A high school history teacher is planning to open a waffle truck in Ellsworth this summer after having been inspired by a 2019 trip to Europe.
Kate Kennedy, who lives in Ellsworth and teaches history at George Stevens Academy in Blue Hill, hasn’t nailed down a site in the city yet. But, so far, she plans to sell waffles on Thursdays at Timberland Acres campground in Trenton, not far from the city line.
“It will be right there on the main drag,” she said of the undetermined Ellsworth location, where she plans to sell waffles each Friday through Sunday. She will have to get a mobile vendor business license from the city before she opens.
Kennedy has bought a food truck — technically a trailer — and hopes to have it spruced up and refitted with new kitchen equipment to begin selling waffles in mid-June, after the school year ends. The name of the truck will be Waffle ME.
She hasn’t run a restaurant before, but does have some commercial food service under her belt, she said. In recent years, after getting “really into” baking, she sold home-baked items at the Ellsworth Farmers Market under the name Bookish Bakery.
She was inspired to switch to making waffles because of a trip she took to Europe in 2019. Kennedy was part of a group of history teachers that traveled to Belgium and France to learn more about World War I, but she also learned about Belgian cuisine when she and others on the group came across sidewalk waffle vendors.
“I thought it was the most amazing thing,” Kennedy said. “They specialize mostly in sweet waffles.”
Kennedy says she is working on recipes, and plans to offer both savory and sweet options, including gluten-free waffles. The sweet varieties may include chocolate, blueberries, or other similar toppings. Others, which she plans to offer weekly, will include toppings or fillings such as pulled chicken, ham and cheese, or barbecue.
“My spin is we’re also going to offer waffle pizzas,” Kennedy said. She will cook regular pizza dough in the waffle irons, and then add a choice of regular pizza toppings.
“We’re hoping to open on June 15,” at the Trenton campground she said, adding she still has a lot of work to do to be ready.
“I have a super supportive husband,” she chuckled.
