April Pauly has no formal culinary training, but the business of gathering around food is ingrained in her, having grown up on the same rural road as her grandmother’s New Hampshire bed and breakfast. Under her grandmother’s tutelage, April cooked, cleaned, waited tables, and learned the art of bringing people together. “There was one telephone in the whole place. It was very rustic,” April says. “I took it for granted, all the experiences that exposed me to from birth.”

So it shouldn’t be surprising that, after living many other lives—April’s been an apparel designer, a farmer, and has lived around the world—she now finds herself slinging doughnuts and creating menus for the cafe she and her husband, Ben Pauly, have been devising since the pandemic.

Woodstock’s Farmer and the Bell, named in homage to the farms with dinner bells Ben and April each grew up on, has finally morphed from a weekend pop-up to a full-fledged restaurant. For April, it’s a full-circle moment. “From a young age, I got joy out of creating something for other people to enjoy. That’s what my grandmother did. And in a way, that’s what I’m doing here, too,” she says.

 

Doughnuts Out the Back Door

They began experimenting with recipes for French crullers, an airy, egg-rich doughnut, “failing spectacularly” but having fun. When the doughnuts felt right, they shared them with friends and family, who encouraged the couple to sell them.

Their first pop-up location was the Angkor Wat Restaurant, which sometimes involved the whole family waking at 1am to start making doughnuts. People came, no matter the weather. “We were just slinging doughnuts out the back door. People were standing in a snowstorm, waiting in line,” April says. Not long afterward, they began hosting pop-ups in the Simon Pearce–owned Parker House, where they stayed for 10 months until pausing to marry, have their daughter Marigold, and search for a permanent location.

 

Welcome to Woodstock

The new location, a brand-new two-story structure built by Geobarns, is outfitted with wood paneling, exposed ceiling rafters, and a takeaway cafe with seating for 82 guests. At the entrance is a windowed porch and inside is a black-and-white mosaic floor that reads “Woodstock, VT: EST. 1761.”

Though they’re renters, April says they had a heavy hand in the aesthetic design of it, thanks to the building’s owner Eva Douzinas, who saw their vision immediately. “April and Ben had already proven their concept through their pop-ups, but what really stood out to me was their integrity, strong business sense, and care for what they were building,” Eva says. “I felt they would bring warmth and joy to the entrance of Woodstock.”

The open kitchen features checkered floors, subway tile up the walls, and brass finishings. One staff member makes focaccia with brisket, Gruyère, and creamy horseradish. Further along, someone’s piping the last French cruller onto a sheet pan. Each cruller has the same base with a different glaze—like Lemon Crumb, Maple, Sugar and Spice, and Malted Mocha—all made with whole ingredients, nothing artificial or processed.

Slowly, they’ve been introducing new items, from smoked maple creemees and hand pies to soups and savory pastries. Adjacent to the cafe counter is a fridge filled with drinks, premade sandwiches (like hot pickled prosciutto, roasted artichoke, and more), salads, and snacks. You can order just about anything and have it handed to you immediately, April says, no waiting required.

 

Constantly Evolving

April and Ben’s days are busy. During the week, Ben, who created Kelly Way Garden and is now the director of property operations and design at the Woodstock Inn & Resort, moonlights on the weekend as the head donut slinger.

Much like with kids, April jokes, she sometimes forgets how much work the cafe has taken up because there’s so much reward. She’s enjoyed seeing people make the space their own, coming to eat, to work, to conduct job interviews, to go on first dates.  “I love that it gets to evolve with us. It gets to evolve with the community,” April says. “So much life happens around food, all over the world. You celebrate. You mourn. You cry. You talk. You laugh.” To have a place where people can gather and have all those experiences together around food—to her, she says, there’s nothing better.

 

About the Renovation

By David Hamilton, Partner at Geobarns

Eva Douzinas, who acquired the site and brought Geobarns aboard to help envision its transformation, created the conditions for a real gift to the public realm of Woodstock. Entering one of Vermont’s iconic downtowns by walking or driving past an unused gas station is obviously nobody’s preference, but the environmental challenges—unusually tight geometry and slope—have deterred many others from the project.  In this new vision, every element of the project contributes a new gateway to the south side of this charming town. The building's green gable faces the road’s turn into town, and the parking is tucked into the landscape, with a glimpse from the street of what will be a vibrant outdoor dining area.  Farmer and the Bell could not be a better business to start the transformation. Their pastry and deli concept gives everyone a reason to come to this far end of town, and the building has to support this experience. Geobarns worked with Eva and with the Farmer and the Bell team to fit a superb bakery with retail space and ample seating into one end of the site. The primary challenge was maintaining the open and airy feel, accomplished with a clear span first floor and a full-height central space that connects the order counter, dining above, all the way to a light-filled cupola. The result is an experience, even when the lines are long for Farmer and the Bell’s signature pastries.

 

Farmer and the Bell

69 Pleasant Street

Woodstock, VT

(802) 291-2029

http://farmerandthebellvt.com/