Even in a town experiencing a renaissance, which many say is the case in St. Johnsbury, beloved businesses close. In January, Cosmic Cup Café, which specialized in sweet treats and farm-to-table lunches, ended its four-year run on Railroad Street, one of the burg's main drags. Nearby Kingdom Table, a locavore restaurant established in 2019, closed in February. Five months later, so did its decade-old downstairs sister, Kingdom Taproom. But unlike in past eras, when certain Railroad Street storefronts stood vacant for years, both locations were quickly snapped up by young business owners looking to expand on their already successful ventures. First, in early May, Darrell "DJ" and Katey McLaughlin, who own bustling Boule Bakery just down the block, took over the Kingdom Table space and opened Birches, a brunch and dinner restaurant emphasizing local ingredients and handmade pastas. They're preparing to expand downstairs, into the space formerly occupied by the Taproom. Then, in June, following a lucrative Kickstarter campaign that raised $30,000 toward startup costs, the Buttery opened in the former Cosmic spot. It's run by Maggie Gray, owner of Haven — an upscale thrift store for home goods, located just around the corner — and her romantic partner, Gavin Wynkoop-Fischer. The sweet and petite eatery offers grocery items, natural wines, coffee drinks, and seasonal snacks and meals. We headed to St. Johnsbury to see what the new businesses are serving up. Butter Days Ahead The Buttery, 379 Railroad St., Suite 102, St. Johnsbury, 424-1710, thebutteryvt.com Walking into the Buttery for the first time raises some valid questions: Is it a store? A coffee shop? A restaurant? Even better: It's all three. On the left, separate from the rest of the business per Division of Liquor Control regulation, are shelves of natural wines, their prices written on the bottles in chalk marker, most ranging from $18 to $45. As Gray explained, natural wine is made "the way wine has been made for thousands of years" — that is, sans the more than 80 additives, including sweeteners and preservatives, that might be found in other wines. Against the walls on the right are a cooler and a rack holding grocery items, including Sobremesa and Pitchfork Farm pickles and ferments; a basket overflowing with Jasper Hill Farm, Maplebrook Farm and Vermont Creamery cheeses; mackerel, smoked rainbow trout and other seafoods packaged in tins with whimsical art; and a Mediterranean- and…