From chef Matt Jennings: “I know, I know- maple syrup from New Hampshire? Isn’t Vermont the state that boasts the best liquid maple caramel? Well yes, but there are exceptions to every rule and Benton’s Sugar Shack in Thornton, New Hampshire shatters the idea that the best of maple goodness can only come from the Green Mountain State.

Why the hell would you ever find yourself in Thornton, New Hampshire, smack dab in the middle of the state, hugged on either side by the White Mountain National Forest? Well, I don’t know, but if you do, then not going to Benton’s would be doing yourself, and whomever you are traveling with, a grave injustice.

The Benton family has been sugaring for five generations. Yeah, it’s cool that they have a bunch of maple products: deep and rich mahogany syrups, intensely sweet maple candies, maple cream, maple jelly...the list goes on and on. But even cooler is the fact that several years ago they decided to offer people the unique experience of visiting a working sugarhouse to learn how sap from a tree is transformed into golden maple syrup. While fascinating to watch, you’ll find that it works up your appetite.

Well, hallelujah. Guess what? Benton’s serves breakfast, and it is of the real deal, local ‘Northwoods’ variety: mile high pancakes with buttery, crispy edges and fluffy interior, stuffed with cranberries and brown sugar apples. Hot, steaming coffee served in a paper cup, and all the maple syrup products produced on-site, you can shake a sugar cane at.

The restaurant is only open weekends though, operating on a first-come, first-served basis. But while you wait, you can view a veritable history of maple sugaring, captured in the photographs and old tools on display. This is New England, and the Bentons are the keepers of the maple flame.”