Out to lunch

Out to lunch, that’s how I’ve been feeling all week during this gluten reaction. Today I am happy to report that I am over it. On Wednesday we had to deliver to one of our wholesale customers in the Wilmington Mount Snow area. I have never stopped to eat in downtown Wilmington so I was pleasantly surprised when Marty made a suggestion for lunch.

We normally go on our phones to the app Find Me Gluten Free and search, but we didn’t have to do that this time. Marty said, “I stopped at this cafe last year and got a sandwich. They have a dedicated fryer and make gluten-free poutine.” Are you serious? We’ve been through this little town a ton of times, but today must have been the day we were supposed to stop. 

The town is charming and the sun was shining. The cafe is called The Village Roost and it’s everything you think about when you think about a Vermont cafe. It was very Vermonty as a matter of fact. Their menu didn’t have just the regular cafe items you normally would find, they had lots of ethnic choices, breakfast and lunch sandwiches, and pastries. They offered all kinds of different coffees, teas, and drinks everything is organic. You can get any of the sandwiches on a roll, a wrap, or as a salad. They had gluten-free rolls and wraps too. I knew it was going to be a great experience as soon as we walked in. It had a good vibe.

There was a young man behind the counter and gave us a genuine smile behind his mask. We asked a few questions about the dedicated fryer and if the poutine was still gluten-free. His customer service was fantastic and was he knowledgeable about their menu. We wanted to try a few things, so he suggested getting our sandwiches as salads and we would have room for the poutine and curry fries. 

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When Marty paid he pressed the 20% tip button on the IPad. The counter guy immediately said, “Oh thank you very much” with that big smile again. This kid had me at hello. We sat down at a table by the sunny window. The service was fast and the girl in the kitchen was kicking some major ass by herself. It was in an open kitchen, I always watch them cook because I like to see how they are preparing things. 

When he brought our food out everything looked so fresh and smelled delicious. We both had a Vietnamese beef salad that had a flavorful lemongrass dressing, grated carrots, greens, cilantro, and lime. It was so flavorful and seasoned perfectly.

The meat was cooked perfectly with a kick that hit you after the third bite. It was delicious and it was hot. Temperature hot. It stayed hot even in the salad for a long time. The marinade that the beef was in and the lemongrass dressing were made with love. Someone put in a lot of time and effort, and you could taste it.

Now the fries. I am a french fry freak. I wanted to try a side of their curry fries which I never had before but immediately thought why haven’t I thought of this? They were served with a yogurt mint dipping sauce. Marty got the poutine which was delicious! We shared both and came home with some. The poutine was burn your tongue hot from the gravy that was melting the cheese curds on top of the hand-cut fries. OMG! 

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Everything was local and organic, but not over the top healthy like in a health food place. I complimented the gal in the kitchen on how delicious the food was and told her how much I appreciated that the food was hot. Hot food that is hot is my big pet peeve right now. I call myself out on it all the time. I hate lukewarm food unless it’s supposed to be that way.

The cook said she was happy we liked everything, she was gluten-free herself. She also shared how happy she was that they have such great offerings for gluten-free people. I wanted to jump over the counter and kiss her, but there is that damn covid thing! What a great experience! It was a bit pricey, but we are more than willing to pay for high-quality, fresh, local food cooked from scratch and made with love. ❤️

The cafe also had a gift shop with Vermont things including a Bernie t-shirt complete with those mittens. I kept walking and found a big room in the back of the building to eat in. When we were leaving the cute counter guy wished us a good day and thanked us for coming in. Wow! I was really impressed.

I am not sure what the service and food are like on weekends when Wilmington is jam-packed with tourists in the summer and skiers from Mount Snow in the winter. Having worked with tourists for so many years I know that they can be difficult, impatient, rude, and sometimes just plain assholes, but in the service industry that thrives on tourism it doesn’t matter how they are, we need them and you need to be nice to them.

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In the service industry, you have to come into work no matter what is going on in your personal life with a smile and a good attitude. If you don’t people will feed off of it, you may as well punch out and go home. I can always snap people out of their bad moods with a little humor, a couple of smiles, and treating them like they are guests. Sometimes I can even make them laugh at themselves. It works 80% of the time and the people leave in a better mood. The other 20% are the plain old assholes who would treat Mother Theresa poorly. 

We have found that when we go away for a quick getaway or to restaurants and bars we are genuinely nice to the staff and we always get great service. We treat them like we like to be treated when working with the public. We treat everyone the same from the pool boy, the housekeepers ( which I’ve done) to the wait staff and concierge. 

We’ve both been in the service industry our whole lives. We get it. When we like something I tell people. When I don’t like something I tell people. On Wednesday we were lucky enough to have The Village Roost practically to ourselves. If you are in Wilmington, Vt, and looking for a cup of coffee, tea, pastry, breakfast, or lunch I recommend The Village Roost.