Vermont
Grilling the Chef: Robert Smith III Leads a Fresh Chapter at Ferrisburgh's Starry Night Café
Chef Robert Smith III
- Position: Executive chef
- Age: 31
- Cuisine type: Italian-inflected California cuisine with fresh, seasonal ingredients
- Experience: On-the-job training in Vermont, from dishwashing at Kitchen Table Bistro to holding all stations at Texas Roadhouse to three years cooking at Guild Tavern. Moved to Los Angeles at 22 and spent four years at chef Michael Cimarusti’s two-Michelin-starred Providence — including off-site events in Mexico and cooking onstage for Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead. Other California career highlights include San Francisco’s Flour + Water and Michelin-starred AL’s Place, as well as Sightglass Coffee’s 14,000-square-foot Hollywood expansion.
- What’s on the menu: Coal-roasted oysters; crispy root vegetables with Cabot clothbound cheddar espuma; an epic deconstructed steak tartare; housemade pasta; and wood-grilled entrées, including black bass and picanha steak with loaded polenta, black garlic steak sauce, grilled lemon and sauce Bordelaise
The first Friday in May was a busy one at Ferrisburgh’s Starry Night Café. The sun was shining, and the team was snipping tulip stems and cleaning off outdoor tables to open the restaurant’s patio for the first time this year. Baby greens and herbs were peeking through the soil in the fine-dining restaurant’s new raised-bed vegetable garden. And as this reporter from Seven Days walked into the kitchen, a health inspector was wrapping up his surprise visit.
“I thought this interview would be the most nerve-racking thing today,” executive chef Robert Smith III joked, settling into a comfy new leather chair in the restaurant’s window-filled sunroom.
That room, formerly a screened-in porch warmed by space heaters, is just one of the updates recently undertaken at the destination restaurant on Route 7. Since Smith began leading Starry Night’s kitchen in late 2021, there have been three separate renovations. Most of the multiroom restaurant has been refreshed, including a hood expansion to accommodate a wood-fired grill in the kitchen, updates to the octagonal dining room and the porch winterization. The most recent project — a complete revamp of the front barroom, for which Starry was closed for five weeks this spring — has created a modern, downright swanky space.
A Jericho native, Smith already thought the restaurant was one of the most beautiful in Vermont when he arrived for his interview in November 2021, two days after moving back to Vermont from a seven-year stint at top restaurants in California. Now, thanks to all the investment from owners Mark and Molly Valade, the setting has a big-city feel befitting his big, bold menu.
Starry Night regular Bobby Berg, owner of Haute & Heady Cannabis Cuisine, told Seven Days the renovated restaurant “matches California’s wine country refinement with Vermont’s rustic, earthy palates.” Smith, recalling Berg’s feedback on a recent meal, summarized a more visceral take: “He said he wants to take a bath in the black garlic steak sauce.”
The new marble-topped bar is far from a bathtub, but it’s the perfect place to soak up the delights of a cut-to-order, deconstructed steak tartare ($23) or luxuriate over a bowl of ribbony mafaldine pasta with wild morel ragù ($36) alongside a cocktail from bar pro Nick Roy.
Smith took a break from his busy day to chat about the renovations, forgotten rooms and what’s growing in the garden.
How’d the health inspection go?
I saw [the inspector], and I was like, [big sigh] ‘Hi!’ But it went well. I didn’t get the score yet, but I saw what he wrote down and have a good idea.
I’m sure he was just here to check out this incredible new bar.
[Laughing] This used to be the forgotten room. You’d walk through the door right into the bar, and it was awkward.
A lot of guests would leave notes in their reservations saying they didn’t want to sit in the front room. The first week we were back, we had guests say, “Actually, I do want to sit in there.”
Beyond the physical changes, how has your menu evolved since you started here?
I look back in my pictures at early menu stuff, and I think I was really, really focused on “fine dining” and plating things that way. I’m getting more comfortable with my skill set and what I like.
We’ve gotten a lot more pasta-forward, too. I love northern Italian braises of pork and beef that take several days. We make ricotta and marinate the meat in the whey from that to tenderize it. We’ve even got a pasta extruder in the back, so we can make semolina dried noodles in-house — all kinds of shapes.
You posted a video of beet radiatori recently that looked pretty incredible.
Several people thought that was hamburger — my parents and a delivery driver. He said, “Making hamburg?” I was like, What is hamburg? This is great.
If you were to pair a dish with each of the restaurant’s dining rooms, what would they be?
For the bar, grilled oysters, roasted veg and fun specials that we run. You can see the kitchen, so that makes sense to me there. This room [the former porch], I don’t know what it is, but it attracts the most pasta lovers. We’ll get tables of all pasta. The larger dining room, it’s the big showstopper plates.
You’re adding Saturday lunch in June. What will be on the menu?
We’re gonna do some pastas — carbonara, vongole, a spring zucchini pasta with mafaldine — Korean spareribs, and some sandwiches on housemade buns. We’re working on some type of crispy fry thing. We don’t have a fryer in the kitchen, so that’s the dilemma.
Speaking of fryers, what was it like going from a chain restaurant to fine dining early in your career?
I was hired [at Texas Roadhouse] as a dishwasher and worked cold prep, hot prep, the line, grill. When the Guild was opening up, I was like, “This is sick — a new wood-grilled steakhouse.” I felt confident cooking steak. It’s different quality and seasonings, but you’re cooking a lot of steak at Texas Roadhouse. You get temperature and volume. Still, the Guild was an eye-opening experience. Chef Phillip Clayton was a really great mentor for me. When I left, he gave me a chef coat and a really nice good-grace note to anywhere.
How do you foster that sort of growth now that you’re the mentor?
It’s incredible to see people put more on their plate and just crush it. My sous chef, Eli Eppolito, is really tremendous. He keeps the kitchen afloat — and he’s six foot five and can dunk. He started as a cook; he graduated from UVM and didn’t want to be a sociologist.
I definitely like to promote from within. There’s no reason not to pursue what we have and invest more with them. We’ve got two guys who started in the dish pit, and now they’re on the pasta station and the grill. A chef friend of mine, Austin [Poulin of southern Vermont’s Restaurant at Hill Farm], dined here last week, and he said, “How old are these kids?” I was like, “Combined age of 39. And they’re doing great.” I don’t think they had encouragement like that before.
How do you find people to work here, being a destination spot?
We do a lot of carpooling. Most of us are commuting from Middlebury or Burlington. Staffing is the hardest. That’s why maintaining this team is so important — this is the best staff we’ve ever had. We have under 20 employees, and not all of them are full time. But this restaurant’s only open 15 hours a week.
Even for diners, you’ve got to plan. You’re not often driving by here at 5:30 p.m. like, “Oh, I’m gonna swing in for dinner.”
As things start popping out of the ground, what are the next local ingredients you’re excited to put on the menu?
Asparagus, better peas — they’re starting, but they need to be a little sweeter — ramps and morels. Our six new garden beds were planted this week; Horsford [Gardens & Nursery] built them, and Farmer Hil is maintaining them for us. As cooks, we’ll go out daily to pick herbs and stuff for a garden salad. I just had some lettuce, which I shouldn’t really be eating because it should grow. But it tastes so fresh.
What’s planted in there? It’s cool to see the beds from Route 7.
Let’s walk out there. We’ve got radishes, beets, speckled lettuce, red Russian kale, red-veined sorrel, parsley chives, purple shiso. We got that from Farmer Hil last year for the tartare, and now it will be from here.
[Pointing to plants] Cilantro, curly parsley, chives, onions, sage, oregano, thyme, rosemary. It’s like the French Laundry.
Want to go in and light the grill? I have it all set up, because I figured this is a “grilling” thing. I’ll give you the blowtorch.
This interview was edited and condensed for clarity and length.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/S6SL76JKDJCOLCDMEAZA5VUCCU.jpg "Deadly crash closes Route 7 in Ferrisburgh")
Vermont
Bernie Sanders says Trump's 'lying' when he claims Kamala Harris is more liberal than the Vermont senator
EXCLUSIVE: WEST LEBANON, N.H. — When it comes to Sen. Bernie Sanders, former President Trump is no laughing matter.
The longtime independent senator from Vermont, progressive champion and two-time runner-up in the Democratic presidential primaries is on a two-day swing this weekend in neighboring New Hampshire as well as Maine to campaign on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris to make sure the GOP presidential nominee doesn’t return to the White House.
“Trump cannot get elected. We’ve got to do everything we can to make sure that does not happen,” Sanders told a crowd of supporters during his first stop Friday in New Hampshire, a key swing state in presidential elections.
TRUMP MOVES TO DEFINE HARRIS AS ULTRA-LIBERAL
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont speaks to supporters at a campaign event on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris in West Lebanon, New Hampshire, on Friday. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
But minutes earlier, Sanders briefly broke out in laughter when asked in a national exclusive interview with Fox News about comments from Trump this week arguing that Harris — who has replaced President Biden at the top of the Democrats’ 2024 national ticket — is more liberal than the Vermont senator.
Trump over the past week has worked to define Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general, as an ultra-liberal, pointing to her record in the U.S. Senate and as vice president.
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Speaking to a packed arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday, Trump charged that Harris was the “most incompetent and far-left vice president in American history… She is a radical left lunatic who will destroy our country if she ever gets the chance to get into office.”
And mentioning Sanders, Trump argued that Harris is “more liberal than Bernie Sanders. Can you believe it?”
Former President Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
Sanders, responding, said, “I would hope that when he said, ‘Can you believe that?,’ people said no.”
“It’’s not true. Once again, Trump is lying,” Sanders emphasized. “Let me just simply say that for better or for worse, Kamala Harris is not more progressive than I am.”
During his Fox News interview and later at his event, Sanders took aim at Trump, who two months ago was convicted of 34 felony counts in the first criminal trial of a former or current president in the nation’s history.
“This is the most important election, I think, in our lifetimes. I will do everything that I can to see that Donald Trump is defeated,” the senator stressed.
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Sanders argued that “the American people will not and cannot accept a president who is a pathological liar, somebody who believes that women should not be able to control their own bodies, somebody who in the midst of massive heatwaves thinks climate change is a hoax and somebody who actually does not believe in democracy, has not said that he will accept those election results if he loses. So, for all of those reasons, Trump must be defeated.”
Sanders is campaigning on behalf of Harris, but he hasn’t formally endorsed the vice president.
Vice President Kamala Harris arrives for a campaign event in Milwaukee on Tuesday. (Daniel Steinle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“I think if the vice president is to win this election, and obviously I want her to win, I think she has to start talking about issues of relevance to the working class of this country, because there are tens of millions of people who are really hurting,” Sanders explained. “They want to know what the next president is going to do for them, and I hope very much that Vice President Harris will make that clear.”
“The path towards victory is to talk about issues that are relevant,” he reiterated.
Asked what Harris specifically needs to detail, Sanders said, “I hope that the vice president will be talking about the need to substantially lower prescription drug costs… the need to have tax reform so the wealthiest in this country start paying their fair share of taxes, so we can greatly expand child care and affordable housing in this country, and I think we’ve got to be very strong on the issue of climate change and make it clear that we’re going to transform our energy system away from fossil fuel if we’re going to save this planet for future generations.”
Sanders said that Harris’ choice of a running mate — which is expected to come in the next two weeks — will be a signal of whether she will project a progressive agenda as she runs for the White House.
“I think it will, and I hope very much she looks at one of the many progressive people who are out there who I think would do a good job as vice president,” the senator said.
Sanders was making his swing through New Hampshire and Maine less than a week after President Biden suspended his 2024 re-election rematch with Trump. Biden made his move amid mounting pressure from within the Democratic Party for him to drop out after a disastrous performance in last month’s first presidential debate with Trump.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont speaks to supporters at a campaign event on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris in West Lebanon, New Hampshire on Friday. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
The embattled president’s immediate backing of Harris ignited a surge of endorsements of Harris by Democratic governors, senators, House members and other party leaders. By Monday night, the vice president announced that she had locked up her party’s nomination by landing the backing of a majority of the nearly 4,000 delegates to next month’s Democratic National Convention. On Friday morning, former President Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama were among the final major party leaders to endorse the vice president.
Harris has also hauled in a staggering $129 million in fundraising since Biden’s announcement, her campaign touted on Thursday morning.
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Republicans charge that the process has been anything but democratic — and they point to Biden’s own words.
Before dropping out, the president had repeatedly cited the 14 million votes he won in this year’s Democratic presidential primaries as a reason he should stay in the 2024 race.
“The voters — and the voters alone — decide the nominee of the Democratic Party,” he emphasized in a letter on July 8. “Not the press, not the pundits, not the big donors, not any selected group of individuals, no matter how well intentioned.”
Trump, at his rally in Charlotte on Wednesday, called the switch at the top of the Democrats’ national ticket “an undemocratic move.”
“These are nasty people, the Democrats,” Trump argued.
And Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas claimed in a social media post this week that “Joe Biden succumbed to a coup by Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, and Hollywood donors, ignoring millions of Democratic primary votes.”
But Sanders, who argued during his marathon 2016 Democratic presidential primary battle against eventual nominee Hillary Clinton that the party was working against him, doesn’t buy the GOP criticism.
“These are extraordinary times and the Democrats had to move very quickly,” Sanders said. “So I think that given the reality that Biden dropped out and having a Democratic convention coming, I think what happened is she announced her candidacy, she rallied the support she needs, and I think that’s fine.”
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
ESSEX JUNCTION, Vt. (WCAX) – Car enthusiasts will converge in Essex Junction on Friday for the annual Wolfsgart show.
Cars of all makes and models will be parked at the Champlain Valley Expo this weekend.
Gates open for spectators at 9 a.m. on Friday with events scheduled through Sunday.
You can find tickets here.
Copyright 2024 WCAX. All rights reserved.
The Aug. 13 statewide major party primary is less than a month away and early voting is already underway.
In this election, Republican, Democratic and Progressive contenders will vie for their party’s nominations in the following races: U.S senator, U.S representative, governor, lieutenant governor, treasurer, secretary of state, auditor of accounts, attorney general, the state Senate (30 seats), state Representative (150 seats) and high bailiff (14 seats).
Primary winners face off against each other and minor party candidates in the Nov. 5 general election.
For Vermonters interested in casting your ballot prior to election day, below is a complete guide to early and absentee voting.
What do I need to know about early and absentee voting?
Any registered voter may request an absentee or early ballot via mail, phone, online or in person. Family members and healthcare providers are also allowed to advocate for a voter to receive an absentee ballot.
Voters can request and track the status of an early voter absentee ballot online by logging into their My Voter Page at https://mvp.vermont.gov/. Ballots can be returned through the mail or in person, unless delivered by justices of the peace on the day of the election, who will bring the ballot back with them.
Absentee or early ballots are available no later than 45 days prior to the primary or general election and 20 days before a municipal election using secret ballots.
For more information about absentee or early voting, visit the Absentee Voting FAQs page or Early & Absentee Voting page. Voters can also contact the Elections Division at sos.elections@vermont.gov or 800-439-VOTE.
You can find your city or town clerk at https://outside.vermont.gov/dept/sos/Elections%20Division/voters/townclerkguide.pdf, from whom you can request a ballot, on the Secretary of State website.
The deadline to request early or absentee ballots is 5 p.m. the day before any election, or whenever your town clerk’s office closes that day.
Megan Stewart is a government accountability reporter for the Burlington Free Press. Contact her at mstewartyounger@gannett.com.
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