Delays in the completion of Red Hen Baking‘s previously announced new, larger location in Middlesex are prompting the bakery to open a café in Montpelier. Co-owner Randy George, 56, said that the bakery’s current café in Camp Meade just off Route 2 in Middlesex will close at the end of April, and a new Red Hen Café will open at 60-64 Main Street in Montpelier on May 1.
Customers can expect the same menu of pastries, sandwiches, soups, coffee and creemees swirled into handmade cones baked from freshly milled wheat. The new spot will also offer Red Hen’s full range of breads and a selection of specialty food items, such as cheeses and jams.
As planned, Red Hen will turn over its Camp Meade café and kitchen space to Woodbelly Pizza. The pizzeria shuttered its Montpelier restaurant on Barre Street last July and anticipated moving to Middlesex in early 2026. “They’ve been waiting and waiting,” George acknowledged.
The Red Hen bakery team will continue to bake breads and pastries in the bakery part of the Camp Meade building until its new Middlesex facility at 31 Welch Park Drive is finished in September. George said that he and his wife and co-owner, Eliza Cain, still plan to open a café there later, but decided they needed to prioritize bakery construction in the near term.
George noted that café revenue makes up about half of Red Hen’s gross income and the company could not afford to go months without a café. “It’s essential,” he said, “and employs a whole bunch of people.”
The couple never planned to operate two cafés, George said, but they were intrigued by the opportunity to take over the 4,400-square-foot Montpelier space. It was most recently briefly occupied by Access Café, which closed in February 2025. Prior to that, it was home to Rabble-Rouser Chocolate & Craft from 2019 to 2024.
Over the bakery’s 18 years in Middlesex, George said that customers asked if Red Hen would consider opening a cafe in Vermont’s capital city. “There wasn’t a really compelling reason to do that,” he said, “but now there is a compelling reason.”
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!