The boilers failed at The Depot Green Bay on a bitter Tuesday in February, plunging temperatures inside the 129-year-old downtown building and forcing the restaurant to shut down that week, while outside wind chills drove the temperature down to 2 degrees. The massive 1994 cast-iron units, each the size of a minivan, cracked beyond repair.
The property owner, CNW Enterprises LLC, explored fixes, but the boilers were finished. Shawn Zambarda, who bought the restaurant in 2021, decided to sell it. Chef Jeff Schermetzler, who had worked at the restaurant, and his wife, Alyssa, stepped in to buy it.
Schermetzler wasn’t a stranger to the building. He worked there for seven years when it was known as Titletown Brewing Company. He left in 2018 and returned as The Depot’s chef just four months before the boilers cracked…