Vermont
Co-founder of R.I.’s Seven Stars is closing his Vermont bakery to return to Providence – The Boston Globe
CHARLOTTE, Vt. — The co-founder and former owner of Seven Stars Bakery, an iconic and unionized coffee cafe and bakery, is returning to Rhode Island.
Jim Williams, who sold the company in 2018, went north to Vermont to open Backdoor Bread in Charlotte, Vt., where he sells naturally leavened bread once a week. It’s produced with grain from small, organic farms throughout the northeast and milled onsite. But this month, Williams announced he made the difficult decision to close Backdoor and move back to Providence.
“As good as this chapter has been, Providence is home,” said Williams. Backdoor will serve its last bread on Friday, Sept. 13.
Williams and his wife, Lynn, opened their first Seven Stars Bakery in 2001 in a converted gas station on Hope Street on the East Side of Providence. They opened their second location in 2007 on Broadway on the West Side of Providence. Today, Seven Stars has other locations in Providence as well as cafés in Cranston, East Greenwich, and the Rumford neighborhood in East Providence.
”We needed separation from Seven Stars Bakery after selling. We wanted to go somewhere growing wheat and could have gone anywhere in the country, but we’ve always been drawn to Vermont,” said Williams on why he opened Backdoor after selling Seven Stars. “It was an easy choice to come, and a difficult decision to leave.
“I just wanted somewhere I could supply bread to my community. No more, no less. It’s been perfect,” added Williams.
When Backdoor Bread closes, it will be the first time in more than 30 years that Williams won’t have his own bakery to walk into. He’s even already sold his equipment, which he started using at Backdoor just five years ago.
He has ideas for what he could do next: “Global pop-ups? Help integrating more whole grains into your products? Mostly, I’d like to come hang out in your bakery, drink coffee and watch you work,” he said in his announcement.
It’s not yet clear if Williams will open a business in Rhode Island down the road.
“I don’t have any plans at the moment, but who knows,” Williams told me. “Apparently, Rhode Island now has a cottage food law, so that could be an option.”
In Rhode Island, cottage food laws allow chefs to sell baked goods online, at events and farmers markets, from their homes, and from roadside stands.
“I don’t want the added expense of building another bakery as I slow down,” said Williams.
This story first appeared in The Food Club, a free weekly email newsletter about Rhode Island food and dining. Already a member of the club? Check your inbox for more news, recipes, and features in the latest newsletter. Not a member yet? If you’d like to receive it via e-mail each Thursday, you can sign up here.
Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.