The Wise Fool to Bring Middle Eastern Street Food to BTV

A spread of dishes from the Wise Fool Credit: Courtesy of Sarah Annay

Former Honey Road chef de cuisine Elliot Sion will open the Wise Fool at 260 North Street in Burlington’s Old North End in mid-February. Sion, 36, will offer a menu of Middle Eastern street food — such as shawarma, falafel and shawarma-loaded fries — for takeout only while he completes a major dining room renovation. He expects to open with seating and a full bar in the second half of 2025, but the restaurant will remain casual with counter service.

Since 2016, the space had been occupied by Shinjuku Station, which closed in December. According to the restaurant’s now-defunct website, owner Mao Hartwell needed to return to her native Japan to care for her mother.

Sion grew up in Manhattan eating Middle Eastern food at home and from the city’s ubiquitous halal street carts. His father is originally from Egypt and his mother was born in Lebanon, although her family is Syrian.

The chef noted that the Wise Fool menu will be mostly street food-inspired. After a career so far focused on fine dining, Sion said he wanted to provide affordable, casual food. He plans to be open Wednesday through Saturday with late-night hours.

Falafel and shawarma sandwiches from the Wise Fool Credit: Courtesy of Sarah Annay

Sion first came to Burlington to attend the University of Vermont but left to enroll in the Culinary Institute of America. After landing an internship at Ana Sortun’s Oleana in Cambridge, Mass., he decided to stay on with Sortun’s eastern Mediterranean restaurant group.

The young cook returned to Vermont in 2017 to help open Honey Road, whose chef/co-owner Cara Chigazola Tobin he met when both worked for Sortun. Sion rose to chef de cuisine at Honey Road and then worked briefly last year at the Tillerman in Bristol before deciding to open his own place. His former Honey Road colleague Taylor Adams now runs the Tillerman kitchen.

The Wise Fool will do some pop-ups in and around Chittenden County over the next month or so before Sion opens for takeout. Follow @thewisefoolbtv on Instagram for updates.