CHESTER, Vt. – Chester continues to attract more businesses to their vibrant and charming town. A recent visit to The Vermont Tea House on Depot St. and Fischer Arts on the Chester Green helps to showcase why.
The Vermont Tea House
Enter The Vermont Tea House and the many checker-table clothed tables, bar counter with gleaming jars of loose leaf tea blends, and displays of artisan crafts and artwork, which all add to the charming and welcoming atmosphere.
Run by Laura Berlenbach, with a guiding hand by her mother Vicki Weiss who operates a well-known tea house in New Jersey, the pieces are in place for success.
The Vermont Tea House offers about 50 varieties of tea for all taste buds, caffeine levels, and herbal remedies. There is even a tea blend made especially for Chester, which includes chai, maple, nutmeg, and ginger, a spicy and full-bodied drink.
After you pick your tea and the cozied pot is delivered to the table, you can select from your own table display of antique cups, adding to the provincial charm.
Don’t miss the Tea and Scone combination when you’re here. The scones are homemade by Weiss and are the real deal; dense, traditional, and authentic to the English staple. They are served with clotted cream, homemade lemon curd, and preserves which elevates the experience even more.
The Vermont Tea House is open Wednesday – Sunday, from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m., and located at 15 Depot Street in Chester.
Fischer Arts
Iris Fischer-McMorrow welcomes visitors into Fischer Arts with one goal – to enjoy the experience of taking your time while looking around and being inspired by nature.
Fischer-McMorrow is a Chester resident and although she is a scientist and veterinarian by training, her mother had an antique print gallery for over 40 years in Beacon Hill before deciding to retire recently. At that time, both Fischer-McMorrow and her husband promised to keep a piece of her mother’s business going, first starting an online gallery with antique nature prints and contemporary jewelry and photography, as well as other work, that specifically celebrates nature.
Once their current space on the Chester Green became available in October, their leapt at the opportunity to launch an in-person gallery and opened just after Thanksgiving.
The shop displays and sells work in the front space from a variety of artists throughout New England, all inspired by the beauty of the natural world, as well as antique nature prints curated by Fischer-McMorrow herself. The work spans from nature prints, to inspired jewelry, photography, paintings, and other interesting mediums, but all with nature as their driving force.
The back space, which is still being renovated, is slated to become an exhibit space and will hopefully open in the spring.
Fischer Arts winter hours are Fridays – Sundays, from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., and are located at 102 The Common in Chester.