Our Story

Gene's Chili Hut Story

In the early 1950’s my father Joe and his brother, my uncle, Gene opened Gene’s Chili Hut. They quickly became known for the unique chili sauce they put on hotdogs and burgers, a recipe that was purchased for $5000.00. Gene passed away at the young age of 37, my father continued to run the business with his mother. In the late 60’s my father decided to get out of the business. Fast food chains were popping up, and with the competition increasing he stopped while he was ahead.

Growing up hearing stories of Gene’s Chili Hut, I developed an interest in the business. At 16 years old a new partnership was born, Big Joe, my dad and little Joe, as I was called, embarked on bringing back “The Original Gene’s Chili Hut”. Unfortunately, my fathers’ health took a turn, and the decision was made to shut down operations. The plan was to start over in Florida once Big Joe recovered, where he always wanted to end up. Sadly, my dad passed away and the recipe went on the shelf.

I continued in the food world, working under a French Chef for four years. I eventually became a chef, working at many fine restaurants in the Utica area. In 1992 I moved to Vermont, continuing my career and making a name for myself as a Chef.

Starting a family made me want to shift gears so I transitioned to a Catering Chef position at Middlebury College, a better schedule and benefits. 10 years into my career at Middlebury, I wanted something different. I jumped from the kitchen to IT, becoming a manager of the service desk at Davis Library.

In 2023, my son Tristan, an auto tech working in Burlington said, “Dad, I want to do a food truck and bring back the chili hut.” After talking about the idea, we made some of that famous sauce to see if it could be a hit as it was back in Utica. Friends loved it and always wanted more. A third partnership was born. Tristan and I started looking at completed food trucks, we found the investment was more than we wanted to make initially. We decided with our combined ability to build and fix things along with my knowledge of kitchens we would buy a camper and convert it into Gene’s Chili Hut.

For Tristan this is what he wants to do going forward, for me, it brings back many memories of doing the business with my dad. To have Tristan want to do this with me, what more can a dad ask for?

 

-“Little” Joe Durante