An eatery devoted to macaroni and cheese has officially opened up on Main Street in downtown Keene.
Shack n’ Cheese, a bistro based off camp-inspired cuisine, was created by owners Kate Lynch and Jen Edes who grew up in the great outdoors. Both Lynch and Edes previously worked for Eastern Mountain Sports and decided to, “Refine the concept we had all along; to go back into the food industry we both grew up in. We always sort of had this dream of being back in the food industry and recently have made that happen,” Lynch said.
To get their foot in the door, Lynch and Edes bought the Piazza Ice Cream Shop on Main Street in the spring to, “Get some experience in the food industry, [and] to get to understand the Keene market.” Lynch continued and said this experience helped them plan ahead. “Then [we] saw the opportunity to expand the Piazza into Shack n’ Cheese,” Lynch said. Lynch explained the idea for the company’s name derived from the campfire theme, “and because mac and cheese was the driving recipe and the shack refers to that camp, outdoor feel, we figured the two of them together made a whole lot of sense,” she said.
Contributed Photo: Shack n’ Cheese is located at 149 Main St. and features “camp-inspired cuisine,” including build-your-own mac and cheese, burritos, a toppings bar and chili. “We will expand our menu again in the spring with some salads and sandwiches,” one of the owners, Kate Lynch, said.
The next step was to create a menu that appealed to the eatery of the outdoors with a twist of an ice-cream inspired background. “The Shack n’ Cheese is very much inspired by our career at EMS with the outdoor campfire flare, and mac and cheese has always been a favorite of ours, so that was clearly going to be driving the menu. Also watching the whole ice-cream process, we felt like that could translate the whole toppings concept with food,” Lynch said.
Shack n’ Cheese provides customers with a do-it-yourself toppings station. This includes toppings such as Ritz crackers, Doritos, Goldfish and the two most popular; crispy fried onions and Snyder’s Honey Mustard Pretzels to crunch over mac and cheese. The menu offers a variety of mac and cheese options with specifics such as mac and cheese with roasted garlic, roasted broccoli and caramelized onions, to sweet potato burritos and chili topped in sour cream and jack cheese. Customers also have the choice of either a vegetarian meal or the option to add pulled pork or chicken.
To help with cook prep, Lynch and Edes met Charcoal Charlie through Neighborhood Made (a local community kitchen that allows Lynch and Edes to do their base cooking), who is a local smoked meat maker. Charcoal Charlie provides both the pulled pork and pulled chicken for Shack n’ Cheese. “A lot of our food is prepared off-site at the Neighborhood Kitchen which is nice because it is local,” Lynch said. As of now, Lynch and Edes are looking to expand their menu with grilled cheese.
Keene State College student Matthew Sobocinski said, “I think grilled cheese is probably every college students’ favorite food. I’ve been to Shack n’ Cheese and loved their mac and cheese. If they add grilled cheese to the menu, it will definitely be a success.” For the winter menu, the creation of hearty soups and chili are in the making and, “We will expand our menu again in the spring with some salads and sandwiches,” Lynch said. The eatery offers a catering menu and, in possibly the next six months, will also offer a delivery service to campus, according to Lynch. With the KSC campus located partially on Main Street, Lynch said, “The reason why we opened up here was the proximity of the college.”
To work with the students’ schedule, Lynch said, “What really defines Shack n’ Cheese is predominantly the college students which is why we are staying open late on Thursdays and Saturdays until two a.m.”
With only a few minutes’ walk from campus to Shack n’ Cheese, sophomore Hanna Desouza said, “It’s probably the closest and best food you can get and you don’t even need a car to get there.”
As of right now, the Shack n’ Cheese in Keene is the first to open, however, Lynch and Edes have future plans to expand their company.
“We’ve looked at other locations in Keene and we are certainly looking at other cities and towns,” Lynch said. Though Shack n’ Cheese opened up over Pumpkin Fest weekend, a grand opening will be held in the next upcoming weeks. Lynch said, “This will consist of two or three day specials, raffles, giveaways and live music.” Desouza commented on the love of mac and and cheese that is shared between students. “I think this mac and cheese idea is just what Keene students have always wanted, we all love mac and cheese and it’s always a go-to food, and to have a restaurant that specializes in that has got to be good,” Desouza said.
Deanna Caruso can be contacted at dcaruso@keene-equinox.com