Food & Drink

THE LOCALS IN VERMONT FLOCK TO CANTEEN CREEMEE CO.


In the Mad River Valley, the creemee reigns supreme.

WORDS BY SAM ALVIANIPHOTOGRAPHY BY KELLY BURGESS

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Canteen serves the Green Mountan State's summer scene with traditional creemees—and much wilder creations.

Updated

20 Sep 2024

Reading Time

5 Minutes

A LINE SNAKES UP TO A BANK of sliding order windows in a shopping plaza off Waitsfield Route 100. It's a Vermont summertime tradition: Canteen Creemee Co., a pint-sized corner landmark.

Truck beds have tubes piled high, fresh from floats on the Mad River. Wet hair, bathing suits, towels draped on shoulders—this is the scene on languid, high-summer days. As the line moves forward, hands reach out from the kitchen with voluminous twists of dark chocolate, maple, wild blueberry, basil and hon- ey lemon. Patrons stand by, catching loose drips on their tongues, reaching for more napkins. Canteen’s space, although renovated before opening in 2016, has a legacy of serving up snacks and creemees; for many years, it was Country Creemee & Grill.

“I love snack bars,” admits owner Charlie Menard. “I was always looking for places like this that made their own food. I wanted to make a place that did that.”

ROAD INTEL

Little River State Park, just north of historic Waterbury, offers 81 tent/RV sites.

Any summer road trip through Vermont will lead to a creemee stand; there are more than 400 in the state. The plush frozen dairy confection is a beloved staple, and eating it is a seasonal rite: its higher butterfat content and its landmark flavor of renown—maple—distinguish the creemee from your typical soft-serve experience. At Canteen, Menard sources his maple from local Dave Hartshorn and uses a classic creemee mix from Kingdom Creamery of Vermont in East Hardwick. “We use the 10-percent fat mix,” he says. “Nice, full fat.” Canteen also whips less air into its concoction than most rivals.

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The popular Chocolate & Maple twist Creemee.
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A disco ball hangs above the bright interior.
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Creemees are a Vermont summer staple.

What really sets Canteen apart in Vermont’s sea of creemees is the equal attention paid to its food menu. Fried chicken—from two-piece to 32-piece, served with cornbread pudding and pickles—anchors the savory offerings. They also sling a classic burger, a cheese-steak, sometimes duck confit. No freezer-to-fryer here, ever—everything is made to order, often by a kitchen staff populated by young people from the community. There’s a host of regular customers, bolstered by a surprising, burgeoning crop of road-trippers from far and wide.

Soon enough, skiers will descend from Sugarbush and Mad River Glen for a twist in the snow, but for now, it's warm days cooled by a creemee, unspooling into heady evenings.

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Canteen Cremee bustling during a rare heat wave.

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