfieldsinstitute.org/. Of course, we send our compost to Highfields, where it gets turned back into soil to grow the food we feed you at Claire's. A beautiful circle.

Cooking on Main Street: Steven has some yummy delicious new items on the menu. His acorn sqash soup with curry is out of this world. He is truly a soup magician. He is also serving a scrumptious cheese fondue made with Jasper Hill Bayley Hazen Blue Cheese and their Constant Bliss. And did you hear the rumor that a turkey curry pot pie is on the menu? Hungry yet?

Just one more beer delivery to go today and then I'm off to the High Mowing Seeds Field Day to wander around their acres of test plots. Very fun. You can check out what High Mowing is up to at their website highmowingseeds.com. Today they are going to tell us all about their plans to grow sow beans in Vermont and then process them - at Vermont Soy in Hardwick, of course. http://www.vermontsoy.com/.Don't forget to check in at our blog at http://www.clairesvt.com/ for more info about our goings on.There you have it. Enjoy your week and we hope to see you soon. Peace.

Creating Community

It seems that Seven Days restaurant critic Suzanne Podhaizer stopped in at Claire's not too long ago. Read her review by clicking on the headline below:

"Taste Test: Claire's Restaurant and Bar"

Business Model Makes News

Click on the headline below to link to recent coverage:

"Making Claire's: It Took a Village"

"Community Financing Restaurants"

Both by Melissa Pasanen for the Burlington Free Press

Keeping Faith

Well into our third month being open, it’s a good time to take stock and reflect on what we've all accomplished in Hardwick since the opening of Claire's, how we measure the success of a business, and what remains to be done. Sometimes, in the rush of dinner service and the brisk pace required to keep a restaurant running 6 days a week, a lot of small details seem all consuming. So in the full bloom of summer, it is good to focus on where we've been, what we've promised, and where we're headed.

Our numbers

As you might have noticed, if you've had the opportunity to stop at Claire's or thought you might drop in for a quick bite to eat, the energy and vitality of the restaurant has taken on a life of its own. Almost every night, we have served at least 80 guests, and many nights we serve over 100. At least one night per week, 150 people cross our threshold and enjoy the best food produced by our local farmers.

What has most impressed us is the enthusiasm and support from our friends and neighbors in the Hardwick vicinity. Of course, our business model depends on our nearly 100 CSR holders, and the many additional investors in Claire's and the Hardwick Restaurant Group. We owe them a debt of gratitude for their initial financial support and for coming back again and again, with their families, friends, and guests. As well, we truly appreciate the opportunity to craft a menu from the best local produce, especially when our farmers come in again and again to enjoy what we have created for our guests from the food they grow. And each day we welcome guests who are visiting for the first time as we also embrace our regulars.

Hardwick has become a destination, with folks coming up from Montpelier, travelling from Burlington, or making the journey from St. Johnsbury to see for themselves all of the exciting enterprises in our area. Since many restaurants close on Mondays or Tuesdays, Claire's has become a destination as well for chefs and restaurateurs around the region. Their support is very much appreciated, as it contributes significantly to our local economy.

People are talking. More than the numbers and volume of business, we have been overwhelmed by how much people enjoy Claire's.

Our Promise

As we've mentioned before, all this has not been without challenges. Looking back on our mission and what we hoped to provide, we can take stock of two things: with the overwhelming response, we've been able to deliver a unique experience, exceptional and affordable local food of consistent quality and flavor, while expanding our menu and bar service; at the same time, the space and equipment available to us today can't go much farther than our current volume of business. We promised our friends and neighbors day long service, including lunch 5 days per week and our much anticipated Sunday "blunch." At this point, we are trying to balance the limits of our resources against what we had hoped we could do.

But we want you to know the details of the challenge.

As we outlined in our community meeting last Summer, our plans were modest, based on a number of conversations with potential investors, farmers, guests, and experienced restaurateurs, as well as our own experience. Restaurants fail because they overestimate revenues and invest in too much equipment. So we expected slow growth in the business and a gradual increase in the number of guests. Carefully calculating how many people would come through our doors every day of the year, our most optimistic scenario anticipated 80 guests over the course of an entire day on the best day of business, but not until 3 years of operations. Typically, we expected 20 people for lunch and another 20-30 for dinner during the week. Our most hopeful forecast anticipated that all 52 seats would be taken only a few times a year. We based our investment model and business plan on this scenario, demonstrating that we could make a restaurant work on Main Street in a small town.

We also faced the physical limits of the space. Exactly how much space could we afford to rent? How much was available and how could it be configured? In other words, how much financial obligation would be too much to swallow and threaten our ability to thrive?

Allowing space for 52 seats and a full bar was just about right in terms of our projections. Getting to that number was always a trade-off with the kitchen and storage space. Extending the kitchen would cut out a table, or adding a table would take away equipment. Working with architects and experts on kitchen design, we crafted a space for cooking and for guests that met our most optimistic expectations.

And you know what they say about expectations – at least double our most optimistic projections in the first month!

Today, every surface in the kitchen is taken throughout the afternoon preparing for dinner service, leaving no place to actually cook during lunch. With orders coming from each purveyor only a few times a week, our walk in refrigerator and freezer units are filled to capacity with the meat, cheese, and produce that you'll enjoy every night. What we call the line – where ingredients for every item on the menu are kept during service – has no room for the ingredients we would need to prepare lunch. Even our phones are overtaxed!

Imagine a kitchen designed to serve 80 meals over the course of a day. And we've been able to produce consistent quality and unique flavors for 150 people on many days.

That's our challenge. We'll carefully consider the options and monitor the ebb and flow of the business to figure out how we might be able to extend our service to you. In the short term, that means daytime service will be postponed. In the long term, it means we will continue to take stock, consider the resources available, and develop a plan for expanding our service so we can keep faith with our mission.

And keep coming to dinner!

We love what we are doing, and after so many years putting this plan together, we take such joy (and even a little pride) in each and every one of our friends and neighbors leaving Claire's after a good meal and a good time. Think of it this way – the more meals we serve, the sooner we can invest in Claire's so that we can continue to keep faith with our promises to you. Your enthusiastic embrace and support of Claire's is the measure of success. Thank you!