A Cozy Restaurant in Vermont

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Bakery Lane Soup Bowl was a small restaurant in Middlebury, Vermont many years ago.  I have loved this book since I bought it in 1976, but I’m not sure what years the restaurant was open.  When I googled it, I found many comments from people who remember the restaurant with great fondness.  Most said how they loved that it was a cozy place specializing in soups and breads that all tasted like they were from a grandmother’s kitchen.  I can highly recommend the fresh tomato bisque.  It’s one of my favorite soups to make when I have my summer garden tomatoes.

The book contains only about one hundred recipes, but as you turn each page, all you want to do is go into the kitchen and start cooking.  One of the reviewers mentioned that he still makes the dark wheat bread, which I don’t know why I haven’t made yet – it sounds heavenly!  It uses almost all coffee as the liquid, and includes cornmeal, honey, and stone-ground whole wheat flour.  I love breads that you can really sink your teeth into, and this one sounds like a winner.  There is also “Mary Murphy’s Swedish Rye Bread” with anise and fennel seeds, grated orange rind, and molasses – and it makes 3 loaves!

At the beginning of the dessert chapter, the authors claim their desserts are worth the calories.  Believe them!  From the reviews I read online, the fresh apple cake with caramel icing was mentioned as a favorite, as was the French chocolate cake.  I have made several of the cookies, which were wonderful.  I was happy to read that their recipe for pie crust is made with part lard, which makes the best pie crust.  I recently read in one of the food magazines that lard is making a comeback in modern kitchens.  Apparently, it’s now available from many organic farms and is supposed to be very desirable to serious cooks.

You can find this book online for various prices, so check it out.  Who can resist good homemade food?  I think you will love this charming book.  How can you resist a cookbook cover with hanging garlic, a large-looking ceramic bowl, and a little kitty in the corner?!  To get you started, the following recipe is actually the back cover of the book.  Let me know if you make it!

 

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27 Responses to A Cozy Restaurant in Vermont

  1. January 19, 2011 at 8:09 am #

    Sounds like a perfect cookbook to peruse on a cold, wintery day. I’m going to have to try that apple cake. Any dessert that includes apples has to be delicious.

    You’re right about the organic lard. There’s a farm near where I live that sells it through mail order.

    http://www.fiedlerfamilyfarms.com

  2. January 19, 2011 at 8:27 am #

    Let us know how the apple cake comes out! It’s sounds yummy.

  3. October 29, 2013 at 4:28 pm #

    I opened Beafles Ice cream Parlor in 1977 in Baltimore’s Fells Pt. Bakery lane cook book was responsible for it’s carrot cake and french onion soup with vermouth. After a lifetime of cooking it has remained a treasure in my kitchen.
    Thank you Marge & Joan for giving up those sundays

  4. October 29, 2013 at 9:35 pm #

    Thank you for writing, George, and making me go back to read my own blog. I still love the cookbook and now it’s even more special after hearing your story. It also reminds me to bake that apple cake again!

  5. August 10, 2014 at 6:57 am #

    i just rediscovered this cookbook in my collection. I made the corn chowder last night. my mom came back from Vermont on her way back home to florida and brought me some Vermont corn, which is so much better than our north Carolina corn …maybe it’s the soil ? it was delicious ! I’m anxious to shop for the next recipe. I grew up in Vermont and spent most of my life there. I miss all those little out of the way cozy lunch restaurants that had THE best food. Another one of my favorites is the ‘moosewood’ cookbook, from a restaurant in new York. which new York times said was one of the best of all time. definitely worth buying.
    thanks for your blog : )

    • August 10, 2014 at 11:27 am #

      Thanks so much for writing, Lisa! This must have been a favorite place because I have heard from many people over the years who either had been to the restaurant or used the cookbook. I have always loved the recipes. Now I will have to go back and check out the corn chowder!

  6. October 29, 2014 at 4:43 pm #

    My Bakery Lane cookbook many dog-eared pages and spotted pages from so much use. I bought the cookbook at the restaurant when we lived in Vermont.

    I strongly urge anyone who has the cookbook to make “Virginia’s Broccoli Soup” page 46. It’s curry flavored, but not overpoweringly so. I made some tonight now that cooler weather is upon us. Many people would go to the restaurant just for that soup.

    • October 29, 2014 at 9:31 pm #

      Thank you, Don! I am going to go look up that soup. It’s going to be cold here this week!

      • September 25, 2015 at 5:01 am #

        That Apple cake is a standby in our house – unfortunately very ” morish”!!
        Any receipe tried has been a success and now the ” go to” when needing a special dish!
        Loved the restaurant when visited in Burlington Vt. Years ago!

  7. October 2, 2015 at 6:25 pm #

    You are fortunate to have this out-of-print treasure! Would you be kind enough to consider sharing it’s recipe for Anadama Bread? Thank you so much, and also for the lovely-sounding apple cake recipe.

    • October 30, 2015 at 7:59 am #

      Hi Beth! I am emailing you the recipe!

  8. January 8, 2017 at 6:42 am #

    I would also love the Anadama Bread recipe. Would you email it to me, as well.

    Thank you very much!!!

    • January 14, 2017 at 4:25 pm #

      Hi Zoe – Check your email. I just sent it!

  9. November 14, 2017 at 4:35 pm #

    I NEED the recipe for corn chowder. I have the cookbook, in fact I have two of them, but am in New Zealand. Hopefully someone will see this today.

    • November 15, 2017 at 4:47 pm #

      Hi Phyllis- I wish I could send you the corn chowder recipe but I no longer have the cookbook. It was lost in the flood that destroyed almost all my cookbooks. Hopefully someone might read this who has it and will send it to you. I plan on finding the cookbook again as it was one of my favorites that I miss having.

    • June 14, 2020 at 8:47 am #

      Hello
      I just put the Bakery Lane brownies on my FB. Looking around internet found this blog. If you still want the recipe, I will email it to you!

  10. February 3, 2018 at 10:00 am #

    Greetings. I made the Vermont Cheddar Cheese soup yesterday. A favorite of mine. I bought my cookbook in October 1982 in Vermont. I can send Phyllis a photo of the Corn Chowder recipe thru you but don’t know how to get email address. I could not copy photo in here. I stumbled in here wondering if the restaurant was still there after all these years. Cheers!

    • February 5, 2018 at 9:52 am #

      Hi Pattie- I agree about the cheese soup and all the soups in this wonderful cookbook. Maybe someone who lives in Vermont can tell us if it is still open. I have found one reference from 2011 that it was still there but not the same owners. Thank you for sending me the photo and recipe through messenger the other day. I’ll be sure and pass it along to Phyllis who wrote here and asked for the recipe.

    • January 15, 2019 at 3:47 pm #

      Sadly long, long gone. I was a frequent customer during my college years in Middlebury in the late 70’s and still use this cookbook and a lesser extent a second one that was printed when one or both of the owners moved to AZ and opened a new restaurant.

  11. May 1, 2018 at 11:18 am #

    This sounds delicious. I also keep hearing that this cookbook has The Best anadama bread recipe. I don’t know if there is anyway I can get that recipe. Thanks for your great blog.

    • May 4, 2018 at 12:39 am #

      Thank you so much, Nancy! As soon as I find the book, I will send you the Anadama Bread recipe. I remember it well!

  12. May 21, 2019 at 7:13 pm #

    I love the comments and hearing the memories
    I remember this restaurant as well – visited during college years – it was so sweet and homey – in Middlebury …. My copy of this book is in pieces and pages. It is well worn with love and use. I had to start putting pages in protective sleeves … I just bought another copy on line …
    I have made all the cheese cakes – the chocolate is magnificent!!
    The Tabooli (Tabouli spelling?) Salad is nothing short of amazing !! so healthy, so amazingly delicious -follow It to the letter for the Perfect balance of flavors
    the soups mentioned above, the breads ,,, all wonderful.
    How I love this cookbook and the friends who took me to this special place and bought me the book – Thanks Dotty and Ralph! I remember!

    • May 22, 2019 at 1:28 am #

      I love hearing from readers who dined at Bakery Lane! This is one of my all-time favorite cookbooks, and I appreciate knowing what others have made from the book. Thank you for telling us about your favorite recipes. I think you have special friends in Dotty and Ralph!

  13. February 8, 2020 at 2:47 pm #

    We received our copy (now in pieces due to love) from friends in Philadelphia who had gone to Middlebury. This was in the late 70’s. My favorite is the engadine torte. In fact, just made it to take to a potluck. Love cookbooks from restaurants. So generous of them to share.

    • February 8, 2020 at 9:24 pm #

      This is such a great cookbook. I still get comments about this blog even though I wrote it in 2011. Thanks for mentioning the torte. Now I’m going to go look it up. Thanks for writing, Tom!

  14. November 22, 2023 at 1:17 pm #

    So happy I found this page! It’s Thanksgiving tomorrow and the Soup Bowl pecan and sugar pies will be in my table. I have such great memories of traveling to Middlebury with my Mother to do our grocery shopping when we lived in Crown Point, NY. It was a trip we took every two weeks and always stopped at the Soup Bowl for lunch. The Frittata and Vermont Cheddar Cheese soups are amazing too. Find the book and cherish it! Mindy

    • November 22, 2023 at 11:10 pm #

      Hi Mindy- I love reading about memories of the restaurant. My husband has requested a pecan pie and I wasn’t sure which recipe I wanted to use. Thank you for reminding me about the pecan pie in the cookbook! I also looked up the sugar pie and that’s also now on my list to try. I love the cheddar cheese soup and have made it many times. I’ll enjoy it with our cold weather on the way. Thanks for writing!

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