click to enlarge - Courtesy Of Nomad Coffee/Tyler Philbrook
- From left: Matthew Zuanich, Nicole Grinstead and Andrew Sepic of Nomad Coffee
Andrew Sepic and Nicole Grinstead first pulled their mobile Nomad Coffee trailer into Essex Junction's Five Corners in August 2016. This winter, the couple will retire the tiny house on wheels and move across the street into a permanent café at 3 Maple Street.
The Essex location joins Nomad's South End Station on Flynn Avenue in Burlington and a seasonal location at Sugarbush Resort. Construction is under way in the new Chittenden Crossing apartment complex with a target opening date of January 2022, Sepic said. In the meantime, the trailer will remain open on the green at 3 Main Street.
"We've been looking at opportunities to do a brick-and-mortar in Essex for a while," Sepic said. "We knew that the food truck-style coffee shop was a great entry, but there are limitations."
Among them, he said, was the natural drop in business each winter. "You don't necessarily want to stand outside and wait for your coffee when it's below 30 degrees."
The bright, modern space will serve specialty coffee drinks, made with beans from Brio Coffeeworks, and baked goods. Head baker Chris Johnson joined the Nomad team over the summer, bringing classic pastry skills that he honed in New York City under chefs Dominique Ansel and Thomas Keller. His buttery, laminated kouign-amann are already drawing people in.
"They're incredible, and you don't see them a lot locally," Sepic said of the caramelized, croissant-like Breton-style pastry. "We're trying to make something that people will want to come experience, regardless of what day of the week it is."