Best Food & Dining in Vermont | 2013 Editors’ Choice Awards

BEST COMFORT FOOD THE PERFECT WIFE RESTAURANT & THE OTHER WOMAN TAVERN, Manchester Chef/owner Amy Chamberlain offers a full-scale fine-dining menu in the restaurant area (with rustic cobblestone walls and greenhouse garden room) and a slightly more down-home list of comfort foods (including a trio of sliders: cheeseburger, crabcake with remoulade, and grilled chicken with herb aioli) in her cozy tavern or three-season patio. Live music most weekends in the tavern. Restaurant entrées: from $22. Tavern entrées: from $12. 2594 Depot St. (Routes 11 & 30). 802-362-2817; perfectwife.comBEST FRESH MARKET DINING KITCHEN TABLE BISTRO, Richmond Look for bold Vermont flavors such as braised short ribs with winter root vegetables, roast chicken with corn and baby carrots, or a great steak frites. Entrées: from $21. 1840 West Main St. 802-434-8686; kitchentablebistro.comBEST BURGER BURGER BARN, Jeffersonville Inside their homemade green food trailer with a Holstein-patterned roof, Jud Gravel and Kierstin Colaceci transform local grass-fed beef into some of the world’s tastiest burgers, with toppings such as local chevre, caramelized onions, and even maple-crusted walnuts. Open May to October. Burgers: from $8. 4968 Route 15. 802-730-3441BEST PORK BUNS THE DOWNTOWN GROCERY, Ludlow Chef Rogan Lechthaler buys locally and cooks globally at this casual fine-dining restaurant. He tosses pasta and lobster with North African harissa (hot-pepper sauce), and fills buns with braised local pork belly topped with Vietnamese fish sauce, scallion, cucumber, and hoisin sauce. Entrées: from $24. 41 South Depot St. 802-228-7566; thedowntowngrocery.comBEST MOUNTAINSIDE DINING TIMBERS RESTAURANT, Warren With 45-foot vaulted ceilings and a window wall that looks out on Lincoln Peak, Timbers is a dramatic spot to enjoy New American fare prepared with care and imagination. Shepherd’s pie, for example, combines bison short ribs braised in porter with caramelized onions and mashed root vegetables. Entrées: from $20. Sugarbush Resort, Sugarbush Access Road. 802-583-6800; sugarbush.comBEST VERMONT FRENCH CAFE PROVENCE, Brandon French food doesn’t have to be fussy. Chef Robert Barral makes his own chutney from cherry tomatoes to top baked haddock, and grinds beef from a local farm to craft a perfect burger. He also makes exquisite hearth-oven pizzas as well as a seafood stew on saffron rice. Entrées: from $16. 11 Center St. 802-247-9997; cafeprovencevt.comBEST VERMONT ITALIAN OSTERIA PANE E SALUTE, Woodstock This tiny upstairs Slow Food restaurant gem is arguably Vermont’s most authentic Italian restaurant, serving a limited menu of home-cooked recipes that change with the harvest. The house charcuterie shines among the antipasti, and the polenta is always a winner for the pasta course. Entrées: from $22.50. 61 Central St. 802-457-4882; osteriapaneesalute.com