PUTNEY — “Putney's a tough crowd, food-wise,” says Putney General Store co-owner and pharmacist Jim Heal. “Our customers know their food; they want the best ingredients, local, whenever possible, and they want it to taste great and be presented well. It's like a gallery where the art not only has to look good, it has to taste good.”
The new kitchen roster rising to that challenge at Vermont's longest-operated general store: kitchen manager and chef Ryan Muller, and Kathy Mazziott, Susan McDormand, and Enza Putignano.
Muller, a graduate of San Diego's International School of Cooking - and someone who's held every job a commercial kitchen offers - describes the General Store's kitchen as a work in progress.
“It's important to start off right, realistic, and humble. Perfect what you have before moving on,” Muller says. “We're taking it slow, getting it right, then we'll add new dishes, more options.”
In addition to overseeing the operation, Muller will be busy expanding the butcher case with locally farmed meats, and broadening the deli selections and grab 'n' go and heat 'n' eat meals.
Mazziot, a veteran of the Vermont Country Store & Deli in Brattleboro, and of her own wholesale and retail bakery operations, learned to cook from her grandmother, Rosalita Tosarelli Mazziott. Mazziot's contributions will include Rosalita's handmade raviolis, lasagna, meatballs, and pastries - including her own Vermont twist on an authentic Italian favorite, maple cannoli.
McDormand has been baking and “cheffing” in and around Brattleboro for three decades, and has dished up body-and-soul-satisfying breads, entrees, and baked desserts for the likes of High Meadows Farm Market, Mocha Joe's, the Brattleboro Farmers' Market, the Brattleboro Food Co-op, The Fifth Season, and T.J. Buckley's.
A UVM history major (and fashion design school dropout), Putignano is the kitchen's utility infielder. She's washed dishes, prep-cooked, line-cooked, baked, hosted, bar-tended, and waited tables coast to coast.
She also trod the wide pine boards of the General Store as a barefoot 10-year-old, trolling for Swedish Fish and pretzel rods. She says she's happy to be back, well-shod and looking forward to putting her vast restaurant and visual arts experience to good use.