“It was bittersweet, because we spent a lot of time in that building. But it reached a point where I had to make a decision, and it was a distraction from the core business, which has become catering.”

So says chef and cofounder Abbey Duke about the closure of the Burlington location of Sugarsnap, the farm-to-table caterer that ran a grab-and-go eatery on Riverside Avenue for a decade.

Three years ago, Sugarsnap opened a commercial kitchen and café in South Burlington’s Technology Park; later, it became the sole caterer for ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center.

The work of tending those locations, combined with a robust catering business, made maintaining the cozy Burlington location something of a bear.

“It’s been a great 10 years,” says Duke. She sounds slightly pained about letting down her regulars on Riverside Avenue — including workers in the Intervale, where the Sugarsnap staff farms three acres.

Those hankering for Sugarsnap’s soups and sandwiches can still find them on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m at 30 Community Drive in South Burlington.

The original print version of this article was headlined “Fresh Focus”

This article appears in Nov 13-19, 2013.

Corin Hirsch was a Seven Days food writer 2011 through 2016. She was also a dining critic and drinks columnist at Newsday from 2017 to 2022, and contributes to The Guardian, Wine Enthusiast and other publications. She’s spoken often on colonial era drinking and is the author of Forgotten Drinks of Colonial New England, published by History Press in 2014.