You and Colleen have worked in so many different cool places (Napa, Sonoma, San Francisco, Park City, Europe) and then came back to Vermont with a vision of opening a restaurant. Are there particular lessons you feel like you’ve learned from the kitchens you’ve worked in around the world that have shaped how you run bramble?

“That’s such a multifaceted question. There are so many lessons. The lessons we looked to bring home to Vermont were an understanding of what it’s like to work in a professional kitchen…where people have a desire to be good at their jobs, where people take their work very seriously. There’s this misunderstanding sometimes that kitchen or hospitality work is something people just fall into.

“One of the biggest lessons Colleen and I learned came from working alongside people who took what they did very seriously. When you came into a kitchen as a young cook, you came wanting to learn. You came with a notebook in your hand. Show up early, clean hands, clean shoes, clean apron, and wanting to be good. You came eager to listen and try to be better at your job. You didn’t just punch a time card.

“It comes down to mutual respect. Burlington and Vermont have a lot of colleges and young people, but there are people in this industry because it’s what they want to do. You’re working next to someone supporting a family, someone in grad school, someone learning to be a chef, someone who wants to open a restaurant. I don’t care if you’re here for the long haul or writing the next great American novel…you have to bring that respect to work every day. That’s something we learned in professional kitchens and something we’re constantly reminding people of.”

Your menu always changes with the seasons, and the wood-fired oven plays a big role in how you cook. What are your favorite dishes on the menu right now?

“Colleen and I have developed this great working relationship where I get to be the dreamer and she brings me back to earth! I’ll come to her with ideas and she’ll say, ‘I can’t do that for 100 people a night for 30 days,’ or ‘We can’t get that ingredient consistently.”

“So there are a lot of dishes I love because I get to have creative input. Right now, one thing we’ve been doing—and will probably continue through February, if we can get enough—is a rabbit pot pie. It’s braised rabbit with carrots, onions, celery, butternut squash, sage, a béchamel, all baked inside a really beautiful pastry. We serve it with roasted potatoes and ‘plums.’ We call them plums because prunes scare people, but let’s be honest…they’re dried plums.

“Another staple that’s always evolving is our roasted chicken. I’m a big believer in ‘less is more.’ There was a story from the ’90s that if you made it to your final interview with Thomas Keller at The French Laundry, he would hand you a whole chicken and say, “Here’s my pantry, roast me a chicken.” He wanted people who understood the value of simplicity and taking the time to do things right. You have to know the foundations.

“Our chicken starts with the quality. We get it from Adams Farm…the best poultry in Vermont, no question. We brine it, roast it properly, finish it in the wood oven for the skin. What we serve it with changes with the seasons, but it’s always about letting something simple be really beautiful.”

You’re so connected with the local producers that you work with. Is there someone in particular that you feel flies under the radar, or that people should know more about?

“You know, we’re so lucky. There are so many producers we work with, and so many to choose from. I think Dave and Judy at Adams Farm really deserve the recognition they get. If you live in Vermont and work in the restaurant or food business, you know who they are…the best turkeys, the most amazing chickens. People are on their waiting list for months to get their products.

“Their daughter Amanda and her partner Mike started Dandelion Farm a few years ago. It’s on the same property as Adams Farm, but they started doing produce. At first it was a small farm stand and farmers markets, and this was when we were still in the planning stages of bramble. We were lucky enough to sit down with them, and she said, ‘Our CSA is gaining traction…people are starting to know who we are.’ And we gave her a list of more esoteric ingredients and said, ‘If you grow these, we guarantee we’ll buy them.’

“It was really serendipitous timing for both of us…where they were in their growth and where we were with the birth of bramble. They’ve continued to grow, and they’ve been pivotal in our growth and development at bramble. The quality of produce coming out of there is phenomenal.

“I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention a few others. Ben Pomykala at Pomykala Farm…some of the best produce I’ve ever had in my life. There’s also Christa at Jericho Settlers, and Rocky Hill Farms. They started as a very small rabbit operation, and we were able to commit early. And that allowed them to grow. Being able to get their products in front of more people has been really meaningful for us.

“Those small farmers are the ones who fly under the radar. They work incredibly hard, and they produce amazing products. We’re really lucky to work with them.”

Bonus: If you could invite anyone, past or present, to dinner at Bramble, who would it be?

“Are you talking about, like, to have a conversation? Or somebody that I want to feed? For conversation, I'd love to sit down with Bobby Kennedy. He was an amazing human being, and in the wake of tragedy, I fully believe that he still just wanted to do good work. I’d love to hear his thoughts, and maybe leech a little bit of that optimism…because, Lord knows, we could use some of that right now.

“To feed? I'd really like to feed my mom. She passed away when I was 17. I’d really love to introduce her to Colleen.”