Flooded Montpelier restaurant moves to new space - high above street level

This profile of Hugo’s Bar & Grill is the latest in a series by the Burlington Free Press on Montpelier restaurants as they reopen following flooding that devastated Vermont’s capital city in July. What has the experience been like? What does the future hold?

MONTPELIER ― A restaurant socked by floodwaters in July reopened in a new space in October. The owner called it “a magic place that’s just up here on the second floor – and out of the flood zone.”

What happened during the flooding?

Hugo’s Bar & Grill opened in February 2022 in the former New England Culinary Institute restaurant space at 118 Main St. Less than a year and a half later, on Monday, July 10, rising water from the Winooski River threatened the 130-seat eatery.

By 2 p.m. it was clear the flooding would be serious, said Hugo’s owner, Thomas Christopher Greene. Staff scrambled to salvage items from the basement, mostly art and alcohol, and left the restaurant.

Greene didn’t return for two days. He tried to canoe through the floodwaters, but police wouldn’t let him. He ran into an acquaintance who happened to have waders and loaned the above-the-knee boots to Greene so he could inspect his restaurant.

“I was shocked by what I saw in the building, how bad it was, how bad the smell was,” Greene said. There was no electricity, but through the gloom he noticed something floating in the main-floor dining room − a barstool that had risen with the floodwaters from the basement bar/dining room.

Mud filled the basement, where the ceiling was falling apart. Four feet of water soaked the main dining room and kitchen. The landlord, Malone Properties, started pumping out the basement, and Greene had hopes of reopening quickly. He didn’t realize the process of rehabbing Hugo’s, including replacing floors at risk of mold, would take months.

Greene has written a half-dozen novels. His second book, he said in a conversation with the Burlington Free Press, is “I’ll Never Be Long Gone.” The 2005 novel is set in part in a restaurant that floods.

How has the recovery gone?

Greene made insurance claims. He laid off his staff of 35 full- and part-time workers. He tallied the losses, including $50,000 of food and alcohol.

“That’s $50,000 you have to have to get (the restaurant) going again,” he said.

Then came Sept. 15 when Greene said he received a letter that the lease for Hugo’s was terminated. He discovered the restaurant had been locked. He said he was informed the restaurant could not be repaired in the time frame required by the lease. (Patrick Malone of Malone Properties, in an email to the Free Press, said he could not comment because “the case is making its way through the court system.” Greene, in an ensuing text exchange, declined additional comment for similar reasons.)

“It was devastating,” Greene said of the flood and end of the lease. “You work had to build something – a lot of people worked hard to build something – and it was gone in an instant. And then it was completely gone. But the idea was still there.”

Greene pivoted to another downtown location. Hugo’s Bar & Grill opened Oct. 25 on the second and third floors at 44 Main St., well above flood level. That space was perhaps most famously occupied by The Black Door Bar & Bistro, followed by a couple of Mexican joints, La Puerta Negra and deMena’s. Including the outdoor patio that will be open in nice weather, Greene said the capacity at the new Hugo’s is similar to that at the previous restaurant.

Greene and his staff cleaned the restaurant space that had been dormant for five years. “We all got to work 16-hour days, getting this place up and running,” Greene said. “Getting open was incredibly cathartic.”

The bar manager, Derek Temple, and general manager Leslie Haviland both returned. The new executive chef is Josh Burt. Greene said Temple pitched in before Hugo’s reopened by teaching himself how to reupholster the old chairs at the new space.

Greene took a lead role in planning Hugo’s cuisine, which leaves the fine-dining leanings of the previous menu for a more-casual bistro vibe and Asian street-food approach. He said the result is more fun and hip, not super-fancy, but packing flavor. Like the old Hugo’s, the new space has a top-floor piano bar.

Unlike the old Hugo’s, this one does not proclaim its identity as boldly as the former NECI building with its huge rooftop “restaurant” sign. The upstairs location is subtle, with a printed sign announcing the restaurant’s name and hours in a window pane on the street-level door.

“There’s a definite speakeasy vibe to this,” Greene said.

He said not all locals are aware of the new place and tourists have not yet discovered Hugo’s. “We’re all (in Montpelier) opening restaurants at the worst time of the year,” Greene said. “We missed summer and we missed foliage (season).”

Business has still been “pretty good,” according to Greene, who hopes the state Legislature’s session starting in January provides a boost at 44 Main St.

“Montpelier has always loved this space,” Greene said, “no matter the restaurant.”

What does the future hold?

Greene lives in Montpelier, and when the capital city was largely shut down for months it reminded him why downtown is crucial. The historic buildings and vitality of the city need to be saved, he said. Greene wants to see more attention toward science to keep the city from flooding and better response from federal and state governments when natural disasters do strike.

“We’re a resilient bunch. The businesses here have worked really hard to get back up and running,” Greene said. “Downtown is different. This is what makes Montpelier important.”

Hours and information

Hugo’s Bar & Grill, 44 Main St., Montpelier. 4-9 p.m. dining room, 4-11 p.m. bar Monday-Saturday. (802) 225-6198, www.hugosbarandgrill.com

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Hugo's Bar & Grill in Montpelier, ravaged by flood, moves to new space