Take-out dinner May 2- May 4

Call ahead and we'll heat it up for you!

spanikopita
This week's entree is a celebration of the first leaves of spring. Local and organic Vermont spinach and carrots, organic feta, and flaky filo...hooray for spring!
alacarte $8.00
with salad and garlic bread $11.00

thai chicken with coconut
Slow braised Misty Knoll chicken and fresh spring vegetables in a pleasantly rich coconut cream infused with fresh tumeric and galangal, lime and lemongrass. Served with a heap of organic jasmine rice and sweet chili sauce.
This dish is gluten free, nut free, and vegan.
alacarte $11.00
with organic salad and dressing $13.00

We also have steamed grain and vegetable bowls wqith chicken or tofu, noodle bowls, various soups, treats, truffles, and unique beverages available for take out.

Take-out Wednesday through Friday 8 am- 7 pm
breakfast, brunch and lunch wednesday through sunday 8 am- 3 pm

take-out dinner week april 24-27

Inspired by this great new weather trend, we have created a menu that is full of bright flavors and succulently tender texture.
Each dish is made with organic ingrediants and local whenever possible.


HANDMADE-RAVIOLI AND BRAISED GREENS
WITH BALSAMIC BUTTER
bright and cheery roasted squash ravioli nestled neatly atop soft and succulent braised chard. Our light and luscious balsamic butter vinaigrette accentuated the fresh flavors of this dish.
alacarte $10.00
served with garlic bread and organic salad $12.00

SPRING CHICKEN
Herb brined misty knoll chicken, mashed potatoes, maple roasted acorn squash, and braised greens.
alacarte $11.00
with artisan bread, organic salad and dressing $13.00

In addition, the grain and vegetable bowl, noodle bowl, various soups, treats, and unique beverages will always be available for take-out. Call ahead (223-TOGO) and we will have your meal heated and ready to-go!

Take out Dinner and NEW HOURS!

With spring here (minus a few snow storms), we have decided to lengthen our hours and begin serving Take-out Dinners (in the spirit of Susan's Kitchen)! WE'RE NOW OPEN 8am-7pm WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY (8-3 saturday and sunday), so you can stop in and visit us at the end of your day now too!
We're updating our website (it's pretty out of ate all ready!), so until then, our weekly take-out dinner menu will be posted here!

WEEK OF APRIL 17

ORGANIC STUFFED SHELLS
big pasta shells stuffed with vermont fresh ricotta, vermont mozzerella and organic spinach and bathing in an organic tomato sauce (vegan portions available). This dish is served with an organic salad, artisan bread, and our own house-made butter.
single servings $12/family size $42

FREE ROAMING ENCHILADAS
organic corn tortillas wrapped around green chilis, frog city cheddar, and misty knoll free range chicken or the best refried pintos. This dish is served with beautiful red rice, butterworks black beans, organic salsa, and a tangy cabbage and lime salad.
This dish is gluten free.
single servings $12/family size $42

In addition, the grain and vegetable bowl, noodle bowl, various soups, treats, and unique beverages will always be available for take-out. Call ahead (223-TOGO) and we will have your meal heated and ready to-go!


COMING SOON:
re-usable glass take-out dishes. With a $10 deposit (or $8 purchase), we can provide your take-out in a re-usable heavy duty glass baking dish. Filled with delicious, nutritious local ingredients, these make great gifts too!


Next week:

handmade ravioli......spanikopita......citrus and soy braised chicken......?
what are you craving????

easter snow

I have a vivid memory of an easter when I was 8 or 9. I lived in East Corinth, Vermont and had a very happy childhood playing outside often with my sister, Raven. We were fooling around on an easter sunday, it was warm and sunny, and I remember that I was wearing shorts..I remember that she shoved me and I fell into a snowbank..That's Vermont I guess!
It has been snowing now fro two days and easter is this sunday. Alanna and I have taken turns being sick over the last month, so although we had once entertained all sorts of grand easter plans for Kismet, this year it seems like a big deal to even announce an Easter Menu. Inspired by the hopeful (hopefully coming soon) colors of spring, we will hae bright green fresh asparagus cooked all sorts of ways with the freshest local and organic eggs. We still have vermont potatoes and we will be roasting them with bright and cheery carrots and beets from cate farm. We have a big list af fantastic crepes too- ones with ham and holendaise, and a specail braised chicken crepe with chevre, pea sprouts, and a lemony cream. La Strada delivers fresh whole wheat crossiants this weekend too- so we will be serving my favorite parisian breakfast (hot chocolate and crossiants), as well as a special benedict. I've been making chocolates too and we'll have awhole array of spring inspired truffles (rose, lavender, and vanilla tangerine to name a few) ready to be boxed up and passed along. I have to admit, though having all of these gorgeous foods around me is uplifting- it's still hard to believe that it's mid-way through april already with inches (and a foot in some places) of snow... Thank goodness for dandelion root all warm and rootsy like caramelized summer goodness in a cup of tea to keep me grounded and flowing. Oh--and chocolate ofcourse-

april showers

Last week we celebrated the completion of our third month! Although each day is still so new and sometimes scary, I think that I am beginning to acclimate to things. This last weekend, for example, though Alanna was sick, mariam, alexis and sarah grace helped to successfully serve a full house for two days straight and it was FUN!!! HOORAYYYYYY!! And as the spring rains have begun to flow, fears of the montpelier flood have passed, and greenhouses around the state are buzzing with the excitement and energy of little seedlings, we at Kismet are nurturing ideas of our new spring menu and our take-out dinner services. At last the winter seems likeley to pass, and inspiration is popping up all over. Couples from around the state have begun contacting us for information about catering their summer weddings, so summer menus and talks about outdoor feasts have been a daily excersize. The whole town of montpelier actually seems alive with hope and plans for summer and food producers from around the state are visiting us with promises of fresh and flavorful offerings comming this summer. Timing couldnt be better, really. Our menu has been the same since we opened in January when there were few local ingredients available, though simple enough, customers have been looking for a little more, and we want to give it to them (you). We've been working on a new menu that (in addition to what we have now) will offer sandwiches made on custom made hoagie rolls, and burgers made on buns, both breads are being offered by patchwork farm and bakery out of Hardwick. We have been experimanting with philly cheese steaks, burgers, and hot subs that we can serve with vermont made chips. Soon pete's greens will aso be delivering vermont's freshest and most flavorful salad greens, so finally we can offer a Kismet salad! Wild leeks are just waiting to burst through the forest soil, and we are ready to make leek confit, frizzled leeks, and leek jam- all of which we plan on using in our new take-out dinner menu (comming soon!!). Like the new extended day-light hours, we will soon be able to offer extended business hours, serving take-out dinner, grain and vegetable bowls, soba noodle bowls, soup, treats, truffles, and dandelion lattes until 7 pm wednesday through friday! Horay for spring, and horray for transiton!

in search of the mighty frog

I knew it was going to happen eventually, I just wasn't really prepared.. A few moments ago I read our first negative review.... I read the three lines over and over again, trying to put it all together. The sad thing is, the review sounded true.

The writer calls himself the mightyfrog, and I long to know who he/she is.. Most of the customers who come in are overwhelmingly supportive; big smiles and lots of praises, but occasionally I wonder just how honest some are especially when I know that something is amiss with the cook that day... Really, I just wish that people would tell us when they don't like their food. The other day, for example, a customer remarked that his food wasn't hot enough. I know now to pay closer attention to the temperature, and am thankful for his help in getting it right. This weekend a customer said that her roots were too dry; no problem, I swept them away and we made new ones, and tossed the whole pot that were of complaint.

I know that not every person is going to tell me exactly what I could do differently to make their meal more enjoyable (and I'm thankful for that), and, at the same time, it is hard to here criticisms second hand. Perhaps one of my biggest fears is finding out about my mistakes while standing in the check-out line at the co-op and overhearing someone talking bad about me or kismet..Or, like this weekend when I overheard a gentleman at a table say he would never come back again!!! Why???I wanted to know right away, and fix whatever was making him unhappy, and yet I had to let it go, he wasn't actually talking to me but to his friend at the table...

I thought if I wrote about this in this blog, I would feel better about the mightyfrog's unhappiness and negative (honest) review. I need for kismet to work. I need to know what our weaknesses are so that we can make it. I guess reading the reviews is one way, but the mightyfrog may never let me make it up to him, and in the meantime how many people will he influence from ever coming in?

well, that's the business I guess

because i love you

As valentine's day approaches, I suddenly feel festive again, and am having to stop myself back from turning everything into cute little presents.. I am tempted to turn the salt pink, cut beets into little heart shapes, stash chocolate in every one's pockets, and sprinkle flowers everywhere... When we opened Kismet, I thought that valentine's day would be our big day- with loads of customers stopping in for our yummy chocolates and fancy truffles, or treating their sweeties to a delicious and nourishing brunch after spending the morning in bed together... But now it seems like I haven't had nearly enough time to prepare.. This last week at kismet has been our busiest yet, and I am, at times, feeling like I am just cruising through the rapids of this whole endeavor. I notice the hour and a half it takes to temper the chocolate, where as just a month ago, it was a welcome meditation had in the silence of the early morning. The stress of doing everything by hand requires a sort of patience and concentration that sometimes means focusing on the quality rather than the quantity. This week, for example, we have about 3 dozen outrageously dense and dark chocolate truffles (meant to be sliced and shared), gluten free chocolate covered yummies and a few of our hard-to-describe salt and pepper chocolate bars. It may not be a full-scale valentine's effort, but this is all in addition to our regular artisan foods and everyday menu featuring our hand-made butters, crepes made with local flour, and brunch and lunch things accompanied by our handmade mustard, ketchup, paprika oil, dressings, fresh pressed juices, and all the other simply perfect creations we offer each day... I still am thinking about making a special rose flavored hot chocolate with pink whip cream and everything... The dandelion latte is perfect the way it is...but wouldn't pink sprinkles on top be cute?

Funny though how holidays (even Valentine's) have so many layers to them.. Whether you are celebrating someone else, or celebrating yourself, remember to believe in all things that are meant to be..Kismet is real...and like a little chocolate at the end of your meal, or a smile when you needed it most, kismet is all yours to enjoy..

Because i love you.

because i love you I will not torture myself to make you chocolate

i will make you chocolate when it feels good and when i am in love with every part of it

because i love you i will sleep well tonight

i will drink a glass of wine and dip cookies in milk and put my feet up

because i love you i will not spend money i do not have out of fear that i am not enough

i will believe in my prosperity by creating you gifts from the center of myself

because i love you, you will know where to find me

i will feed you

feed you full and to the brim with good food and clean water

because i love you i will not act carelessly

i will pay attention

because i love you i will not hide my whimsical pink sprinkles

my heart shaped beets,

my ridiculious heart balloons...