INN TOURS AND TASTINGS
Due to HUGE interest we have expanded the Tours and Tastings schedule.
If you are unsure of your Inn Tours and Tastings Schedule, please contact Amanda Bourque, GMAEP registrar, at 875-2974
We will travel each night to a different nearby inn to meet the chefs of these fine establishments and watch them prepare a special dish that we will be able to sample. Afterwards we will enjoy a tour of the inn or restaurant to see the beautiful accommodations and meet the innkeepers so that we can recommend these wonderful get-aways to our friends and family (maybe even for ourselves!)
Tours and Tastings will be on either a Wednesday or Thursday evening (please check each inn’s details for date and time)
Inn Tours and Tasting cost --$60 per person for all four inns (package price for all four/not available per inn)
We will be visiting the following restaurant and inns:
ROWELL’S INN
Simonsville Road (Rte 11N), Andover
Susan McNulty and Michael Brengolini, Innkeepers
Chef Michael Brengolini
For the Inn Tour the chef will be preparting a sesame chicken with a sweet & sour sauce and steak au poive. You won't go home hungry!
(don’t eat dinner first – you’ll be given full dinner tonight!)
OKEMO’S COLEMAN BROOK TAVERN
Jackson Gore, Rte. 103, Ludlow
Chef Micheal Breen
(a special dish of the house)
ANDRIE ROSE INN
Pleasant Street
Ludlow
Michael and Irene Maston, Innkeepers
Chef Irene Maston
Demonstration and tasting of her award-winning cake decoration
FULLERTON INN
On the Green, Chester
Brett and Nancy Rugg, Innkeepers
Chef Mark Handren
Chef Handren will be preparing a Spinach Salad with fried onion petals and warm cranberry balsamic vinaigrette along with Pork Tenderloin with red chard, dried tomato and Gruyere, roasted with smoked bacon and with a demi-glace Provencal.
SOMETHING ABOUT OUR INNS, INNKEEPERS AND CHEFS:
The Andrie Rose Inn in Ludlow retains the name of its former owner, Andrie Rose, who opened her home to travelers in 1950. She offered fairly-priced overnight accommodations and created a welcome refuge for area visitors and skiers. Not long after, the town opened a ski area one mile away on Ludlow Mountain – the area was and still is called Okemo. The inn now serves dinner on most Friday and Saturday evenings and the dining room is open to the public – reservations required. Weddings and private parties are also entertained. The tradition of impeccable accommodations, fine dining and true Vermont hospitality continues.
The proprietors of the inn, Michael and Irene Maston, come from many years in the hospitality industry. Formerly they owned and operated Truffles and Such, a 120-seat restaurant and catering business for 15 years in the Berkshires of Massachusetts.
Irene is a formally trained chef having graduated from The Culinary Institute of America with honors, fifth in her class. She is a Certified Executive Chef through the American Culinary Federation and a member of the American Academy of Chefs. She has earned medals in numerous culinary competitions including cake decorating and has recently been featured in People Magazine as their pick for the best cake designer in Vermont; Modern Bride Magazine, Vermont Vows and LaBella Bride magazines for her artistry in cake decorating and is “March” in A Baker’s Dozen cake-designer calendar with her first-place cake.
Irene will demonstrate and offer scrumptious tastings of her art of cake decorating!
The Fullerton Inn is a 21 room hotel and restaurant in the center of the beautiful town of Chester Vermont. The Inn dates back to the 1840’s and was originally named the Ingraham House. The Fullerton family owned business and land in the area and by the 1870’s the inn was called The Fullerton Inn. It burned down in 1885 and then again in 1920. The current structure was rebuilt once again and renamed The Chester Inn until 1984 when a retired college professor bought and refurbished it and renamed it The Inn at Long Last to represent the fulfillment of his dream to own an inn. In its history, the inn has been known by many names and owned by many people, and has been through prosperous times and times of little use. It has also been the hub of a bustling community and in the forefront of the growing tourism trade.
The current owners and innkeepers, Brett and Nancy Rugg, hail from Indiana and have operated the Inn for almost five years. They have brought their own touches to the Fullerton Inn and have spent much effort in redecorating and remodeling the inn. The Ruggs desire is to keep the Inn the center of activity in the beautiful town of Chester and they hope to continue the tradition of service for which the Fullerton Inn is known.
Executive Chef Mark Handren is approaching five years of offering his fine cuisine for the Fullerton Inn. Chef Mark has worked in the culinary trade for over twenty years for local Vermont and other New England inns, restaurants and private patrons. He began his culinary training very early within his family and proceeded to advance from working under many fine executive chefs to becoming an executive chef himself. With his resort, restaurant and private chef positions, Chef Mark has created a culinary style dominated geographically by New England and complimented by his French heritage. “I believe in food being fresh and local, with meats raised on small specialty farms, sustainable harvesting, and eco sensitive fish farming.” Mark has always explored the culinary world, what he has not heard of he tries, and “new flavors mean new combinations”. Of which there is plenty to savor on the menu at the Fullerton Inn!
Participants will travel to each establishment on their own or may carpool with other “students”.