Original Skiff Crab & Artichoke Dip
This creamy, rich dip is effortless to prepare and perfect for any summer gathering.
Original Skiff, Burlington
BRINGING THE SHORE EXPERIENCE TO VERMONT
It’s a warm summer night in Burlington, and you’re out looking for some fun and some food. In the distance, you hear revelry and see people sitting at tables outside Hotel Champlain in the deepening twilight. Some sip frozen drinks, and others lick creemees they ordered from the sliding windows that offer a glimpse into the sea-themed scene inside. Intrigued, you go inside the hotel, drawn to the similarly happy vibe you experienced outside. Original Skiff has beckoned you, and you have answered.
Enter, and you’re dazzled by the bright, classy oyster bar, its white tiles perfectly matching the inside of the shells of the eponymous mollusks. Tonight you’re thinking outside the shell, but you know already you’ll want to come back for oysters.
You head for the dining room, and a member of the staff greets you and leads you past the long, bustling bar decked out in a way that brings a classic wooden boat to mind. Happy people fill the Caribbean-blue Hollywood banquettes that
wrap them around the food on their tables. The nautically themed decor sets you afloat in the experience, your eyes full from the feast the restaurant presents, your appetite whetted for your meal.
You may feel like you’ve been here before, this kitschy, campy throwback of a place. That’s because you have. Maybe you experienced something similar on Cape Cod or in South Carolina. Maybe you’ve seen this picture-perfect setting in a movie or on television.
The restaurant draws on many themes that are, until now, impossible to experience in Vermont. Eric Warnstedt, who designed the Original Skiff experience, calls the restaurant a “modern take on the traditional oyster bar that you’d find anywhere from Bar Harbor to the Florida Keys. It’s our homage or love letter to all things camp and coast.”
Eric is from Florida but has lived in Vermont for 20 years, crafting unique dining experiences at his restaurants Hen of the Wood, Prohibition Pig, and Doc Ponds Eat & Drink. Although he doesn’t own Original Skiff, the concept and the branding are his. Eric also hand-selected the team to open the restaurant, including General Manager Marina Cook and Chef de Cuisine Kevin Sprouse, both formerly of Philo Ridge Farm. With the design and team in place, Eric handed off Original Skiff to Hotel Champlain, the upbranded former Burlington Hilton.
Original Skiff's Vermont-made Mexican Larger, a real crusher, will go well with whatever seafood you're enjoying. Photo: Ben Hudson
The sign outside the restaurant is as playful and inviting as the vibe inside. Photo:Ben Hudson
As at Eric’s restaurants, Original Skiff relies on local bakers, artisans, and farmers for vegetables, greens, and land-based proteins. “There’s no way we would ignore all the core basics of what Vermont has to offer us,” Eric says. “Original Skiff has one foot firmly planted in the Vermont camp, but yet one foot even more deeply planted in the salt water.”
That salt water is off the shores of Vermont’s New England neighbors, from which all the seafood served at Original Skiff is sourced. These include lobster and clams, of course, as well as bluefish, a white fish for frying, and more.
Eric’s vision of Original Skiff wouldn’t be possible without the help of Ethan Wood of Wood Mountain Fish. Ethan makes several trips to Boston Fish Market each week to bring Original Skiff the wide variety of seafood found on the menu.
Perhaps as another nod to Vermont, Original Skiff has developed its own beer. Mexican in style, Eric refers to it as “a real crusher.” One or two might go well as you down your oysters, little neck clams, or other offerings at the oyster bar, savor your crudo, or work your way through a steak—swordfish or beef. The bar also serves vacation-themed drinks and frozen cocktails and features a robust selection of rums.
When you leave after a festive evening and a filling meal, maybe you’ll be caught up in the tide of nostalgia Eric has expertly crafted. Or maybe, in a day or a week or on your next trip to Burlington, you’ll be nostalgic to return to that hopping, campy fish joint at Hotel Champlain.
@original_skiff_oyster
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