by Roxeanne De Luca | January 8th, 2013
ReadabilityRestaurant Review: Hot Table, Springfield, MA
Work took me out to the western part of the state (near the dragons); in my wanderings, I stumbled upon the hip Hot Table panini restaurant. YUM.
Hot Table serves made-to-order hot paninis and salads; their vegetable bar is a thing of fresh, colourful beauty; their dark roast coffee doesn’t turn a shade paler than black until you’ve dumped about a cup of milk into it. No, seriously, check out the link and look at the veggies; it puts Au Bön Pain to shame. Paninis come in small and large; both salads and paninis come with a “build your own” option. Here’s the menu - vegetarian heaven. Okay, there’s also plently of meat on it (black and blue paninis, anyone?).
They do eat-in and take-out. By noon, most of the tables were taken; ten minutes later, the line was twenty people deep. (The line does move fast.)
Now for the part that will make Peter smile: the signs posted in the store and the “Deo Gratias” footer on every menu. Hot Table is closed on Sundays in order to give its employees a day of rest:
When we opened our first restaurant in 2007 we made the decision to close on Sundays. This decision was as much practical as spiritual. We believe that all of our employees should have an opportunity to rest, spend time with family and friends, and worship if they choose to do so. That’s why all three of our Hot Table restaurants are closed on Sundays. It’s part of our recipe for success.
The restaurant’s mission is to thank God for His graces, to give back to the community, mentor employees, and serve healthy food. As I said before, the place was absolutely packed, proving that it’s entirely possible to be a moral and a profitable corporation — something Chick-fil-A has been proving for years. (One can also see how a Paul Ryan type can both be Catholic and a student of Ayn Rand’s philosophy.) Non-profits are not the only groups that are capable of adding to people’s lives and doing good in the world, nor are all profit-making entities immoral, amoral, or heartless money-grubbers. Nor does one need to be part of a leftist, “let’s give our profits back!” group in order to do good. Some “non-profits” have executives who make exhorbitant salaries; some are greedy, rapacious, and dishonest. The amount of profit is hardly related to morality — the means of making that profit (or of reclassifying huge sums of money as ‘non-profit’) is the issue.
Work took me out to the western part of the state (near the dragons); in my wanderings, I stumbled upon the hip Hot Table panini restaurant. YUM.
Hot Table serves made-to-order hot paninis and salads; their vegetable bar is a thing of fresh, colourful beauty; their dark roast coffee doesn’t turn a shade paler than black until you’ve dumped about a cup of milk into it. No, seriously, check out the link and look at the veggies; it puts Au Bon Pain to shame. Paninis come in small and large; both salads and paninis come with a “build your own” option. Here’s the menu - vegetarian heaven. Okay, there’s also plently of meat on it (black and blue paninis, anyone?).
They do eat-in and take-out. By noon, most of the tables were taken; ten minutes later, the line was twenty people deep. (The line does move fast.)
Now for the part that will make Peter smile: the signs posted in the store and the “Deo Gratias” footer on every menu. Hot Table is closed on Sundays in order to give its employees a day of rest:
When we opened our first restaurant in 2007 we made the decision to close on Sundays. This decision was as much practical as spiritual. We believe that all of our employees should have an opportunity to rest, spend time with family and friends, and worship if they choose to do so. That’s why all three of our Hot Table restaurants are closed on Sundays. It’s part of our recipe for success.
The restaurant’s mission is to thank God for His graces, to give back to the community, mentor employees, and serve healthy food. As I said before, the place was absolutely packed, proving that it’s entirely possible to be a moral and a profitable corporation – something Chick-fil-A has been proving for years. (One can also see how a Paul Ryan type can both be Catholic and a student of Ayn Rand’s philosophy.) Non-profits are not the only groups that are capable of adding to people’s lives and doing good in the world, nor are all profit-making entities immoral, amoral, or heartless money-grubbers. Nor does one need to be part of a leftist, “let’s give our profits back!” group in order to do good. Some “non-profits” have executives who make exhorbitant salaries; some are greedy, rapacious, and dishonest. The amount of profit is hardly related to morality – the means of making that profit (or of reclassifying huge sums of money as ‘non-profit’) is the issue.
