It may have taken 11 years for Seven Days to add a food section,

but that doesn’t mean the paper’s tiny crew of original staffers (and some freelancers) weren’t chewing the Vermont scenery and dishing about steaming-hot gastronomical gossip. In fact, in its first year, the budding paper had plenty to say about what locals were eating. Here are some excerpts:

“Fermenting Revolution” by Irving Shelby Smith, October 18, 1995

“During the past 15 years, the number of American breweries has jumped from 44 to more than 470. [Ed. note: Now, according to the Brewers Association website, there are 1610] … Four of the finest are right here in Vermont … Long identified with maple, dairy and specialty foods, the word Vermont may soon also say great beer to the rest of the nation … Both Catamount and Otter Creek are producing only first-rate beers — rivaling the best of their kind in the country. The new kid, Magic Hat, has a smaller selection but is also making beers of distinction.”

“Grounds for Renewal: A Hardwick café mixes cappuccino and community” by Cassandra Hemenway, October 18, 1995

“Run entirely by volunteers, the Renaissance Café operates as a coffeehouse — and an art gallery — by day… [Some] nights, poetry and music are offered up along with steaming mugs of java or herbal brews … As far as Drex Wright’s concerned, the café’s success has proven his theory that a new mindset has overtaken his small town. Maybe it’s something in the French Roast, but there’s no more dissing Hardwick as a cultural backwater. ‘I think there’s a sense of pride in the community,’ he says. ‘People see Hardwick as a valuable place now, not a place to get trapped.’”

“Vermont à la Carte: The state serves up a farm-to-table plan to please the palate,” by Kevin J. Kelley, July 24, 1996

“Jointly organized by the State Agriculture Department and the Montpelier-based New England Culinary Intitute (NECI), the Vermont Fresh Network is bringing flavorful foods directly to diners’ plates … It’s all part of a nationwide trend toward greater reliance on produce and meats that have been raised nearby rather than hundreds of thousands of miles away. Advocates of the buy-local approach say it offers the advantages of higher quality, better service and greater value — not to mention flavor.”