Some restaurants are good. A few are good and have a story worth telling at the table. Two Tannery Road, tucked just off Route 100 in West Dover, is firmly in the second group: a candlelit continental dining room inside what the restaurant calls the oldest frame building in the town of Dover, once owned by President Theodore Roosevelt’s son and daughter-in-law, with a bar that used to stand in the original Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. If you are planning one special dinner during a Mount Snow ski trip, this is the one we point people to first.
It sits about 1.4 miles (roughly five minutes) from Mount Snow’s Main Base Lodge and about 3.2 miles (around eight minutes) from our house on Valley View Road, so it works as easily for a post-ski dinner as it does for an anniversary night. Here is what to know before you book.
- 🕯️ Style: traditional Vermont fine dining with a continental menu, plus a separate tavern
- đź“Ť Address: 2 Tannery Road, West Dover, VT 05356
- đź•” Hours: Thursday through Sunday, 5 to 9 pm, when in season (it closes between seasons, so check first)
- đź“ž Reservations: (802) 464-2707; walk-ins are welcome, but call ahead on ski-season Saturdays and holiday weeks
- 🍷 Best for: date nights, celebration dinners, and groups that want a private room
The Story Behind Two Tannery Road
The building began its life in the late 1700s in Marlboro, Massachusetts, and was moved to Vermont stick by stick. According to the restaurant’s own history, it first stood on the lower acreage of what later became the Snowbrook Inn, back when the property was known as the Grout Place. It is reputedly the oldest frame building in Dover, which is saying something in a town that has been farming, logging, and milling since before Vermont was a state.
In the early 1900s, President Theodore Roosevelt’s son and daughter-in-law bought the property as a country retreat. Roosevelt’s daughter-in-law wrote about the family’s adventures there in her biography, and the restaurant relays accounts, including one from Roosevelt’s granddaughter, that the President himself came to visit, arriving unannounced at the old railway station in Wilmington. The Roosevelt family sold the house in the early 1940s to Lincoln Haynes of Wilmington, the man behind Vermont Barnboard, and the building moved again, this time on rollers during a winter blizzard, to its current site. That site had been home to several sawmills and a tannery, which is where the name comes from.
You can feel that history once you are inside. When the current owners took over, they gathered the house’s Roosevelt memorabilia into a room of its own, and the Roosevelt Room is one of the spaces you can request when you reserve (more on that below). It is the rare place where the backstory is part of the meal rather than a plaque by the door.
The Waldorf-Astoria Bar
The tavern side of Two Tannery Road deserves its own visit. Its mahogany bar is a section of the original bar from the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, removed in 1919 at the start of Prohibition. That piece spent decades on a large estate in upstate New York before the restaurant bought it at auction in 1983. The restaurant’s history notes that the bar was patronized in its Manhattan days by Roosevelt and by Gilded Age figures such as Diamond Jim Brady.
Our insider tip: if you cannot get a dining-room table on a busy night, the bar is a great alternative. The drinks list runs well past the basics, with handcrafted cocktails, a wine list, cognacs, ports, single malts, and a few taps, plus a “Warm Up” section of hot drinks that makes sense after a cold day on the mountain. The restaurant earned its first Wine Spectator Award of Excellence in 2007, so the wine list is worth a real look rather than a default house pour.
What to Order at Two Tannery Road
The menu leans classic continental with New England touches, and it is the kind of cooking that has kept a dinner crowd coming back for decades. Every meal starts with bread baked in-house daily, and all desserts are made on the premises. Menus change with the season, so treat these as a guide from the current posted menu on twotannery.com rather than a guarantee.
- Starters: Acadian Pepper Shrimp, Escargot Ă l’Alsacienne, New Orleans Steak Tips, and Mussels Marinière are the headliners, with bruschetta and a warm goat cheese salad (Salade de Chèvre Chaud) for a lighter start.
- Entrées: the Roasted Maple Leaf Farms Half Duck is the dish we would steer a first-timer toward, since a properly roasted half duck is hard to find on a Vermont menu. Bouillabaisse, Tannery Stuffed Shrimp, fresh fish of the day, a New York sirloin, and filet mignon round out the list, along with a dish called the Nutty Vermonter.
- Vegetarians: the Shrimp Pappardelle is offered in a vegetarian version, and the salads and some starters work as well. Call ahead if your group has specific dietary needs.
- Dessert: save room. The Coffee Toffee Pie (the restaurant also calls its signature a Coffee Toffee ice cream cake) is the one it is known for, with a frozen white chocolate mousse, mud pie, chocolate chip pound cake, and a warm fruit crumble also on the list.
Two Tannery Road is not an inexpensive night out, and it is not trying to be. Expect fine-dining pricing on entrĂ©es, and check the posted menu for current prices before you go. For a casual night with the same owners, TC’s Restaurant up Route 100 is the easygoing counterpart.
Hours, Seasons, and Reservations
Two Tannery Road currently opens Thursday through Sunday from 5 to 9 pm for both the dining room and the bar. It is a seasonal operation: it runs a winter season through ski season and a summer-into-fall season, and closes between them. In 2025 it closed for the spring after ski season ended in April, and its website most recently announced a July 3 reopening for the summer. Late-fall and early-winter dates shift year to year, so check the restaurant’s website or its social pages before you plan a trip around it, especially in November and early December.
Walk-ins are welcomed, but we would call (802) 464-2707 for any Friday or Saturday in ski season, for the holiday weeks between Christmas and New Year’s, and for Presidents’ Day weekend, when every good table in the valley fills up. The restaurant has posted special menus for New Year’s Eve in past seasons, so ask about holiday dinners when you call.
Bringing a Big Group
This is where Two Tannery Road stands out for families and friend groups. The restaurant takes large group reservations and private parties, and you can request a table in the Roosevelt Room or the Library when you book. For a milestone birthday, a rehearsal-style dinner, or the one night of a ski trip when everybody dresses up, a private room in a 1700s house beats pushing four tables together in a crowded après bar.
That is exactly the kind of evening our guests plan around. Valley View Villa sleeps 16 across eight bedrooms, so a full house is a real reservation, and it helps to call the restaurant a week or more ahead with your headcount and ask which room fits. Spend the afternoon in the hot tub, head over for a 6:30 table, and come back to the fire pit. If you are still picking dates for a winter trip, you can check availability and book direct here.
How It Compares to Other Fine Dining Near Mount Snow
The valley’s other headline fine-dining option is the Hermitage Inn, which leans into its mountain setting and inn experience. Two Tannery Road is the more traditional choice: a continental menu served in a 1700s house, and a history you can touch at the bar. Our take is simple. For the most distinctive single evening, pick the Hermitage; for a warm, classic dinner that is five minutes from the ski lodge and easy for a big group, pick Two Tannery Road. Doing both on a longer trip is not a bad plan either.
🗺️ More to Explore Near Mount Snow
- The Hermitage Inn in West Dover — The valley’s other standout fine-dining destination
- TC’s Restaurant in West Dover — Casual Route 100 comfort food, same owners
- Romantic Things to Do Near Mount Snow — Date-night ideas beyond dinner reservations
- The History of Mount Snow — How a farm town became a ski destination
- Fine Dining Near Mount Snow — Six restaurants worth a reservation
- Alpenglow Bistro in Wilmington, VT — Fondue, schnitzel, and Alpine cocktails by the fire
- Sawmill Bar and Table in West Dover — Farm-to-table dinners in the old Inn at Sawmill Farm
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Two Tannery Road open in the winter?
Yes. Two Tannery Road runs a winter season during ski season, currently Thursday through Sunday from 5 to 9 pm. It closes between seasons, typically in spring and sometimes in late fall, so check its website or social pages before you go.
Do you need a reservation at Two Tannery Road?
Walk-ins are welcomed, but reservations are the safe choice on ski-season weekends and holiday weeks. Call (802) 464-2707, and mention group size if you want the Roosevelt Room or the Library.
How far is Two Tannery Road from Mount Snow?
It is about 1.4 miles, roughly a five-minute drive, from Mount Snow’s Main Base Lodge. From Valley View Villa on Valley View Road, it is about 3.2 miles, around eight minutes by car.
What is the history of the Two Tannery Road building?
The house dates to the late 1700s and was moved stick by stick from Marlboro, Massachusetts. President Theodore Roosevelt’s son and daughter-in-law owned it in the early 1900s, and it was moved to its current West Dover site in the 1940s. Its bar is a section of the original Waldorf-Astoria bar from New York City.
