Mix Café & Bakery, Jeffersonville, Vermont

The first thing that hits you as you walk into this sunny spot in the tiny village of Jeffersonville is the mouthwatering scent of fresh-baked pastries, decadent creme brulee French toast, and whatever waffle is on special.

If your taste runs to hearty, you won’t go wrong with the cafe’s summer garden hash (topped with a poached egg), the breakfast flatbread, or the egg-and-cheese sandwich on a homemade roll. But we’re partial to Mix’s waffles, which vary with the seasons, from gingerbread with apple compote to lemon-cornmeal with fresh raspberries. And just when winter is dragging on a little too long, owner Carrie Ferguson and chef Billy Jo Whitehill whip up their vanilla waffles with ginger-peach compote to keep our hopes up.

Carrie opened Mix in June 2009 with two goals: source the food locally, and make everything by hand. From the granola to the English muffins–even the chocolate milk and the cranberry cocktail (made with locally grown berries)–it’s all from scratch. Word-of-mouth has done the rest for this 30-seat breakfast-and-lunch spot just behind the Smugglers’ Notch Inn.

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