Date: 2004-07-21
From: Benny's Town, part two same day

To: Bennington, Hero Day Proclaimed!!!
Miles today: 0.0

Hello Friends and Comrades!Daytripper was feeling a little under the weather so we decided to hero in this lovely, quaint Vermont town. Last night we had the unfortunate and rather comical experience of dining at the motel's restaurant, Talk of the Town. First off, rating food when thru hiking is not fair. Everything tastes so good to us that a valued critic is almost impossible, or so I thought prior to lasts night fare. We entered the restaurant thru the motel's lobby. Four years ago I was treated to a wonderful dining experience that from the jump I told Lisa we have to eat there. Sadly when we checked in we found out that Jake's Steak and Seafood was no more! I hoped that the new owners had kept the formula that seemed successful back in 2000. You ordered your steak and in the price you got a soup bar, salad bar and dessert bar. For those not hiking that may not sound like exciting news. For us hikers that is unbelieveable luck! We always crave salads, bread soup and anything not dehydrated or pasta like.The Talk of the Town was almost deserted except for friends of the owner, a waiter on his first night ever as a waiter and two uncleaned tables. I freely admit any one of these factors would have been cause for not eating in the "real" world. Our mind was solely on eating and drinking a bottle of red wine. Never trust your hiker stomach to find good eats! Our novice waiter appeared and apologizzed for not being trained and new to the establishment. Both of us being in the business we decided it really wasn't an issue. But every moment in dealing with him was humorous to say the least. He asked if we wanted something to drink. We asked for the wine list, and quickly ordered the only Cabernet Sauvignon on the list. He asked if we wanted anything else? Well, how about dinner? We ordered the sauteed artichoke hearts in garlic butter. Sauteed? How about deep fried. They still were good despite being straight from a can. I know I am being rather harsh and having high expectations. You have to realize with every incident Lisa and I were laughing. Then we ordered our main course. While the waiter took our order he left our formerly warm rolls and ice water on the table next to us. It seems the table next door had turned into the staging area for our repast. Every thing at one point or another spent time there, either coming from us or going to us. The staging table had a broken piece of jagged metal sticking out in a fashion to stab whom ever might try to sneak by and grab a roll from us. I felt duly protected.First came the salad with the watered down ranch dressing. I secretly had hoped that our waiter had not made this himself. Sauce was dribbling down the edge of the bowl and unto the floor as he walked towards us. While we were eating our soupy salads the manager brought our wine out. The foil cap was ripped open and left with jagged towers pointing skyward obviously to remind us of the White Mountains soon coming. The cork, which was pulled or perhaps ripped from the bottle, was half broken and half hanging out of our bottle. Normally I would return a wine not opened in front of me. But this was high comedy, Vermont style. Our wine glasses were frosted as if to offset the warm temperature of the wine.I must point out that the heavy metal music in the kitchen was twice as loud as the musac in the dining room. I couldn't decide which was worse. The two playing, especially every time the kitchen door slammed open, added a new level to the meal. The manager was busy laughing at our waiter and vacuuming the bar, moping the kitchen and dining room and brushing the rug while we ate. Lisa kept wondering when Alan Funt was gonna come out and let us know that we were on Candid Camera, or something similar. Our waiter, with shirt unslung, came out with our meals. The vegetables were so overcooked I thought the cook might be English. The temperatures of our steaks were well beyond anything requested. Lisa's crab stuffed shrimp were way overcooked relics of shrimp smothered in minor's lobster base mixed with red food color and lots of breadcrumbs. It was hard getting his attention as he spent more time conferring with the Chef than actually checking in on us. It took forever to get him back at the table to get steak knives (needed), to refill our water glasses or anything else. I wished he would at least come and ask if everything was alright, prehaps he already knew the answer. I was half tempted to order an espresso just to see what I would get. We could never get our waiters attention to clear the table and get our check. Perhaps he was confused by the piles of uneaten food. Finally he gave us the check, removed half our plates to the staging area and thanked us for coming. I am leaving out many details. I had a very pleasurable night dining here, of course for the wrong reasons. If you come stay at the Autumn Inn Motel but dine elsewhere... I am not trying to be harsh. I appreciate the simple things of life but this was unbelievable.