Hillsboro General Store Cafe changed hands, got a facelift and saw some changes to the menu after some impressive donations. KRWG's Susan Morée spoke with new owner and Executive Chef Meghan Kinney about what diners can now expect.
Susan Morée:
The Hillsboro Cafe got a huge grant from American Express last year and then went through a big change in terms of ownership and the look of the place. Tell us about what happened.
Meghan Kinney:
Yeah, so Ben and Doreen, who have been running the cafe for, I want to say 30 years, were getting ready to retire and we had talked a little bit about me taking over. But, I didn't think it was something that would be feasible for me to do financially, especially.
Susan Morée:
Were you already working at the cafe?
Meghan Kinney:
Yeah. So I had been working at the cafe for roughly about four years, at the time that they retired, and getting into my fifth year there. So, I kind of intimately knew the ins and outs of running the kitchen part of the restaurant.
Susan Morée:
And you have a background in culinary school, don't you?
Meghan Kinney:
Yeah, so I went to culinary school in I want to say 2005, and I had been working in restaurants previous to that and obviously, it's my chosen profession. I've worked all over the West, Utah, Arizona, Alaska, New Mexico, Montana are all places that I've worked in restaurants and worked my way up to executive chef roles in quite a few places. And I was taking a break from corporate cooking in general and my parents live in Hillsboro, so I came out to visit them. I was going to take a little sabbatical and I think I lasted probably a month before I was extremely bored and the cafe happened to puta Help Wanted sign up in the window. So I was like, oh, well, that's great. You know, I'll go over there, see what they need. You know, they needed acook and after a couple months and, you know, Ben and Doreen got to trust me and I let him know, ‘Hey, you know, you've got me for maybe, you know, two or three years before I'm going to move on, but I'd be happy to help you out and cook for you for two to three years.’ And then it got into the fourth year and they wanted to retire and we were just all resigned. They had tried to sell the cafe for pretty much the entire time that I was working for them off and on, they had the cafe up for sale. And there were really no potential buyers that wanted to keep it as a restaurant.
Susan Morée:
And then you, sorry, and then you raised money through the community, right?
Meghan Kinney:
Yeah, so community members who were invested in trying to make sure that the cafe remained open approached me and were like, ‘Well, why don't you buy it?’ And I'm like, ‘Yeah, it would be a great idea. I just, I can't afford it.’ And they, the community, those couple of individuals in particular were like, ‘Hey, start a GoFundMe. Like, we're in this with you. We want the cafe to stay open, we think that you would be a great steward to keep this place alive. And we would love to help.’ So I started the GoFundMe and expecting that it would maybe take a year or so to raise the funds to be able to pay the down payment. And the community was so excited and so generous. Andwithin two months, I was able to raise the funding to make it financially feasible and not scary in that particular way.
Susan Morée:
And the cafe really acts as a sort of unofficial meeting place for the town, right? There's a few other little businesses around, but he cafe is really kind of the heart of the town in a lot of ways, it seems to me.
Meghan Kinney:
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we do have the community center, so for larger gatherings of people, that's great. But it really is a hub for like, ‘oh, you know, I want to catch up with my neighbors, so let's go down to the cafe, have a cup of coffee and a slice of pie.’ Or on Sundays, after church lets out, you know, the cafe fills up with everybody, you know, with their friends and family after church coming to enjoy a meal together. It's a Sunday tradition.
Susan Morée:
And so Ben and Doreen Lewis got the $50,000 American Express grant. How did you use the money to refurbish the exterior?
Meghan Kinney:
Yeah, so most of it went into getting a new door. You have eaten at the cafe in the past. It was kind of always a litmus test for if you were a local or a tourist, if you were able to actually open that door or not on the first try.
Susan Morée:
I loved that old door.
Meghan Kinney:
Yeah, and
Susan Morée:
Oh, that's awesome.
Meghan Kinney:
The museum does have the old bell and the old door. And then we all kind of miss the charm of the other one, but this one is more accessible as well as just a little bit more sturdy. And then the other big change was expanding the patio. So, the grant itself was for exterior beautification. specifically, so we couldn't get the roof done or do anything inside. So, we chose to focus on making the patio seating area a little bit larger, a little bit safer, a little bit prettier. We've got the new railing, new tables and chairs, and the new decking itself. Prior to the grant, we had put in a ramp, so we just kind of tied everything in together with that. And then trimming up the trees out front that have grown in. It's just so nice out there now. A little bit of paint, touch-ups here and there, and kind of cleaning up some of that stuff. And the new awning above the door as well to let in a little bit more light into our dining room.
Susan Morée:
And tell us about, you've been at the cafe, you've become the owner now, when did you take over? It was in December, is that correct?
Meghan Kinney:
I took over in December and we added Mondays starting in January.
Susan Morée:
Have you changed the menu?
Meghan Kinney:
So, I'm taking baby steps with changing the menu. The bulk of the menu really hasn't changed much. I was fortunate enough to inherit all of the recipes from Ben and Doreen. So other than makingthe green chili is now vegetarian. I just kind of swapped chicken stock for veggie stock but the red and the green chili is the same. You know, the classics are still on the menu. You can still get the enchiladas nortenas. The Hillsboro hot dog isn't going anywhere. I've added a couple little things here and there and took off maybe two items. And then with each new season as it rolls around, I'm trying maybe one or two new things. And then really where I get to have the extreme creative fun is on the weekend specials. So, I try to bring in different culture cuisines, and just a little bit more out-of-the-box from the red and green chili scenario.
Susan Morée:
So is it possible to get, say, Chinese?
Meghan Kinney:
So I've done fried rice in the past with egg rolls. I've done one of my big hits that was really unexpected to me was a white chicken curry. And an Indian dish with turmeric rice and the classic cucumber yogurt salad situation. And I was like, ‘oh, I'm not going to sell, you know, any of this. I'm doing it because I want to have it for dinner.’ And unfortunately, we sold out so I couldn't have it for dinner. But I think I've made it twice since then and people, you know, really love it. So it's kind of nice when unexpected things like that take off. And, you know, they aren't all winners, but at least a few people have enjoyed everything that I've run as a special.
Susan Morée:
And for people who, it might be a long drive to get to the Hillsboro Cafe, is there a way that they can find out ahead of time what the specials are?
Meghan Kinney:
Yeah, so currently I am in the process of working on our website, but until then I have been posting on our Facebook and Instagram pages. I believe Facebook is @HillsboroGeneralStore and then @HillsboroGeneralStoreCafe on Instagram.
Susan Morée:
All right. Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate your taking the time to talk to me.
Meghan Kinney:
Yes, no problem. Thank you.
