The ornate wooden sign is deliberately misspelled: “Apathecary.”
It greets visitors as soon as they walk into Kelly’s Kitchen Take 2 in Colebrook, described on the store’s website as “a charming sanctuary where time-honored traditions meet artisanal craftsmanship.” Co-founder Kelly McCarthy said, “I work with energy, and I’m all about the herbal tinctures and working with naturopaths and more natural medicine.” She said the misspelled sign is meant to denote a section of the store as “a path to wellness.”
In that section are consigned products by local artisans, including decorative cutting boards, CBD sprays, herbal candles, honeybee pollen, pet shampoos, loose-leaf teas, jalapeno jams, greeting cards, handcrafted hats, inspirational photos and natural bar soaps.
Most of the artisans are based in Connecticut. All are from New England or the Hudson River Valley, McCarthy said.
Her husband and the store’s co-founder, Bob McCarthy, shepherds another aspect of Kelly’s Kitchen Take 2: prepared grab-and-go foods. And speaking of shepherds, one of his most popular dishes is shepherd’s pie, that classic comfort food made with ground beef, vegetables, potatoes, butter and cream. If it or another menu item is sold out, Bob can often prepare more while customers wait.
In coolers and freezers are soups, chowders, stews, casseroles, chicken pot pies, homemade sauces and spreads, desserts and fresh-baked breads.
Bob declined to name any one dish as his specialty. “My specialty is food made from scratch that tastes good,” he said. He boasts more than 40 years as a foodie, having apprenticed with an Austrian master chef before working at Farmington Woods Country Club and Beefsteak Charlie’s. He opened Lily’s of the Valley Restaurant in Simsbury, where he met Kelly, who was a server there.
As the name implies, Kelly’s Kitchen Take 2 is a reboot of their popular restaurant, Kelly’s Kitchen, which operated in Winsted from 2004 to 2015. When their lease ended, Bob became the chef at Bantam Market, preparing foods for the deli section. Kelly used her professional marketing experience to expand her holistic practice, working with people to educate and nourish them spiritually, she said.
When the building they now occupy recently came on the market, they saw it as an opportunity for a turnkey retirement business where they could combine their two areas of expertise. The location previously was home to Spice320, which also featured prepared foods and had a working kitchen and space for cooling, freezing and displaying foods.
As a destination for freshly prepared foods, it is a rare oasis, according to a young couple who identified themselves only as Maya and Rob. “I checked it online, and the reviews were so good that I was like, ‘I gotta go and check it out,’” Maya said.
Another customer, a woman from the Berkshires, said she and her husband come to Winsted once a week to shop. She first tried shopping at Kelly’s on a Tuesday, then on a Wednesday, but was disappointed to learn the store was closed on those days. “Now we have to change our shopping day to Thursday,” she said.
“People don’t need to retire,” Kelly said. “Stop looking at retiring from life, and instead, what can you still bring to the table? There’s so much magic within each one of us.”
Kelly’s Kitchen Take 2 is at 320 Colebrook River Road in Colebrook. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday. For more information, visit kktake2.com or call 860-379-7927.
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