Alice Eats: Handmade Food

Saturday night, 400 Pine Street, Burlington, 540-0406

For my feature in the paper this week, I hit up four of the regular pop-up nights at the ArtsRiot Kitchen Collective. I wasn't able to make it to the fifth, kitchen manager Tommy Winrock's Saturday Handmade Food night, before press time.

Since it was Thanksgiving weekend, Winrock stuck to the basics. Suspecting that some diners were already sick of their leftover turkey, Winrock declared that evening Wing Night.

It was a refreshing departure from gorging on stuffing. And even with such simple food, the New England Culinary Institute alum's talent shined through.

Seriously, even the carrot and celery sticks were  cut in textbook batonnets. My dining partner can be shy about the spice and vinegar of Buffalo wings, but he appreciated Winrock's crisp version, especially dipped in the thick side of blue cheese dressing.

The spice-rubbed wings were more fun, though. A subtle burn built slowly amid a slew of dry herbs dominated by oregano.

I was less enchanted with the sweet potato fries. Not as uniform as the raw veggies, some were ideally crisp, but others flopped when I picked them up. All the same, they were well seasoned and a nice departure from the regular potato option.