Farmers Diner

After an eerily filling calzone from a college cafeteria the night before, I was overjoyed to realize that the Farmers Diner was on my route today. For those who don’t know, the Farmers Diner features regular diner fare made almost exclusively from local ingredients. Eating there, you realize how good normal food can be if it’s simply made by people who aren’t trying to f*ck you.

I had the corn fritters, a pot of mint tea, and the maple barbecue sandwich. I don’t normally trust barbecue this far North, but the sauce had the right vinegar and spice so often retarded by sweetness in non-traditional barbecue regions. It was very, very good. You should go there.

Interestingly, my vegetarian companions were somewhat disappointed by the food and by the fact that not every single item (orange juice, black tea, potatoes) was local. If you're vegetarian and already a local eater, you might not like it too much. But if you're the kind of American family for whom "neighborhood restaurant" means ingredients from China served in a casual atmosphere, and you stop at the FDr while on vacation, it might just change your world.