Claire's Restaurant & Bar

41 South Main Street
Hardwick, VT 05843-7100

(802) 472-7053

Farm-to-Table fare to the max, this Community Supported Restaurant has been written up in places that include my former-favorite, Gourmet Magazine. The flourishing restaurant represents the new food culture that some say has revitalized Hardwick.

Missing Jack during my cheesemaking course, and having heard great things, I decided to make the trek. It is a bit of a trek from Burlington and those who heard I was going, thought I was crazy.


Poutine was needed. Jack and I had been on the phone during the drive over discussing how I wish I'd brought my passport on this Vermont adventure, because I would have driven the 2 hours for some Poutine in a heart beat.

This was peppery and good with well-cooked fries that stood up to the gravy. The cheese was tasty and with good stringiness, but I prefer a squeaky fresh curd.


The Heirloom Tomato Salad with snap peas, purple and yellow beans, scallions, greens Scamorza cheese, garlic oil & red wine vinaigrette was refreshing and crisp. It was like a summer CSA on a plate and I quickly began to note that Chef Steven Obranovich uses salt exactly as I would like him too. Nothing was bland, everything had exactly the right amount of seasoning to bring out the summer flavors. The small slices of crisp beans were sweet and ideal.

There was some confusion when I was ordering. I couldn't decide between the Pork Belly or the Pork Loin... the waitress helped me out and I thoroughly enjoyed the Pork Loin. (with maple, black pepper and black raspberries, mashed potatoes, kale and rhubarb chutney). I would have liked a bit less kale (although the sauteed greens were welcome in my recent cheese binge diet) and more of the chutney. The meat was cooked well and the mashed potatoes had good texture.


Dessert...yes, I made some room for dessert, was the Root Beer Float with vanilla ice cream, made with Vermont Sweetwater root beer. It was exactly what I needed to fill my stomach to capacity and fortify for the long ride home.

I didn't grow up drinking root beer floats, and I'm almost glad of it. It's like I tap into a made-up childhood memory of comfort and hot summer days when I drink it.

The wine list was solid. There was a preponderance of local wines, which I was glad to see and even tempted by, with a smattering of imported highlights that would go with the style of food. The bar had a list of locally brewed beers which seemed to be popular as well. I cannot tell you how any of it went or tasted though. I had a half-marathon coming up and was forsaking alcohol (but upping my cheese intake) in the weeks leading up to the event.

Not that my photos are ever great, but I have to apologize particularly for these. It became immediately clear that taking pictures of one's food is not as commonplace in Hardwick, VT as Midtown, Manhattan. I would sneak a shot of each dish and hope not to have embarrassed my self too much.

On my way to the car, two men that had been drinking at the bar asked if I was a restaurant critic. I was utterly confused. No, in my dress covered with apples and a backpack that frequently has an accidentally activated blinking light, I am not a critic. But they gestured to my camera (and I was even using the small one, no flash) and I started laughing. Food Studies, blogger, etc. It led to a lovely conversation about food in Vermont (something neither of them knew much about). Just as I had caught them off guard with my camera, they astonished me by understand exactly what "Food Studies" meant at first mention. I have never found anyone who gets that on the first go. They always assume it's culinary school and are confounded when I tell them "no, I've done that too though." So that was lovely. Here's to you, men in Hardwick, if you find Meet and Eat. I enjoyed your local restaurant and approve of the food, I'm only sorry that my approval doesn't carry a bit more clout.


In the spirit of Food Studies, food production, cheese, and local what-have-you, this poster was hanging in the window of a nearby shop. If you enlarge it, you'll see a diagram that indicates the food producers in the area. I just thought it was neat.