New England culinary travel ranges from orchards to lobster boats to pubs

New England > All New England > Food & Drink > Culinary Travel

The variety of New England countryside and culture lends itself to wonderful culinary travel. Vineyards and and wineries and wine trails urge visitors out onto country roads, while a tradition New England clambake pulls us to the edge of the sea. Expert chefs provide lessons and demos along with fine meals. Shopping for traditional ingredients, produce, seafood, and and cookware is a treat in all the states. Culinary travel encompasses taste, learning, exploration, and adventure.

Connecticut Wine Trail

Experience stunning scenery as well as vineyard lore on this wineries trail

Travelers along the Connecticut Wine Trail will do more than soak in stunning scenery: They will learn about the astonishing variety of regional wines, from sophisticated chardonnays and robust reds to pumpkin and heirloom apple wines, as well as the history of some of the bucolic farmlands that host the trail’s 24 wineries. At some wineries, there are, in addition to tastings, sessions on artisanal cheeses, chocolate pairings and cooking classes using ingredients fresh from the farms. Learn about barrel fermentation and the origins of some of the wineries’ unique tasting rooms, created from 19th century barns or stone buildings. Enjoy live music, festivals and film nights as you collect stamps on your wineries passport. Please check our website for winery reopening and safety information.

Rabbit Hill Inn

48 Lower Waterford Road Lower Waterford, VT, 05848 Phone: 802-748-5168

Culinary travelers need go no farther than this luxury inn

Soft music, flickering candles, attentive wait staff: Those are all features of the AAA Four Diamond rated restaurant at Rabbit Hill Inn, one of Vermont’s best dining establishments. And that’s before you get to the food. Morning meals at the bed-and-breakfast inn are bountiful: begin with homemade baked goods and granola, fresh fruits and yogurts. Then choose from two tempting and creative hot entrees. But dinner is a true work of art, featuring innovative menus based on seasonal and local ingredients – summer fare includes 72-hour beef short rib and Moroccan spiced monkfish – presented artistically. The restaurant also offers a carefully selected wine list. For those craving a craft beer, the Irish-style Snooty Fox Pub is ready to serve. Current menu is available on website. Rated #39 of the Top 100 Hotels Worldwide, #3 in the USA, and #1 in the Northeast by Travel & Leisure, July 2020.

Center for Wine & Culinary Arts

at Ocean House Resort - 1 Bluff Avenue Watch Hill, RI, 02891 Phone: Toll-Free: 877-346-9442

From cooking classes to delightful dining, this inn is a must for culinary travelers

It’s not many resorts that offer you both several options to dine on exquisite culinary creations but also the opportunity to learn how to create your own masterpieces in your home kitchen. The Ocean House Resort, on a bluff overlooking the sea, is one of those resorts, featuring on-site restaurants ranging from the award-winning COAST (Forbes and AAA five-star rated) with its seasonal menu that changes nightly to the traditional brasserie fare at The Bistro to the fresh shellfish served up at the Verandah Raw Bar. At the resort’s Center for Wine & Culinary Arts, class topics include the basics of wine tasting, how to master the art of the souffle and a fall baking primer.

Visit our sister properties - Weekapaug Inn - Watch Hill Inn

Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks

1168 County Road Montpelier, VT, 05602 Phone: Toll-Free: 800-242-2740

Come for the sugarin’ – stay for the fun

Everything maple is on the menu and the Morse family knows its syrup. Starting eight generations ago, their earliest ancestors were taught how to tap maple trees by Native Americans. In winter, sit a spell in front of a fire and enjoy a Vermont breakfast and delicious natural snacks. Savor some sugar on snow in the sugar house during “sugarin’ time” in March - hot maple sugar turned to taffy when it’s drizzled over shaved ice and served with a fresh donut. In summer the farm stand opens with the best of the region’s fruits and vegetables. Year-round there are monthly events, trails to wander, and maple syrup, pies, jams and jellies to satisfy. Tour groups are welcome. Get your maple on!

Publick House Historic Inn On the Common

277 Main Street - Route 131 Sturbridge, MA, 01566 Phone: 508-347-3313 Toll-Free: 800-782-5425

A culinary bounty New England Style

Traveling New England’s back roads leads to their historic Inns and tasty fare. Publick House features traditional New England-style dining in the Tap Room, with its six-foot open hearth fireplace for warming just as it did for our early American ancestors. Ebenezer’s offers 18th century ambiance, wingback chairs, comfortable couches by the fireplace, and vintage brass beer taps and rum barrels. Sample jumbo crab cakes and home-made potato chips, generous portions of shepherd’s pie and old-fashioned chicken pot pie. Feast on lunch and dinner meals like lobster mac n' cheese, pan-roasted salmon, roasted turkey dinners and old fashioned Yankee pot roast. The old bake shoppe has sweet treats baked daily, Publick House favorites like apple butter and jams, and new to-go foods to take home for dinner.

Bishop's Orchards

1355 Boston Post Road Guilford, CT, 06437 Phone: 203-453-2338

Tastes and flavors to savor on a celebrated Connecticut farm

Here, the 144-year family tradition is to grow everything with integrity and concern for the environment. You’ll find acres of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, pears, apples, and pumpkins to pick. The retail market, bakery, and most recently, the winery provide an endless array of tastes and flavors. Savor soups and salads and stock up on produce, cider, meat, pies and trays of the most popular dishes. The winery offers award winning fruit wines and others from Connecticut vineyards including Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Merlot, Vidal Blanc, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and numerous White, Roses and Reds. The Wine Bar, offers tastings year round Monday - Sunday with special events and weekend educational offerings always on tap. Winery tours may be taken on the weekends at 2pm.

Liberty Hill Farm & Inn

511 Liberty Hill Road Rochester, VT, 05767 Phone: 802-767-3926

Celebrated cuisine, comfort food at its finest, at this farm inn

Conjure up the most bountiful country breakfast you can think of, and it probably still falls short of what’s offered at the Liberty Hill Farm & Inn, where guests have been warmly welcomed since 1984. Stays at the farm, with its seven comfy guest rooms, begin with pancakes, eggs, homemade sausage, hot-from-the-oven coffee cakes and muffins and a guest favorite, baked oatmeal. As for dinner, it’s comfort food at its finest, with homemade breads, fresh veggies (maybe some you picked), salad, a main course (chicken pot pie is a favorite) and fresh-baked desserts. The food is so good, Gourmet magazine devoted an entire feature to it. But the best part is the laughter of guests enjoying their meals sitting around the table.

Bon Appétit! - Liberty Hill Farm B&B was recently named Vermont Innkeeper of the Year by Yankee Magazine!