The Waybury Inn in East Middlebury recently welcomed new head chef Tony Petri, who acquired his cooking chops approximately 15 years ago at Breadloaf, the famed Middlebury College mountaintop campus up the hill from the inn. Petri will take his place alongside Donna Siebert, Waybury's head chef since 1982, and Christian Grollier, a chef at the inn for more than three decades.
Petri’s family dined at the Waybury Inn often when Petri was a child. He applied for a job at the inn for several summers, beginning at age 15, but was turned down by Siebert each time because he was too young. After honing his culinary skills at Breadloaf as a young man, he later moved to Ithaca, NY, where he spent the past 12 years as a chef at town eateries including the Carriage House Cafe, which has since closed, and The Heights Restaurant and H Bar.
“If you had told me I would be training to be the head chef at the Waybury Inn 15 years later,” Petri said, “I would have looked at you in disbelief!”
Petri and his colleagues will showcase their skills at a pair of upcoming events: a complimentary ice cream social (featuring cookies, brownies and a make-your-own sundae bar) on Sunday, July 31, from 2 to 4 pm on the inn's terrace, and a summer barbecue on Saturday, Aug 6, from 4 to 8 pm on the lawn of the inn. The barbecue menu will feature Petri's pulled pork, ribs, chicken and sides along with local hot dogs, local burgers, appetizers by Siebert and Grollier, and Waybury’s famed kidney bean relish, a staple on the inn's menu in the 1950s. Reservations are required and may be made by calling 802-388-4015.