Winner
Sugarsnap
Runner-Up
Cloud 9 Caterers
This purveyor of prepared locavore specialties added two locations to its empire this year: a café at ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center, and Sugarsnap at Technology Park, which is now home base for the company’s prep kitchen and catering division. The produce comes from Sugarsnap’s own garden at the Burlington Intervale, but the menu spans the globe, from pork empanadas to Thai peanut chicken skewers.
SEVEN DAYS: What do you do when someone requests food that’s wildly out of season for an event?
LAURA KANYA, EXECUTIVE CHEF: Of course if somebody is really adamant on it, we will try and fill their request. But we also stress our philosophy of seasonal and local and the best product is within season. Sometimes, for things like blueberries, we are able to freeze them and use those all winter long. We’ll puree basil and use it all winter long in pestos.
— Alice Levitt