May Day brings food from the farm to the Old North End of Burlington
Two veterans of the Burlington-area dining scene decided it was time to put what they’ve learned into their own restaurant, which they opened last month in the Old North End.
What is the place?
Matthew Peterson and Mojo Hancy-Davis opened their restaurant, May Day, within its titular month; its first day in business was May 27. May Day occupies the space that most recently housed the neighborhood eatery Butch + Babe’s.
May Day’s “fundamental approach,” according to Hancy-Davis, is to use ingredients from local farms to create made-from-scratch food.
“We’re a neighborhood restaurant using seasonal ingredients, and we source locally first,” said Hancy-Davis, the chef at May Day. “We can’t do what we do without really high-quality ingredients.”
Those ingredients come from Vermont growers including Pomykala Farm in Grand Isle, Lewis Creek Farm in Starksboro and Reap and Sow Farm in Monkton. When May Day has to source out-of-state for items such as seafood, Peterson said the restaurant does so by getting the freshest catch possible from a vendor in Boston.
“Working seasonally is probably the most-inspiring thing we can do,” he said.
Vermont’s growing season, of course, is a short one. Hancy-Davis said May Day is stocking a deep pantry filled with pickled ramps, sauerkraut and fermented broccoli rabe that will be forgotten for several months. May Day’s crew will then rediscover that bounty for its winter menu.
May Day has seating for 58 customers inside, but can hold up to 90 when the full patio is up and running. Hancy-Davis said business has been strong so far, especially on Sundays and Mondays, when some other restaurants are closed.
What’s the story behind it?
Peterson and Hancy-Davis have worked at a variety of Burlington-area restaurants; Peterson has been at Bluebird Barbecue, Manhattan Pizza and Hen of the Wood, while Hancy-Davis spent time at The Skinny Pancake and the Carte Blanche food truck. (Peterson also worked for a time in Providence, Rhode Island, before returning to Vermont after the COVID-19 pandemic struck.)
The two worked together nearly a decade ago at Misery Loves Co. in Winooski, where Peterson said he and Hancy-Davis fell in love with the confluence of food, wine and service. “They were at the forefront of what food culture would be in Vermont,” Peterson said of Misery Loves Co.
The passion for farms and local purveyors that they discovered at Misery Loves Co. fed their desire to open a place together. Peterson said he has always worked front-of-house at restaurants, in the process learning how to make a bad guest experience good. He said he and Hancy-Davis also wanted to create a business that treats its employees well.
May Day is the name for International Workers Day on May 1, a day the restaurant missed opening on by less than four weeks. Peterson said it’s also the day he and friends jump in a river to celebrate the pending arrival of summer, after which the group gathers to enjoy food and wine.
That’s a positive connotation, but the phrase “May Day” also carries a negative one, as in the distress signal. That could apply to the restaurant as well, signifying it as a place to relax after life has become too distressing.
May Day’s merchandise taps into that upbeat/downbeat duality. A May Day T-shirt hanging behind the bar last week depicted a horned creature cavorting among flowers and sunshine. May Day has also offered tie-dyed pocket T-shirts depicting creepy-but-sort-of-cute skulls.
Hours and location of May Day restaurant
May Day, 258 N. Winooski Ave., Burlington. 5-10 p.m. Friday-Monday. (802) 540-9240, www.maydayvt.com
Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com. Follow Brent on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: May Day restaurant opens in the Old North End of Burlington
