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Vermont's Inn Tune With Young Foodies
When you vacation in an exciting, engaging place with lots of attractions, finding a special hotel seems unnecessary. You picture your family being out and about all day, and just needing a place to sleep and eat. At the Inn at Essex, however, sleeping and eating are taken seriously. So seriously, in fact, that your family will enjoy northern Vermont even more for having selected this full service hotel.
Centrally located, recently built and large, with the bones and charm of a traditional New England B&B, the Inn at Essex is in Essex Junction, about 20 minutes from downtown Burlington and within 30 to 60 minutes of the state's best wintersports at Smugglers Notch, Bolton Valley, Stowe and Jay Peak.
Spacious rooms have two queen beds with down comforters, Chippendale armoires, TVs with VCRs and cable reception, coffeemakers stocked with Green Mountain Coffee, complimentary WiFi Internet access and, in some, large handicap accessible bathrooms. Over two visits, we especially liked room 340, which easily adjoined to its neighbor across a private foyer to make a larger suite for a big family. The inn has other suite types and larger, long-stay units with kitchenettes.
Unlike many New England inns, this stylish place has true hotel-style linens and turn down service, great water pressure and bathroom fixtures, and an adjustable heating system that gave us a place to dry gloves and long underwear after a day of skiing. Summer visitors will appreciate the large windows and, when breezes don't blow, the adjustable air-conditioning.
Pets and kids are welcomed at what is also home to the New England Culinary Institute, one aspect of the Inn that makes a stay so special. Families will enjoy interacting with the young staff and watching students in toque hats stroll across the manicured grounds.
Cooking Confidentially
These students attend NECI, as it's been known for the past quarter century. Most take the two-year associate's degree program in the culinary, baking and pastry arts, or hospitality and restaurant management, but some come for four years or just a summer refresher course.
Families can enjoy cooking experiences offered by the hotel as special packages. We watched through the windows of the small demonstration theater off the lobby as a mom and young girl were coached in the elements of a successful brunch menu. Inn guests may register for Chef "Inn" Training, a hands-on, three-course dinner (or other meal) demonstration with Chef Courtney Contos, who plans a nightly menu of fresh, local ingredients prepared with style.
More simple NECI Culinary Demonstrations occur regularly; even children seem interested to watch. For a fee of $40 per person, up to eight spectators join a master chef instructor from NECI preparing different themed meals. This might be Sushi, Everything Vermont (a menu of fresh local meats like venison, cheeses, maple syrup sauces, and berries) or, for families with younger children, making Pizza and Ice Cream. At the end of the 90-minute session, snacking on any comestibles you've seen created is heartily encouraged. Any of these sessions can also be part of a hotel package that includes breakfast.
Families looking for a very special event can book a Customized Private Dining session 48 hours in advance, with a personally selected five-course menu for two to 10 guests. The chef will shop for the ingredients you'll need, then your private party will come to the cooking classroom to help prepare the meal, serve it to yourselves, and enjoy an evening of intimate "Kitchen Confidential" so to speak.
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