Keep on truckin’…
Leda Scheintaub and Nash Patel, proprietors of the Dosa Kitchen food truck and now authors of a new cookbook of the same name.
You read it here first! SO Vermont Arts & Living’s “Driven to delight: Southern Vermont’s top 10 food trucks” (Summer 2017) featuring Dosa Kitchen was a big hit with readers, and now we’re pleased to report that Dosa Kitchen owners Nash Patel and Leda Scheintaub have published the first cookbook dedicated to making dosas at home: “Dosa Kitchen: Recipes for India’s Favorite Street Food” (Clarkson Potter, June 5, $18.99).
Dosas, endlessly adaptable, inarguably delicious, and fun to eat, are light, crisp crêpes of rice and lentils that can be stuffed with or dipped into flavorful fillings. “Dosa Kitchen” shows readers how to make this favorite comfort food at home with a master batter, plus 55 recipes for fillings and chutneys—and even cocktails to serve alongside.
According to Patel, their menu reflects the fare he grew up with in Hyderabad, India and echoes their zeal to eat both globally and locally. The couple met in a South Indian restaurant in New York City where Nash was waiting tables. Nash brought tea leaves, ginger, and cardamom to their first date, and over a lesson in chai-making their future together was sealed. Soon after they moved to Brattleboro, where they launched Dosa Kitchen to share their love for the dosa and their passion for farm-to-table food.
You can find Dosa Kitchen Food Truck outside Grafton Village Cheese at 400 Linden St. on Route 30 May to October, Wednesdays through Sundays, noon–3p.
And at your favorite bookseller, of course.
And that’s not all…
Our roundup of food trucks in Southern Vermont captured the eye and pen of Tom Peters, author of “In Search of Excellence.”
His new book, “The Excellence Dividend: Meeting the Tech Tide with Work That Wows and Jobs That Last,” recommends, “Excellence may well be Silicon Valley’s top coders, Madison Avenue’s renowned fashion retailers, a soul-rending balletic performance, and yes, you may even find it in Siberia. But I upapologetically believe excellence can be just as manifest in a food truck in Brattleboro, Vermont.”
“To wit,” he explains, “courtesy of the summer 2017 edition of SO Vermont Arts & Living, ’Southern Vermont’s Top Ten Food Trucks… There’s something about ordering your menu selection from a sandwich board, watching the chef prepare your meal, and enjoying it picnic-style in nature…”
And Peters lists the businesses, quoting a few of our lead-ins:
Andzej’s Polish Kitchen of Brattleboro. “Former New York City Russian Tea Room chef Andrzej Mikijaniec cooks the traditional food of his homeland at his stand…” Bert’s Chuck Wagon, Dosa Kitchen, Ro’s Petite Fete, and Tito’s Taqueria: “Tito Garza learned to cook authentic Mexican food from his grandmother…” Jamaican Jewelz of Westminster, Vt. “Caribbean chef Julian ’Jewelz’ Perkins…” Mio Bistro of Dorset, Vt. “A favorite is the crab and corn chowder. ’We sell out of it…’” Smokin’ Bowls of Bellows Falls, Vt. “Meats, which come from Ephraim Farm in Springfield, are smoked in a kitchen a few miles away and go into the popular pulled pork sandwich…” Taste of Thai, Brattleboro. Two Neanderthals Smokin’ BBQ. Peters writes, “Excellence. Food truck. Brattleboro, Vermont. Westminster, Vermont. Dorset, Vermont. Why not?”
We’re thrilled and hope everyone goes out to buy Tom Peters’s book, just out from Knopf Doubleday.
Arts Building Frenzy Continues
An architectural drawing shows a bird’s-eye view of the new outdoor performing space for students at New England Youth Theatre.
On the heels of BMAC, BMC, NECCA and Weston Playhouse, New England Youth Theatre has begun construction on a new outdoor theatre and classroom, set to open this summer.
Located in downtown Brattleboro, NEYT educates 500 students annually in theatre and the performing arts, employees more than 40 full- and part-time theatre and teaching professionals, and mounts 24 productions annually. Imagine what they’ll do with a 2,600-square foot outdoor amphitheater and garden classroom space at 56 Elm St., just west of NEYT’s theatre building.
The amphitheater, designed by local architects Stevens & Associates, will have three levels of seating, a stage, and several discrete garden areas for rehearsal, meetings, and classes. Commemorative bricks, granite benches, and other permanent features of the new space are being sold to complete the funding of the new space.
Named for a donor, NEYT’s new Glendon Mayo Theatre is set to open in late June, just in time for NEYT’s summer offerings.
“We’ve been bursting at the seams for a long time now and our new outdoor space will be a welcome and refreshing addition to our four indoor classrooms and main stage theatre” NEYT Executive Director Hallie Flower tells us.
The 1870s Livery Building that occupies the site of the new space will be demolished as part of the theater’s campus-wide cleanup plan. NEYT worked with the Vermont State Historic Preservation office to archive the building’s past use and historic significance. The site will be marked with a commemorative way-finding sign.
In addition to Catherine Mayo, who named the new theatre for her late husband, theatre buff Glendon, the project has received foundation support from Jane’s Trust, and major funding from the NEYT Board of Directors. The majority of the project costs are covered by a $200,000 grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The Town of Brattleboro assisted the planning phase of this project via its brownfields program.
To contribute to the new theatre and outdoor classroom space with the purchase of a commemorative brick, bench, granite-seating block, light pole, or tree, write NEYT Manager Michelle Meima at michelle@neyt.org.
Shopkeepers and Secret Lives
Leigh Niland paints Donna_Hawes, director of the River Gallery School.
Fifteen minutes of fame: Brattleboro merchants and other notable Brattleboro persons are sitting for their portraits, taking up painters’ invitations to “come as you are or how you would like to be portrayed” as part of a project at the River Gallery School: “Shopkeepers and Secret Lives.”
The painters are a miscellaneous few who turn up on a drop-in basis, forsaking their dinnertimes to come and paint an a la prima portrait of whoever shows up in whatever they’re wearing. Some artists have their own paints, ranging from handmade to store-bought; others turn up empty-handed and use the River Gallery School’s quality supplies.
“We are novice and professional drafts people, pastellists and painters,” says Leigh Niland, coordinator of the series. In sort of a “quick-draw McGraw” scenario, the sessions challenge the artists to capture a likeness post-haste. Decisions of color and composition are made rapid-fire. What you see is what you get.
RGS faculty member Leigh Niland, MFA, RDS, organizes sessions. The works are exhibited monthly at Gallery 34, River Gallery School, Main Street, Brattleboro.
Participating artists include Karen Becker, Linn Bower, Ellen Bronstein, Kat Brown, Roxcell Bartholomew, Eric Cutler, Ralph DeAnna, Nancy Detra, Randy Hesse, John Janiszyn, Deborah Lazar, Leigh Niland, Cat Nunn, Kate Spencer, Roderica Tilley, John C. Trainer, Kathy Traugott, and Lauren Watrous.
Sitting for them at the time of this writing: Jon Whitman and Rachel Brown of Strange Brew Tattoo, Kate Spencer of Maple Leaf Music, Connie Snow of Windham and Windsor Housing, Greg Lesch of the Brattleboro Chamber of Commerce, Stephanie and Keith Bonin of Duo Restaurant, Zon Eastes of Juno Orchestra, Sara Coffey of Vermont Performance Lab, Amy Nelson of Whipper Snappers, Starr Latrononica of Brooks Memorial Library, and Eric Cutler of Experienced Goods.
All works are for sale. For more information, contact The River Gallery School at 802 257-1577 or rivergalleryschool@gmail.com.
200 Years and Celebrating
One late afternoon in June 1968, Laura and George Lewis drove through Guilford, Vermont, for the first time and passed a classic New England white church, which was surrounded by cars. Hot and tired after several days of driving up from Louisiana, they said, “How nice, maybe we’ll attend one day,” and drove on.
As long-time local residents might recall, the crowd of cars were there that day for a concert that Rudolph Serkin gave to help save Christ Episcopal Church Guilford from going to the Shelburne Museum. This move was intended to honor its status as the oldest Episcopal Church building in Vermont.
Cellist Sharon Robinson and violinist Jaime Laredo.
Later the Lewises would buy the homestead just across the road from the church and join the committee formed to care for its upkeep over the next five decades.
Guilford neighbors had cut the trees and built the church, finishing it in 1817, but the first services were not held until 1818. Although the congregation declined steadily as the population center gravitated to nearby Brattleboro, the church has never been decommissioned since it ceased to be an active parish in the 1890s.
On Sunday, Aug. 19, at 3 p.m. you’re invited to a 200th birthday gala for the church, featuring a benefit concert, reception and silent auction. Renowned instrumentalists James Winn, flute; Jaime Laredo and Lucy Chapman, violin; Kim Kashkashian, viola; and Mary Peckham and Sharon Robinson, cello, will perform a Mozart flute quartet, a Boccherini quintet, and the Schulhoff Duo. (Performers and repertoire are subject to change.)
Beginning in mid-June, 200 gala tickets will be available at $25 at Guilford Free Library and Everyone’s Books. Alternatively, send a check to Anne Montgomery, 57 Indigo Dr., Guilford, VT 05301. For more information, write amontgomery1254@gmail.com, call 802 257-2636, or contact the Christ Church Guilford Society.
