Veganism is a sweet deal at Vermont inn

June 23, 2006

From the Dallas Morning news travel section ( just to confuse me!): 12:47 PM CDT on Friday, June 23, 2006 By SACHA PFEIFFER / The Boston Globe HANCOCK, Vt. – A confession to Ron and Kathy Heatley: I eat meat. I wondered if that would make me a pariah at the Sweet Onion Inn, the organic vegan bed-and-breakfast they opened 11 years ago in this tiny town in central Vermont. Veganism, for those unfamiliar with the term, is vegetarianism at its strictest. Vegans shun not just meat and seafood, but all animal products. That means a vegan diet is derived solely from fruits, nuts, vegetables and grains. The Heatleys are also committed to eating organically. And they ban white sugar, which Ron, a nutritionist and the inn's chef, considers a

dietary evil. Meat or not, I couldn't resist when I spotted the inn's business card at a vegetarian festival in Boston a few months ago. That's how I ended up spending two nights there in late December – and I was charmed from the moment we arrived and found an outdoor chalkboard welcoming us. One of my favorite things about the Sweet Onion is that breakfast and dinner are included in the price of a room. Twenty dollars will be subtracted from your nightly bill if you give at least 48 hours' notice that you plan to eat dinner elsewhere, but don't cheat yourself. Ron's excellent cooking is worth staying for. The inn has six simple but comfortable bedrooms, none of which has a phone, television or alarm clock. Also be warned that cellphones will probably be useless here because of the dearth of cell towers. We stayed upstairs in the White River Room, stenciled with pineapples and furnished sparingly with a queen bed, bureau, chair and

two end tables. A cushioned window seat offered a distant view of the Green Mountains and White River, and our private bathroom was roomy except for the cramped plastic shower. Downstairs are an enclosed sun porch, a dining room and a sitting room. The Sweet Onion offers a variety of wellness services such as therapeutic massage, reiki (energy manipulation to reduce stress and promote healing), past-life regression, soul retrieval, raindrop treatments, karma clearing and "emotional freedom techniques." Some are offered by Kathy, a certified hypnotist and hypnotherapist, others by outside instructors. We chose to clear our karmas by cross-country skiing, since the inn is in the White River Valley and Green Mountain National Forest. The whole area is paradise for hikers, bikers, swimmers, kayakers, skiers, snowshoers and ice-skaters. Central Vermont is also replete with glassblowing studios, small art galleries, woodcarving and pottery

shops, cider mills, maple syrup farms and other quaint stops. The Heatleys are enthusiastic tour guides, happy to suggest activities. For me, the highlight of our stay was the food. Guests eat family-style at the same times (8 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.) at the same table, which seats up to 12. Our first dinner started with awkward small talk, but conversation was flowing by dessert. Ron's chatty presence helped. We were surprised to find that about half the guests we met were, like us, meat eaters. "We try not to inflict ourselves on anybody," explained Ron, who drifted into veganism years ago. We arrived the first night with raging appetites after a day of skiing, and I have blissful memories of that meal: sourdough bread, mixed greens and citrus with balsamic vinaigrette, barley-red lentil soup, whole-wheat vegetable pot pie, steamed kale spritzed with lemon juice and apple crisp. The food was plentiful, and we had thirds of nearly

everything. The second night brought sesame bread, salad with roasted red pepper dressing, minestrone soup, steamed broccoli, a garlicky cauliflower-pasta dish and carrot cake. Our first breakfast was the only stereotypically vegan meal we had: "soy-sage," a faux sausage of tempeh, rolled oats and oat bran spiced with tamari soy sauce, marjoram, thyme, sage and black pepper. It was accompanied by miso gravy, whole-wheat biscuits and roasted potatoes. Ron is a talent in the kitchen. Only the desserts, made with natural sweeteners such as agave nectar, disappointed me. The inn has a few drawbacks. One is thin walls. Another is the unsoftened tap water, which can have an off-putting metallic smell and taste. Finally, there are the so-called cluster flies that buzzed annoyingly around our room. When you

go Sweet Onion Inn is in Hancock, Vt., about 170 miles from Boston. Rates: $120 for one person, $150 for two people (includes breakfast and dinner). Contact: 1-800-897-6490; www.sweetonioninn.com. Peter H

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