The Vanilla Bean Cafe in Pomfret, CT, is Good for the Heart -- and Your Hearty Appetite

Article and photo by Eric H, at VisitingNewEngland.com

One of our favorite day trips is traveling to the postcard-picture perfect town of Pomfret, CT, enjoying the rolling country hills, shaded country roads, expansive traditional New England village green and dining at the special Vanilla Bean Cafe.

A charming, converted, renovated 1800s farmhouse, the Vanilla Bean Cafe will warm your heart and fill your hearty appetite with its great breakfasts, lunches and dinners in a casual, cozy setting. The dining experience perfectly complements the laid-back, relaxing feel of this area known as the "Quiet Corner" of northeastern Connecticut as it's almost like an indoor community village green where people come to meet over a cup of fresh coffee and delicious homemade meals. What's more, the Vanilla Bean becomes an entertainment spot on Saturday night with folk singers (some famous including past performances from Geoff Muldaur and Lori McKenna). With pleasant outdoor seating in the warmer weather and a quaint, dimly-lit "country" main dining room that includes a sofa, the Vanilla Bean is one of the most cozy restaurants we've been to in the New England region. It's like someone invited you into their living room.

The food is simply amazingly fresh, whether it be a muffin, mixed greens salad, fresh turkey sandwich, a pork dish with flavorful wild rice, savory beans and appropriate spices, huge hot dogs or the made-from-scratch carrot or chocolate cakes. You order at the counter where the service is always pleasant and then wait for your order in the dining room. The counter help gives you a huge playing card that the waitstaff uses to identify where to serve the food!

The Vanilla Bean Cafe is a perfect dining choice for the fall foliage season, to warm up on a cold winter's night, to revel in the laundry fresh smell of spring, or as part of a hot summer's day travel where you will be welcomed by a staff that truly values its customers -- and you get to sample some wonderful food, entertainment and ambiance, in return.

The Vanilla Bean Cafe, Corner of Routes 44, 169, and 197, Pomfret, CT., Tel. Tel (860-928-1562