Breaking News! Cheesy Goodness to Hit West Chester!

West Chester! Prepare yourselves for a Gourmet Macaroni and Cheese Restaurant!

Ashley Melillo and Jillian Godfry, co-owners of The Bistro at Our Town in Exton, are collaborating on a new venture to be called Ash’s Naked Noodle and Cheese. They plan to open the new restaurant, which will be located on South Church Street, on Wednesday, November 23rd, the night before Thanksgiving.

The idea for Ash’s Naked Noodle and Cheese came about as their mac and cheese dishes at The Bistro grew in popularity. Between their diners and take-out business, they are selling nearly sixty pounds of cheesy goodness each day. Their Mac and Cheese is made with penne noodles and ten cheeses. They sell several styles, including choices of crabmeat, Shrimp Scampi, or Ham.

Their location on South Church Street is strategically located halfway between the college campus and Gay Street. It’s no secret that thrifty college students have been known to subsist on boxed mac and cheese throughout the school year. Ashley laughed as she said she hopes students “think outside the box!” They plan on staying open until 3 am on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights to take advantage of the late night crowd.

A sneak peek at the menu showed me this is not just dining for thrifty students. The menu offers an eclectic assortment of mac and cheese dishes with a diverse offering of gourmet toppings. Customers can select whether they want their mac and cheese layered, tossed or topped. Toppings include: jumbo lump crab, shrimp scampi, filet mignon, prosciutto, sausage, bacon, BBQ chicken, or roasted vegetables. Extra Cheese? No problem. Choose between blue cheese, provolone, brie, gruyere, goat, swiss or more.

Of course, they also offer the Naked Noodle. Plain penne pasta can be tossed with any of the non-cheese toppings and can be served hot or cold.

They will offer several baked noodle dishes, including “The Mushroom Muenster,” which is a mushroom blend with butter, garlic and muenster cheese and “The Decadent Crab” which will have jumbo lump crab with brie cheese. Macaroni and Cheese pizzas will also be available with several pizza toppings such as bacon, sausage, mushrooms, and buffalo chicken. They will also offer non-noodle dishes such as several salads.

Leslie Weinberg, a writer for the Town Dish, has eaten their mac and cheese recently at The Bistro. I asked how she enjoyed it. “It’s pretty damn good. I’ve had two of their mac and cheeses and after one bite it’s obvious why the go through so much a week. It comes with a rich and creamy sauce that beautifully blends fresh varieties of cheeses without being bland, running or thin like a lot of mac and cheeses turn out like. Plus, their portions are so generous, I ended up with delicious leftovers for the rest of the week.”

Stay tuned for a full-blown food feature (with photographs) once the Ash’s Naked Noodle & Cheese officially debuts.

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