vergennes laundry

In a small Vermont town, this lovely bakery popped straight out of the pages of Kinfolk, and into the quaint downtown of Vergennes. The space once housed an old laundromat, but was converted to a wood fired bakery -  still maintaining certain details from the old laundromat. 

 Ever since I saw the write-up of this place on the Edible Selby  I knew I had to journey up there for a visit.  And the one hour drive was worth it.   This place is so carefully constructed, each ingredient and accent fitting together perfectly to create an aesthetic that forces you to stop an appreciate.  

Since we'd made the journey, we went all out, indulging in creme fraiche truffles, cardamom buns, and then lounging around until we were hungry enough for lunch.  Which yielded one of the most delicious and beautiful lunches I've ever had in any old cafe.  We split the ~gravlax~  a sandwich with house cured salmon, herbed creme fraiche, raw harukei turnips and pickled sunchokes - and then - an amazing and stunning cheese plate with four local Vermont cheeses -  complete with slices of their wood fired bread.  Best Sunday morning ever, really.

Plus, in the middle of autumn, the trip to Vergennes was beautiful - meandering through small historic towns and occasionally passing an overlook of colorful mountainsides.  These are the things I love about living in Vermont.

picnic.

I met up with these pretty people at the bakery and we walked down to the corner mediterranean deli to pick up spanokopita and tiropita, the owner was so charmed by us that he gave us free dolmades and hummus and gathered his co-workers to "see what was brightening his day". Carrying our picnic basket and blanket, we then collected fruit and old-fashioned sodas from the downtown market.  Receiving so many smiles from passerby along the way, we took all our goods to a lush park down by the water and shared our fruits and sodas, happily enjoying the beginning of all this springtime weather.

mustard making.

Every shift at the bakery someone says, "Oh, let's get together and make sriracha, or kimchi, or beer, or, or, or..." so, the event that actually ended up coming together was a gathering to make mustard.  One person brought mustard seeds, the other let her own mustard sit overnight, and then we all helped to make it (although I did more eating than helping, to be honest).  The Wild Fire staff was like a little family sharing food and stories, and the atmosphere was too lovely for me to stand.  It's rare to find coworkers who appreciate little things like doilies, ceramics, and wooden accents as much as you do.  I walked my bike home, passing the boats and fisherman, and was so appreciative of what was finally feeling like my home.