Hartland native Nora Rice will open Seasoned Skillet by the end of January or early February at 29 North Main Street in Randolph. The casual, bistro-style dinner menu will feature seasonal, locally sourced comfort food similar to recipes developed for The Vermont Farm to Table Cookbook, which Rice, 25, coauthored with her sister Jenna Rice and published last year.
Nora Rice completed a six-month Chefs Academy culinary course at Ashburton Cookery School in Devon, England, in 2019. She cooked in Italy, Ireland and Montana before returning home to Vermont and launching mobile catering business Roaming Roots Kitchen. Rice said she was looking for a place for a restaurant when she learned of the vacancy created by Short Notice, which closed in October after a little more than two years in business.
The chef described her planned menu as “homestyle comfort food with a bit of a twist,” displaying “influences from places all over the world” while remaining rooted in Vermont ingredients. Seasonal dishes might include butternut-sage gratin, braised short ribs, chicken pot pie, maple-bourbon crème brûlée and tiramisu.
Seasoned Skillet will serve dinner Thursday through Sunday. Rice said customers will order at the counter and food will be delivered to their table. She plans to offer live music one night a week.
Melissa Pasanen is a Seven Days staff writer and the food and drink assignment editor. In 2022, she won first place for national food writing from the Association of Alternative Newsmedia and in 2024, she took second. Melissa joined Seven Days full time…
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Dining and Cooking