Last week in Winooski, a Vermont Foodbank mobile produce distribution program called VeggieVanGo provided food to 647 families. Typically, the program  serves about 400 families at that site, said John Sayles, CEO of the Vermont Foodbank.

His organization witnessed a similar phenomenon in St. Johnsbury, where the number of families seeking food at the local VeggieVanGo doubled from 200 families to 400, Sayles said.

With portions of the local economy shutting down due to the spread of the coronavirus, the need for food is on the rise in Vermont, he said.

On Friday, Good To-Go’s customer service team received emails from hungry Vermonters wondering when their takeout orders would arrive at their doors. A few senders, apparently, mistakenly contacted the  food company in Kittery, Maine, instead of Good To-Go Vermont, Seven Days’ new online directory of local takeout options for the coronavirus era.

Those who browse Good To-Go Vermont will find listings for Green Mountain State eateries offering takeout, delivery and curbside pick-up while restaurants remain closed to in-person diners in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. Folks can search by town and region to find establishments serving up everything from pizza to sushi to alcoholic beverages for takeaway.

Visitors at the Maine-based company’s website, goodto-go.com, find a different type of offering: dehydrated meals made from high-quality ingredients.
“Our target audience really is outdoor people,” said Good To-Go cofounder David Koorits in a phone interview. “People who are traveling or adventuring who need a quick and easy meal on the go.”

The Hannaford supermarket on Hannaford Drive in South Burlington that closes on Friday at 9 p.m. is separated by three tenths of a mile and countless rolls of toilet paper from the one that will open on Saturday morning at 935 Shelburne Road.

The new store’s opening celebration is canceled — no giveaways, no samples — to comply with public health guidelines for COVID-19.  The fully stocked supermarket will open without fanfare on Saturday, March 21, at 7  a.m.  No festivities, that is, unless  shelves of Charmin, Scott and Quilted Northern Ultra Soft & Strong are cause for celebration. The toilet paper aisle and its competitor in the new world order of necessities — the cleaning supply section — are both fully stocked.

A week ago, I texted a relative who’s a student at Middlebury College: “When all else fails, we can eat!” Lucy texted back a heart.

We made plans to meet at the Arcadian, an Italian restaurant alongside Otter Creek, with four of her college friends and another cousin — seven people in all. The students had been told to leave school in a matter of days because of the threat of COVID-19. We wanted one more hangout.

By text, we called the last-minute meal — where we drank Negronis on tap and shared plates of pasta — a “midd blowout.”

Forty-eight hours later, on Friday, March 13, we wouldn’t have made such a plan or eaten together.

Sara Solnick is associate professor and chair of the Department of Economics at the University of Vermont and has expertise in applied microeconomics. Seven Days asked her about the coronavirus and its possible impact on restaurant dining. She replied by email from London, where she's visiting her daughter.

SEVEN DAYS: How does consumer behavior typically change when people are worried or fearful? Is there research that applies specifically to eating out?

SARA SOLNICK: There is research on food safety specifically and dining out, and, as you would expect, people who are worried about food safety or who’ve had a bad experience are less likely to dine out. But in that case, people could avoid specific foods or a particular restaurant. This is a very unusual situation that combines concerns about health and concerns about income, because, for people who are not on salary, their income may be disrupted, and people with investments and retirement accounts have seen the markets drop.

At Butch + Babe’s in Burlington's Old North End, the ketchup is now served in individual ramekins, not communal squeeze bottles. In Middlebury, servers at the Arcadian deliver forks on a tray to diners, who pick up the utensils themselves. Hen of the Wood is offering its food to go.

These measures — and rigorous, repeated cleanings — are among the practices that Vermont restaurants are instituting to help protect staff and customers from the coronavirus and to assuage anxiety as the global pandemic makes its emergence in the state.

Local restaurants are announcing their cleaning routines online, along with messages about the importance of confronting the public health threat as a community.

After nearly two months of rumors swirling around the future of ArtsRiot, a sale of the business is in process. A new ownership group will take over the South End Burlington restaurant, music club and event space at 400 Pine Street, pending final permit approval.

The new ownership group, called the Riot Squad, is made up of current Vermont bar, restaurant and food business owners. It consists of equal partners Jacob Shane, owner of Deli 126; Sam Tolstoi and Matt Small, co-owners of Manhattan Pizza & Pub; and Christie and Matt Farkas, owners of Christie's Gone Bananas.

It's normal for me to get a restaurant recommendation along the lines of, "You have to go there for the chicken."

Less normal: "There's an actual, real-live chicken who has taken up residence on the restaurant's patio."


Dubbing her "Henrietta," the staff kept a close eye on their surprise guest, despite the fact that she hadn't made a reservation.

She was seemingly wary of crossing the road, the staff said, which might be more of a statement about the construction on St. Paul Street than the setup for a classic joke.


At one point over the weekend, Gildersleeve made Henrietta a nest out of his hoodie and a few clean aprons. "She snuggled into it overnight," he said. The staff applied their excellent customer service to their chicken guest, giving her water, lettuce, leftover cooked rice and a little bit of bread, as a treat.

"It really got us through Sunday," said Gastrogrup barkeep Will Reuss of caring for the bird.

I first heard of Henrietta's presence on Sunday night, when Seven Days staffer Katie Hodges posted a series of selfies with the chicken to our office-wide Slack channel.

Hodges was on her way to Gastrogrub for dinner before a show at ArtsRiot. "We knew they had good apps and beer," she said. After parking up the street, she noticed the chicken outside.

"The bartender started making jokes about how fresh the chicken was as soon as we sat down," Hodges continued. "From where we were sitting at the bar, she was right under the sign for chicken wings, which was hilarious."

"It made my night," Hodges said. "It's so weird, and so Vermont, especially because everyone was so excited about it,"

By the time I made it to Gastrogrub on Tuesday, "Henrietta," whose real name turned out to be Gladys, was no longer camped outside. It's a happy ending, though — she was reunited with her owner on Monday.

"Her owner thought she was dead," Gildersleeve explained. "She got in a fight with a raccoon and flew the coop, ending up here."

Gastrogrub staff had called the Green Mountain Animal Defenders, who arranged for the chicken to be adopted to Richmond before her original owners were aware of her three-day bender. After a few phone calls, though, she's back where she belongs.

"They're happy to have her back," Reuss added.

My natural reaction after listening to Gildersleeve and Reuss recount the whole saga was pretty messed up: I ordered the wings.

Gastrogrub wings come in a variety of flavors and spice levels, including maple jalepeño, dry rub, salt-'n'-vin, barbecue, medium or hot. I ordered the dry rub, which came with eight big ol' wings and a choice of ranch or blue cheese ($11).


My coworker, who tagged along in hopes of meeting the chicken, ordered fries ($5 for regular, $8 if you're feeling fancy and want a truffle upgrade). The fries are herb-flecked, skin-on, and my favorite balance of crispy and soft. They're great with the ranch, too.


We were eating around 4 p.m., so it wasn't quite a full meal, but there are plenty of dining-on-a-dime options that are more substantial at Gastrogrub.

I'll go back — chicken or no chicken — to try the fish tacos with black bean and pineapple salsa ($10), pulled pork sandwich ($12), 1/2-pound burger ($12), and yes, the fried-chicken sandwich ($12).

If  all this chicken talk has you considering going meatless, Gastrogrub also has vegan and vegetarian options: a tempting arugula salad ($9), the meat-alternative Beyond Burger ($14) and a Beyond burrito ($15). The "Beyond" options don't quite fit in our $12-or-less parameters. But you'll be several bucks ahead of me in the moral bank, so it might be worth the splurge.

Dining on a Dime is a weekly series featuring well-made, filling bites (something substantial enough to qualify as a small meal or better) for $12 or less. Know of a tasty dish we should feature? Drop us a line: [email protected].