View - FLL Mag

Lily’s on Main now serving
“Pretzel Chicken”
a Fine Living Lancaster
Signature Dish
Signature Dish
This new feature, Signature Dish, integrates a local chef and/or restaurateur with an engaging
Lancastrian who share a common interest. It follows them through the process of creating a
new dish for the restaurant that displays their connection. The dish will then be offered at the
restaurant as a special for ninety days.
Steve Brown, Owner of Lily’s on Main; Kelly Kapinos, Head
Chef; Bill Puffer, Owner of Zanzibar
Two Steve’s, two drummers, and
two who are passionate about food.
Restaurant owner of Lily’s on Main of
Ephrata, Steve Brown, and Steve Puffer,
co-owner of the unique downtown
Lancaster boutique, Zanzibar, sat down
together at Lily’s and chatted about
their common interest in playing the
drums and about their new creation
for the menu.
Steve Puffer remembers always banging
and tapping on everything; he learned
to play the drums in the 5th grade. He
played in bands for years and then did
sound for other bands, including the
Innocence Mission, the band Steve
Brown played with in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s.
The dining area of Lily’s on Main offers art deco decor in a comfortable
setting with a beautiful view of downtown Ephrata
Puffer now has a recording studio in his
home. He has always been into music
in one form or another and continues
to play locally. Although he and the rest
of the band don’t get together as much
as he would like, due to multiple jobs
and family commitments, his affection for
drumming prevails.
Formed in Lancaster, the Innocence
Mission, an alternative folk band
comprised of four schoolmates, went
on to make music that topped the
Billboard charts and became soundtracks
for fi lm and television. Ten years ago,
Steve Brown left the Innocence Mission
to become a full-time chef. A different
way of communicating with another
person is the way in which Brown sees
both cooking and drumming. By taking
something that you hear, see or
smell in your mind, you express it in
another language.
Brown has always wanted to be both a
drummer and a chef and feels extremely
fortunate having been able to do both.
Originally, he wanted to have his own
restaurant so that he and his band could
play in it. That was back when he was
fi fteen years old and working in a deli.
As the starving musician adage goes, he
always worked in restaurants because
he knew that way he would always have
something to eat. From a manager at a
fast food chain to cooking at fi ne dining
establishments in Lancaster County, Steve
Brown learned the restaurant biz. When
he was on the road with the Innocence
Mission, he enveloped himself in the
different culinary cultures he found
throughout the country. This experience
would eventually lead to the theory
behind the American-style concept of
Lily’s cuisine, the restaurant that is named
after his daughter.
Steve Puffer’s Zanzibar features specialty
gift items, aromatic quality candles, and
beautiful designer women’s apparel and
accessories. With the tag line, “romancing
your senses,” to his boutique, you might
know that this Steve has a sense for all
things good, including good food. He
comments that he loves to eat and that
his girlfriend of ten years is an absolutely
magnifi cent cook. When they dine out,
they go out for the service.
In developing the concept for the dish
that would tie these two Steve’s together,
they thought that the quintessential
fl avors of Lancaster County would be
perfect, complementing the theme of
the magazine and the American-style
of the restaurant. Lily’s chef of six years
Kelly Kapinos was brought into the
mix for ideas, too. Kapinos and Brown
work well together on new dishes, and
they appreciate each other’s opinions.
What started as using turkey or chicken
“drumsticks” as an à propos main
ingredient evolved into a refi ned entrée
featuring local fare.
The new dish was dubbed Pretzel
Chicken and was devised by combining
the epitome of Lancaster County snacks
Continued on page 44
Head chef of six years, Kelly Kapinos, creates the Signature Dish, Pretzel Chicken
43