24 Crows

** THIS RESTAURANT IS PERMANENTLY CLOSED **

Flint Hill used to have a B&B that got so well-known for its meals that the couple who ran it transformed it into a restaurant called Four and Twenty Blackbirds. Business was good, so good that they eventually burnt out from all the work it takes to run a respected destination eatery. But retirement didn’t suit them, so they returned to open 24 Crows, an unassuming little place with a pared-down menu of mostly just sandwiches.

Don’t let the apparent modesty of 24 Crows fool you. There are masters in this kitchen, and while it is basically a sandwich shop (and interesting art and craft gallery), it is run with the care and expertise of a four-star restaurant. “I suggest you put a sweater or hat on a table, just to claim it,” suggests the host when we walk in, advising us that the dozen or so seats indoors and on the front porch get occupied very quickly at lunchtime. He explains to us how service works (order, eat, pay), precisely describes dishes about which we have questions, and generally makes us feel right at home the way a welcoming maître d’ might do.

The “club trout” sandwich: Long fillets of pan-fried trout are complemented by thick strips of apple-smoked bacon, plus lettuce, tomato, and spiced mayonnaise. This smoky symphony gets messy in its tall-domed challah roll, but is truly campfire-good. Chicken sandwich: Between thick tiles of toasted whole grain bread, slices of roast chicken are crowned with sharp Vermont cheddar cheese and dressed fig chutney and creamy mustard.

If you like ice cream, that is reason enough to make a pilgrimage to 24 Crows. It is homemade and super-creamy. Apricot comes laced with plenty of chewy little fruit nubbins. Belgian chocolate is profound, sheer rapture for the ice-cream-loving chocoholic.