Valerie Wencis, Author at The Belmont Voice

Spirited Gourmet’s New Chapter Blends Taste and Tradition

June 17, 2025

Growing up in a French household, Jerome Dubois has always been comfortable around Camembert, Brie, and a full variety of cheeses, as well as wine, given his family hails from the Bordeaux region. So when the opportunity to buy specialty food and…

Business

Brooksy’s Pizza to Take Over Stone Hearth Pizza Location

June 13, 2025

When one door closes, another opens, as the saying goes. Even if the door opens a pizza oven. Those saddened by the impending closure of Stone Hearth Pizza may be comforted to know that a new pizza joint, Brooksy’s Pizza, will take…

Business·News

Growing Fitness Fad Comes to Belmont

May 12, 2025

When Sevan Akian and her fiancé moved from Southern California to Watertown, Akian wanted to bring her passion for Lagree Fitness – an exercise method that strengthens and tones muscles while limiting excess stress to joints – with her. When the space…

A business with a coming soon sign out front.

Business·News

Society Beauty Bar Coming to Belmont Center

June 3, 2024

Belmontians eyeing the empty Belmont Center storefronts may have noticed a sign announcing the impending arrival of Society Beauty Bar. The full-service hair salon is slated to open this summer at 73 Leonard St. Past Coverage Society Beauty Bar specializes in partial…

News

Belmont Fails to Secure PILOT Payments from Wealthy Nonprofits

April 14, 2024

As Belmont struggles to increase its tax base, the town is potentially missing out on money from tax-exempt organizations that could be making a payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, a program that has successfully increased revenue in neighboring communities, including…

A woman sitting in front of her sewing machine.

Business

Belmont Center Business Owner Rachel Walters Has First-Hand Connection to Oscar Winner

March 10, 2024

One might not expect a corn farmer to become a lead designer for the Jessica Simpson Collection, designer of Academy Award fashion, and founder of her own fashion line, but that’s been the career trajectory of Rachel Walters, who owns Rachel Walters…

Business·News

‘Potential Implosion’ as Belmont Center Faces Critical Moment

February 29, 2024

There are currently six vacancies among 32 storefronts in Belmont Center. It’s not the number of vacancies but the space they occupy that is alarming to long-time Belmont Center business owner and Belmont Toys owner Deran Muckjian. The empty storefronts of CVS,…

News

Belmont Plans for 1,632 New Homes Under New MBTA Rule

February 13, 2024

Belmont faces a state mandate that could increase the town’s housing inventory by 15%. The MBTA Communities Act requires Belmont to zone for at least 1,632 new housing units. The Metropolitan Area Planning Council is calculating the exact number and type of…

Business·News

Legal Battles, Financial Woes Plague Trinktisch, Craft Beer Cellar

December 21, 2023

You could almost hear a collective groan rise over Belmont when news spread that beloved Belmont Center anchors, Craft Beer Cellar and Trinktisch, were closing by the end of the year. Now, new details are emerging behind the demise of the beer…

Business

Serious Business: $30,000 Proposed Rent Blamed for Trinktisch’s ‘Devastating’ Closing

December 10, 2023

At the end of the month, a commercial and social anchor of Belmont Center will become one more empty storefront on Leonard Street. The Trinktisch beer hall and restaurant, along with the Craft Beer Cellar, will be closing their doors as of…