This cat knows beer

There's no shortage of brewpubs in Vermont, there isn't even a shortage of brewpubs that serve good beer, but there is a shortage of brewpubs serving good beer and extraordinary food. I found one this weekend in Bristol, Vt.: The Bobcat Cafe.

All seven beers on tap were good, and several were very good: We especially liked the wit beer, the California common, the helles bock, and the Baltic porter.

Then the food arrived.

Cucumber gazpacho was a lovely light green color and managed to be both cooling and tangy. An heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad was served with a balsamic reduction and garlic and basil-infused olive oil that we kept dipping our bread into long after the salad was gone. Beer-braised duck served on a mushroom crepe with macerated cherries had a wonderful combination of earthy, gamey, and tart flavors.

The Bobcat rocketed from a pleasant place to spend an afternoon to a place I started making plans to return to the minute we left.