By TORY DENIS
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BROWNSVILLE, Vt. — Several months after the Brownsville General Store closed permanently, a couple with experience in both farming and the culinary arts has stepped forward to breathe new life into the little store on Route 44, with a fresh name and a nod to the store’s history.
Co-founders Lauren Stevens and Peter Varkonyi have been working hard to refurbish the building, and in September are planning to open the new Brownsville Butcher & Pantry in the former general store building.
“Once we saw the project was very much a reality, we were eager to join the community as quickly as possible,” Varkonyi said in an interview this week.
The couple moved to Brownsville in early May, and are formerly of Royalton. She was a farm manager in Norwich, and he had many years of experience as an executive chef. They found their careers had “hit the ceiling,” he said, and they had to decide whether to stay in Vermont and contribute to a community, or to leave. They chose to stay, and began looking for opportunities in the region.
Through a mentor with SCORE (score.org), a network of volunteer financial advisors and business mentors, they learned of an opportunity in Brownsville.
After the general store closed in February 2017, a group of West Windsor community members came together in December 2017 with hopes to purchase it, and were looking for someone to to take on a lease and revive it. They had interviewed several candidates, and at the same time, his and Stevens’ business plan was coalescing, Varkonyi said.
Ownership eventually changed hands from the former owner to a local bank. By January 2018, a group had banded together to raise money to purchase the building, and they made the purchase on May 2. Their hope was that a new owner could be found to buy or lease the building, said Varkonyi.
The couple entered into a lease agreement with the group, with an opportunity to purchase the building in 3-5 years — giving them “the best shot out of the gate,” said the chef.
BB&P is still undergoing major renovations while the couple completely transforms the space from a general store into a more contemporary style cafe / restaurant that will also serve as a store for a wide variety of needs.
“We want to be accommodating, functional, and consistent to the region … a new blueprint for general stores in the area,” Varkonyi said.
The store was built in 1970 and has been a general store for nearly 50 years. It was “very dilapidated, “along with having sustained hurricane damage,” he said. Varkonyi and Stevens are acting as general contractors, and began in May to do the demolition work, gutting the entire building. They are now in the process of rebuilding it, with a goal of opening in late September.
“We wanted to be able to look back and say ‘we put every nail and beam possible into it,’” he said. “It is very near and dear to us.”
Helping with the work are Potwin Construction of Hartland, which specialized in renovation work and also worked with the couple’s fixed budget, and H.B. Energy Solutions out of Springfield, helping with plumbing, heating and propane.
“It’s been a wonderful experience for us,” he said.
Varkonyi said that he and Stevens have detailed plans for the new store and 25-seat, dine-in or dine-out cafe.
It will be three businesses in one: it is “very much a cafe,” that will serve breakfast and lunch at first, eventually branching into expanded hours, serving dinner seven days a week, also serving beer and wine, he said.
The menu will be as expansive as possible, and wholesome and nourishing — but “nothing will be overly elaborate or fussy,” he said. “It’ll be a lot of a little, in a great way.”
The original Brownsville General Store sign will also be refurbished and will hang above the cafe in a nod to the store’s history, he said. He also added that the name change was not out of a lack of respect, but that the building needed “a new identity, in a way.”
The new BB&P will also be an open marketplace and a grocery center, carrying bulk goods such as flour, spices, nuts, dairy goods, produce, wine and beer, and locally crafted artisan goods. They will also have a full butcher shop, and will be purchasing whole carcasses from regional farmers. They plan to carry beef, pork, lamb and poultry, along with fresh seafood from the New England coast.
Varkonyi also said there is good synergy between the store and the nearby Ascutney Outdoor Center, and that they will have a partnership where guests will be informed of the nearby spot for breakfast and lunch.
“It is really quite an incredible story, one that takes the familiar saying, ‘It Takes a Village’ to a whole new level,” said Lucie Bodnar, who manages press outreach for the couple and has known Varkonyi for five years.
Bodnar said she first met Varkonyi when she worked at Home Hill Inn back in the summer of 2013, where he was the executive chef there.
“After learning that he and his partner, Lauren, were starting this new journey, I jumped at the chance to reconnect with them as I’ve always held Brownsville very close to my heart and am eager to give something back to a community that gave me so much,” she said.
Although the Grand Opening isn’t until late September, the store’s “doors” have been open to the community throughout the remodeling phase, as many townspeople are eager to pop their heads in to check out the progress and even lend a hand, Bodnar said.
“Folks young and old have also been coming in and sharing fond memories about the store with Lauren and Peter, which has made the entire process that much more endearing. There is certainly excitement in the air!” Bodnar said.
Varkonyi said he has heard from local residents and curious tourists who seem very excited to see the store re-open. From a level of identity, he said, the sentiment he has been receiving from area residents is that they really want their store to come back.
“This town really missed this store,” he said.
On Sunday, Aug. 12, the West Windsor Volunteer Fire Department will be celebrating its 60th anniversary, and the Brownsville Butcher & Pantry will be helping out, at the department’s building on Route 44 in Brownsville. The community is welcome to join in celebrating the town’s volunteers and the department’s 60 years of dedication to serving the town. Hot dogs and hamburgers will be sizzling on the grill, courtesy of West Windsor’s firefighters, while the Brownsville Butcher & Pantry will serve up delicious salads to go along with the meal.
For more information on the store’s opening date, and to see blog posts and photos of the progress, visit butcherandpantry.com.
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