Some of the Island’s most special gathering places begin not with a rigid plan, but with creativity and a willingness to let community lead the way. For chef and owner Spring Sheldon, S&S Kitchenette has evolved exactly like that—growing from a practical solution for kitchen space into a dynamic hub for coffee, events, music, and connection. Shaped by collaboration, the space reflects both Spring’s culinary background and her belief that food and gatherings should feel welcoming, personal, and ever-evolving. Ahead of S&S Kitchenette’s late April reopening, I caught up with Spring to talk about the unexpected origins of the space, her approach to catering and design, and the journey that brought her from fine dining kitchens to creating one of the Vineyard’s most beloved community spaces.
What inspired you to open S&S Kitchenette, and how has your vision evolved since day one?
Ahh the story of S+S Kitchenette. So originally I was renting the kitchen downstairs for my catering business when it was Mad Martha’s and when they moved the landlord offered me the upstairs space but said “If you don’t take it, we’re renting the kitchen and the ground floor to a restaurant group from off island”. And finding commercial kitchen space here, well, you’re better off finding an actual living unicorn! So I said okay, and that I would figure out what to do with it as I went. I have always maintained that I didn’t want a restaurant, probably because of trauma from working in scratch kitchens and also just the sheer amount of work restaurants are. So I built it as an event space, a nice long table and beautiful dining room. I said to myself, this will tell me what it wants to be. And it certainly has. The second year, My brother in law Guy, came to me and said, I want to do a coffee pop up, which started as one day a week and very quickly turned into 5 days a week. Then the next year, he helped turn the space into a full on cafe, and it just took off from there. We have always done chef pop ups and hosted guest chefs. Then a friend came to me about hosting a music night one December and then that took off. So really, S&S has been a community effort and has been shaped by what the community has needed. It’s been an absolutely joy and delight to watch S&S grow, and to see how it resonates with people. Another aspect of it was coming off of Covid, I wanted it to be flexible and adaptable because we saw so many places close during covid and I just wanted it to be something that could withstand whatever the world has to throw at us. So flexibility was important. I would say my vision of the space telling me what it wanted to be was successful!
What led to the addition of event services, and how would you define your catering style?
We actually started as a catering company and private chef service and grew from there. Our catering style is seasonal, beautiful food, inspired by the island and my travels. I definitely lean towards a more full approach, event and table design, and fun themed events. I love design and decor so I like to add that to our catering service, give me a table scape any day!
Tell me a little more about your culinary background!
I went to culinary school at BU, a small culinary program started by Julia Child and Jacque Pepin. It was a great program and Jacque was actually one of our teachers. I went into fine dining in Boston restaurants from there and worked for some very talented chefs, in very toxic work environments, but I learned a lot and am thankful for my time there. After I had about enough of said toxic work environments I decided it was time for a change of scenery and relocated to the Vineyard. I have been coming to the island my entire life so it felt like home, and was a fresh start to figure out how I wanted to approach my career. I have never looked back, it’s been an amazing ride, full of beautiful events, friendships forged, incredibly difficult days, hard lessons, gorgeous produce/meat/fish and lots of fun. I wouldn’t change it for the world. I absolutely love cooking for people and helping them throw an event that they will remember for the rest of their life. It is an incredible honor to be welcomed into people’s homes and to be trusted with an important event.
S&S will open late April. We will be open for cafe hours 7:00 am -2:00pm with some evening events, live music, classes and workshops, guests chefs, themed dinners and more! Follow us on instagram: @sskitchenettemv website: www.sskitchenette.com and for catering and event inquires email: sskitchenettemv@gmail.com
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