Does Bo Muller-Moore Have the Best (And Most Accomplished) Mustache in America?

Bo Muller-Moore wears a lot of hats: He's a prolific T-shirt artist; a folk hero of local agriculture and the fight against corporate bullying; a thorn in Chick-fil-A's side; and a devoted family man and caregiver.

To judges at the American Mustache Insititute, Muller-More also combines a notable mustache with service in such a way that he emerged from 900 nominees as a finalist for the Goulet Award, an honor that annually recognizes a mustachioed gentleman who "best represents or contributes to the Mustached American community during the prior year."

The award, named for blustery actor Robert Goulet, honors the singer's "voice, trademark mustache, sense of humor, and black leather jackets, a quadruple-threat of talent the American Mustache Institute is proud to salute." 

With his signature black tophat and oodles of personality, Muller-Moore seems like a shoo-in for the award, but he faces some stiff competition: a U.S. Senate sergeant-at-arms; an auto-parts tycoon and NFL team owner; the former CEO of a San Antonio homeless rehab center; and an MIT biology professor who works to decode the human genome.

Muller-Moore was slightly surprised to be nominated. "I don't want to split hairs, but I wear a beard. I would argue that mustaches and beards are two very different critters," he says — but if the insitute isn't worried, neither is he.

How to Raise and Roast a Goat (in 10 Quick and Easy Steps!)

1. Acquire some goats. (Remember: The cuter the animal, the tastier the meat.)

Meet Winston and Walter, our protagonists today. My husband Colin and I procured these lovely little fellows in May. We live on a small farm in Shoreham, just down the road from Twig Farm in West Cornwall. Cheesemaker Michael Lee makes a mean tomme, and it turns out that one of the biological imperatives of milking goats is ... baby goats. Most cheesemakers face a glut every spring of young male goats, called bucklings. 

We approached the business of raising goats not unlike the way we approached the business of raising cows, and raising a puppy: Acquire the animal, then figure it out. Our delightful friends Lucas Farrell and Louisa Conrad (of Townshend-based Big Picture Farm, purveyors of award-winning goat-milk caramels) convinced us that goats were a piece of cake and no trouble at all and super cute (admittedly, my words, not theirs — although if that blog isn't goat propaganda, I don't know what is). 

So we paid Lee $25 apiece of two mostly weaned wethers (castrated males) and piled Walter and Winston into a large dog crate for the short drive home. 

Alice Eats: Men at Wok

3 Taft Corners Shopping Center, Williston, 878-2850

I love Chinese food of every region, the more down and dirty the better. I spent Saturday slowly eating my way through the New World Mall Food Court in Flushing, N.Y. Knife-cut noodle soup, pork-belly buns, Xinjiang-style lamb skewers and the made-to-order soup bao at right were just part of it. I did it all.

But you know the joke about being hungry again in an hour — when I got home, I was still craving Chinese. I've heard for years from people I trust, including 7 Nights commenters, that while Americanized, Men at Wok in Williston was one of the best places around to get a great, quick Chinese fix...

Grazing: Couscous with Spicy Kohlrabi, Chocolate, Cumin Cheese and Vegemite, Splendid Table-Style

Last week, The Splendid Table's Lynne Rossetto Kasper visited Brattleboro to take part in Vermont Public Radio's annual Listener Picnic. In between admitting that okra is her no-go and signing dozens of books, Kasper playfully indulged the audience for a few rounds of "Stump the Cook," during which listeners try to stymie her with five usually odd and disparate ingredients in their refrigerator or pantry.

For sheer strangeness, those from Charlotte's Jacob Edgar were unmatched: A bag of cacao nibs from his father-in-law; a block of cumin cheese, a favorite during the year Edgar and his family lived in Amsterdam; a mysterious, unlabeled spice mix picked up during a recent trip to Turkey; kohlrabi from their CSA share at Charlotte's Stoneyloam Farm; and a jar of Vegemite brought back from Australia several years ago. ("It doesn't appear to go bad," wrote Deirdre Holmes, Edgar's wife, in an email).

As is her way, Kasper plunged in with imagination and verve. She advised Edgar to rub the kohlrabi with the spice paste and then roast it to get “a lovely crustiness." Then, she instructed, make a broth for the cous cous with the Vegemite ("but just a teaspoon, thank you very much"). Into this, Kasper suggested, he could load cacao nibs, raisins, cubed cumin cheese, some cinnamon and paprika, fresh coriander, olive oil, salt and “a ton of black pepper.”

Magic Hat #9 Lands at #13 on Portland Paper's Beer List

Our alt-weekly comrades at Portland, Ore.'s Willamette Week got into the election-season spirit by rounding up the "flagship" craft beer from each state and ranking each to determine the "President of Beers." (A blind taste test of 50 beers? Tough gig, eh?) The project began with this rousing mission statement:

Beer is liquid culture, and America’s tapestry of wildly varied laws creates very different visions of what’s popular or possible.

...beer birthed civilization. If, as many anthropologists believe, early human clans settled into cities to ferment grains, isn’t the beer ... a fair benchmark of its peoples’ progress? Why even bother with civilization—entering a social contract, punching ballots and paying taxes—if we can’t get better beer out of it?

Naturally, this Vermont beer geek paid close attention to the list — we've still got the most breweries of any state per capita, after all. Willamette Week's team picked Magic Hat #9 to represent our fair state, and it came in 13th on the list. Not a bad showing, but not great, either.

Skinny Pancake to Open Three Eateries at Burlington Airport

Local crêperie the Skinny Pancake will expand to the Burlington International Airport by this winter, according to a source at the airport and an article written by co-owner Benjy Adler in a local magazine.

The eateries, slated to open in mid-December, will include a Chubby Muffin kiosk across from the check-in counters and a full-service Skinny Pancake café in each of the two concourses, says Ryan Betcher, who handles marketing, leases and contracts for the airport.

Skinny Pancake owners Benjy and Jonny Adler began their business with a mobile cart in 2003. Their mini-chain has grown to include two restaurants — one each in Burlington and Montpelier — and a café in the Old North End, the Chubby Muffin. 

Alice Eats: Pizza at Panadero

203 North Winooski Avenue, Burlington, 863-8278

Panadero Bakery is known for its tarts by day, but since August, it has been moonlighting as a pizza joint.

Perhaps joint isn't the right word. With low lighting and white Christmas lights dotting the space like stars, a near-magical hush overtakes the bakery on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.

I was there last Friday, a little after 8 p.m., and all six tables were full. However, I was seated after a less-than-10-minute wait.