The only thing constant in life is change.
Quaint place. I've eaten there a number of times
My God--that was one of my favorite restaurants. I live in the Boston area but made it a point to eat there whenever I visited Burlington/Middlebury. Prayers for the soul of the person whose body was found, and his/her relatives. (I need to see if there are further details on the Burlington Free Press
website, etc. Maybe the Burl TV stations' sites, too.)
I think I read about it on Mobil Travel Guide, and/or heard
it talked about on "Pat Whitley Restaurant Show". Had gone there since 1990 or so, maybe even slightly earlier. "Hang
your hat inside our door", as their ads read. (Once or twice I'd be up there for my birthday in Feb. and they were having an "Anniversary Week" where they had 1970 prices. $8.99 for
a prime rib dinner, or something like that!)
You'd go in and give them your order (prime rib usually for
me) then sit in a plush parlor. Had to go to the men's room?
Well there was the world's smallest men's room on the main floor :) (or a much bigger one upstairs)
You'd get a spinning relish wheel, salad, and bread. "Are you familiar with our sticky buns?" After a nice dinner, you'd go out back to a sitting area and relax by the brook that ran past...
Benches outside read VERMONT DEMOCRATS and VERMONT
REPUBLICANS (and yes, surprisingly, they were the same
size despite the political leanings of the state...)
NEW HAVEN -- Police suspect Dog Team Tavern owner Christopher Hesslink, 42, was killed when the landmark restaurant burned early Friday morning in a fire police are calling suspicious. The fire destroyed the 60-year-old restaurant located on quiet Dog Team Road and known for its sticky buns, ample portions and spinning relish wheel. (snip)
At about 4:20 p.m., a body was found to the right of the fireplace in the lobby of the restaurant. Vermont State Police Detective Lt. Tim Oliver said the body would be brought to the state's chief medical examiner's office for an autopsy and identification. Asked whether he believed the body was Hesslink's, Oliver said, "Nobody else is missing, so that's what we're led to believe."
Police said in a statement Friday night that Hesslink was "last seen in the building and has not been accounted for at this time."
more on Hesslink, from BFPress
Dog Team Tavern owner pleads no contest to sex charge
Published: Saturday, July 29, 2006
By John Briggs
Free Press Staff Writer
Christopher Hesslink, 42, of Monkton, the owner of the Dog Team Tavern in New Haven, pleaded no contest July 21 to a misdemeanor sex charge involving a former employee.
Hesslink was originally charged with sexual assault, a felony, but the Attorney General's Office, which prosecuted the case, unexpectedly reduced the charge to a single misdemeanor count of lewdness in return for Hesslink's plea. He was fined $100 and instructed by District Court Judge Matthew Katz to donate $1,000 to a community organization involved with sexual assault issues. A $15 "victim's restitution" charge was also imposed.
The girl who made the complaint said she was assaulted May 14, 2005. The Free Press does not identify victims in sexual assault cases.
She told state police that Hesslink assaulted her in the tavern's upstairs office at about 9:45 p.m. as she sat on the floor counting out the night's receipts, according to an affidavit. She said Hesslink pushed her to the floor, straddled her, and assaulted her. When she began screaming, she said, Hesslink "looked surprised at her face" and allowed her to leave, the affidavit said.
Hesslink denied to police that he had assaulted the girl, though he admitted earlier sexual contact with her that he described as consensual but which stopped short of intercourse.
Hesslink, speaking by phone from the Dog Team Tavern, said he was glad the case was over but was critical of prosecutors and the police investigation.
"They don't care what happens to people," he said. "I don't think they look objectively at a case. There was no physical evidence -- just the word of one person."
Robert Keiner, Hesslink's Middlebury attorney, said Hesslink's defense "all along, was that it didn't happen, period."
WCAX.com reports that it was indeed Hesslink whose body was found in the ruins of the DTT:
>> NEW HAVEN, Vt. -- A body found in the ruins of the Dog Team Tavern has been positively identified as that of its owner, authorities said Tuesday.
Christopher Hesslink, 42, of Monkton, perished early Friday when the historic country inn burned down in an overnight fire of suspicious origin. Firefighters and rescue crews spent most of the day searching the rubble for his body after finding his truck outside, with his two dogs in it.
Being from Southern California, I wasn't able to eat there very often, but the Dog Team Tavern was one of my favorite eateries in that part of the country.
Other good restaurants in the area include Fire and Ice and Mr. Up's in Middlebury and Junior's, an Italian restaurant, in Colchester.