ROCKLAND—The little food stand on 346 Main Street, in Rockland, formerly The Shack, is reopening under a new owner Friday, May 5.

Kyle Apel is set to open Wiley’s, his grandmother’s surname. The venture consisting of breakfast and lunch is Apel’s first foray as the owner of a food stand.

Sourcing most of his ingredients daily, as well as locally, the breakfast menu features an egg and bacon sandwich with tomato jam and Cooper cheese, an egg burrito with his own queso Hollandaise sauce, and veggie frittatas. Other items include home-baked goods, such as a Madeline, the cousin to a pound cake.

His lunch menu will be an array of fresh salads, tacos, sandwiches such as a brisket burger, and a Korean-style fried chicken sandwich. That is all along with classic Maine seafood, such as steamers, mussels, chowder, and lobster rolls.

“I want to bring a level of cooking to take-out that’s not pretentious, but approachable,” he said.

Apel earned a college degree in sociology and anthropology, but had an inkling that he was meant to do something else.

“I was always cooking for my roommates and my background in cooking comes from my family, so after I got my degree in 2014, I went right into culinary school,” he said.

With a French, German,and Irish heritage, he graduated from the French Culinary Institute, now rebranded as the International Culinary Center. He then worked at a three-star Michelin restaurant in New York City for five years.

“That kick-started my level of cooking,” he said. “I was trained in classical French cooking and lived in France for five years when I was younger, so that has inspired my food. I like rustic, peasant food like a lamb leg that has been braised for hours.”

On an Instagram post of his Grandmother Wiley, he puts his cooking philosophy best: “I can attribute the love of food I have to my family. On all sides, we have always been cooks. Seeing the smile that comes to someone’s lips when they taste good food, that’s better than any paycheck I’ve gotten.”

To learn more visit:instagram.com/wileysonmain

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com