Ditching the Dining Hall: Starry Night Café

On a recent Sunday, two girlfriends and I went to the Starry Night Café for dinner. Having heard from many sources (including Jim in the Proctor bakeshop) that it was one of the best restaurants in the area, we were anxious to try it. He was not wrong.  After learning that it had reopened following extensive renovations, we finally had the chance to try it.

We arrived at the café around 6:15 p.m. and were immediately struck by its charm. Located on Route 7 in Ferrisburgh, right next to Vermont Flannel, the outside is warm and inviting with a large oak door and sign carved with stars. Inside, the atmosphere is cozy yet elegant.  The walls are tastefully decorated with photographs of Vermont scenes, and the tables are set with small vases of freshly cut wild flowers. The hostess seated us in the circular “back room,” the quieter and more dimly lit of three small dining spaces.  This back room’s interior felt more like a living room than a fine restaurant. Surprisingly full for a Sunday evening, the café lent itself to quiet conversation, with only soft piano music playing unobtrusively in the background.
The lovely ambience, however, is only a small part of the charm of the Starry Night Café. The true delight, as with any fine restaurant, is the food, which can only really be described as absolutely incredible. Simple, yet expertly prepared, the offerings here feature only the freshest local ingredients. When we went, corn was a pervasive theme, wholly consistent with the acres of fields we passed on the drive over; it was added to garnishes and slipped into salsas. The menu as a whole, although not large, features innovative and exciting dishes like a harissa spiced bouillabaisse, as well as more familiar entrees like a cider braised pork loin accompanied by blue cheese mashed potatoes and apple bacon.

Indeed, the only challenge in navigating the menu at the Starry Night Café was deciding what to choose. After enjoying a basket of complimentary freshly baked bread (it came to the table still steaming), we sampled a golden beet salad and a blue cheese salad with a light, tangy citrus dressing. Following that, we tried a lobster and avocado tostada that was not nearly as tasty, yet may have been doomed to fail seeing as those eating it were from Maine and California respectively.

This blunder, however, was easily remedied and quickly forgotten when our entrees arrived a mere five minutes after we had finished our appetizers.  Our choices were delicious and substantial: a grilled Misty Knoll chicken breast served with a local corn salsa and cheddar cheese grits (authentic enough to make my southern father proud) and a vegetarian corn and Brie risotto whose rice was perfectly al-dente. The generous portions were a rarity for restaurants of this caliber.

Unsurprisingly, the large, high-quality entrees did not prevent us from sampling three different dessert offerings.  We indulged in a blueberry cobbler served with a homemade peach ice cream, an ethereal Godiva chocolate mousse (with a subtle hint of mint) and a classic vanilla cheesecake, ending the evening on a sweet note.

The Starry Night café is a gem, but it is hardly a place to go on a whim, as it is a commitment of time and money and requires a certain level of decorum. With the typical patrons solidly rooted in the one percent and the well-into-their-fifties crowd, it is not a place where one can laugh loudly, wear denim or burp. It is, however, the perfect restaurant for parent’s weekend, especially due to the price. Far from snooty, it simply asks of its clientele that they exhibit the same qualities as the product they will be served: grace, class and, above all, good taste.