The café inside the Kennedy Brothers building at 11 Main Street in Vergennes reopened as the Holt, a family-friendly breakfast, lunch and dinner spot, on March 7. Maple Café, which preceded it, closed last year.
The counter-service restaurant serves everything à la carte, both to keep prices affordable and to minimize waste, co-owner Adam Neff said. The Holt’s menu features classic dishes such as eggs and French toast in the morning; salads, sandwiches and homemade soups throughout the day; and lasagna, coconut-curry shrimp, falafel, shepherd’s pie, burgers and roast chicken for dinner.
“Plus tacos at every meal,” co-owner Teresa Boucher added, noting that Neff is from the San Francisco area and “really loves tacos.”
It’s the first restaurant that Boucher, 58, and Neff, 53, have owned, though Boucher has worked at Ferrisburgh’s Basin Harbor and the now-closed Bar Antidote in Vergennes. She’ll soon retire from her other career as a math educator. Neff has a background in IT but “loves to cook,” he said.
The Holt is open Friday through Tuesday, starting at 6 a.m. on weekdays and staying open late on weekends. Sunday features a brunch buffet. The multilevel dining space will soon host events such as live music, a “kids’ zone” with movies and crafts, and weekly game nights.
Boucher bakes bread in-house, including her locally famous pepper-cheese bread, made with hot Hungarian wax peppers. Ingredients such as eggs and herbs will be sourced directly from the couple’s Panton farm, Farmhouse Table.
“We’re trying to create a sense of community, a place to hang out and socialize,” Neff said. “Something for everyone.”
The original print version of this article was headlined “The Holt Restaurant Opens in Vergennes’ Kennedy Brothers Building”
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This article appears in Mar 12-18, 2025.
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