Lighthouse Keeper's Pantry

Definitely two if by sea.

Sandwiches are named for Cape Cod lighthouses, rolled up t-shirts are cradled into clam baskets, and a giant pen and ink rendering of a horseshoe crab anchors the entrance of the café. This light-filled room is accessed at the rear of the shop past the retail displays and to the left of the barista’s counter. Kelly O’Connell gestures to the scores of maritime paintings, both collected and received as gifts, that form a grid of images lining the wall. “I wanted guests seated here to experience what I imagined they’d see peering out from an actual lighthouse.”

Having returned to her childhood home in Yarmouthport to work remotely during COVID, O’Connell had an intense career in marketing and product development for lifestyle brands like Martha Stewart and The Pioneer Woman. When it came time to head back to NYC, O’Connell’s hesitance to return surprised no one more than her. The tide had shifted. “Like many, COVID gave me time for soul-searching, and I suddenly realized I didn’t want to leave.”

O’Connell grasped that to be able to remain on the Cape, she would have to plot her own course. She reconnected with Greg Bilezikian, also a Yarmouthport native, who was operating a product development and import company. They met to consider options; knowing her background involving food and recipes, Bilezikian suggested maybe something involving jam. She and her dad had been making their own jam recipes during the pandemic, selling six different varieties alongside garden flowers from a gingham-covered table in front of their house.

Influenced by her own youth spent living near and sailing on Cape Cod Bay, in a week’s time O’Connell had created and pitched a business plan to Bilezikian. It centered on the idea of a lighthouse keeper, based on the memory of Leo Hogan, a local man who had served in the Navy in WWII and in his later years lived in an actual lighthouse at nearby Sandy Neck Beach. Imagining what this lighthouse keeper might prepare for himself to eat using what he had caught and foraged, and from the staples in his cupboards, she intended to bring her ideas to life by creating the recipes.

Meeting again months later, O’Connell shared her vision of a brick and mortar café, and an array of specialty foods for which she had already developed recipes. She had researched production kitchens and found advance support for the brand with Cape retailers. Impressed, Bilezikian gave her the go-ahead. They christened her concept the Lighthouse Keeper’s Pantry and agreed on a local property, a former bakery, for sale in their hometown.

O’Connell set to work. Menu, staffing, decor, merchandise, graphics, social media; it was all on her. Sea legs braced, O’Connell plotted the course towards her goal, a bakery, café and shop that would serve the community first and foremost. It would be a place to relax alone or gather in good company. She adds, “We’re open 7-5, seven days a week throughout the entire year.”

The door of a lovely historic white building on Main Street opens to a full marketplace of provisions and gifts for cooks and their kitchens. One finds lovely wood boards and utensils perfect for charcuterie, plus sauces, herbs and snacks from other regional brands, and several well-curated food and lifestyle books. It’s a fun and sassy shop for browsing and gifting both for others and oneself.

You can start the day with a selection from a full menu of egg frittata sandwiches, each named with a nod to a different type of sailboat and served warm on stonegriddled English muffins. The “Ketch” layers ham, homemade egg frittata and Cheddar with a dollop of strawberry jam. “It’s ideal,” says O’Connell. “Many of the items we serve contain one of our branded products, so folks experience one way to use it, taste it, and then, if they choose to, can purchase it right here.”

Lining the back wall of the shop are trays brimming with homemade pastries. Rotating on different days are savory and sweet scones, coffee cake, pop tarts, croissants, doughnuts and cinnamon buns. Lighthouse Keeper’s baristas brew with Springline Coffee based in Newport, Rhode Island. Cape and Islands Tea is served hot, and in season, iced, in a selection of both true and herbal tea flavors.