Right down to the ramps and fiddleheads she’d foraged for the morning we met.
“My ultimate goal is to have the least and best impact on the environment,” she began. “And then to prepare the freshest and healthiest food that I can.”
To understand why there soon will be a Station Taproom garden of microgreens, herbs and other produce, why relationships with local farmers are a given and why house-made is par for the course, you have to take a moment to understand Kristin.
She started out in college on a swimming scholarship with a dance major, specializing in ballet. A shoulder injury sidelined her after two years and ended her scholarship opportunity, so she left college and began waitressing.
“When I look back on it, I always enjoyed get-togethers at college, particularly making the food,” she said. “So while waitressing, I was more interested in what the cooks were putting out than anything else. I became friendly with the chef next door, and essentially worked free at a Mediterranean restaurant to gain experience.”
She then had the chance to get back to what she considered the ideal: a French bistro. There she started part-time doing cold appetizers, salads and pastry; after one week she was full-time. During her 18 months at Confit French Bistro, she grew her skills and became an all-around utility cook: grilling, sautéing and more, all the while growing a desire to go back to school to become a chef.
“About that time, my Mom passed away,” she noted. “I felt it was time. I love Vermont, as I’d gone there many times with my Dad. So I enrolled in the New England Culinary Institute where I spent two years, earned an associates and got a certificate in sustainability.”
Kristin described her experience in Montpelier, where the Institute’s tagline is “where you learn by living it,” as seeing the “circle of food.” Small classes enabled hands-on learning, from fabricating and breaking down whole cows to working in test farm fields to the cooking basics.
“Nearby Hardwick is featured in ‘The Town That Food Saved’ by Ben Hewitt because everything there is linked,” she explained. “A seed company has huge gardens. Garden waste is turned into compost by another company. Yet another company buys that compost; it’s really a place where any waste is virtually eliminated and everything is contributed back. It’s sustainability in action.”
Luckily for Downingtown locals, Kristin’s final internship brought her to these parts, where she briefly worked for a brewery and then gravitated toward the groove at the Station Taproom.
“I’d come here after work, and became friendly with Sean (McGettigan, owner) and Tim (Smith, head chef), and the rest is history,” Kristin laughed. “I started as a line cook, and was happy to become sous chef. What’s amazing about working here is we all have the same outlook about the quality and type of food we serve. Our days are long, but at the end of the day it’s always worth it. I’m blessed.”
Kristin says at the Station Taproom, everyone has creative freedom: the menu is a canvas and everyone contributes his or her own strengths. She loves to cook breakfast and brunch, and as a native of the outskirts of Pennsylvania Dutch country, contributed, among other things, the ridiculously popular Scrapple Benedict. The scrapple, which she believes is underestimated, is heritage breed pork paired with cheddar biscuits, sautéed spinach, deep-fried poached egg (you read that correctly, deep fried poached egg) and spicy hollandaise.
“My cooking trademark cooking is balance: sweet and salty, bitter and umami, a bit of acid: that’s truly the perfect dish,” she said. “We make our own sausages, like a maple breakfast sausage, or chorizo or kielbasa. I can’t wait to start our new garden. We make our own desserts. The seasons dictate what we create.”
Kristin is one of the most genuine, unaffected, sweet people you’ll ever meet. She’s the real deal. While she gives kudos to Sean and Tim as “two of the kindest, most giving, level-headed and best bosses” ever, this 20-something pauses to give a nod to her role models. They are Chef Doug Barg, her brunch inspiration; Chef Jeffrey Ferrel, who gave her a deep love of where food came from and of gardening; Chef Sarah Langan, who taught her about balance, something she hopes to pass down, and Chef Steve Atkins, who instilled in her great habits from cooking to cleaning and beyond.
“You can teach cooking, but you can’t teach integrity,” she insisted.
She also credits her Station Taproom colleagues for the amazing menu at the Downingtown gem: Head Chef Tim Smith, line cooks Lianna Reckard, Brian Stratman, Jim Curley and Travis Richey; and prep cook Michael Foss. Last but not least, she said she’d be remiss if she didn’t give props to her colleagues at Amani’s BYOB in Downingtown for the great camaraderie that’s developed, from sharing recipes and cooking techniques to the latest food gossip.
Local, sustainable, fresh, creative and creating community. These are not buzzwords to Kristin. They are how she lives her life and what she brings to the table.
Photography credited to Nina Lea Photography.
