Hungry for Hummus?

It started at Viva Espresso [1] and Dobrá Tea [2] and grew to encompass a stand at the Burlington Farmers' Market. Now Chick Peace, a Middle and Near Eastern food biz that is the brainchild of 24-year-old UVM grad Paul Bedrosian, has expanded once again. "We're at City Market [3], Healthy Living [4] and Sweet Clover Market [5], with the intention of branching out to a couple more places," notes Bedrosian — no relation to Haik [6]. He whips up batches of hummus — the spread comes in flavors such as original, lemon lovers and roasted red pepper — in a rented Old North End kitchen. It's a step up from using his own.

The dip isn't Bedrosian's only venture: He caters under the Chick Peace name, too. During market season, he plans to offer other traditional Mediterranean foodstuffs: Think baba ganoush and tabouleh.

Even though he's stepped up production, Bedrosian still works alone and makes everything from scratch — the beans soak overnight, and the lemon juice is fresh squeezed. "It's just me working to make the hummus. I'm the cook, the dishwasher, the delivery guy and PR guy," he relates. "I'm most fond of being the head dishwasher; that's my forte."