Vermont honors its hospitality stars

Suzanne Johnson of Tilley's Café in Burlington, VT, has been named "Restaurateur of the Year" by the Vermont Hospitality Council, the tourism division of the state Chamber of Commerce.

The award is designed for an individual who continues to demonstrate excellence in the operation and management of a restaurant in Vermont. Johnson, says the Hospitality Council, "is a marketing expert and innovative entrepreneur [who] contributes to the community and supports her staff in improving their service and knowledge. Tilley’s Café is Vermont’s first green restaurant and Vermont’s only restaurant with valet service."

The four other Hospitality Council awards:

• Borden E. Avery Innkeeper of the Year: Bud McLaughlin and Bill Wolfe, Holiday Inn, Rutland.

• B&B Innkeeper of the Year: John Perkins and Jay Kerch, The Phineas Swann B&B Inn, Montgomery Center.

• Chef of the Year: Gerry Nooney, Sugarbush Resort & Timbers Restaurant, Waitsfield.

• Allied Member of the Year: Rochelle Skinner, Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, & Recreation.

Award recipients will be honored at the Vermont Chamber Hospitality Gala, 5:30 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, September 16, at The Essex, Vermont’s Culinary Resort & Spa.

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ON THE WEB
• Tilley's Cafe
• Holiday Inn, Rutland
• The Phineas Swann B&B Inn
• Sugarbush Resort & Timbers Restaurant
• Dowd's Guides

Harvesting hops in Upstate NY

• From the Albany (NY) Times Union

... This is the season for harvesting hops, which can be turned into tasty beer. On Sunday, a group of about 25 volunteers gathered at Tom Riley's Johnsonville [NY] farm to strip about 100 pounds of Cascade variety hops from their vines. The bounty will soon become Brown Brewing Company's Harvest IPA.

The hops are not just a local link to a piece of New York's history that was long presumed dead. They're also what makes craft beers a niche market and allows companies like Brown's to expand in a recession, said Gregg Stacy, director of marketing and sales.

"These are flavors a lot of people haven't experienced," Stacy said as he ran a vine through green-stained fingers in search of more hops. "This is the way beer used to be made."

Upstate New York once was the center of America's production of hops, an essential ingredient in making beer. About a century ago, 80 million pounds came out of the region, said Duncan Hilchey, who helped develop the Northeast Hops Alliance, a group of farmers and brewers trying to build a hop resurgence in the state. Farmers recruited beer drinkers from places like New York City to come and help harvest the hops by making it a weekend celebration, with plenty of product sampling allowed and dances called, not surprisingly, "hops."

[Go here for the full story.]

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ON THE WEB
• Hops In the Backyard
• Dowd's Guides

Empire State Brewery Trails hit all four corners

New York State is known for its numerous wine trails, formal lineups of wineries and related tourist sites. But, what is lesser known are the four Empire State Brewery Trails.

Here, by individual trails, are the member companies. You can check out an interactive online site for additional details.

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NORTHERN BREWERY TRAIL

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Adirondack Pub & Brewery
33 Canada Street
Lake George, NY 12845
518/668-0002

Brown's Brewing Company
417-419 River Street
Troy, NY 12180
518/273-2337

C.H. Evans/Albany Pump Station
19 Quackenbush Square
Albany, NY 12207
518/447-9000

Coopers Cave Ale Company
2 Sagamore Street
Glens Falls, NY 12801
518/792-0007

Davidson Brothers
184 Glen Street, Route 9
Glens Falls, NY 12801
518/743-9026

Great Adirondack Brewing Company
34 Main Street
Lake Placid, NY 12946
518/523-0233

Lake Placid Pub & Brewery
14 Mirror Lake Drive
Lake Placid, NY 12946
518/523-3813

Lake Placid Craft Brewing Company
1472 Military Turnpike
Plattsburgh, NY 12901
518/563-3340

Olde Saratoga Brewing Company
131 Excelsior Avenue
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
518/581-0492

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SOUTHERN BREWERY TRAIL

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Black Forest Brew Haus
2015 New Highway
Farmingdale, Long Island, NY 11735
631/391-9500

Blue Point Brewing Co.
161 River Avenue
Patchogue, Long Island, NY 11772
631/475-6944

Brooklyn Brewery
79 North 11th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
718/486-7422

Captain Lawrence Brewing Company
99 Castleton Street
Pleasantville, NY 10570
914/741-2337

Chelsea Brewery
Chelsea Piers, Pier 59
New York, NY 10011
212/336-6440

Gilded Otter Brewing Company
3 Main Street
New Paltz, NY 12561
845/246-1700

Heartland Brewery
127 West 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036
646/366-0235

Heartland Brewery
35 Union Square West
New York, NY 10003
212/645-3400

Heartland Brewery
1285 6th Avenue @ 51st Street
New York, NY 10019
212/582-8244

Heartland Brewery
93 South Street @ Fulton Street
New York, NY 10038
646/572-2337

Heartland Brewery
350 5th Avenue @ 34th Street
New York, NY 10118
212/563-3433

Hyde Park Brewing Company
4076 Albany Post Road
Hyde Park, NY 12538
845/229-8277

John Harvard's Brew House
2093 Smith Haven Plaza
Lake Grove, Long Island, NY 11755
631/979-2739

Keegan Ales
20 St. James Street
Kingston, NY 12401
845/331-2739

Skytop Steakhouse and Brewery
30 Forest Hill Drive
Kingston, NY 12401
845/340-4277

Sixpoint Craft Ales
40 Van Dyke Street/234 North 12th Street, 1R
Brooklyn, NY 11231
917/687-1725

Southampton Publick House
40 Bowden Square
Southampton, Long Island, NY 11968
631/283-2800

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CENTRAL BREWERY TRAIL

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Brewery Ommegang
656 Route 33
Cooperstown, NY 13326
607/544-1808

Butternut's Beer & Ale
4021 Route 51
Garrattsville, NY 13342
607/263-5070

Cooperstown Brewing Company
P.O. Box 276/River Street
Cooperstown, NY 13807
607/286-9330

Empire Brewing Company
120 Walton Street
Syracuse, NY 13202
315/256-7608

Ithaca Beer Company
606 Elmira Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
607/273-0766

King Arthur's Steakhouse & Brewery
7 West Bridge Road
Oswego, NY 13126
315/343-6033

Market Street Brewing Company
63-65 W Market Street
Corning, NY 14830
607/936-2337

Matt Brewing Company
811 Edward Street
Utica, NY 13502
315/624-2401

Middle Ages Brewing Company
120 Wilkinson Street
Syracuse, NY 13204
315/476-4250

Rooster Fish Brewery
223-301 North Franklin Street
Watkins Glen, NY 14891
607/535-9797

Sackets Harbor Brewing Company
212 West Main Street
Sackets Harbor, NY 13685
315/646-2739

Syracuse Suds Factory
320 South Clinton Street
Syracuse, NY 13202
315/471-2253

Wagner Valley Brewing Company
9322 Route 414
Lodi, NY 14860
607/582-6450

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WESTERN BREWERY TRAIL

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Buffalo Brewpub
6861 Main Street
Buffalo, NY 14221
716/632-0552

Custom Brewcrafters Inc.
93 Paper Mill Street
Honeoye Falls, NY 14472
716/624-4386

Ellicottville Brewing Company
28A Monroe Street
Ellicottville, NY 14731
716/699-2537

Ellicottville Brewing Company
34 West Main Street
Fredonia, NY 14063
716/699-2537

Flying Bison Brewing Company
491 Ontario Street
Buffalo, NY 14207
716/873-1557

Mac's Village Brewhaus
4246 N. Buffalo Street
Orchard Park, NY 14127
716/667-2314

Pearl Street Grill & Brewery
76 Pearl Street
Buffalo, NY 14202
716/856-2337

Rohrbach Brewing Company
3859 Buffalo Road
Rochester, NY 14624
585/594-9800

Southern Tier Brewing Company
2051A Stoneman Circle
Lakewood, NY 14750
716/763-5479

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ON THE WEB
• New York Wine Trails
• Dowd's Guides

It came from New Mexico

• From the El Paso (TX) Times

MESILLA, NM -- Executive chef Lauro Campos has faced many challenges in his 48-year career, the past 18 at the Double Eagle and Pepper's Café.

"I don't have any problems with any food I am asked to make, no matter how crazy it is," Campos said.

He has pretty much seen it all. Some of the culinary experiments have been successful, while others have not.

Banana enchiladas? No problem, still on the menu.

Chocolate tacos? Not on the menu yet but available for the asking.

S'mores pie? That one didn't work out so well.

So it's no surprise that Campos was receptive when Jerry Harrell, the restaurant general manager, approached him with another challenge -- to develop the world's largest green chile cheeseburger.

Harrell wanted a burger that would make the mouths of guests of Double Eagle and Pepper's Café water and that was big enough to make the Guinness World Records.

What Campos developed was a grilled, 10-inch, 1-pound patty of hand-ground beef draped with roasted green chiles and a half-pound of sliced white New Mexico queso fresco. The burger is then topped with the restaurant's colorful pico de gallo and sandwiched inside a specially baked yeast bun with garlic-infused mayonnaise made by the well-established and respected Lujan's Bakery in Las Cruces.

[Go here for the full story.]

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ON THE WEB
• Texas Burger Guy
• Dowd's Guides

Philly ale house turns 150

• From the Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA, PA — If he were alive today, William "Pa" McGillin probably wouldn't recognize the nachos and watermelon martinis being served at his namesake pub. Yet he'd no doubt be heartened to see that its core commitment to beer and camaraderie has remained largely unchanged since he opened it 150 years ago.

McGillin's Olde Ale House began celebrating its sesquicentennial this week, cementing its status as the oldest continuously operated tavern in Philadelphia and one of the oldest in the nation.

Established in 1860, just prior to the Civil War and before City Hall was built, McGillin's sits tucked away in a small alley at the heart of downtown. Even some residents need a map to find it.

[Go here for the full story.]

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ON THE WEB
• McGillin's Olde Ale House
• Dowd's Guides

National Buffalo Wing Festival nears

BUFFALO, NY -- If you like the Buffalo wings served at your local tavern or restaurant, you may want to put their quality to the test by visiting the 8th annual National Buffalo Wing Festival.

The event is scheduled for the Labor Day weekend, September 5-6, at Coca-Cola Field, formerly called Dunn Tire Park.

The festival includes the U.S. Chicken Wing Eating Championships and National Wing Sauce-Off Competition. In addition, the Celebrity Chef Challenge will be held again this year, sponsored by Frank’s RedHot Cayenne Pepper Sauce, the original sauce used to create the first-ever Buffalo Wings in 1964.

The festival came about after the 2001 movie called "Osmosis Jones" cited a then-non-existent event called the National Buffalo Wing Festival. Bill Murray starred as a compulsive eater with a goal of attending the Super Bowl of junk food. Buffalo native Drew Cerza seized on that to create the real event.

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ON THE WEB
• National Buffalo Wing Festival
• Dowd's Guides