“The Great Outdoors” Saturday, September 10, 2016

New Chamber Member, Popolo, Presents “The Great Outdoors” Saturday, September 10, 2016

A Dining Field Trip to Coolidge State Park with New Music By The Renowned Arc Iris

If the mountain won’t come to Popolo, Popolo will go to the mountain. On Saturday, September 10, the Bellows Falls community restaurant is presenting an evening in the Great Outdoors at Calvin Coolidge State Park in Plymouth, VT.

The night starts with a prix fixe five-course dinner featuring New England game and area vegetables prepared and served by Popolo’s fine kitchen and service staff. Every course comes from area farmers, fisherman, and artisanal producers. Known for both its seasonal menus and its regular events, Popolo is no stranger to this sort of out-of-the-box concept.

“We’ll be going off-menu for this event,” reports Tim Cocheo, Popolo’s head chef. “We’re serving a woodsy selection of dishes custom-designed for dining al fresco on the top of a mountain. It’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime feast in a transcendent open-air setting.” The full menu will be posted shortly.

For the true Epicureans a wine pairing is available for an additional $40.00, selected by Popolo’s own wine fairy, Kristen Fehrenbach.

Dinner will be served in high style on china and linens in the old Ski Shelter on Bradley Hill. The shelter’s handsomely restored timber construction and two massive stone fireplaces open onto westward sunset views of Killington and the breathtaking grandeur of the Green Mountain National Forest. It’s a setting in which you might find Julie Andrews spinning ecstatically with arms outstretched. But the night goes one better.

After the sun goes behind the mountains, renowned national touring artists, Arc Iris, will take the stage and debut their long-awaited album, “Moon Saloon.” Fronted by ex-Low Anthem multi-instrumentalist Jocie Adams, Arc Iris has visited Popolo several times to rave reviews. The band’s music has matured into a genre all its own and along the way has garnered extraordinary reviews from NPR, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, and The New York Times, which claimed that Arc Iris’s music “inhabits its own otherworldly place, where ghosts and angels hover just out of view.”

An unusual choice for a concert in such an unlikely locale, the band jumped at the opportunity.

“Who doesn’t love a magical event,” notes the band’s Ms. Adams, “so how could we say no to an show on a mountaintop!”

Calvin Coolidge State Park was built in the 1930s by the Citizens Conservation Corp and is one of the most beautiful parks in the Vermont State Park system. The spectacular landscaping highlights 36 adirondack lean-tos, some with unparalleled views of the surrounding mountains and their original stone hearth fireplaces.

Asked why the restaurant would go to so much trouble, Popolo’s manager, Gary Smith, doesn’t mince words, “There’s a range of things one can do to make the world better– charitable giving, community service, job creation – the list is long. Popolo tries to be part of this, of course, but often overlooked is the simple building of great memories. This is a fabulous setting, a great menu, and extraordinary music. For just one night a small group of people can indulge in the best of tastes and sights and sounds the world has to offer. Why the heck not?”

Reservations are required and seating is limited. Tickets are $68 which includes five courses, the musical performance, and, if you please, camping is free of charge. There’s a full cash bar aptly named “The Moon Saloon” serving traditional and event-specific signature cocktails.

Popolo will be closed for lunch and dinner on Saturday September 10, to create this special event in the mountains. If inclement weather causes the cancellation of the event, tickets are fully refundable.

More info and tickets are available at popolomeanspeople.com and in the restaurant at 36 The Square, Bellows Falls or by phoning 802-460-7676.