Born
and raised in South Orange, NJ - in the shadow of NYC - Merilee
Kuchon’s early life was very suburban and urban.
Nov 23, 2020
Merilee was about five or six when she had her first
desert experience. Aunt Franny and Uncle Pete, who lived in
Encinitas, put Merilee in the VW Bus and drove down to Anza
Borrego. Merilee says, “It blew my mind.”
In
2004 Merilee was working at High Times Magazine in NYC. Though the
job had some perks, Merilee was tired of sitting behind a desk.
Having experienced 9/11 up close and personal, she realized that
experience had not only changed NYC, but also changed
her.
Merilee convinced her then boyfriend to quit his job
and go with her on a year long road trip of the Southwest and
Mexico. Before heading out on that trip, a former punk-rock friend
from Jersey wrote Merilee, inviting her to come visit him in Joshua
Tree while she was traveling.
Merilee stayed in JT for about a month – back and forth
to Mexico, playing music, eating and playing poker.
She
made her way back to NJ, continuing to make trips back out to
Joshua Tree in the four years that followed. While back in NJ she
met her love, Doug. They lived in Texas for five years, playing in
a band and operating a co-op deli before making the move to Joshua
Tree. Life in Austin was not fulfilling.
In
making the decision to move to Joshua Tree the first time, Merilee
knew she needed to work and decided it would be cooking. Years
earlier, while still working at High Times, Merilee went to French
Culinary Institute on the weekends just for fun and to learn. After
getting settled in Joshua Tree, Merilee put a 'private chef' resume
up on craigslist and immediately got a response from a drug and
alcohol rehab facility down the hill in Indian Wells. While in
Texas, she had a job as a deli manager for a food co-op, adding
management skills to her culinary training. This all worked
together to help Merilee – and her business partner Rosa Ficara
(Ep
128) - to open
Roadrunner Grab + Go deli in Joshua Tree.
In
this episode Merilee shares the experience of applying for the deli
space- adjacent to the Joshua Tree National Park Visitors Center -
preparing to open, the menu, the staff and the good feeling of
being able to employ local folks.
Follow Roadrunner Grab + Go on Instagram:
@roadrunner.grabandgo