Woodbelly, the 18-year-old wood-fired pizza business, has not survived its recent move and expansion from Montpelier to Middlesex. In May, the then-co-owners, chef Frederick MacKenzie and operations and finance manager Eric Andersen, opened Woodbelly Café at Camp Meade in the former home of Red Hen Baking, which had moved its retail store to Montpelier while completing a new bakery at another Middlesex location.
On September 18, Andersen, 46, confirmed that the café closed at the end of August, with a final pizza night on September 5. He described himself as “the only person left.”
Camp Meade owner Russ Bennett told Seven Days he has new restaurant tenants lined up for the space but could not share more at this time.
The Camp Meade move had signaled a new era for Woodbelly, which started out in 2008 vending local ingredient-topped sourdough pizzas at farmers markets and operated as a worker-owned cooperative for many years. After launching the new location in May, the team gradually rolled out a menu of daytime sandwiches, salads and sides, along with outdoor pizza and a creemee window.
Andersen said that slower customer traffic than anticipated proved challenging, on top of the investment required to open the Middlesex restaurant. “We just didn’t bring enough money in to pay the rent,” he said.
On September 17, Andersen launched a $35,000 crowdfunding effort in hopes of covering enough of the business’ debt to potentially sell it to new owners and reopen in Montpelier.
On September 21, however, Andersen told Seven Days he had decided against trying to raise funds that way, and Woodbelly was most likely gone for good. He noted that the business would fulfill its remaining catering obligations.
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