The Village Kitchen is a staple in the northwestern Winni area. My family started going there when it was in the building now occupied by the Center Harbor Diner (1980s.) In winter they had a pot-belly wood stove going in the middle of the room. On those cold winter mornings it was great to sit next to it with Dad and order a Farmer's Breakfast.
When they moved to the present location (late 80s/ early 90s) it was a nice change because of the added space and less wait time. A couple of my high school friends and I used to enjoy sitting in there on snowy winter days and watch the NH-DOT snowplows go by on Rt. 25.
Their specialty has always been breakfast but the lunches and dinners are good enough for those nights when you want to go out to eat for the sake of eating (i.e, no food in the house, your're too tired to cook, etc.) When local squash is in season, that is awesome; you gotta get the squash with your dinner. I believe they still make their own bread, so if you have a choice between pancakes or French toast for breakfast, go for the french toast.
If you want a place to escape the upscale, this is it. A few years ago we entertained some friends from D.C. and they actually chose this place over the upscale - they said it was a welcome vacation from their usual and they loved it. VK feeds plenty of snowmobilers in winter, and bikers in summer... lots of us local people (although we tend to disappear into the crowd in summer).
The food still hasn't changed (a very good thing!) and the irregularities of the building only remind me of the original place. Now if only they'd return the wood stove...
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