CAN’T BOX THEM IN
From its tight confines, The Lunchbox sports a menu with plenty to offer
Sean Miller was a latchkey kid.
And that, he says, is where it all began. “I’d go home, sit and watch TV and make cookies,” he said, adding that he learned how to cook by watching his parents, Helen and Christopher Miller, in the family kitchen.
Miller, a Wallkill native, now makes his home in Kingston and his living at The Lunchbox at 275 Fair St., which he co-owns with partner Brian Leamer, also of Kingston.
What started as a hot dog stand in front of the Old Dutch Church and across from the Main Street Post Office evolved about five years ago when Miller and Leamer were offered an opportunity to expand the business and its offerings into the Fair Street hole in the wall, a tight space that accommodates one man, a small refrigerator, a griddle and several crock pots.
The glorified food cart Miller calls “Ulster County’s smallest restaurant” offers its customers an eclectic selection of hot soups on cold days and cold soups on hot days, stews (including his father’s beef stew), wraps and home-baked cookies, sweet breads and his
family’s peanut brittle.
It’s impossible to pass Miller’s establishment without being lured by the aroma of something cooking — and the offerings change frequently.
“The possibilities for soup are endless,” he said on a recent Tuesday afternoon, after the lunch crowd had slowed down enough for him to take a few minutes to talk. “You can go across every culture.”
And he had — the offerings that day included jalapeno corn chili, golombki (Polish stuffed cabbage), matzo ball soup, beef chili, Mexican grilled cheese and a Thai Cobb salad wrap.
Miller said he also enjoys catering to his customers’ “special needs” by offering gluten-free, non-dairy and non-soy selections on a regular basis.
And, he delivers for free within a two-block radius.
For the daily menu, visit The Lunchbox on Facebook.
The Lunchbox is open weekdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For information, call (845) 514-4831.
The Lunchbox’s Peanut Brittle
(A Sean Miller family recipe) Ingredients: 1 cup sugar 1⁄2 cup corn syrup 2 cups dry unsalted roasted peanuts 1 tsp butter 1 tsp vanilla 1 tsp baking soda
Instructions:
Grease baking sheet. In a glass bowl combine sugar and corn syrup and microwave on high for four minutes.
Stir in peanuts and cook for three minutes. Stir in butter and vanilla. Cook for two minutes. Blend in baking soda until foamy.
Pour onto prepared sheet and spread quickly.
Let cool and then break into pieces.