Kayla Kenney, Duxbury, has purchased Three Mountain Café in Waitsfield from Ryan and Maggie Carr, Waitsfield.
The transition took place in mid-February with Ryan Carr working with Kenney for a time to help learn the systems and equipment. Kenney’s husband Nicholas Bradley is her partner in the new venture.
Kenney is a self-described Army brat who was born in Michigan. Her first degree was from culinary school which she started right after high school and in 2010 she received a BS in dietetics and nutrition from UVM.
She met her husband while at UVM and after graduation they lived in Ohio for a while before returning to Vermont in May 2020, at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kenney said that about a year and a half ago, she really began to put her foot down to start figuring out how to run her own business. She got connected with Mercy Connections in Burlington and took a small business start-up class.
“I’d been working in restaurants for 21 years and have decades of experience managing and writing menus. I took their business start-up class in search of ideas and ways to fund a business,” she said.
“Maggie Carr worked with Mercy Connections to see if they had any recommendations on someone interested in buying a café and although I was thinking about starting a business from scratch, they let me know about Maggie. We made contact and it took a while but it very much all worked out,” Kenney said.
Kenney said that she is really enjoying the challenge of her new business.
“It’s refreshing. It’s been a lot of fun. It’s really cool to learn something new. I haven’t felt challenged like this in a long time,” she said.
Asked how last weekend went, when folks protesting Vice President Vance’s visit to The Valley lined the sidewalks from Irasville to Waitsfield Village, Kenney said there was a line out the door of the café from 8:30 to 11 a.m.
“We got through it. Our staff crushed it. Everyone was super nice and telling us what a great job we were doing and they were generous in their tipping,” she reported.
Right now, she is learning the ropes and isn’t making any immediate changes to the business other than offering prepared food later in the day. She said she wants to build up the lunch crowd, adding grab and go sandwiches and soups catering to locals and visitors. She and her husband are also going to be working on the décor of the café.
