Petite fashion-forward lady from Long Island meets tall, burly northern New Jersey ironworker in a Manhattan bar during a mutual friend’s birthday party.
The New York gal and the New Jersey guy fall in love, get married and buy a house. Her merchandising and production job gets moved to Southern California and off they go.
Three years of California life, and he “had his fill.” She suggests they move to Huntsville, Alabama, to be nearer his parents, who retired to Scottsboro, where he grew up. “You would move to Alabama?,” he asked. “I think so. I love it,” she said of the city her mother-in-law showed off whenever the couple visited.
That’s how Matthew Mell and Stephanie Kennedy-Mell landed in Huntsville. But how did the superintendent for the MetLife stadium steel work and the director of production planning, process improvement and special projects for lifestyle brands become award-winning restauranteurs and hospitality specialists in Alabama’s biggest city?
That’s where Stephanie and Matt’s story really takes off.
Today, Matt is chief executive and chief financial officer, and Stephanie is chief operating and chief marketing officer of ChurchStreet Family Restaurant & Hospitality Group, a multi-concept restaurant and hospitality group with seven locations in Huntsville and one in Athens. There’s also a test kitchen and Famous Eleanors, their catering operation, in Huntsville.
In just the past two years, the couple have added the titles of Alabama’s Restauranteurs and Retailers of the Year.
“Every chef is really coming into their own, getting comfortable and having the freedom to explore and play with the menu items.”
STEPHANIE
Wine, food and immersive experiences
Matt and Stephanie Mell own ChurchStreet Family Restaurant & Hospitality Group, a multi-concept restaurant and hospitality group in Huntsville and Athens. They are pictured here at the original Churchstreet Wine Shoppe.
It all started with a desire to recreate a Northern California wine tasting room in north Alabama. “The whole vibe is that you taste and then you purchase a bottle,” said Stephanie of the couple’s first Alabama business. The wine shop around the corner was one aspect of California life that the Mells missed in Huntsville.
ChurchStreet Wine Shoppe, a wine bar and bottle shop at 501 Church Street NW in downtown Huntsville, opened in September 2014. It stocks more than 1,000 wines from every corner of the globe and features the art of local artists on its walls. There’s even a wine club that has hundreds of members.
Since September of 2024, every Friday and Saturday night, you can also savor a good wine and listen to talented pianists tickle the ivories at the shop.
“A constant through all our concepts is immersive experiences,” said Stephanie.
In January 2023, the Mells opened a second location of their original concept at 485 Providence Main St., Suite 101. The draw is still wine, but paired with tapas and charcuterie, in the walkable village inside Huntsville. All told, the Mells have introduced more than 100 wines to Alabama and 50 wines to the United States through ChurchStreet Wine Shoppe, including Australia’s A Growers Touch wine varieties at the Providence shop.
“When you walk into one of our concepts, we really want you to be on a trip … to feel welcome and comfortable,” said Stephanie Mell. “You can expect a level of customer service and a genuine experience,” adds Matt, the other half of the couple behind the eight ChurchStreet Family locations. The couple have another concept on the way in 2025.
In one decade, the Mells created other concepts that also transport those who enter to another place or time.
The couple’s first restaurant, Purveyor, a bourbon-centric casual fine dining establishment, opened in 2017 at 201 Jefferson St. N. Its dimmed lighting, exposed brick, tufted booths, backlit bar and antique church door inset with stained glass that leads to a private room make diners say, “I feel like I’m in DC or Chicago.” Behind the bar is Kati Wilson, the 2024 Bartender of the Year.
The Mells added two concepts each in 2019 and 2020:
- Pourhouse, a comfortably swanky rooftop bar, is at 3414 Governors Drive in Huntsville’s Stovehouse development, a former factory turned into a food, drink, shopping and leisure destination. “During the weekend, there’s bands. During the week, there’s a lot of people watching games, playing trivia – and it’s become a little bit of a neighborhood bar,” Matt said of the high-volume bar.
- Sea Salt, an urban oyster bar, at 114 Clinton Ave. E. offers oysters by the dozen or half dozen, ahi tuna and shrimp tacos, ceviche and other raw or cold seafood. Hot options include a lobster roll and an adult lump crab grilled cheese sandwich. There’s even a crawfish boil every Saturday. “People tell me, I feel like I’m at 30A. I can’t believe there’s not a beach outside,” said Stephanie.
- Catacomb 435, an underground speakeasy, “is probably our most immersive experience, pre-prohibition era drinks out of true antique glasses,” says Stephanie. Those with reservations and the daily password descend into the bowels of the Downtown Storage building at 100 Jefferson St. N., Unit 435, choose two flavor profiles and a base liquor, then the bartender concocts a personalized cocktail just for you. If you are lucky, Matt Ortega, the 2023 Best Bartender in Alabama, will make your drink.
The ahi tuna tacos at Purveyor and Sea Salt feature yellow fin tuna, spicy sesame, yuzu kosho and avocado mousse on a fresh-made gyoza shell. The tacos are among the 100 dishes to eat in Alabama before you die.
Meatballs, family recipes and evoking Brooklyn
Mazzara’s Vinoteca first launched in 2019 in the same Stovehouse development as Pourhouse. It reopened in June 2021 in the historic Humphreys-Rodgers House at 102 Gates Ave. SW. Named after Stephanie’s grandparents, Mazzara’s serves authentic Italian food, all family recipes, paired with wine or beer. With its white columns, porches across two stories in the front and wide front steps, “when you walk into Mazzara’s, you could be in Charleston or Savannah,” said Stephanie.
Like all ChurchStreet properties, Mazzara’s has evolved as customers and the chefs at each location desire.
“When we first opened (Mazzara’s), we didn’t have meatballs on the menu. So I called my mom. She texted (her recipe) over, I printed it out, went to the kitchen, and we had meatballs the next day,” said Stephanie. Alabama’s 2024 Chef of the Year Luis Branez, the ChurchStreet group’s corporate chef, trains the executive chefs at the individual locations. “Mazzara’s wants to make pasta. Well, let me show you how to make pasta. We want to make focaccia. I will teach you,” Stephanie said explaining the process.
And of course, wine is front and center at Mazzara’s as well. South Africa’s Spier Wines had the American debut of two of its wine portfolios at the restaurant that also houses ChurchStreet’s corporate offices.
A second location of the Italian concept, known as L’il Mazzara’s, opened at 102 Washington St. E. in Athens in December 2023. “I really wanted to take care of the historic downtown Athens feel,” said Stephanie. The restaurant is “designed to look like a Brooklyn Italian restaurant,” she said, adding “I get more compliments on the vibe of that restaurant than almost any of the other restaurants.”
Room for growth and more accolades
Huntsville just keeps growing and the Mells plan to continue to grow their business with it.
“The wave is just beginning to come up (in Huntsville),” said Matt. “Five years from now, this city will be a destination city.”
People already come from Nashville, Franklin and Chattanooga for the weekend, he said, adding that new residents move into the area every day. In downtown alone, ground has been broken for the Lewter District, which includes townhomes, restaurant and office space, as well as Front Row, a more than 11-acre mixed-use development that will include residences, office space, retail, dining and entertainment.
The goal is not just more restaurants and bars. The ChurchStreet group – which has earned best restaurant, best bar, best chef, best bartender, best GM titles as well as statewide awards – has set its sight on a James Beard award.
“Our food is the best it’s ever been right now,” said Stephanie. “If you’re not striving for anything, you’ll reach nowhere. Dream. We like to dream big.”
MEMBER SINCE 2014
Every restaurant in the ChurchStreet Family Group has an executive chef who trains under executive corporate Chef Luis Branez. Visit churchstreetfamily.com to connect to ChurchStreet’s restaurants and bars. Pictured: Bar sign at Purveyor.
Story by Nancy King Dennis
Photos by Brandon Robbins
This article is the cover story
of the February 2025 Alabama Retailer.
MORE ABOUT CHURCHSTREET FAMILY
RESTAURANT & HOSPITALITY GROUP
ChurchStreet Family Group in Huntsville
and Athens is 2024 Alabama Retailer of the Year
Sept. 5, 2024