Valley Village Means Business! There are many great ways to EAT — PLAY — LIVE in Valley Village. Our community is full of unique and special businesses — restaurants, boutique shopping and specialized services that you don’t find in other neighborhoods. This week we speak with Kelly Chapman the owner of mac-O-licious – your grandmother’s mac-’n’-cheese and more:
Kelly, is the whole reason for this business based on the mac-’n’-cheese your grandmother would make? It was because my grandmother and my mom. When I was in high school I started learning my mother’s mac-’n’-cheese recipe. Then when I went away to college, I would make it in college. When I went back to Cleveland to go to school, I started cooking it for friends in town at my apartment. They loved the mac-’n’-cheese! I just found wherever I was, whether I was at an office party, a pot-luck or a Thanksgiving dinner, people were always asking about my mac-’n’-cheese.
Do you owe your grandmother and family residuals for your success? My grandmother is “in the sky”, but we have in the restaurant a wall dedicated to my family and the woman cooks in the family. My great-grandmother, both of my grandmothers, my mom and step-mother, but I have to pay tribute to my mom and grandmother for the recipe. Two of my most favorite foods in the world have been mac-’n’-cheese and baked potato skins, both have cheese. Everywhere I have traveled in the world, I have mac-’n’-cheese. I wanted to do something that was a little bit different, so the difference with ours is we use a lot of cheese vs. cream. We put cheese all through the mac and slow cook it through the oven, very casserole style.
How did this whole business come about? I’ve always been an entrepreneur. 10 years ago, I thought if I ever leave corporate America for good and just decide I give up everything else, I’m going to fall back on something I know people love, I’m going to open up a mac-’n’-cheese restaurants in Cleveland Heights, Ohio…across from the high school. I ended up moving to California. And was still in corporate America and then corporate consulting work for a year. At the end of that contract I decided it was time for me to follow my dream. I also felt that by starting this business, I could follow another passion by feeding the hungry. I started a mobile pantry in Cleveland, Ohio where we once a month we would give out palettes of food from a big 18-wheeler to any low-income family. Opening mac-O-licious and letting the proceeds go towards the Kelly Chapman’s Ministries Mobile Pantry I felt that was important. I felt that I could set up this restaurant any way I wanted to set up. I wanted it to be a place people could they feel they were at home, their kitchen or backyard…we got the grass! I felt it was a place that I would actively encourage my employees and myself to get out and talk to our customers. I hug customers I don’t even know! It’s been a homestyle experience. To be out of corporate and do to be able to do things the way I want to do them all with the purpose of making a difference in the world…my life calling.
What is it like for your customer’s coming in for the first time? My customers are very diverse. We do get families. I’m surprised to see a lot of seniors and couples! It’s a good place for a date, kind of romantic. The fresh squeezed lemonade and tea. If you come in, come in at lunch. You can get a nice lunch combo at a great value. It gives you a chance to sample the mac-’n’-cheese and a side dish and our wonderful cornbread all on one plate. The biggest decision I find we have, is choosing between a casserole style or more a creamy style. Even if you do the “Dreamy Creamy” or our “Main Mac”…it’s just cheese, no cream. I am a purist. We also have a gluten free option with a rice pasta.
Tell us how the lemonade worked its way into the menu? We wanted to keep it in line with being in the south outside being in the grass and having a picnic. There is nothing more southern than sweet tea and lemonade. I made the decision to go in our back room and personally squeeze the lemons, I think the taste is evident. One thing I’m looking forward to doing this fall, is using the lemons from my own backyard.
When it’s hot in October, like it has been recently and people would say why would I want to have mac-’n’-cheese on a day like this, you would say otherwise? I absolutely would! Before I opened this restaurant, we were throwing pool parties in my backyard. We would have BBQ chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs and of course my pan of Kelly Chapman’s “original southern” sitting right by the pool. You can take it to go for events like the Hollywood Bowl and pack a nice meal for you down to the best cake in the world for desert. We cater weddings, dinner parties, film shoots and more. A Mac’N’Cheese station is always a hit!
Do you deliver? You absolutely can get delivery! You can call us the day before or 40 minutes in advance.
What is your thoughts on supporting local businesses? When you support my local business, you support five other local businesses. I made it a point to support small businesses that are women and minority owned. I have a diverse workforce supporting this business. I found local small businesses in the Los Angeles area for our BBQ sauce, our “best cake in the world”, the “farmer’s market salads”, salts and seasoning…they all come from diversity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, race and gender.
What are your hours of operation? Tuesday – Saturday 11:30am – 7:30pm and Sunday – 11:30am – 5:00pm. We are closed Mondays.
Kelly Chapman’s mac-O-licious | 5217 Laurel Canyon Boulevard
Phone: 818-824-3802 | Web: www.macolicious.com