FOOD PROFILET.J. Buckley's • Brattleboro, Vermont Small But Mighty

T.J. Buckley's may be small, but it is not to be missed. I normally disdain when journalists highlight their age by contrasting it with an establishment's. It is a common mistake of the "young" to characterize anything older than they are as "old," forgetting that time is slippery and that when it comes to food recipes, things only get better with age. &emsp;&emsp;So when I bring to your attention that T.J. Buckley's is older than I am, and I am nearing 40, it is to say, "go now." It is to say that the pioneers of local food, like Chef Michael Fuller, will not be at the helm at the stove forever. Most forebearers of the local food movement are moving on to consulting or writing, and you can no longer sidle up to their table and be fed by them. Although Fuller has no plans to retire, go now so you can go again and again. &emsp;&emsp;T.J. Buckley's restaurant has been around for a while, but the place that houses it has been around even longer. The restaurant, located inside a restored 1925 Worcester dining car #424, was built as a ready-made establishment to feed late-night factory workers. For a period of time, at this location, #424 was the site of the Night Owl, diner and taxi stand, where Fuller remembers spending an evening in his teens. &emsp;&emsp;Fuller appreciates the irony of a fine dining establishment ensconced in such an ordinary exterior. Sometimes someone will burst through the too-short door with the expectation that they could order a coffee or burger. Even the name, derived from the names of Fuller's original investors in the renovations, gives little indication of what's inside. But if you look closer, as you grab the heavy brass handle and duck inside the custom-made fir door, the details might belie a little of the care and intention inside. &emsp;&emsp;Once inside, the diner aesthetic is quickly dismissed. Gone are the counter and stools, replaced by tables and chairs for 18. The back wall has been pushed out to create an intimate step-down kitchen, the centerpiece of which is a double-sized maple work table flanked by an eight-burner stove. Under the bar, which divides the kitchen from the workspace, is a pint-size wash station. Everything is washed by hand atop a rolling milking stool at the thigh-high triple sink. It is a kitchen just big enough for Michael Fuller and his assistant of 30 years, Kristen Atkins. Pastry chef Patricia Austin plays a less present but no less important role. At service, a three-person front-of-the-house team rounds out the crew.The heart of the operation is local food, something Fuller has been passionate about since his teenage years when he apprenticed under French Chef Rene Chardain at Four Columns Inn in Newfane, Vermont. Chef Chardain was an avid forager, and although Fuller was a vegetarian at the time, he took note of the unique food loop managed on the grounds, including sheds of squab and guinea hens and ponds full of trout. &emsp;&emsp;Fuller continued his education as a chef at Common Ground Restaurant, a landmark cooperatively owned vegetarian restaurant in Brattleboro. Fuller's early focus on vegetarianism is still evident in his vegetable-forward presentations. It is clear that produce is where Fuller does most of his playing, turning leeks into crispy straw with the help of a sharp knife and a sizzling cast iron platter, combining onions, eggplant and shishito peppers with a miso brine as just one of the many accompaniments alongside a fish dish. &emsp;&emsp;Back in the 1980s, when Fuller first started, "the farmers market was fledgling at best," he notes. &emsp;&emsp;Those farmers he initially forged relationships with have since retired, and he is now making new relationships with the next generation. &emsp;&emsp;The menu at T.J. Buckley's is mostly recited by the servers, which allows for seasonal and daily flexibility. Not having the menu written down means that it departs from the current tradition of naming the origin of each thing on the menu. Fuller seems to take for granted that he can come over to your plate and, in his words, "tell you where everything came from and even what problems the growers are having this year." &emsp;&emsp;Fuller's focus has always been to keep the food as local as possible. He still augments the offerings through his own foraging and that of others, including watercress from a nearby marsh in spring and a spread of wild mushrooms in the fall. &emsp;&emsp;The fact that T.J. Buckley's is fine dining is not because Fuller thinks local food has to be fancy. It is more of an accidental matrix, one of financial sustainability in such a small space, and the type of detail-oriented work that Fuller is drawn to. Despite this, the food is not pretentious or complicated. Although French-trained, Fuller rarely uses heavy cream sauces or roux. This means that besides being beautiful, his food is highly digestible, containing little dairy or gluten. &emsp;&emsp;The landscape of local food has developed since Fuller first started. The farmers' market is now year-round, and even the indoor market is "pretty good," notes Fuller. &emsp;&emsp;The Brattleboro Co-op in town has also matured, and customers are more savvy about where their food comes from. Still, Fuller is surprised that so many years after he embraced local food as his life path that there hasn't been a larger sea change among restaurants. &emsp;&emsp;While cooking can be an intimate exchange of giving and gratitude, at most restaurants, there is a kind of anonymity between the chef and those that consume the food. At T.J. Buckley's, the reciprocal relationship is real. Fuller appreciates that the restaurant's small size means he can partake in meaningful exchanges every night. Local food has always been about scale, a system operating at a size that honors human relationships and attention to detail. Dining at T.J. Buckley's is a delicious expression of this ideal. BOX:T.J. Buckley's132 Elliot StreetBrattleboro, Vermont 05301802-257-4922tjbuckleysuptowndining.com