GOSHEN \u2014 It\u2019s not uncommon to see Tiffany Marcinek preparing food in a kitchen.<\/p>\n
Whether it\u2019s her own space or at a friend\u2019s house, Marcinek has been long dubbed the go-to person for catering.<\/p>\n
But for the past three months, she\u2019s been focusing on her craft in a brand new kitchen of her own as part of her new food trailer, called The Ledges.<\/p>\n
Located on the lawn of Marcinek\u2019s historic home, which also shares the same name, the Goshen roadside eatery boasts small \u201cfarm to wagon\u201d dishes with seasonal and locally-sourced ingredients. The Ledges opened its window to the public in May.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been a foodie and cooking most of my life and I just decided to make it my work,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve just been into food my entire life \u2014 it\u2019s always just been a natural thing.\u201d <\/p>\n
Marcinek credits her grandmother with helping her navigate her way around the kitchen, but remembers adopting a love for food while watching cooking shows on TV as young as 8 years old and marveling. Some of her favorites were Julia Child and \u201cThe Frugal Gourmet\u201d with Jeff Smith.<\/p>\n
When Marcinek bought her 27 Main St. home in 2010, she envisioned sharing the Dutch Colonial style home with others. At the time, the house was in foreclosure and needed quite a few repairs to bring it up to code.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a neat house,\u201d she said. \u201cI knew when I bought it that I wanted to turn the house into either a restaurant or a bed & breakfast or an event space for weddings or small parties.\u201d <\/p>\n Since moving in and fixing up the house, Marcinek has found a few postcards from bookstores showcasing the house in 1911.<\/p>\n On the front of one of the postcards, the home is referred to as \u201cThe Ledges,\u201d which in turn inspired Marcinek to name her food wagon after the historic home.<\/p>\n For the past two decades, Marcinek has been working in the ophthalmology field as a surgical coordinator at the Eye Physicians of Northampton. Though it has always been a dream of hers to open her own restaurant, she didn\u2019t pursue her vision until more recently. During the struggles of the COVID-19 pandemic, she lost three of her loved ones to unrelated causes, including her mother, and her perspective began to shift.<\/p>\n Her kids were finally at the right age where a new business venture wouldn\u2019t interfere too much with their daily lives and her finances were in order, and her husband Paul Marcinek offered his support.<\/p>\n \u201cMy mom was only 66 when she died, and I realized that life is short \u2026 what am I waiting for?\u201d she said. \u201cThings fell into place all at once.\u201d <\/p>\n In 2021, she made the business official and formed an LLC.<\/p>\n When she first bought her food truck, the purchase included a van to tow the trailer, but Marcinek sold it. And because her current vehicle is not equipped to tow the trailer, the food wagon remains stationary, for now, at least.<\/p>\n She also attended Holyoke Community College MGM Culinary Arts Institute\u2019s free, six-week line cook training program as a way to see how she would fare in a professional restaurant setting.<\/p>\n On top of working at Eye Physicians of Northampton and attending the training program, she got a job at The Rapids Bar & Grill in Huntington, which has since closed when the building\u2019s owner sought to sell the building, she said. <\/p>\n She officially opened The Ledges this spring with help from her 20-year-old son, Jadyn Kopie, whom she calls the \u201cface of the business\u201d as he runs the register and interacts with all of the customers. In addition to helping his mother, Kopie, who is a business major at HCC, is taking private flying lessons in Northampton to one day become a pilot.<\/p>\n Currently, the business is offering soups, salads, sandwiches, and small plates. Some of the regular items include organic, grass-fed, nitrate-free, beef hot dogs, quarter-pound Black Angus beef hamburgers, quarter-pound quinoa veggie patties, grilled cheese with melted fontina on a choice of white, wheat, rye or gluten-free bread, and garden salads, with greens from Pause & Pivot Farm in Williamsburg. Prices are between $4-$5 for hot dogs, $7 for burgers, $7.50 for soups and $11 for garden salads. She also sources from Lombrico Farm in West Whately, Oliver\u2019s Farm Stand in Goshen and Marty\u2019s Local in South Deerfield.<\/p>\n One of the more recent specials include a caprese burger with a Black Angus beef hamburger or quinoa veggie patty, sliced tomato, mozzarella, basil pesto and a drizzle of balsamic reduction on a grilled bun or bun-less on locally-sourced lettuce.<\/p>\n \u201cI try to keep things fresh and local, and provide a quality dish,\u201d she said. \u201cI also don\u2019t do anything fried, which has proven to be a bit polarizing \u2014 either people are completely turned off or they go out of their way to find me.\u201d <\/p>\n The locals, she says, have been especially welcoming with many becoming repeat-customers.<\/p>\n In addition to not serving items like french fries, she also noted that The Ledges does not sell any kind of soda. Marcinek says it\u2019s important for her not to sell something she doesn\u2019t buy for her own house. The food wagon sells bottled water, Pellegrino and a blueberry lemonade made with Wild Maine blueberries from local farm stands.<\/p>\n With an eye on sustainability, she does provide compostable cutlery and marine biodegradable straws. She also has aims in the future to further cut back on her plastic use.<\/p>\n The Ledges is currently open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday through Monday and will stay open as long as the temperatures outside aren\u2019t freezing.<\/p>\n As a self-proclaimed \u201cHalloween nut,\u201d who installs a haunted display in front of her house every year, Marcinek says that patrons can expect to see a haunted food wagon as well, filling at least 13 of the 50 outdoor seats with life-sized skeletons.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n