Justin Barker (left) and Matthew “Captain Mattie” Thomson at Captain Mattie’s Hot Fat Fish & Chips shortly after opening the food truck in July. The business abruptly closed Thursday, Sept. 8. (J.W. Oliver photo, LCN file)
Captain Mattie’s Hot Fat Fish & Chips – the food truck that opened on Route 1 in Waldoboro this summer – closed Thursday, Sept. 8.
Justin Barker, the chef and manager of the truck, said he had planned to keep Hot Fat open through Columbus Day, but his former business partner, Matthew “Captain Mattie” Thomson, abruptly closed the business.
The partners gave different reasons for the sudden closure.
Barker said the truck had been having a great first season. He does not expect to return to Hot Fat. He said he wants to open another food truck, but does not know when or where that might happen.
Thomson said he does not know whether Hot Fat will reopen in Waldoboro next year. “We have some other options,” he said. “Hot Fat’s not dead.”
During its brief time in Waldoboro, the food truck specialized in seafood, like fish and chips and lobster rolls. Other menu items featured spicy or tangy flavors from Barker’s homemade sauces, like a fish sandwich with jalapeno tartar sauce or a fish taco with a red cabbage sauce. “If you have to ask how spicy, it’s too hot for you,” the menu read.
Thomson, of Monhegan, started Hot Fat about a decade ago in a trailer next to his house on the back side of the island. More recently, he acquired the truck and he and Barker moved the business to the mainland.
They set up outside Delano Seafood Market at 2090 Atlantic Highway (Route 1), where they opened July 1, and the truck also traveled to special events.
