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Its parking lot crammed with cars, its double doors exchanging warm, bacon-scented breezes with blasts of frosty air as patrons came and went, Brownsville Butcher & Pantry had clearly established itself as a community gathering spot on this most inhospitable of winter mornings.
“This is exactly what we dreamed of,” said Jeanette Becker, eating breakfast at the cafe’s wide concrete counter with her husband, Matt, and their daughter, Caitlin, on Monday.
The Beckers have been coming to Brownsville from their main home in West Hartford, Conn., since 2001, along with seven to 10 other families from the same town. Their kids grew up skiing together at Ascutney Mountain Resort, and by the time it closed in 2010, they were too attached to leave.
“You come up here and you cross into the town, and you feel all the stress go away,” Becker said.
There’s a fine line between stress-free and sleepy, however, and in this town, Brownsville Butcher & Pantry may be that line. When the Brownsville General Store closed in 2017 after more than 45 years in business, Brownsville residents were left without a place to buy grocery staples or chat with their neighbors over lunch.
“When we were first planning this business, we knew first and foremost that it was going to have to serve the community,” said co-owner Lauren Stevens, 28, who has worked on organic vegetable farms in Seattle, Syracuse and here in Norwich and runs the administrative aspects of the business along with doing just about anything that needs to be done around the restaurant and store.
Stevens and her fiance and co-owner, Peter Varkonyi, opened their business two months ago in the building that housed the general store, which is owned by a group of residents called the Friends of the Brownsville Store. Knowing the value the store had to the community, they aimed to make it something special.
“We created a business model that’s intended to have something for everyone,” said Varkonyi, 29, a chef who trained at New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier and has worked at restaurants in California and Denver as well as New Hampshire and Vermont.
Half country store, half cafe, the business offers both pantry basics and specialty items, as well as an inventive menu built around local foods. You can pick up a pint of ice cream, a loaf of homemade bread, a whole rabbit or a pound of oysters in the store, or sit down in the cafe for a stack of pancakes, a bagel with lox, a hot pastrami sandwich or a chickpea avocado wrap. You can also try one of the local brews on tap, or take home a six-pack along with a family-size prepared meal of pot roast or macaroni and cheese.
What you can’t do — at least not without effort — is remain anonymous. Stevens, Varkonyi and their staff shout out hellos to customers as they come in and have been known to call regulars by phone if they don’t see them at their usual time.
“It’s been amazing to get to know our customers on a personal level,” Stevens said.
The couple also love the creative challenges inherent in satisfying their customers’ appetites and surprising their palates.
“One regular comes in and he almost plays this game with me,” Varkonyi said. The customer asks for unusual items such as tahini or ancho chilis to see if Varkonyi can produce them, he explained. Usually, he can.
Varkonyi also likes to act as a consultant to home chefs. The ingredients for everything that he makes in the restaurant are for sale in the store, and Varkonyi is happy to explain how to make his dishes. A trained butcher, he also advises customers on how to cook the large selection of meat and seafood the store carries. The seafood has proved especially popular, as have, not surprisingly, the craft beers and the home-made baked goods.
The free Wi-Fi is also a draw in this rural town. R.C. Victorino, a freelance copywriter who works out of his home in Hartland, comes in two or three times a week for breakfast and a change of scenery. “It’s good for me to get out of the house,” said Victorino, sitting behind a laptop with a bagel and lox.
A transplant from Washington state, Victorino used to drive to Woodstock when he wanted human interaction and a cup of coffee. He likes the restaurant’s convenience, and as a “pescatarian,” he appreciates its selection of vegetarian and seafood options. He also likes that he’s one of the few people who’s hunched over a computer. “It’s a good mix of people,” he said.
Along with seasonal residents such as the Beckers and people passing through on their way to ski areas or other destinations, the restaurant hosts plenty of full-time Brownsville folks craving a hearty sandwich or some conversation. Word has spread, too: People have started coming from as far north as Randolph and as far south as Putney to try the Sunday brunch or one of the Friday night dinners.
On Monday, Jamie Barbour, a local carpenter, was having breakfast with his daughters, Sequoia and Isabelle. A nearly lifelong Brownsville resident (his family moved here when he was 2, and his mother ran the local beauty shop), Barbour is happy to see the restaurant filled with people.
“The food is delicious, and it’s nice to have something close to home,” he said.
Open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the business is an all-consuming enterprise for the couple. But they’re thrilled so far with how it’s been received in the community they now call home.
“It’s been incredible. I can’t say one facet of this business and becoming an entrepreneur has been disappointing,” Varkonyi said.
Sarah Earle can be reached at searle@vnews.com and 603-727-3268.