Friday, November 22, 2019
Bliss Bee will open in South Burlington early next week, according to owner Jed Davis, who told Seven Days by email that the restaurant will open Monday or Tuesday.
The fast-casual restaurant at 1185 Shelburne Road is the second Bliss Bee restaurant in Chittenden County; the first one launched in April at Maple Tree Place in Williston.
Like its Williston counterpart, the Bliss Bee in South Burlington will be open seven days a week starting at 11 a.m. An identical menu at the two restaurants offers grain bowls, salads, burgers, hot dogs and chicken sandwiches, with sides such as French fries, cole slaw and chicken nuggets. Beverages include cocktails and smoothies.
Bliss Bee is a new venture for Davis, whose Farmhouse Group owns and operates five area restaurants. Davis opened his first restaurant, Farmhouse Tap & Grill, on Bank Street in Burlington in May 2010.
Tags: Bliss Bee , Jed Davis , South Burlington , Farmhouse Group , fast-casual dining , burgers , French fries , grain bowls , Web Only , Image
Friday, November 8, 2019
Landmark downtown Burlington restaurant Daily Planet will reopen at 4 p.m. Friday, owner Copey Houghton told Seven Days. The restaurant closed abruptly on October 30 after a pending sale of the business fell through.
Houghton said he has since hired new staff members, including chef Jeff Perkins, who said he was executive chef at the Mount Mansfield Winter Academy in Stowe for about 10 years.
“I used to come here 15 years ago,” Perkins, 35, said. “I wanted to get back to this style of food — the American-French eclectic type thing. I like the fine dining with a casual setting. It’s perfect.”
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Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Editor’s note, 3:15 p.m. October 30, 2019: Wednesday afternoon, Seven Days published a story that said the Daily Planet was closing. Owner Copey Houghton’s daughter, Samantha Houghton, subsequently insisted it was not closed. Copey Houghton himself later called the paper and acknowledged the staff had “walked,” but added he had no intention to close. This story has been updated as more information became available.
A pending sale of the Daily Planet, which opened on Center Street in 1982, fell through earlier this month, and the future of the restaurant appears to be in question.
For many years, the restaurant has been the go-to hangout in Burlington, drawing a lively crowd that included restaurant workers, journalists, downtown merchants and more. But Tuesday night, staff and customers in attendance said it was the last night of service.
David Warshow, a prospective buyer of the restaurant, told Seven Days there were issues he and the seller, Planet owner Copey Houghton, could not resolve. Warshow, 28, declined to specify what the issues are, but said the failed deal was unrelated to financing. Efforts to reach Houghton on Tuesday were not successful.
“This turnout shows how important this place is to the community,” Warshow said late Tuesday night at the bar. “And how sad what’s happening is.”
After Seven Days reported the place was closing, Samantha Houghton insisted it was not — prompting the paper to correct the story. Around 2:15 p.m., Copey Houghton called an editor and asked for the story to be “taken down.”
Copey said he was out of town, and insisted a staff member had been telling people he was closing when he had no intention to do so. As a result, he said, the staff “walked.” Asked if there would be food service Wednesday night, he answered, “No, there can’t be any service there tonight, because of the fact that [the staff member] told everyone it’s closing. The kitchen staff walked. And I can’t get there right now.”
He hopes to get a chef and reopen soon, he said.
Tuesday night, a crowd filled the barroom. Tequila shots were $2, tacos were on special and Game Six of the World Series played on the TV. Customers said they came to pay their respects to the Daily Planet.
“I just wanted to come here and make sure I got my last hurrah in,” said Drew Johnson, 23, a cook at Leunig’s.
Ian Cyr, general manager of the Daily Planet, told Seven Days on Tuesday afternoon that summer had been busy at the Planet. He called the collapse of the sale “disappointing.”
“I think the space needs some renovating,” Cyr said. “It needs some upkeep. I’m not sure of the exact future.”
The Daily Planet is on the market for $285,000. The listing with VT Commercial describes it as an “iconic” Burlington restaurant. A second restaurant owned by Houghton, the Old Dock in Essex, N.Y., is also for sale. The asking price is $750,000.
Tony Blake of VT Commercial said a couple of parties are interested in the Planet. “The time frame is contingent, as all business transactions are, on a laundry list of conditions,” Blake said. “Even if you come to terms of agreement, a very short closing would be 60 days after that.”
He noted that a liquor license is not assumed with the change of ownership of a Vermont business. In order to get a new license, certain requirements must be met, including licensing by the Department of Health, Blake said.
A Seven Days reporter returned to the restaurant Wednesday. Cyr declined to comment, and others ordered the reporter to leave the premises.
Tags: Daily Planet , Burlington , bar , restaurant , nightlife , Web Only , Image
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Maya Crowley told Seven Days she considered buying Uncommon Grounds, which will close by the end of the year after 25 years in business. But when Crowley calculated the finances, including what she said would be a sharp increase in rent, she concluded the business wouldn’t be viable.
“We had assumed that I could take over Uncommon Grounds, but due to a number of circumstances outside our control” it didn’t work, Crowley said.
Tags: Uncommon Grounds , Burlington , Uncommon Coffee , Essex , Essex Experience , coffee , bakery , tea , roastery , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Uncommon Grounds, a coffee shop that opened on Church Street in May 1994, will close by the end of the year, owner Brenda Nadeau told Seven Days.
Nadeau, 56, said she plans to retire and shut the business that was founded by her parents, Skip and Beverly Blakely. Over its 25 years on the Marketplace, during which numerous cafés have opened in Burlington, Uncommon Grounds established itself as a downtown hangout. Along with Speeder & Earl's and Muddy Waters, Uncommon Grounds is among the oldest coffee shops in Burlington.
“I always assumed that when I left, it would continue without me,” Nadeau said. “It doesn’t need me. It’s a good model, it works. I’ve just been the steward of it for a period of time.”
Tags: Uncommon Grounds , coffee shops , Burlington , Church Street Marketplace , Kru Coffee , Muddy Waters , Speeder & Earl's , Web Only , Image
Friday, September 6, 2019
The new restaurant, which Farmer expects will open in late winter or early spring, has yet to be named. It will be a quick-service, farm-to-table restaurant whose concept and menu will be further developed when Foam hires a chef/kitchen manager to run the new business, Farmer told Seven Days.
Tags: Foam Brewers , Burlington , farm-to-table restaurant , waterfront , Web Only , Image
Thursday, August 15, 2019
A collection of food businesses will open in Middlebury in the fall as part of a development project at the Stone Mill, an 1840 building on Otter Creek that was formerly owned by Middlebury College.
The project at 3 Mill Street is the first Vermont development project spearheaded by Community Barn Real Estate. The company is an affiliate of Community Barn Ventures, a business founded in the fall of 2017 by Addison County business partners Mary Cullinane and Stacey Rainey.
Cullinane and Rainey purchased the 9,000-square-foot building for $500,000 in January 2019 and expect its $1 million renovation to be complete in late September, they said.
Tags: Stone Mill , Middlebury , Mad Taco , Dedalus Wine Shop , Air BnB , the Arcadian , Slate , development project , Vermont , Otter Creek , Royal Oak Coffee , Web Only , Image
Monday, August 5, 2019
Owner Domenico “Mimmo” Spano opened the original Mimmo’s in St. Albans in 1995 and launched a second in Essex Junction about 17 years ago. The restaurants are known for their pizza, pasta dishes, hero sandwiches and salads, such as the signature balsamic chicken.
The former KFC in South Burlington has been a revolving door for local restaurants over the past few years; Sorriso opened there in November 2018. Owner Amir Jusufagic closed the Italian-themed eatery last Wednesday and would comment only that “it was a business decision.”
Spano said he’s been looking for the right location for another Mimmo’s for the past 15 years, but nothing had gelled until this opportunity. He is doing some renovation to the space, ‘just making it into a Mimmo’s,” he said. The menu will be the same as at the sister restaurants. “We want our customers to have a predictable experience,” Spano said.
The new Mimmo’s will hold a soft opening event around August 22 before opening fully by the end of the month, Spano said.
Tags: Mimmo's , restaurants , pizza , Web Only , Image
Saturday, July 27, 2019
The site, which is adjacent to Volunteers Green, comes with a big vegetable garden out front. Stone’s Throw owners — childhood friends Tyler Stratton and Silas Pollitt, who grew up together in Fairfax — plan to grow vegetables for pizza and salad in the plot.
“We think we’re going to do some pretty neat stuff with that location,” Stratton, 33, told Seven Days. “There’s a world of opportunity there.”
Tags: Stone's Throw Pizza , Fairfax , On the Rise Bakery , Richmond , pizza , locavore , Vermont , image , garden , Web Only , Image
Thursday, June 27, 2019
The 24-seat café will serve coffee and espresso drinks made with beans roasted at Carrier Roasting Co., a roastery in Northfield. Milk at the café will come from Sweet Rowen Farmstead in West Glover. Front Seat Coffee, currently under renovation, will prepare baked goods and other food in its kitchen. Menu items will include cinnamon maple toast, avocado toast, curried chicken salad, and tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich.
Tags: coffee shop , Hardwick , Pete's Greens , Northeast Kingdom , Carrier Roasting Co. , Sweet Rowen Farmstead , locavore , Myers Produce , Web Only , Image