North Avenue Pingala Temporarily Closes; Nourish Deli Focuses on Vegan Cheese; Changes at Misery Loves Co. 

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• Courtesy Of Luke Awtry
• Pingala Café co-owners Lisa Bergström and Trevor Sullivan

Pingala Café co-owner Trevor Sullivan confirmed that the vegan café's second Burlington location, which opened in July 2022 at 1353 North Avenue, has closed temporarily due to staffing constraints.

The original Chace Mill restaurant remains open, and Sullivan said he and co-owner Lisa Bergström hope to reopen the North Avenue location by the end of September. The couple are planning a pop-up pizza event there with a guest chef on September 15 and 16.

Sullivan also confirmed that a brick-and-mortar version of the company's Broccoli Bar will open shortly after Labor Day in the University of Vermont's Dudley H. Davis Center Marketplace in partnership with UVM dining services.

Nourish Deli & Bakery has permanently closed its St. Albans retail location to focus on its wholesale plant-based cheese business. Co-owner Ric Lavallee said he and his wife, Dara, made the decision due to staffing shortages, the increased costs of everything from ingredients to electricity, and slower customer traffic, which he attributed to higher prices.

Nourish's line of vegan cheeses mimics styles such as Brie; feta and blue crumbles; and shredded mozzarella, cheddar and Parmesan. Lavallee said the team of four is busy meeting strong demand from stores and restaurants throughout Vermont and expanding its regional distribution to Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Winooski's Misery Loves Co. has stopped serving food cooked to order and returned to its pandemic incarnation as a specialty grocery store and market stocked with ingredients, take-home meals, pastries and beverages. Onion City Chicken & Oyster, its sister restaurant on the Winooski traffic circle, is now open for lunch and has added to its menu the favorite Rough Francis fried chicken sandwich, which dates back to Misery's original food truck menu.