It’s been a busy month at Burlington breakfast hot spot the Café HOT. Allan and Travis Walker-Hodkin quietly opened the doors at 198 Main Street for on-site dining last Thursday.
Seeing a full restaurant — and the surprise and delight on regulars’ faces — was “overwhelming and great,” Travis said.
The menu full of “bonuts” (fried, glazed biscuit dough) and egg sandwiches hasn’t changed, but “it tastes a little better when you’re sitting inside,” Allan said, noting that on-site dining shows off the café’s espresso drinks.
While online ordering and pickup at the popular takeout window are temporarily paused, to-go orders can still be placed inside.
Also last week, the Café HOT. became the only restaurant in Vermont certified by the Green Restaurant Association. The Boston-based nonprofit helped the brothers update their facility to minimize environmental impact, from using low-flow fixtures and secondhand equipment to outlawing straws. They’re also committed to serving a vegetarian “no-kill menu.”
“There are a thousand ways to be more sustainable,” Allan said. “It’s nice to have a target to work toward.”
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This article appears in Feb 16-22, 2022.
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