By Katy Savage
KILLINGTON—A new taco restaurant is coming to Killington this fall.
The owners of Taco Experiment in Poultney plan to open Taco X in the former Killington Diner in time for the Killington World Cup over Thanksgiving weekend.
Partners Annie Gorin, Dave and Dan Sesko, John Harper and Adam Lindberg, who opened their Poultney location in July, plan to keep the menu similar in both locations.
All ingredients will be made from scratch and as close as you can get to authentic Mexican food without being in Mexico, according to Lindberg.
“The only way you could have completely Mexican tacos is if you were sitting in Mexico,” he said.
Lindberg grew up in Connecticut and remembers coming to Killington every winter since he was 4 years old.
“When I was a little kid I used to come in this diner,” he said, remembering the diner’s unusual features, like the lights over the tables that connect to a garage door opener and rise and fall at the click of a button and an orange juice machine that moves oranges on an overhead conveyor belt to a juice mixer.
“I remember as a kid watching this thing and sometimes [the oranges] would get stuck up there,” he said. “There’s some yesterday charm here that can be revived and brought back.”
Lindberg, who said he loves food, has no prior restaurant experience. He’s mostly self-taught outside of a few cooking classes he’s taken.
“I’m not a qualified chef,” he said. “If you’ve done something 500 times … you just know what works.”
Lindberg sometimes changes the way he cooks on a whim.
“We’re constantly trying to challenge ourselves and do better food,” he said.
Lindberg has always lived spontaneously. He traveled around the world as a student at the University of Connecticut and bought international plane tickets just because they were cheap.
“I was a backpack kind of guy,” he said.
After he graduated, he sold plumbing equipment overseas for his own business because he saw an opportunity. Lindberg developed his passion for cooking by eating at hundreds of restaurants around the world.
“Give me a kitchen, a little glass of wine and a bunch of stuff to put together—that’s very de-stressing for me and relieves me from the world of chaos I live in,” Lindberg said.
Taco X, located in the Killington Mall, will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The building has been under extensive renovations since Robert “Sal” Salmeri, the owner of Moguls Sports Pub and Restaurant, bought the Killington Mall for $475,000 at an auction in May.
The 22,500 square foot building once housed four businesses – two restaurants and two retail spaces, including Outback Pizza, the Killington Diner, the Killington Art Garage and Darkside Snowboard Shop.
Salmeri said he interviewed 32 people for the diner space in search of someone willing to serve breakfast.
“I think it’s important for the community that we have another breakfast spot,” Salmeri said. “I love the fact that it’s something different, it’s off the wall, it’s fresh blood.”
Salmeri also plans to open a new restaurant— the Nite Spot—to replace Outback Pizza. A radio station is opening Nov. 15.
“I’m trying to get high energy and fresh blood into the building,” Salmeri said.
Salmeri said he’s currently in negotiations with two tenants for the former Art Garage.
“I’m hoping by December the building will be 100% occupied, which it hasn’t been in a long time,” he said.
