Mountain Creamery’s new location off to busy start

A customer pulls into the new West Woodstock location of the Mountain Creamery, one of the longest-standing businesses in Woodstock, Vt. (Gareth Henderson Photo)

Without missing a beat, customers flocked to the Mountain Creamery’s new location on Route 4 in West Woodstock this past weekend.

On reopening day, Sunday, July 4, locals and visitors alike were dropping by from the very start, according to Ben Pilsmaker, manager of the Creamery. The new location is the restaurant building next door to Sleep Woodstock Motel, and the Creamery’s hours are 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. for breakfast and lunch, and open until 5 p.m. for ice cream.

Boris Pilsmaker, Ben's father, has owned the Mountain Creamery for 34 years, and community members have been very supportive, Ben said Monday, as another steady wave of customers came through the doors.

"It was a lot of people, a lot of familiar faces, and a lot of them I've known my whole life," Pilsmaker said, speaking of reopening day. "They were coming in at 7 a.m."

This is the first time the Creamery has been outside of Woodstock Village, where it had served breakfast, lunch and its popular ice cream on Central Street for the past three decades. Ben said when they needed a new location recently, they ended up reaching out to Patrick Fultz, who owns their now-location and also Sleep Woodstock.

“We needed to move, we called (Patrick), and this place was for lease," Ben Pilsmaker said. "It was good we could land here. ... Now we're settled in and it feels great."

The Creamery's food is the epitome of homemade. All the ground beef and sausages, and some of the different produce in-season, comes from the Pilsmaker family's Hinterland Organic Farm in nearby Killington. Boris has been making his own ice cream since the mid-1980s, even before he started the Mountain Creamery.

Beth Finlayson, executive director of the Woodstock Area Chamber of Commerce, said she was happy for the Pilsmakers. She was one of many loyal customers who showed up on Sunday and witnessed how busy it was.

"I'm really pleased for them," Finlayson said. "I think it's a loss for the village, but I think they made a great decision to be there (at the Route 4 location)."

Creamery flavors still to have village presence

Though the Creamery is no longer serving ice cream in the village limits, a new pop-up shop is. Woodstock Scoops opened up on Saturday, July 3, in the former Vermont Flannel location on Central Street, and got lots of customers right off the bat. It's open seven days a week, from noon to 6 p.m. mid-week, and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends.

The pop-up is managed by Kim and Scott Smith, who own 37 Central Clothiers and the Red Wagon Toy Co. just across the street. The Smiths know the owner of the former Vermont Flannel space, who was open to the idea of serving ice cream there, according to Kim Smith.

She said their new ice cream shop will serve Boris Pilsmaker's ice cream.

"We'll be selling as much of his ice cream as we can," Smith said.

After the Creamery’s old location closed, Smith said customers were constantly asking where to get ice cream.

"It was all the time," she said. Hard ice cream is the current offering at Woodstock Scoops, but they hope to add soft serve later this week.

The pop-up shop currently has three employees, and they're looking for a couple more. Staffing is a challenge, Smith said, but she thought they'd be able to make the longer weekend hours happen, so they can attract the after-dinner crowd.

"I think we'll be able to manage it," she said.

— Gareth Henderson