Mooney’s Sports Bar & Grill Works with the Kids’ Adventure Club to Create a New Mac n’ Cheese Flavor for September
September 13, 2018—For the month of September, Mooney’s Sports Bar & Grill in Horseheads will feature a new mac n’ cheese flavor, Morning Mac, on the menu. On Thursday, August 16, children attending the summer Kids’ Adventure Club (KAC) program participated in a mac n’ cheese cooking competition, where the winning dish secured a spot on the menu at the Horseheads and Corning locations for the month of September. Kevin McFall, owner of nine Mooney’s Sports Bar & Grill restaurants found in Buffalo, Corning, and Horseheads, Dan Wilcox, manager of the Corning location, and John Robinson, manager of the Horseheads location, made up the judge’s panel.
Through the generosity of Kevin McFall, owner of the Mooney’s restaurants, one child’s idea of having a mac n’ cheese cooking competition became a reality. Seven groups of children in grades 2–5, presented their mac n’ cheese concepts to the judge’s panel, hoping that their dish would become a part of Mooney’s menu. Each group was responsible for giving the judges a written recipe and a sample of their mac n’ cheese.
“This is the best thing that has ever happened to me! I am so happy that Mooney’s helped me to make the Mac n’ Cheese Cooking Competition happen and all my friends at KAC loved it! This means so much to me!”, said Lilly O’Conners, a Kids’ Adventure Club summer program fifth grader.
Two weeks before the competition, John Robinson, manager of the Horseheads location, accompanied by the head chef from the Horseheads location came onsite to teach the kids how to make mac n’ cheese and gave them pointers on how to develop their own ideas. That day all of the children received mac n’ cheese for lunch. The children were given one week to perfect their recipes for the competition held on August 16.
The winning concept, Morning Mac, features sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, and cheddar cheese. Coming in at a close second was the Rainbow Mac recipe, which combines shredded parmesan cheese and shredded white sharp cheese with specially made rainbow noodles covered with a panko breadcrumb and edible glitter topping. Other ideas presented by the Kids’ Adventure Club children included Chicken Wing Dip, Sea Crumbs (seafood-inspired), Three Peppers, and Steak mac n’ cheese recipes.
John Robinson, general manager of the Mooney’s location in Horseheads stated, “The kids did a great job coming up with recipes! The original recipe that the kids developed for the Breakfast Mac is basically what we’re using here in the restaurant, the only difference is that folks have the option to add peppers and onions. We thoroughly enjoyed doing the Mac n’ Cheese competition with the kids, and we look forward to doing many more.”
All 65 participants received Mooney’s gift cards, the winners and runners-up received t-shirts, Lilly received a t-shirt and a hat, and all of the children in the Kids’ Adventure Club program were treated to lunch at the Horseheads location.
For more information about Mooney’s Sports Bar & Grill please contact John Robinson, manager of the Horseheads location at (607) 442-1670 or email j.robinson@mooneys.com.