The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

American Flatbread, Burlington, VT

Postal Grunt's picture
Postal Grunt

American Flatbread, Burlington, VT

While vacationing in New England, Mrs PG and I used Hotwire to snag a room during the height of foliage season in Burlington, VT. Burlington is great town, not too big and sophisticated enough to have thriving scenes in both the arts and food.

American Flatbread is located in the heart of downtown Burlington. While it brews some fine and often eccentric beers, it also puts out an excellent selection of thin crust pizza. Some salads are also available but little else besides the pies. The pies are baked in a different (for me, that is) wood fired oven. The oven has a fire pit that runs down the middle of the floor of the oven. The pizzaiolo at the oven that night said it maintains a floor temperature of 550F and needs four to seven minutes for each pie depending on whether it's 12" or 16"  wide, taking the higher number on busy weekends.The crust is a thin, yeast raised dough that leaves the oven with a very desirable black char spotted bottom and ours was cut in the St Louis style party cut of squares rather than wedges.

Highly recommended.

Floydm's picture
Floydm

We just passed through Burlington too and met a friend for lunch at August First Bakery. I can hardly claim to have exhaustively tested the menu in a single meal, but everything we had was quite good including the breads and cookies.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

very different.  Do they bake pies on each side of the fire pit?  It would be cool if it was like a see through fireplace with openings on both sides of the fore for two pie masters at a time!  Tough to beat good beer and fine pie.  Sounds like you had a good vacation and found a good spot to stay for a while.

Happy Baking PG

Postal Grunt's picture
Postal Grunt

The oven at AF was inserted into a corner of the dining area which allows customers a good view of what's cooking inside. The fire pit is kind of a trench, about 18" wide and 5 or 6" deep. They had burning wood or coals through the length of it, maybe 8 feet. Pies were cooking on both sides of the oven though on a Monday night it wasn't jammed full. The pies are assembled on a nearby table to the right of the oven for ease of loading into the oven.

Burlington is a fine town with the University of Vermont located in the city. Don't forget, Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream got its start there in a converted gas station. Norwich, VT, home of KAF, is about 90 miles down the interstate. If it weren't for the long, cold winters, Mrs PG and I would consider relocating there.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

shock from MO to VT might change your mind too but the winter is no friend of Dabrownman either  - even the ones in MO!  I was talking to my Dad, who lives in Joplin, yesterday on the phone and he said he had a guy with a dozer push over a dozen large red oak trees that died in last winter's storms.  If you have WFO or fireplace and interest,  he is giving the wood away to anyone who wants to cut it up and haul it off. 

That oven sounds interesting and should produce a more even heat throughout the baking area rather than having the fire on just one side,