• Suzanne Podhaizer
• Christian Kruse's bacon-wrapped rabbit loin at Basin Harbor Club

After seven years of operating Vergennes Laundry — a bakery and café on Main Street in Vergennes — owners Julianne and Didier Murat have sold the business. The new owner is Christian Kruse, former executive chef at the Basin Harbor Club, also in Vergennes.

A graduate of New England Culinary Institute, Kruse worked in Seattle and Salt Lake City before returning to Vermont. In 2016, he was named Vermont's Chef of the Year by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. That same year, he was invited to cook at the prestigious James Beard House in New York, where he made signature dishes such as slow-cooked pork belly with apple jelly and apple foam, and bacon-wrapped rabbit loin.

At Vergennes Laundry, Kruse plans to offer brunch, dinner and special events, he said. Currently closed, the spot will reopen the first week in December.