Words by Jesse Serwer, Photo by Matthew Thorsen—

If you’re going to open a Jamaican spot in an area best known for winter sports and ski slopes, you’ve got to call it Cool Runnings, right? That’s just obvious. But what’s not typical or obvious is what’s happened at Negril native Leroy Headley’s Burlington, Vermont shop and restaurant since opening. Cool Runnings is the site of a rather unlikely— but practical— fusion now that Panamanian Mayllet Paz has joined Headley in the kitchen, adding dishes like Plátano en tentación to the menu.