Food means community for 57-year-old chef Sean Connelly. As the owner of LilJumbo Cafe, a farm-to-table restaurant based in Maysville, he slings out New York-style pizza with a Brooklyn attitude. “I’m trying to get my community together because that’s what it’s about,” Connelly said. “Nobody knows how to do good pizza, and I’ve been doing it for years.”
But LilJumbo patrons come for more than just food; Connelly himself is repeatedly described as “entertainment” by his guests. When he’s not overseeing the line during meal services, Connelly runs back and forth from the kitchen to dining floor, interacting with each guest or employee along the way.
“It’s like watching a top that never stops spinning,” line cook Cody Canutt said. “It’s his show. It’s his stage.”
Connelly is proud of his locally sourced food, and he’s unafraid to let customers know. As guests mull over his weekly menu, Connelly will walk past the coffee bar to review their order with them, even berating guests for food alterations. But rather than turning customers away, Connelly’s boisterousness seems to bring them back. “It shouldn’t work, but it does,” Canutt said. “It brews fierce loyalty.”
Connelly has been trying to create a “local’s local” for more than two decades. At age 25, he moved to New York City to pursue his cooking dreams. After working in a local brewery, he realized there wasn’t a space for food industry workers themselves since most bars or restaurants were closed by the end of their shifts. Seeing a need for such a space, he founded the Brooklyn Ale House in 1997. For 17 years, Connelly served the Williamsburg community, staying open until 4:30 a.m. so that anyone could visit. But when Connelly’s wife’s father became ill, he sold the bar and moved to be closer to her family.
At first, Connelly worried the Maysville community wouldn’t accept his unique menu or abrasive personality, so he opened a 14-foot mobile coffee trailer to test the market. Finding success, he was offered a space in the century-old Washington Hall. As a designated historical site, the space isn’t zoned for commercial cookware. Instead, Connelly uses two small pizza ovens and a gas stovetop to serve homestyle meals for his guests.
“This is all a combination of the experiences I have,” Connelly said. “It’s love on a plate for me.”
