King Arthur Baking fans outside Vermont will soon have a new permanent retail location to visit. Unlike the Norwich company’s previous seasonal pop-ups around the U.S., the forthcoming year-round location in the Washington, D.C., area will include a baking school modeled after its Vermont flagship. Several Alexandria, Va., outlets reported the news on February 5; the company first mentioned it in a social media comment on January 30.
King Arthur’s second location will open in Alexandria’s Old Town neighborhood in late summer. Its current pop-up shop in Fairfax, Va., will remain open through June, and a pop-up in Denver, Colo., has extended its run through the end of 2026.
Also growing are the offerings from Southern Smoke’s commercial kitchen in Winooski. Chef-owner Brian Stefan will launch Stefano’s Rustic North Country Italian, a separate catering company, this week.
Stefan has run Southern Smoke, his Cajun and Caribbean food truck and catering business, since 2011. The new Stefano’s will have options for pickup, delivery, large parties and weddings, Stefan said. He’ll also take the biz on the road, serving dishes such as eggplant piccata, porchetta on housemade focaccia and Chicago Italian beef sandwiches — like the signature dish in the popular television show “The Bear” — from one of his food trucks at events this summer.
“We’re branching out [simply] because I miss making Italian food,” Stefan told Seven Days. The New Jersey native said he grew up working in kitchens that “had Italian influence no matter what they served,” and he once ran an Italian restaurant in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Stefano’s will focus on “well-executed classics with local ingredients,” Stefan said, such as simple red sauce with garlic and fresh basil and “cozy baked dishes,” including lasagna and cavatappi mac and cheese.
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