April is here, Easter is Sunday, and this issue is a full one. But before we get into all of it, we have something we've been working on for a while and are very excited to share.

If it feels like something you’d enjoy, you can learn more and sign up here:

It’s a different way of gathering…something a bit more intimate than our large June event, and we think it will resonate with many of you.

At the same time, the season for the “big event” is also getting closer, and we’re excited to unveil the 2026 exhibitor lineup in the coming weeks. Tickets are on sale now, and if you’ve been meaning to make your plans to attend, this is a good moment to do it.

Lastly, if someone came to mind while you were reading—perhaps someone you’d bring to a dinner, or meet for a cocktail—we’d love to have you share this issue using the link at the bottom of the email. We thank you in advance for helping us build this community.

Now, let’s dive in…

Waterbury keeps doing this thing where you look around and realize it has assembled a cluster of restaurants that rivals what you'd find in cities many times its size…without anyone ever making a big deal about it.

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Big news for the Old North End this week: Fancy's chef-owner Paul Trombly has advanced to the finals of the 2026 James Beard Awards in the Best Chef: Northeast category…the only Vermont semifinalist to make it through this year. Trombly's vegetable-forward cooking has been turning heads for a number of years, and they'll now compete against chefs from Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, and Rhode Island when the winners are announced in Chicago on June 15. Go, Paul!

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And great news for lovers of all things Italian…Alimentari opened its doors this week at 192 St. Paul Street, with a soft opening Wednesday. It’s an authentic Italian cafe and market stocked with meats, cheeses, and prepared foods. It’s also the latest jewel in the crown of establishments owned by Leslie McCrorey Wells and John Rao on St. Paul, alongside Trattoria Delia, Pizzeria Verita and Sotto Enoteca. Mangia!

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Adventure Dinner has taken the CSA model and applied it to something a bit more fun than a weekly box of kale. Their 2026 Farm Dinner Season Pass gets you six tickets across seven farm dinners from June through October…venues include Head Over Fields, Adams Berry Farm, Horsford’s, and a Jasper Hill/Hill Farmstead collaboration to close out the season. It's the only discount they'll be offering this year.

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Here are a couple of opportunities if you're looking to get more connected to local food and farms this spring. Shelburne Farms is recruiting volunteer tour guides for the 2026 season. No experience is necessary, and you must be capable of giving at least one tour each week from 90 minutes to two hours long each week (season runs through October) The training happens Tuesdays and Thursdays in April.

And over at the Intervale Center…the People's Farm is a volunteer-powered operation, with the produce grown there going directly back into the community through Fair Share, their free, CSA-style pickup program. No farming experience needed, and crew members get to take home vegetables and pick up a weekly Fair Share in exchange for their time. Drop-in hours are also available if a weekly commitment isn't in the cards.

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Stowe Cinema is launching Late Night Wednesdays, showing a different horror film every week for free…they started this week with Hitchcock's Psycho. Their Green Room lounge also stays open until 11 p.m. We mention this primarily because it’s useful to be reminded that Vermont has a movie theater that serves drinks.

PIZZA AND WINE? OH, IT’S TIME!

As we’ve mentioned the past few weeks, there's no shortage of Easter brunch options around the area this Sunday. In Essex, Bramble is doing Easter brunch from 10:30 to 2:30, and you can check out the menu here. In Winooski, Waterworks also has an Easter brunch buffet, and Hotel Champlain is doing their elaborate Easter spread as well.

Up in the islands, the Sand Bar in South Hero is doing a seasonal brunch with festive cocktails and mocktails, and reservations are still available. Blue Paddle Bistro up the road is is now two-thirds booked, so call this morning if that's in your sights.

And down in Vergennes, you may usually think of lu.lu for their ice cream, but this Sunday they’re running a decadent Easter pop-up brunch from 10 to 2, with blueberry pancakes, eggs benedict three ways, crab cakes with lobster-tarragon sauce, and loaded tater tots with queso fundido.

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If you'd rather look ahead to tonight instead of this weekend, plan to spend it with a glass of Vermont wine: La Reprise is hosting a free tasting with Kendra Knapik of Ellison Estate Vineyard today (April 2) from 4 to 7. Kendra farms on Grand Isle and cellars in Stowe, making wines that are about as genuinely Vermont-grown as the category gets. No ticket needed.

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Next Wednesday, April 8, is a good night to be out. Hen of the Wood is hosting a Sugar Shack dinner…a communal 5-course feast with wine and cocktail pairings built around Vermont's sugaring season, in collaboration with Josh Turka of 5th Quarter Butcher & Provisions, Nick Cowles of Shelburne Orchards and Dead Bird brandy, and Slopeside Syrup. It's $185 all-in, and tickets are available here.

Also that evening, Specs in Winooski is hosting "What is Gin?!"…a tasting workshop with spirit educator Jim Ryan from Diageo covering historical through contemporary styles, with six gin samples, two classic cocktails, and bar snacks. Spots are limited, and RSVP is required.

And over at The Windjammer, Owen Roe Estate is taking over the wine bar from 4 to 7. Owen Roe has been making wines from exceptional Pacific Northwest vineyard sites since 1999, and pssstt…the evening just may involve oysters. It's the kind of pairing that makes a Wednesday feel enjoyable.

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Bar Renée is turning a year old this month, and they’re marking the occasion with a first anniversary party on Saturday, April 11…think smash burgers on the grill, birthday cake, and good wine starting at 6. They’re open late, and there’s no cover.

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And if you want to spend that weekend doing something more hands-on, the Vermont State College system is offering a sausage-making master class at The 1787 Butchery, their state-of-the-art meat science lab at their Randolph campus. The class runs for the two full weekend days and covers trimming, weighing, linking, and smoking…and you leave with the sausages you made yourself.

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Looking ahead, April 18 is worth putting on your radar now. The South Burlington International Food Festival runs from 5 to 7:30 at City Hall on Market Street, with vendors covering Mexican, Bosnian, Indian, Somalian, BBQ, Italian, Dominican, West African, Ukrainian, and Venezuelan cuisines and more. Registration is $35 and includes five tasting plates, with additional tickets and a cash bar at the door.

Lastly, after a streak of bad press for the alcohol industry, it’s nice to see something worth a smile.

A new study out of the UK Biobank, tracking over 340,000 adults for the better part of two decades, found that moderate wine drinkers had a 21% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease compared to non-drinkers and occasional drinkers. Both Wine Enthusiast and Fox News picked it up this week. Researchers pointed to wine's polyphenols and antioxidants as possible factors, but also noted that wine tends to be consumed with food, with people, and more slowly…which sounds like a pretty good prescription to us.

We're not doctors. But we know good news when we see it.

See you next week.