“Shoreham needed something like this.”
That was the enthusiastic conclusion recently reached by customer Erin Matyola inside Mudroom Market (99 Route 25A, Suite 5, Shoreham, 631-825-0157), a café and coffee shop that celebrated a July 7 soft launch in Shoreham Plaza.
“We really needed a local hometown coffee shop that everyone could come hang out in,” says Matyola, noting it was her third visit to the café in a week.
Helmed by Shoreham couple Jack and Kyle Maurelli and located in the intimate space that formerly housed Gourmelos, the menu at Mudroom Market features signature lattes like the mega-popular iced burnt banana, along with protein shakes, juices, soups, salads and sandwiches, the flour for which Jack mills each day. Everything is made in-house and contains no seed oils or added sugars, say the Maurellis, who call community reception to the café “incredible.”
“I’m just pinching myself every day,” says Jack, who works in operations for a mental health company. “I really can’t believe it. Everyone’s been so kind to us.”
In a fun twist to the health-centered menu are homemade dog- and cat-food toppers made with fresh ingredients like boiled chicken, spinach, blueberries, cinnamon and pumpkin. “They sell out every time I put them out; almost can’t keep up,” says Jack, who got his start in the restaurant industry bussing tables at 19. He later spent 14 years as a general manager for a boutique restaurant when he had a realization.
“It was a lot of years of really hard work for someone else’s dream, and it was always in the back of my head that this was the ultimate goal,” Jack says. “I would tell my husband, ‘I don’t know if I’ll truly be happy until we can do our own thing.”
The couple is thrilled to be doing just that at Mudroom. Oh, and the café’s name? It dawned on Jack one day last year and represents the literal vestibule that separates the world outside from the business, which is infused with the Maurellis’ handsome blend of vintage and modern styles.
“We wanted to kind of invite people into our life — the food we eat, the way we decorate, our whole life,” explains Kyle, who teaches eighth-grade science and adds that the shop’s rotating wall of antiques is for sale. “This is just an extension of that.”
As part of the 1,350-square-foot revamp, the couple color-drenched the café’s walls and ceiling in a rich yet unobtrusive shade of brown. The thoughtfully selected hue feels both like a winking tip of the hat to the eatery’s name and a visual reminder of the freshly ground coffee beans brewed there throughout the day.
Vanessa Logan, a newly retired police officer who now works part-time at Mudroom, says she “fell in love with the décor” during her interview and instantly hit it off with the Maurellis. “They are the best people to work for, ever,” she says.
And while Mudroom Market is still just getting started — plans for a grand opening are being ironed out, the Maurellis say — the couple is already looking to the future, with a breakfast menu expected to drop in August, plans for seasonally changing drinks (expect pumpkin), and wholesome visions of evening board-game marathons and live music.
“Our biggest thing is bringing back that old-school café, coffee shop vibe,” Jack says. “We want to start a nightlife on Friday night, Saturday night. Something where people can relax and enjoy themselves and not have an alcoholic beverage in their hands.”
Mudroom Market is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; closed Monday. Follow their Instagram here.
