Vegan Restaurant Despacito Opens in Burlington’s Old North End

Three months after Knead Bakery closed, the area at 294 North Winooski Avenue in Burlington’s Outdated North Finish is a vegan restaurant as soon as once more. Chef-owner David Quintana and chef Jeff Hodgdon launched Despacito with a smooth opening in mid-December; they’re concentrating on a grand opening on Saturday, January 14.

The co-chefs are cooking up a menu of each “vegan junk meals and elevated vegan dishes,” Quintana stated.

“It is a enjoyable, tapas-style, artistic tackle issues,” Hodgdon added.

Up to now, dinner service has featured small plates resembling Buffalo cauliflower, beet tartare and kimchi sliders on housemade buns, in addition to bigger, shareable dishes resembling a tofu plate. Most menu gadgets value $10 or much less, and plenty of are gluten free.

Each Quintana and Hodgdon come from the cell meals biz world; Quintana has run the Burlington-based Dos Feos vegan meals truck since 2019, and Hodgdon based seitan firm the New Deal in 2018, launching a meals cart in 2022. The 2 cooks met whereas working at Winooski’s Mule Bar final winter.

A brick-and-mortar restaurant was all the time Quintana’s purpose, he stated, although he’ll proceed to run Dos Feos within the hotter months. Just like the meals truck, the Despacito menu nods to his Puerto Rican roots, providing empanadas, mofongo, picadillo made with Unattainable Burger and coconut flan.

Quintana and Hodgdon will complement their dinner service with beer, wine and mocktails. They’ve opened up the area so as to add seating and plan to supply leisure sooner or later.

Daytime café service is within the works, too. Despacito will associate with Middlebury’s Iluminar Espresso Roasters to supply Puerto Rican beans.

“We’re making an attempt to get the items collectively to open up the café,” Quintana stated. “That is what the group was used to,” he added, referring to the café service at Knead Bakery. “I get it.”