Alpenglow's Classic Wiener Schnitzel
This signature dish is sure to be a crowd-pleaser for any occasion.
WHAT'S COOKING
Green Mountain Glow
FOR SUSAN MOTYL-SMITH, NO CHALLENGE SEEMS INSURMOUNTABLE, INCLUDING BRINGING THE BEAUTY AND CUISINE OF THE ALPS TO VERMONT.
German apfel fritters (fried apple rings) and ice cream are a treat for adults and children alike.
PHOTO: JUSTIN PEREGOY
It is said that Maria von Trapp chose Vermont as the family’s new home after leaving Europe because the Green Mountains reminded her of her beloved Alps. If Maria had been sitting with me and Susan Motyl-Smith, the owner of Alpenglow Bistro in Wilmington, as we talked in the restaurant’s lounge, she would have realized faster than I did that the constant pounding that provided the tempo of our conversation was chef Manny Rueda pounding veal flat for Wienerschnitzel, a staple of Austrian cuisine.
Susan is not Maria von Trapp, but like Maria, she immigrated to Vermont (from Massachusetts) and turned her talent and ambition into something she was neither trained in nor considered part of her life’s path.
Born in Pennsylvania, Susan and her family lived in Mexico and Venezuela until she was 16. She returned to the United States with an upbringing unlike most of her peers. That experience “has been the spice of my life,” Susan says.
Susan used her ability to speak Spanish fluently to land a job managing a recording studio devoted to Spanish-singing artists in California. In Massachusetts, she hosted and produced dance parties that were broadcast on Univision. Susan worked as a producer at Discovery Channel Latin America while living in Miami and as an interviewer at World Health News Today when she returned to California. The family moved back to Massachusetts, and when her husband Tom accepted a position in Brattleboro, the couple lived apart while their youngest children, twins, finished high school, and then Susan joined Tom in Vermont.
Susan was approached by a friend, Becky Clark, owner of Two Tannery Road restaurant in Dover, with an idea. A restaurant in Wilmington, Mangia e Beve (Eat and Drink), had recently closed, and Becky suggested they open a new eatery in that spot. Excited by the prospect of trying something new, Susan went for it. She and Becky purchased the space in 2019 and then rode out the pandemic, opening in July 2021. Along with Becky, with whom she co-owned and ran Alpenglow Bistro for the first year, and by herself since 2022, Susan developed and fine-tuned a concept for the restaurant that captured the ambiance of the Green Mountains—our Alps—and the actual Alps.
The European Alps are far taller than Vermont’s mountains, and the chain’s higher elevations are exposed rock or snowy expanses, depending on the season. On some mornings or evenings, if the conditions are perfect, the rising or setting sun paints the Alps in pinks and reds, a phenomenon known as “Alpenglow.”
“We really wanted to capture the essence of that word and the feeling you get when you see Alpenglow,” Susan says. “When you see that gorgeous rosy color on a beautiful mountainscape, it just makes you feel calm and at peace. And it makes you realize there are so many beautiful things in this world.”
Because the Alps wind through eight countries, Susan had plenty of culinary traditions from which to choose, although the menu and the mood lean Austrian. “Austria captures everything we want to capture. It’s German influenced. It’s Swiss influenced.”
Alpenglow Bistro’s menu of side dishes proves Susan’s point. Spinach spätzle, a German-influenced pasta brightened up in taste and color with the addition of the vibrant leafy green, is offered alongside Swiss-influenced pommes rösti, deep-fried potato balls served with crème fraîche and apple butter.
Because the Alps wind through eight countries, Susan had plenty of culinary traditions from which to choose, although the menu and the mood lean Austrian.
The elegant private dining room at Alpenglow Bistro is the perfect spot for large family gatherings and special celebrations. PHOTO: ALAINA TOBIN
Traverse the Alps by pairing the pommes rösti with Wienerschnitzel or German bier bratwurst, both dishes served with seasonally appropriate sides of their own, or by combining the spätzle with steamed moules marinières, which are mussels in white wine, garlic, and butter, served with a grilled baguette, or trout meunière in a brown butter caper parsley sauce. You could also experience the flavors of the Alps with the crepes that wrap fillings such as cremini mushroom, spinach, alpine cheese, Black Forest ham, and mustard. And why not start with salty, golden brown Bavarian pretzels served with a selection of mustards?
The hallways are painted black and adorned with photos of skiers who aren’t skiing but “après-skiing,” enjoying themselves slopeside. While the idea of après-ski may suggest a partylike gathering with lots of drinks and lots of noise, that is not the après-ski vibe you’ll find here.
Alpenglow Bistro is a cozy place, made cozier in fall and winter by a crackling fire in the lounge’s stone fireplace, white walls and warm woods in the dining room, and the return of fondues to the menu. “It’s not a rowdy, rambunctious place,” Susan says. “We get families who have been skiing all day,” and they come in for a quiet evening, as do the locals, looking for a night out.
“You come here and you get a nice, gorgeous plate of food,” Susan says. “We don’t skimp at all. And the cocktails are strong.” Dinner at Alpenglow is not inexpensive, she notes. While that may be true, it beats the cost of traveling to the Alps, especially when our Alps and the Alpenglow experience are in our backyard.
Hallacas, a traditional Venezuelan holiday food, were part of the multicultural holiday celebrations Susan Motyl-Smith enjoyed as a child.
A Melding of Traditions
Holiday celebrations are synonymous with traditions passed from generation to generation. This idea may work best when a family’s past is homogenous. But how do you celebrate the December holidays as Jews living in a very Christian South America? You do like Susan Motyl-Smith’s family did and blend traditions.
The family celebrated Hanukkah by lighting candles on a menorah and spinning the dreidel. But Susan and her siblings wanted a Christmas tree, so the family got one, decorated it, and called it a Hanukkah bush.
On Christmas, they each gave each family member one present and shared a big meal featuring the traditional Venezuelan holiday food, hallacas. Susan describes them as the most exquisite thing you can imagine. For those who have not been exposed to this South American treat, hallacas are meat, olives, raisins, pimentos, and spices encased in a ground corn-dough crust, wrapped in a banana leaf, and then steamed. Although unwrapping presents played a part in the Motyl family’s traditions, unwrapping a hallaca and spending time with family celebrating various traditions and creating new, hybrid ones was the actual gift.
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