Bryant House

***THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED***

Nationally known for its mail order catalogue, the Vermont Country Store is a fun place to visit. Here you can shop for such oddments as five-pound bags of mush cereal, cans of fiddlehead greens, penny candy by the piece, self-inflating whoopee cushions, and all manner of kitchen gear you never knew you needed. When you’ve shopped until ready to drop, walk next door to The Bryant House for lunch. In the spirit of the store, it’s a wondrous place to savor eccentric Vermont.

We don’t know of another restaurant that offers crackers and milk on the menu: a bowl full of common crackers (the kind that used to fill the cracker barrel in general stores) and chunks of Vermont cheddar along with a cold glass of whole milk. Pour the milk into the bowl, crumble in some of the crackers and let them soak until they begin to soften. Then spoon it up. It’s cool, simple, and old-fashioned.

Another characterful dish is chicken pie, which is a stew of meat and vegetables with gravy topped with warm biscuits and sided by cranberry sauce. You can have lunch of griddlecakes: three thick buttermilk pancakes accompanied, of course, by pure Vermont maple syrup. There is a full menu of such familiar all-American dishes as burgers (or vegetarian burgers), ham sandwiches (maple-smoked ham: mmm-good!), turkey sandwich, and, natch, a beautiful grilled Vermont cheddar cheese sandwich.

Desserts include the old Downeast favorite, Indian pudding, which is a molasses-sweetened cornmeal mush served hot with vanilla ice cream melting on top.