Alice Eats: Superb Cupcakes

5 Taft Corners Shopping Center, Williston, 871-5941

Have you ever been outsmarted by a cupcake? It could happen.

Though ice cream, macarons, doughnuts and now even cronuts have come and gone in bigger cities, cupcakes have had the staying power of a cockroach in and around the Queen City. It could be declared Vermont's official dessert.

And there's a reason: Cupcakes are good. Especially cupcakes like the Root Beer Float from Superb Cupcakes in Williston.

It was that delectable dessert that got the better of me. Somehow, baker-owners Joseph Emmons and Hannah Lenehan crammed every bit of flavor from the sugary drink into a baked form.

Forget the chocolate cupcake and its pleasantly spongy bounce. It simply blends with the buttercream on top, intensely flavored with root beer, then glazed with even more of the stuff. Inside, fluffy vanilla cream approximates a bobbing scoop of ice cream. Save the drastic temperature difference, you will be fooled.

Alice Eats: NECI on Main's Restaurant Week Déjeuner à la Française

118 Main Street, Montpelier, 223-3188

Back home in Connecticut, my friends and I favored lunch at a now-shuttered French bistro called Le Figaro. Steak frites at 11:30 a.m? Hell, yeah.

Now that my hometown celebrity chef Jean-Louis Gerin is at the helm of the New England Culinary Institute, a wonderful piece of home is here with me in Vermont. And just for Vermont Restaurant Week, he's imported an elegant bistro lunch to NECI on Main that I wish my childhood friends were here to share with me.

For $15, diners choose two of the three listed courses from chef Andre Burnier's bill of fare.

We started with a simple salade verte, dressed in lemon and olive oil and showered with crumbled goat cheese. Walnuts and apple matchsticks lent a dry and wet crunch, respectively.

A different "wholesome, single-vegetable soup" changes each day as the second appetizer option. Tomato was the offering that day and it was simple, comforting and flecked with garlic as well as the requisite basil. A big, grilled crostini lolled in the potage, soaking up the red broth. The flavor of the char on the bread was so enticing that I gobbled it up, despite the fact that I'd already partaken of the bread basket with three different types of home-baked breads, including a satisfyingly sour, sturdy whole-grain loaf.

Alice Eats: Battle of the Campus Chefs

Last night I judged the University of Vermont's Battle of the Campus Chefs for the third year in a row. As I was leaving work, one colleague asked if I was going to be tasting Salisbury steak. Such notions are exactly why it's important to me to take time out of my schedule each year to join the fight.

There were days, I'm sure, when university chefs mostly consisted of lunch ladies without much of a palate or concern for quality of ingredients. But that's changed. Now, most chefs at UVM and other universities have culinary school training and impressive resumés.

Why leave restaurants? The soul-wearying stress, for one. Also, many chefs have young families and would like to see them occasionally. College schedules allow that. And once a year, those chefs (with the assistance of UVM club members, such as Slow Food and Engineers Without Borders) get to stut their stuff in one of Vermont's most impressive displays of culinary skill. Seriously.

And last night, the contest was closer than ever.

Among the nine competitors, four had nearly equal scores — at least in my estimation. Though there were some inevitable clunkers, most dishes were not only solidly conceived and prepared, but showcased primarily local ingredients.

Alice Eats: Aleka's

103 Margaret Street, Plattsburgh, NY, 518-310-3200

As wonderful and varied as Vermont's dining options are, sometimes I have to catch a ferry to get what I'm after. Plattsburgh is the closest place for me to get satisfactory Indian food — at Karma Indian Restaurant. Now I can add Aleka's as the across-the-lake place to fill the Greek hole in my soul.

The food at this restaurant, which opened last fall, reminded me of what I grew up eating in the New York City suburbs, where practically every convenience store had a kick-ass gyro.

Everyone with whom I interacted at Aleka's was exceptionally friendly. When I told my server that I'd seen a video online of the restaurant's chef making saganaki, she went into the kitchen to see if the crew could do the same for me, even though the sometime special wasn't on the menu that day.

Alice Eats: Three Brothers Pizza & Grill

973 Roosevelt Highway, Colchester, 655-5550

Sometimes places fly under my radar until I hear that they have fried brownie bites. Such was the case with Three Brothers Pizza & Grill, a casual pizzeria and sandwich spot adjacent to a gas station in Colchester, just up Roosevelt Highway from Main Street, Winooski.

But when one of the three brothers, Rami Faour, sent me his Vermont Restaurant Week menu, I knew I couldn't wait until April 26 to try his restaurant.

The specials menu alone was so large that it was nearly impossible to decide. Braised veal-and-beef tortellacci in veal Marsala sauce? Sounded delicious, but I decided to stick to the enormous selection on the regular bill of fare.

Alice Eats: HJ House

95 St. Paul St., Burlington, 881-0336

Since its opening, I've been a fan of HJ House, especially its inexpensive lunch deals. The $7.99 bento box filled with spicy, cold noodles; tomato-and-cucumber salad; calamari; and a bowl of miso soup is one of my favorite workday lunch deals.

But when I reviewed the spot in 2010, I was less than impressed with the ramen. Now, I'm ready to endorse it.

In recent months, the noodle soups have become one of my go-to meals when I'm downtown. The problem is, I'm in the minority. Despite good food, low prices and a friendly atmosphere, I'm usually one of the only patrons at HJ House when I visit.

Alice Eats: The Bagel Place

1166 Williston Road, South Burlington, 497-2058

Its interior finished with boards from a 1791 Shelburne barn, the Bagel Place, the newest eatery on Williston Road, is classier than your average bagel joint. But does the food match the ambience?

Last Sunday, it was suitably crowded with families lining up for a quick breakfast. And it was quick. A team of counter servers assembled my meal so fast, the folks at Burger King would blush. The prices, too, were comparable for a product that surprised me with its quality. My large meal for two added up to $23.46.

Naturally, I started with breakfast. A honey-whole-wheat bagel crackled with whole grains and betrayed just a hint of sweetness. It was filled with a freshly cooked egg, cheddar and Taylor ham. The hard-to-find product was a fun addition, but with just a single slice, I could barely taste it.

Alice Eats: A Little Peruvian

Burlington Winter Farmers Market, every other Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Memorial Auditorium. Info, 310-5172.

There are lots of favorite foods I grew up eating in the New York City suburbs of Connecticut that I long for living in the Green Mountains — Korean barbecue, great Indian buffets, Greek.

But thanks to another Connecticut kid, there's one itch that I'm now finally getting scratched: Peruvian. Since debuting at last summer's Burlington and Capital City Farmers Markets, Hugo Lara has refined his fare into a thoroughly comforting fusion of Vermont ingredients and Peruvian flavors.

At last Saturday's Burlington Winter Farmers Market, I ate my way through Lara's whole menu and found the concise offerings thoroughly satisfying.

I was most excited to try the chicharrón sandwich. I was initially disappointed that the pork from North Hollow Farm wasn't crispier — after all, chicharrones in their most basic form are essentially pork rinds. However, the slider-sized, crusty bun from Stewart's Bakery added its own crunch to the flavorful pork. So did red onions. Meanwhile, sliced yams lent an earthy sweetness.

And I got to have my first taste of aji in Vermont. The mint-green, mayo-based sauce rests in squeeze bottles on every table at the Peruvian restaurants I frequented back home. I found A Little Peruvian's version a bit light on the jalapeños (some of my favorite restaurants refer to the spicy sauce simply as "picante"), but the tangy, cilantro-flecked sauce still hit the spot.

Alice Eats: Rick's Grill

25 Centre Drive, Milton, 893-7425

For competition-quality smoked meats, I know I can head to Bluebird Barbecue in Burlington or hit up the Belted Cow Bistro in Essex on its Tuesday barbecue nights. But there's a new game in Chittenden County.

Barbecue specialist Rick LeBlanc of Rick's Catering quietly opened a restaurant of his own in December. The spot, just off the main road in Milton, is hard to find if you don't know where to look. For years, LeBlanc owned the space as Rick's Pizza, but it has laid dormant for years.

LeBlanc told me last night that he finally decided to open a new restaurant rather than leave the building empty.

The result is a friendly neighborhood restaurant serving food and drinks that are, frankly, better than they need to be. The only local competition at dinnertime is from fast-food joints and diners.

But LeBlanc is clearly an overachiever in his pubby genre, offering a huge menu and well-made comfort food. The restaurant even has a custom ale from Long Trail Brewing Company, along with Fiddlehead and other local and nonlocal brews. Everything I tried at Rick's was well-prepared home cooking that blended the cuisines of Vermont with those of regions farther south.

Our server Ashley was one such Southern "ingredient," sweet as praline and seemingly excited to help make our experience a great one. She recommended that we start with the boneless wings. A fine choice.

The chunky nuggets of breast meat were exceptionally juicy, with a light, crispy coat. LeBlanc said he's not a fan of the honey-garlic sauce, the invention of his manager. The the clumpy sauce wasn't pretty, but I thought the roasted allium tasted unexpectedly delicious combined with thick honey.

Alice Eats: Positive Pie Tap & Grill

65-69 Main Street, Plainfield, 454-0133

Positive Pie was a friendly culinary face in Plainfield for almost as long as I can remember. Last spring, it took over the space that was formerly River Run and, as Positive Pie Tap & Grill, became far more than a pizzeria.

I felt conspicuous as a nonlocal entering the neighborhood spot, but it was worth it.

With my budget, I didn't indulge too much in the restaurant's taps but was impressed by the selection. Nineteen brews included plenty of local faves — including beers from Hill Farmstead and Bobcat Café — as well as national cult concoctions such as Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast. I went for the 20th tap — a big glass of licorice-flavored Rookie's Root Beer.

Food came out quickly, with the rosemary pizza (above) leading the charge. The crust was thin enough to be simultaneously crisp and chewy. A piquant garlic-Parmesan sauce proved an excellent background for a powerful (but not overwhelming) dose of the fresh herb. Chunks of chicken added chewiness, while slices of tomato lent a welcome hit of acid.

I couldn't resist a $4 order of fried Brussels sprouts, referred to on the menu as "little nuggets of love." I would have been more besotted had the sprouts been cooked more before frying — most were underdone in the middle. But their tempura-like jackets were hard to resist, the Sriracha-aioli dipping sauce nigh on impossible.