This past August, Nadia Dole, owner of the beloved café and restaurant Vergennes Laundry, said goodbye to its original location at 247 Main Street in Vergennes. Fortunately for local residents and college students who treasure the spot, Dole is relocating just down the street to 205 Main Street and will reopen there this month.
Dole explained that her relationship with her landlords — the original owners of Vergennes Laundry and of the space — had been strained, but she was shocked to learn in the spring that her lease at 247 Main would not be renewed.
She scrambled to find a new location for her business, desperate to remain in Vergennes, but options were scarce.
Dole had put in an offer on the property at 205 Main but had not heard back from the owners of the space. While walking past one day, she decided to stop to introduce herself to the landlord that had never answered her application. After hearing about her situation, the landlord immediately told her he wanted to make it work.
“He mentioned that Vergennes Laundry was his daughter's favorite place,” Dole said.
The new location will feature a bit more retail space than the former while still preserving the charm of the original café. Though the team is introducing fresh elements, some of the familiar benches and tables will be brought in from the old location. Menu traditions like Moroccan Nights will remain, joined by new offerings such as Bistro Nights on Sundays and Mondays. Dole is also looking forward to expanding the pastry selection, experimenting with treats like cannolis, while keeping beloved staples such as the banana bread.
Additionally, as the new location is two stories, there will be a downstairs bakery kitchen and an upstairs open-faced kitchen area, which will provide brunch and dinner to customers.
“The next day, after we closed the shop, it was full of people,” Dole said. “Some people that I knew well enough, some people that I didn't. And they were boxing up, they were wanting to help move, and for three days the whole community was at my shop.”
From the get-go, Dole’s inspiration for the goods offered in her shop has been shaped by a mix of cultures, drawn not only from her travels but also from her childhood in France and familial background. These cultural influences appear throughout the menu, whether in the fan-favorite Turkish eggs, rotating Moroccan night specials, or the house-made pastries, sourdough, and baguettes.
Prior to Vergennes Laundry, Dole worked as a photographer with an international retreat company, leading about a dozen trips a year while hosting workshops, producing editorials, and teaching film and video.
Dole’s photography and professional background has allowed her to put a new spin on the business. Though running Vergennes Laundry is now her full-time job, Dole continues to weave her passion for the art medium and travel into her work. While she leads fewer retreats than before, she still organizes international workshops through the business for interested customers.
“We bring customers with us that will go: We did a few in Morocco and Mexico City,” Dole said.
“It is also where I get my inspiration and my sourcing for goods, so either where we sell retail or in my dishes.”
In the fall of 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dole officially purchased the gourmet food shop and bakery that initially opened in 2010, after a previously rejected offer.
Dole’s initial plan was to open after the New Year. However, as the holidays approached and many Vermont residents were unable to be with their families due to the pandemic, she decided to open earlier with hopes of offering the community a place to gather.
“The week of Christmas, I just thought, well I'm not ready, but what a gift to the community if I could just have a place where they could buy some retail stuff or just even stop in for an espresso,” Dole said.
Dole recounted how, due to Covid-19 restrictions, only a handful of people were allowed inside her newly opened shop, leading to lines that wrapped around the building. She was touched by how the early opening brought residents together, as they chatted while waiting in line for fresh espresso, and biscotti, or retail items such as butter, wine, and chocolate.
Although Dole had planned to open just briefly for the holidays before closing to prepare for a full launch as a café, restaurant, and modern-general-store, she decided to remain open, realizing how much comfort the space was bringing to the community.
Dole emphasized how her customers are at the heart of Vergennes Laundry’s atmosphere and success. Among the regulars are also Middlebury College students.
“As a Middlebury College student, I love Vergennes as a great option to go grab a drink or snack either with friends or just escape the college bubble, but still get the Vermont small town feel,” Abbey Boyd ’26 said.
Boyd is one of many students who not only enjoy the café, but also feel a strong loyalty and connection to it. Many Middlebury students have also worked there over the years, and they continue to stay connected with Dole while returning with friends and family.
“I was lucky enough to do a program in Copenhagen, and I think that their culture of coziness is something that needs to be brought into cafés and other places in the U.S. more often, and I think that Vergennes Laundry totally encapsulates that,” Boyd said. “And so I hope the new location has that same coziness that the original did.”
Izzy Ronda '26 (she/her) is a Local Editor.
Izzy is a local editor for the campus. She is majoring in English with a double minor in Italian and Political Science. Outside of The Campus, Izzy is a member of the Middlebury Women's Squash Team and a contributing writer for Clover Magazine. This past summer Izzy worked as a reinsurance broking intern at a company in New York City.
