In Montpelier, Rabble-Rouser Chocolate & Craft at 64 Main Street appears to have closed permanently. Brown paper covered the windows of the 4,400-square-foot café, chocolate production facility and retail shop, which opened in 2019 as an evolution of Nutty Steph's, founded by Jaquelyn Fernandez Rieke. No one could be reached at Rabble-Rouser. Katie Trautz, executive director of Montpelier Alive, said the business has closed but may eventually continue in some form.
The Village Creeme Stand in Bristol announced on Facebook that the 43-year-old seasonal snack shack will not reopen this summer following the 2023 death of owner Tom Wallace. Wallace, who ran the business with his wife, Claire, and their extended family, explained firmly to Seven Days for a 2019 article that "creemee" (our house style) is actually properly spelled with one E at the end. On Facebook, the family wrote that a reopening had been planned, but "unfortunately emotionally and physically this void is too much to handle." The family does expect to reopen the seasonal stand in the future.
After a year and a half, chef-owner Shawn Careau has closed Off the Rails at One Federal in St. Albans. When the restaurant launched with a wood-fired, European fusion menu in 2022, Careau told Seven Days he hoped to "bring a little bit of culinary flair to this area." On Facebook last week, he wrote, "Due to multiple determining factors, it has become impossible for us to keep the business going."
Correction, June 19, 2024: An earlier version of this story misstated the nature of the closure of Bristol's Village Creeme Stand. The seasonal stand will be closed this summer but the family expects to reopen it in the future.