The Daily Planet

Another Vermont-area review from Marcia. Thanks for this!

 Spurred by our success the previous night, the five of us shared a DUCK CONFIT POUTINE for an appetizer at The Daily Planet, a chic little restaurant in Burlington, Vermont.

We were a little disappointed. The hand-cut “frites” were sweet potato (I love the fact that they are called “frites” on the menu), which didn’t have the heft or crunch to sustain the toppings, which included a small-ish schmear of duck confit (if you can shmear a confit, that is), as well as a gravy with “rosemary and candy cap”… being too embarrassed to ask what that was all about, we just ate it. Turns out that they are mushrooms (according to Wikipedia – “Candy cap or curry milkcap is the English-language common name for several closely related edible species of Lactarius; L. camphoratus, L. fragilis, and L. rubidus. These mushrooms are valued for their highly aromatic qualities and are used culinarily as a flavoring rather than as a vegetable.”). Well, we didn’t get the highly aromatic qualities since there was a lot of rosemary as well, but the gravy was very tasty... And the “curds” … again – Vermont cheddar, no squeak. But not a bad effort. We all decided if we went back to this restaurant, we’d explore the menu further and skip a poutine revisit. But, we all recommend that if you have a hankering for a more exotic poutine, you give it a try.

I would give it a 4 out or 5 curds

15 Center Street, Burlington VT

802-862-9647

Website: dailyplanetvt.com

Waterworks Food and Bistro

Lucky us! Reviewer Marcia visited Vermont on a poutine discovery trip and found two worthy contenders. These are our first reviews from that state.Thanks for the reviews Marcia!

 Our group decided to split a LAMB AND MUSHROOM POUTINE WITH CHEDDAR CHEESE CURDS as an appetizer at this lovely river-side restaurant in Winooski, Vermont. Of the five participants, I think I was the only one who had any prior experience with poutine, but everyone was game to try it. And, what a great choice! 

The fries were hot, thin and crispy with a hint of garlic, the gravy was (as they always say on the TV Food Network) unctuous, which is a fancy food word for thick, creamy and tasty. The ground lamb was great… but then there were the curds. Cheddar cheese! Poutine aficionados would likely have scoffed at them – no squeak to be heard (and it wasn’t just because the restaurant was extremely noisy)… they just weren’t the squeaking type of curd. But they were delicious… and the whole plate of poutine disappeared before the fries had a chance to get cold.

I would give it 5 out of 5 curds!

20 Winooski Falls Way, Winooski VT

802-497-3525

Website: waterworksvt.com/

Poutine flavoured sausages

Okay, now they've thought of everything! My friend Jen saw poutine flavoured sausages by Johnsonville in Newfoundland this week. I haven't seen them here but am anxious to give them a try. Anyone out there try them? Lemme know!