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Danielle Nichols
FOUNDER
Danielle has never been afraid to go a little off-piste in search of the best terrain. A Stowe, Vermont native with over a decade of experience coaching skiers around the country, she’s always had a knack for finding adventure—both on and off the hill.
Her travels took her to world-class ski destinations across Austria, Chile, and New Zealand, where she discovered something else worth chasing: gluggable, authentic natural wine. That passion led to the opening of Cork Waterbury in 2011, with a simple goal—to bring thoughtfully made natural wines from around the world back home to Vermont.
In 2015, Danielle put down roots in Stowe and opened Cork Stowe, balancing restaurant life with her husband, two kids, two donkeys, several chickens, and a goat. While she fondly remembers the Waterbury location, the Stowe restaurant has evolved into something even more special—a community-driven, farm-to-table restaurant and natural wine bar that continues to grow in ways she never imagined.
Then again, the best trails are often the ones you make yourself.
You might just share a gondola ride with Danielle this season. And if (when) she smokes you on the hill, at least there’s après at Cork to make everything better.
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Katie Nichols
GENERAL MANAGER & WINE DIRECTOR
Katie can still remember the bottle that made her want to work in the wine world: Lamoresca Nerocapitano, an old-vine Frappato from Sicily—tenacious, earthy, complex, and just a little untamed. While she’d bartended for her big sister in the past, Katie fully immersed herself in wine after landing a job slinging bottles at The Wine Bottega in Boston’s North End.
On just her second day—armed with a case of full-blown bronchitis—she hopped on a one-day trip to New York City for a major Dressner Selections trade tasting. As Katie often says, sometimes you’ve just got to send it.
After two years in Boston, Katie and her now-husband Stephen returned home to Stowe, Vermont in 2015 to help Danielle get Cork off the ground. Today, as General Manager and Wine Director, she oversees both restaurant and retail operations, curates Cork’s ever-evolving natural wine program, and runs the Cork Wine Club—hand-selecting bottles each month that reflect her love of expressive, low-intervention wines and thoughtful producers (yes, Nerocapitano is still on the shelves).
A lover of Italian fizz and artful concepts, Katie thrives in the organized chaos of running a natural wine and cocktail bar, restaurant, market, and wine club in one of Vermont’s busiest tourist towns. She doesn’t cruise. She sends it.
Chef Weston Nicol: Executive Chef
Chef Weston’s relationship with food began early, working in restaurants after school and on weekends starting in seventh grade. After cooking through college at Trattoria Delia in Burlington, he attended the New England Culinary Institute, launching a career rooted in curiosity, discipline, and respect for ingredients.
His path led him through kitchens in Boston and New York, followed by four formative years at the Inn at Shelburne Farms, where he rose from intern to executive sous chef. Immersed in a working farm ecosystem—gardens, livestock, pastureland, and close relationships with neighboring farmers—Weston developed his understanding of what it truly means to be a chef: not just a cook, but a steward of the food system.
After stages at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Le Bernardin, Cosme, and Estela, Weston ultimately returned to Vermont and found his way to Cork Restaurant in Stowe, Vermont, where his cooking came back into balance.
Weston’s philosophy is simple: control what can be controlled, and leave the rest to nature. Food should taste like food. Let the farmers do the work. Find the best ingredients and put them at the center of the plate—finished with good sea salt and good olive oil.
Above all, he hopes guests feel a true sense of place when they dine at Cork—food that plays nicely with the wine, satisfies deeply, and inspires curiosity long after the meal ends.