• Ben Deflorio
• Fried green tomatoes served in a sweet and spicy cream sauce and topped with microgreens at Maple Soul

Depending on the night, there are three places to eat dinner in the small White River Valley town of Rochester. It just so happens that one of those, Maple Soul, is on Yelp's list of Top 100 U.S. Restaurants for 2024.

I've eaten at Maple Soul a number of times and never had a bad meal (or even a bad dish), and locals speak reverently of the place. But No. 46 in the nation, based on ratings and review volume on the crowdsourcing website, is still an impressive achievement for a 65-seat restaurant in a small town in rural central Vermont. It's a testament to the superb food, familiar atmosphere and deep community connections that owners Jim and Jen Huntington have cultivated in their nearly six years since opening.

"We wanted to do something that would highlight the importance of [local] farms to a community like this," said Jim, the restaurant's head chef. He added that they sought to disprove the idea that "you can't do all local because it's just not fiscally sustainable — it's just not [true]."

Today, Jim said, roughly 85 percent of Maple Soul's food is locally sourced. As of 2024, the business is one of 57 Vermont Fresh Network Gold Barn Members, a distinction earned by spending a certain amount on local food annually.

• Ben Deflorio
• Ribs with homemade barbecue sauce at Maple Soul

The menu changes at least weekly and sometimes daily, reflecting the availability and seasonality of local products. Summer sees dishes such as fried green tomatoes ($15) sourced from Old Road Farm, up Route 100 in Granville, served in a sweet and spicy cream sauce and topped with microgreens from nearby Uphill Farm. Red wine-poached plums and Maplebrook Farm burrata ($16) come with focaccia, and the seafood scampi ($25) has fresh, wild-caught shrimp and swordfish.

"Just because you ate something today, and then you come back tomorrow — it doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be [on the menu]," Jim said.

Yet Maple Soul does have staples. These include the ribs, which are slow-cooked and coated in smoky, sticky, homemade barbecue sauce, available as a half or full rack ($26 or $38) with maple slaw on the side; the fantastically creamy mac and cheese ($19; especially good with bacon, $3); and the incredible grilled cornbread with honey ($8). A "last-minute add-on" to the menu, Jen said, the cornbread ended up on Best Things Vermont's list of "5 Best Places for Cornbread in Vermont!"

Much of the menu has a distinct southern influence (hence the "Soul"), particularly in the summer. "Our journey has taken us from New England [to] North Carolina. We lived there for about five and a half years," general manager Jen said, describing the menu as Jim's "homage to the people who have taught him."

Other standouts include the roasted beets and goat cheese with maple balsamic drizzle ($14; bonus points for the beautiful presentation), the gnocchi ($24; more of a winter dish but on the menu year-round), and the shifting selection of desserts ($8 each). Sweet items are made either in-house or exclusively for Maple Soul by local baker Elissa Klingensmith. Get the chess pie if it's available, but you can't go wrong with any of them.

• Ben Deflorio
• Maple Soul owners Jen and Jim Huntington

Like any reliable Vermont farm-to-table restaurant, Maple Soul also has a fantastic beer and wine selection, including a sizable beer cellar. Jen, who's in the process of becoming a certified sommelier, takes the lead on wine procurement, while Jim is "the beer guy," she said.

The couple aim to choose beverages that will be "part of the experience," Jen said. "We don't necessarily lean into something that you can find at the grocery or the gas station."

As with their farmers, the owners build personal relationships with local breweries such as Kraemer & Kin, River Roost Brewery, and Upper Pass Beer. For $15, guests can get a flight of four eight-ounce pours from the ever-rotating draft list.

The Huntingtons are sometimes "dumbfounded," Jim said, by the success they've had in half a decade. They've gotten even busier since the Yelp list came out, so they advise visitors to call ahead, especially if they're coming from a distance.

Despite their rising profile, Jim and Jen remain dedicatedly local, committed to the friends and neighbors who have supported them as they've built the business.

"This is a beautiful community," Jen said. "We are grateful to be here."