handmade. delicious. nourishing.
creating scratch-made, artisan food to help you #eatlikeahuman
Proud to be featured on Gastro Obscura
AT MODERN STONE AGE KITCHEN (MSAK), brunch is a museum-worthy experience. Run by a former archaeology professor at Washington College and long-time food anthropologist, the Chestertown, Maryland eatery is on a mission to reintroduce the lost gastronomic traditions of our ancestors, while harnessing the power of modern technology.
Dr. Bill Schindler’s passion for primitive skills, experimental archaeology, and traditional food preparation is the driving force behind MSAK’s restaurant, cafe and on-site bakery. Everything MSAK serves is crafted from scratch, leading to dishes that are nourishing and delicious. Whether it’s pizza, pasta, meats, cheeses, fermented veggies, or baked goods and sweet treats, changing daily specials emphasize authenticity and flavor, while connecting patrons to ancient worldwide civilizations.
The owner’s travels and research, including via the 2016 National Geographic TV series “The Great Human Race,” taking audiences on a global journey of Indigenous food methods, have inspired a highly unique family business. The Schindler’s adventures learning about potato fermentation in Peru and sharing cow’s blood and milk with Samburu warriors in Kenya, inform a menu which Bill, as well as his wife Christina and children, Brianna, Billy, and Alyssa, all take part in creating.
patio time!
so proud of our team in 2024
what makes us different
at the modern stone age kitchen, we…
celebrate local ingredients
use a sourdough technique in any dish that contains grains
use only high-quality fats – NO industrial nut or seed oils
use only unrefined sugar, maple syrup and/or honey – NO refined sugars
embrace a nose-to-tail approach to animals
work towards sustainability in our packaging
everything…
is prepared 100% from scratch, relying on traditional approaches to make the food as nourishing and delicious as possible.
At the Modern Stone Age Kitchen, located in Chestertown, Maryland, we transform familiar foods such as bread, pizza, cheese, tacos, soups, sandwiches and even cookies into their healthiest versions by using ancestral and traditional approaches to maximize the safety, nutritional value, and flavor of everything we produce.
All of our food is made 100% from scratch in-house.
We ferment all of our grains using a wild, long fermented sourdough process; nixtamalize our maize; soak all nuts, seeds and legumes; butcher and cook using a nose-to-tail approach; make our own fermented dairy products including cheese, yogurt, and fermented butter, and rely upon solely on unrefined sweeteners and animal based fats for cooking to optimize the safety and nutritional value of our foods. Stop in and taste the difference of true scratch cooking.
In the News
Thanks to the Kent County News for highlighting our exciting 12 Spoons Award!
CHESTERTOWN — If you have the chance to meet the Schindler’s, Bill, Christina and their three teenagers, it won’t take long to find out it’s no secret how passionate they are about making foods that are healthy and as nourishing as foods are meant to be. But what you might not know is the Modern Stone Age Kitchen, tucked away on Cannon Street in Chestertown, was awarded this year 12 spoons — a restaurant rating not so easily attainable.
Learn more about our mission!
We had the chance to talk with Bill and Lacey Sutton, local realtors, about our mission to help nourish the community with healthy food made using ancestral process at Modern Stone Age Kitchen and how we teach cooking classes aligned to our #EatLikeaHuman mission at the Eastern Shore Food Lab. We would love for you to watch!
A true east coast gem that embodies ALL 12 spoons! Modern Stone Age Kitchen is a “foodery” that is a unique blend of a traditional restaurant, cafe, bakery, grocery store, and community supported kitchen. On Friday evenings they offer fresh-baked pizza, which are 100% homemade (from sourdough crust to the cheese and sausage) using local ingredients. Pop in during the morning for a fluffy sourdough waffle, bagel with cream cheese, breakfast sandwich, muffin, or yogurt to fuel up before visiting the Chestertown farmers market and exploring the area. All their grains are 100% sourdough! MSAK also has a teaching kitchen, The Eastern Shore Food Lab, where you can take classes on sourdough, sausage or cheese-making, fermentation, and foraging. Indoor and outdoor seating is available. They do get a decent amount of visitors, but the layout and hospitality eliminates any fear of waiting in a long line.
We are honored to be the first restaurant in the world to receive a rating of 12 Spoons from the Weston A. Price Foundation!
Want to learn more about our approach to food?
We had a chance to share our story and approach with Dale Walls of the Lions Guide podcast. This interview will give you the high points for how the Modern Stone Age Kitchen started, how and why we prepare the food we do, and how we raise our three teenagers using this approach. Enjoy!
it all started as . . . rise by brianna
courtesy of brandon gulish & gabe spitale (June 2020)
artisan loaves, made from the ingredients (and people) you trust.
using only the highest quality ingredients - we combine, fold, shape, and bake each loaf with care.
homemade. sourdough. what else do you want me to say?
the ingredients: water, salt, flour. yes, that’s it in both the loaves and focaccia.
only three ingredients, as real food should be.
trillions of wild bacteria & yeast, are at work transforming these grains into their safest and most nourishing forms possible for our bodies.
all our dough starts its life in a big bowl, where it is quickly mixed to combine all components. over the course of a couple hours, it is then folded, individually shaped and stretched, and given time to rise. then placed into our backyard bread oven, your own bread, is cooked to golden perfection.
next phase
a store front
Every Friday night at the MSAK is wood fired pizza night!
“I live a little over an hour away and the distance doesn’t stop me from this nourishing and delicious bread for my family. Working in healthcare during this time takes me away from the kitchen, and I’m just so glad I’ve found Rise by Brianna because they value the importance of real food.
Currently snacking on a small slice of sourdough with raw butter local honey :) thank you!”
- Alicia
artisan food made from the ingredients (and people) you trust.
using only the highest quality ingredients - we create all our food products 100% from scratch.
any questions, comments, concerns?
if you need an immediate response, message us at 410-996-4776
Follow us at @modernstoneagekitchen and @drbillschindler
