Dining Out: The Bistro At Ten Acres

Yesterday I shared with you my trip to the Crop Bistro & Brewery in Stowe, VT. On that same trip, the ladies and I shared a hilarious dinner at The Bistro at Ten Acres.

Before I get into every delicious morsel, I want to address something about Vermont. Many people I went to college with grew up in Vermont and they were always bragging about how beautiful it is. I thought it was all a bunch of hype until this trip. We drove up to the restaurant for dinner and look at the view from the entrance:

That is so breathtaking it doesn't seem real. Vermont peeps, I totally get it.

The Bistro at Ten Acres is inside a converted home. The exterior is apple red, the same color of many barns across the state of Vermont.

When you enter the restaurant there is a bar straight ahead and a lounge/living room area to your right.

There are three separate dining rooms, each painted a different color.

We were seated in the front room, which had sun light pouring in from every window.

Our dining room had a fire place that matched the exterior paint color. I bet this looks lovely with Christmas decor.

Our table overlooked the bay windows, which had unobstructed views of the mountains. It was just lush green as far as the eye could see.

The Bistro had very sophisticated presentations, even for their salt and pepper.

We had an extra dose of ambiance and mood lighting from a birch candle in the center of the table.

The menu at The Bistro is a full two pages. There are a multitude of options.

I love the cute way the menu descriptions are written to include the chef and owner's opinions. They say things like, "Linda and I just love this dish," or "This is how Mark loves to eat salmon."

Given we were on vacation, we started the meal with a round of cocktails. Across the table, a friend ordered the raspberry lemon drop. It arrived two toned and finished with a sugar rim.

Two of the ladies indulged in the French 75 which was gin, champagne and lemon juice. They absolutely raved about this drink.

I went with the pomegranate martini which was a bright watermelon color. This was a strong drink. Two of these and you'd be swinging from the rafters.

To begin the meal, our eccentric waiter delivered a basket of warm bread with a silver pail of Cabot butter. You have to eat Cabot dairy products while in Vermont. It's an unspoken rule.

Two us ordered cups of the cream of leek soup which was surprisingly light for a cream-based soup. In addition to the leeks, it also had ramps, which are currently in season. The soup tasted sweet, but still had that savory element from the onion flavor.

We made the soup disappear in less than two minutes. My friend said, "I want to make out with this soup." If that isn't an endorsement, I don't know what is.

To share, we split an order of the truffle fries. These were outstanding. One friend said, "You know a plate of French fries are top notch when they are so good you don't even want to put ketchup on them."

For the entree round, to my left a friend ordered the Indian vegetable curry. It was a generous portion of rice, tofu and tons of fresh vegetables.

After a few bites I asked for her opinion and she said, "The curry isn't as spicy as I would like it to be and there isn't enough sauce to coat everything in the bowl. That being said, the tofu and the veggies were excellent."

Across the table, a friend was enjoying the Vietnamese grilled shrimp. After the first shrimp she said, "This is amazing. The shrimp and the sauce is so good."

Towards the end of the meal I asked if she had anything to add and she shared, "The noodles on the plate were too al dente for my personal taste, but the fresh mango was heavenly."

Next to me, a friend had ordered the lemon parmesan chicken which came topped with arugula and cherry tomatoes and was served with a side of orzo salad.

Her commentary was, "The breading on the chicken was super light, which was nice. I wanted to like the orzo salad, but it wasn't very flavorful. I mostly liked the olives in the orzo."

Just as she was starting to get full from the chicken, my friend noticed a green inch worm on her plate. We're not quite sure where it came from, but we all shivered imagining we too could have consumed a "natural" visitor.

The only vegetarian entree on the menu was the Indian vegetable curry and I'm not a big curry person, so I knew I didn't want that. I wound up ordering one of the chef's specialties, the pineapple salad. The presentation was gorgeous.

The hollowed out pineapple was topped with radishes, red pepper, pineapple chunks and black sesame seeds.

Though I like each of the salad ingredients individually, together it was just too strange for me. The best part was hands down the juicy cuts of pineapple. I basically ate those and left the rest.

We were already gut-busting full, but we couldn't resist taking a peek at the dessert menu. We decided to invoke that elusive, but always on-call "dessert stomach" and order two dishes to share.

The first was the key lime pie. After a few bites, a friend gushed, "This is one of the best key lime pies I've ever had. Because they torched the whipped cream, that part actually tastes like a s'more."

The second was the chocolate bourbon pecan pie. If the three ingredients in the name of the dessert don't already have you drooling, you need your head checked.

This piece of pie was fantastic. It had a flaky crust, the perfect ratio of pecan to chocolate and it was topped with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Though each of our entrees could have used a hint of something here or there, overall, our meal at The Bistro was a great one. From the stunning views, to the cocktails, to the leek soup, to the truffle fries and the two perfect slices of pie, it was a lovely evening.

Visit The Bistro at Ten Acres at 14 Barrows Road, Stowe, VT 05672.

 

Molly Galler

Welcome to Pop.Bop.Shop. My name is Molly. I’m a foodie, fashionista, pop culture addict and serious travel junkie. I’m a lifelong Bostonian obsessed with frozen confections, outdoor patios, Mindy Kaling, reality television, awards shows, tropical vacations, snail mail and my birthday.

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Address:
The Bistro At Ten Acres
14 Barrows Road
05672 Stowe , VT
United States
Vermont US