Find great vegetarian and vegan fare at Readers' Poll winner and Editor's Pick Green Elephant Vegetarian Bistro & Bar in Portsmouth. Photos by Susan Laughlin Dining Experience: Yes, this is fine dining at its best, but the experience at Stages at One Washington in Dover is so much more. We suggest you reserve the kitchen table to watch Chef Evan Hennessey at work as he crafts unexpected and always-delightful dishes with ingredients that are farmed, fished and even foraged within New England. The more adventurous will want to choose the Secret 8 menu, where each course is a surprise. Your other options are a four-course, prix-fixe menu or a 12-course tasting menu, both of which you can peruse beforehand. We suggest you go big or go home, and order the wine pairing as well. Exciting New Venue: The Bedford Village Inn has added more rooms and event space with the new Bedford Grand. At the center of the complex is a lobby bar with its own bar menu and creative cocktail list. It’s New England at its best.

Fermented Vegetables: Get your fill of healthful probiotics with Micro Mama’s of Henniker’s lacto-fermented organic vegetables in a jar. The veggies start out raw, but time and salt are all that is needed to make the cabbage, carrots and beets seasoned with garlic or chilis or ginger are the perfect complement to any meal. You just need a little for improved gut health.sweet red wine kenya Inn Bistro: It’s said that you can have too much of a good thing, but we’re pretty sure that doesn’t apply to Chef Scott Ouellette’s growing collection of restaurants. online wine uk giftsHis latest O Bistro offers all of your favorite dishes in a lovely setting — The Inn on Main in Wolfeboro. top wine brands 2014

A wonderful spot for both visitors and residents. Maple Syrup Variations: Maple syrup just got better with Evert’s Maples’ take on the sweet elixir. They infuse local syrup with flavors of cinnamon and vanilla, chili peppers or blueberry to up the ante for your French toast and pancakes. Most-Anticipated Opening: The folks at Cabonnay Emporium in Londonderry are opening the Cabonnay Urban Wine House in Manchester in late 2016. best red wine for white fishIt will be an oasis for the soul with modern décor, spacious dining, airy rooftop garden (planned for summer 2017), excellent and affordable wines and chef-prepared, farm-to-table foods. where to buy wine on sunday in paA collection of worldly art adds another touch of bliss.best wine in large bottles

Seacoast Hot Spot: We included 3S Artspace in these pages last year and are happy to report that this forward-thinking gallery and performance venue now includes Block Six, a stylish and fun restaurant with a big emphasis on community and local ingredients. It’s been designed to complement the entire 3S arts experience as a whole and invites you to come hang out and expand your culinary and artistic horizons.buy wine bottles online Vegan Restaurant: Green Elephant in Portsmouth calls itself a “vegetarian bistro and bar,” but nearly everything on the menu is 100 percent vegan. best wine making kit ukDon’t let the lack of animal products fool you, though; wine on tap historythis menu packs a serious punch of heft and flavor. Try Asian-inspired dishes like tofu tikka masala and miso soup with organic green tea noodles.

Unsure what all those words mean? Their website comes equipped with a handy-dandy vegan food glossary. Denver's vegetarian food scene is getting stronger all the time. All but the most vehemently meat-centric establishments in town have something besides salad to offer veggie-lovers, and ambitious, exclusively vegetarian eateries are opening all the time -- including Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant, which we review this week. When you want to impress a carnivore with the versatility and tastiness of plant-based food, these are the five best places (in no particular order) to take them.See also: The five best vegetarian/vegan dishes in Denver -- 20135) Native Foods Cafe 680 South Colorado BoulevardYes, it's a chain restaurant -- and an import from California, no less! But when it comes to plant-based food that'll knock the socks off of anyone who tries it, vegan or carnivore alike, Native Foods is as good as it gets in Denver right now. The menu encompasses American, Asian, Mediterranean and more, spanning cuisines with dishes categorized into bowls, hand-helds, salads and "chefs favorite" plates.

Native Foods makes its own meat substitutes, all of which are amazing -- the seitan is formed into shaved corned "beef" for Native's Reuben and spicy, juicy "meatballs" for the meatball sandwich above), and they've got the taste and texture to charm even the most hard-core meat-eaters. The dessert menu is just as good, if cupcake-heavy, with light, fluffy cakes paired with sweet, creamy icings. The first Native Foods in Colorado is in Boulder, and there's another opening soon at Colorado and Evans -- but judging from the crowds at the CitySet location, this city could use three or four more.4) Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant 1015 South Federal BoulevardThuy Pham, who opened Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant with her husband last fall in the former home of the award-winning Vietnam Grill, remembers cooking at her mother's side in Vietnam, but it wasn't until she moved to California fifteen years ago and began spending time at a Buddhist temple that she developed a passion for food. "I had a monk, the master, and he was a very good cook," she recalls.

"He was very experienced in picking out healthy food, and he taught me." After years of preparing vegetarian food for the monks and nuns there, Pham and her husband decided to move to Denver, and they opened Lotus, which focuses on Vietnamese cuisine -- but all vegetarian versions, prepared with compassion and care.3) Nectar House 1947 South BroadwayNectar House opened late last year in the lobby of a yoga studio -- an outside-the-box setting for a raw, vegan restaurant with an extravagant drink menu. But customers are continually wowed by the delicious food created within the constraints of both the setting and the milieu. The superfood salad is among the best salads in the city, and Nectar House also makes a remarkable raw, vegan version of pad Thai as well as Reuben sandwich. There are brunch offerings, too, as well as decadent desserts that will melt in your mouth.   2) Govinda's Garden Cafe 1400 Cherry StreetIn some ways, it's a shame that Govinda's Garden Cafe is only open on weekends, because that means devotees of the Ayurvedic vegetarian and vegan selections must wait until Friday night to appease their hunger.

But in other ways, it's delightful that the cafe is only open for dinner twice a week, because that gives the chef, Nandini, time to create new menus for every meal. Those meals are served up buffet-style once guests are seated and provided with any requested drink orders; you can also get special appetizers and desserts for an additional price. They're definitely worth it -- but the buffet alone is more than enough to satisfy any appetite, since it always has a delectable salad, several sides and two different main dishes.1) City, O' City 206 East 13th AvenueWelcome to the greenest corner in Denver. City, O City is almost always packed -- with good food, with good cheer and with good arts endeavors in the upstairs Deer Pile. In the mornings, there's a line out the door of cubicle warriors ordering caffeine bombs and pastries at the barista counter; at night, the bar is crowded with hipsters who aren't yet ready to go home. A mainstay of Denver vegetarian cuisine, City, O' City's menu has a little bit of something for everyone: fluffy waffles (available gluten-free), both sweet and savory;