Do you begin to detect a theme? Gracie, in case you haven't guessed, was a dog, an Airedale mix that Paul ("Archie") and Susan Archdeacon rescued from the pound. When they took over the former Happleton's restaurant in the village of Stowe in July of 1991, they were struggling to find a moniker.

"We had no idea what we were going to name it," Susan Archdeacon recalls. "We were running around with all sorts of different ideas, so we said, 'Let's name it after the dog and see what happens'."

What happened, almost from the moment they opened their doors, is that Gracie's became a favored local bastion in this restaurant-happy town, where there's no dearth of dining choices. And 10 years later, despite what Paul Archdeacon admits is a lack of parking spaces, no roadside signs and a less-than-ideal basement location, throngs of tourists sniff Gracie's out when they come to visit.

What they come for is an unusual shrine to dogdom that also happens to be a classic ski area eatery and pub featuring almost 80 items on the menu, from lunch to late-night snacks. The walls of Gracie's are covered with lovable paintings and pictures of canines and puppies and doggy sayings and dog wisdom, including hilarious framed posters proclaiming reasons "Why dogs are better than (men) (women)." Sample: "Dogs never need to examine their relationships."

The menu is totally tongue-in-dog-cheek, from the spicy Dalmatian chicken paws (for serious fire dogs) to the Wolfhound Waldorf Salad and the sandwiches, which are called the Blazing Beagle Burger, the Chihuahua and the Rottweiler ("It's got a good bite to it.").

Dogtrinaire, you might say, and proud of it.

Gracie and a companion named George (yes, named after comedians George Burns and Gracie Allen), have long since gone to doggy heaven (now replaced by Buddy the Labrador Retriever), but Gracie still graces the menu and this doggie dining theme park has obviously struck a responsive chord.

"It's just amazing how many people are affectionate for their dogs," says Paul Archdeacon, who has had patrons bring photos of their dogs and even framed pictures to add to the walls.

In 1995, the Archdeacons opened up the Gourmutt Shop upstairs above the restaurant, which is in the Carlson's Building across from the Green Mountain Inn. The shop began as a retail outlet to appease the demand for their marinades and dressings and home-baked breads, cakes and cookies, and has diversified into a butcher shop with hand-carved steaks and fresh seafood, along with more dog stuff than you can, um, shake a stick at.

There are dog welcome mats and homemade doggie biscuits and dog bookends and hats and ties, towels, you name it, along with a "kitty corner" for cat lovers.

The masters of this doggy empire met while working in Stowe. Paul had studied to be a math teacher and came up from his home outside of Boston for an interlude as a ski bum in 1972, working as a dishwasher at the elegant Stowehof Inn. During his year in Stowe, he fell in love with Vermont, chucked his teaching plans, and embarked on a career in the tourist trade that included bartending or running most of Stowe's best known nightspots, including the Matterhorn, the Baggy Knees and the Rusty Nail. He also sold timeshare units at the Trapp Family Lodge and worked at several restaurants.

Susan Archdeacon came from Massachusetts to attend Johnson State College, where she majored in history and then "just stayed," she says. The two met when she was working as a waitress at the Partridge Inn.

Susan manages the crammed kitchen and Paul runs the front of the house in the 55-seat restaurant, where his sense of humor and gift of gab make him the perfect host. Open seven days a week, Gracie's and the Gourmutt Shop now have nearly 40 employees.

"We're very fortunate. We have the greatest staff," says Paul, adding that they handle busy lunchtimes and an average of 180-200 dinners each night. He and Susan practically live at the restaurant, working a schedule that would leave most of us dog-tired, but they seem to thrive.

Gracie's staples are ski resort/diner homecookin' at its best, starting with the handcut fries and their secret recipe of homemade onion rings, which are as good as you'll get anywhere - crunchy and sweet, served plain or Cajun spiced and jerk seasoned. Gracie's great home baked breads accompany the meals, and the restaurant is known for its fine soups, especially the clam chowder, which is the concoction of one of the chefs who hails from Cape Cod. Scallops, oysters, fried clams and fish also hint at a strong Cape connection.

Paul Archdeacon says the bestseller at the restaurant is the $12.95 bar steak, which is hand carved and trimmed in the kitchen from filet mignon. But as you'd expect from a family joint, there are a dozen types of burgers, plus meatloaf with real mashed potatoes, barbecue dishes, chicken, south of the border Tex-Mex, and vegetarian dishes.

When you're done, of course, you can call for a doggie bag, although in this case, it's a frozen desert Susan concocted: a white chocolate "bag" filled with chocolate mint mousse served with homemade hot fudge.

A rough dog's life? Certainly not the way it's been cooked up at Gracie's by Paul and Susan Archdeacon.

Andrew Nemethy of Adamant writes about food for Vermont Sunday Magazine.

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