KenapocoMocha: Community Owned Coffee Shop

Housed in a restored Victorian brick house, KenapocoMocha  is an example of what can be done when people in a community rally together for a common good cause. When Debbie and Jim Chinworth decided to open up a coffeehouse in their town of Manchester, Indiana they looked to their fellow citizens for support. According to Debbie, "We were inspired by friends of ours in Bluffton, Ohio who started a similar venture. They offered friends of theirs the opportunity to invest in the business and it worked out really well. So we decided to try something similar and offered our community the opportunity to invest in the coffeehouse. We weren't sure what would happen. But we believed in our dream and the community believed in us-- we now have 64 community investors."
 
And, according to Andrea Zwiebel, author of the blog Changing the World One Meal at a Time, those investors have put their money into a solid investment. Andrea sent me an email in January asking me to list the coffeehouse in the GOING LOCAL Indiana Local Food Guide. She said "The food is so good! I used to go once a week before they opened the freezer section.  (I live 30 minutes from North Manchester, so it must be good!)  Their soups are amazing.  Now I go once a month or so to stock up on the frozen entrees."

 

Debbie credits the popularity of the coffeehouse to their creative kitchen staff. In sharing her thoughts about why she chooses to cook with locally produced ingredients, KenapocoMocha's chef Katie Van (whom Debbie refers to as a magician with food) said, "At KenapocoMocha, we are very passionate about eating locally and supporting our agricultural community. In fact, we're a community-owned coffee shop with over 60 investors, so the very foundation of our business comes from a strong desire to nurture our local economy.

We have become well known for our soups, which vary each day, depending on the local ingredients available.  We've been open since April 29, 2008, and have not made the exact same soup twice.  Some of our customers' favorites include adventurous options like Pumpkin Chili or Peanut Butter and Jelly Soup, but they also enjoy many classics like Cream of Wild Mushroom and Chicken Lemon Rice.  During the summer we get all our produce from North Manchester's Farmers' Market, which we freeze for use throughout the winter. We also have a local organic farmer with wonderful greenhouses from whom we get a variety of produce, including freshly picked mesclun greens for our salads.  

 

We have a very close relationship with Hawkins' Family Farm.  This wonderful family-owned CSA farm is our favorite place to get locally- pastured chicken, beef, pork and turkey (all organically-raised), and we use their eggs exclusively for all of our fresh baked goods.

 

We offer artisan baked breads, pastries and desserts (including oatmeal fudge bars, brownies and whoopie pies) along with our soups, salads and sandwiches at lunch, and home-cooked, original recipe entrees twice a week."

Specials are listed everyday on their site. Check today's specials here. Is your mouth watering yet? This place sounds incredible. Robert and I are planning on a lunch road trip to Manchester in the very near future with plenty of ice pack filled coolers in tow to take home some of those freezer meals.

Do you know of a great restaurant or coffee shop with a commitment to local food in your community? Send me an email about it- victoria@goinglocal-info.com


KenapocoMocha

01 East 2nd Street
North Manchester, IN 46962
Phone: (260) 982-4705
www.kenapocomocha.com

Photos: Courtesy of KenapocoMocha
Photo 1: Chef Katie Van (right) and her daughter Marielle (left) admire the local produce
Photo 2: Chef Katie Van (rear left) and Baker and Barista Sarah Hall (front right) plate salads for the lunch service

 

Comments

[Laura B]

The KenapocoMocha is indeed amazing! So much so that I refer to Katie as "The Soup Goddess"--a nickname she earned before the entree, salad, and freezer meals ever existed. She is amazing!