• Amy Kolb Noyes
• Vermonty Cristo

Many people passed the time by baking during the pandemic, but few took it to the level of Bill Hoag. He opened his first bakery in Jeffersonville in June 2020. To be fair, Hoag had plans to open Two Sons Bakehouse (named for sons Jackson, 16, and Cashel, 9) before COVID-19 put his — and nearly everyone's — plans on hold. But since it started, Two Sons hasn't stopped expanding.

The bakery quickly outgrew its Jeffersonville location, and in March 2022 Hoag purchased an empty restaurant building in Hyde Park Village that most recently housed Fork & Gavel. Hoag operates his wholesale bakery business in the back of the space, calling that operation "our bread and butter, pardon the pun." But Two Sons also does a robust takeout business in bakery items and offers table service for more substantial fare.

That's where a friend and I met for lunch one recent spring afternoon. We had our choice of tables and picked one in the smaller of the two dining areas, away from the bustle of the front door and pastry counter. A few outdoor tables occupy a patio between the restaurant and the Main Street sidewalk.

• Amy Kolb Noyes
• David Hoag

Bakery items include bagels, bread and pastries. The Montréal spice bagels are a favorite at my house. The fat, New York-style bagels, topped with Montréal seasoning, offer bagel lovers the best of both worlds.

The lunch menu includes small plates, salads and sandwiches featuring housemade bread. We shared an order of Brussels sprouts ($15) from the starters menu. The crispy baby Brussels were topped with nutritional yeast, Parmesan, toasted pine nuts and smoked maple syrup. The result was a nutty and moderately sweet appetizer with crunchy, caramelized burnt bits. Delicious.

We opted for sandwiches instead of salads because, well, housemade bread. My companion sampled the beer-battered fish sandwich ($17): a substantial haddock filet on a house brioche roll with tartar sauce and mixed greens. The fish-to-bun ratio was right on, and the batter was light yet crispy enough to hold up to the sauce and heat. The flaky fish tasted fresh and moist but not greasy.

Two Sons sandwiches are served with French fries, cooked and seasoned to perfection with salt and pepper. Soft inside and crunchy outside, they are the kind of fries you can't stop eating.

I opted for Two Sons' take on a Monte Cristo. The Vermonty Cristo ($17) features melted Vermont cheddar, thin apple slices, a thick layer of shaved ham and tangy cranberry mayo on French toast made from the bakery's white sandwich loaf.

• Amy Kolb Noyes
• Pastries at Two Sons Bakehouse

There's no turkey in the Vermonty Cristo, which seemed strange given the cranberry mayo. But once I bit into it, the omission didn't bother me. The sandwich came with a generous side of local maple syrup for dipping and, despite its girth, held together well between trips to the syrup cup. There was even syrup left over to dip more than a few fries.

Two Sons started as a breakfast and lunch spot but has recently added a full bar and dinner offerings. It serves pizza Wednesday through Friday evenings and a full dinner menu Thursdays through Saturdays, including chicken marsala served over rice pilaf ($20), steak frites with chimichurri ($24), and a local cheeseburger made with Boyden Farm beef and served with fries and a pickle ($18).

"I want to see the restaurant grow more," Hoag said, particularly with expanded dinner service. "I want to be the neighborhood spot." He added that he sources as many ingredients locally as he can.

The Two Sons team also runs Jenna's Coffee House in Johnson, in conjunction with the recovery nonprofit Jenna's Promise. Hoag said he's planning to open another location, "hopefully in the next year or two," but he's keeping his cards close to his vest on those plans for now.