The Copper Grouse in Manchester, Vermont

What good is a beautiful vacation destination without easily accessible fresh and delicious nourishment? Sometimes traveling can be stressful when food options are limited and maybe not so great. Personally, when headed to a destination outside of a city, I’m always quick to do a little research to find a nearby restaurant or cafe with a menu I know I will like. If all else fails, I like to at least know where there is a local health food store to pick up a few snacks if needed. Everyone likes to indulge on vacation, but there is also nothing worse than feeling yucky and lethargic from eating unhealthfully for an extended period of time. I knew that I didn’t have much to worry about heading to Vermont, given the local community’s reputation for having a general affinity to shop and eat locally grown and sourced foods. With the endless rolling farms of the Green Mountain State, I knew that wherever we ate, it would be good. Spoiler: I was right…

The Copper Grouse right in our hotel had exactly everything I was craving. One quick, preemptive look at the menu assured me that we would be well nourished throughout the weekend. We ate two meals at the restaurant – the first was a light brunch before our day trip adventure to Hildene. Pictured above is the BLT (yum), roasted beet hummus (delicious and pretty) watermelon gazpacho (total showstopper!). These dishes provided the perfect level of sustenance to hold us over well into the evening.

Later that same night, we headed BACK to The Copper Grouse for dinner since everything was so good and so fresh. Sitting out on the patio on a warm, but breezy summer night amidst the lush green mountains was such a dreamy setting. We were immediately enjoying ourselves before any of the food even came. We didn’t have to wait long to start indulging though since the service was super speedy. We started right in with some scallops and watermelon radishes, pictured below. I mean…how gorgeous and vibrant are those colors?! Chef Adam Raftery even popped out of the busy kitchen to say hi and to give us his recommendations. I could tell just by how passionately he was speaking to us about his favorite dishes that we would not be disappointed.

Next up: a caprese salad. Not only is this classic dish a favorite of mine, but these heirloom tomatoes and local Vermont burrata were to die for. I think the basil vinaigrette is really what tied everything together though!

For our main dishes, we decided to share two of the fish dishes since I’m not really a big meat eater. I always love fish and chips – you really can’t go wrong with a light, flaky New England cod, and the green apple slaw and lemon tartar sauce this was served with….all I can say is….more please! So, so good! The salmon, fresh as well, was plated nicely on a bed of delicious summer succotash. This warm vegetable medley could easily have been my favorite part of the whole meal,

Homemade sorbets to top off the evening? Definitely! These fun flavors, including blackberry watermelon, honeydew pomegranate, orange mango, and plum mango, we so light and refreshing to taste after a full meal! We had such an enjoyable dining experience that we lingered a bit longer to sit around the fire pit with some of the other guests to sip on an after dinner cocktail.

Has anyone else visited the area and tried The Copper Grouse yet?! What did you think?
xo -L