Creamy goodness with a crunch in Brookhaven

Along with Texas barbecue, the new counter-service Fox Bros. restaurant in Brookhaven serves a white cheddar mac and cheese that is different from the traditional style served at the other locations. There are no complex ingredients in the dish; it’s just a study in simple things made to taste as good as all get-out.

The dish is served in three steps: First, there is a generous scoop of jumbo elbows, awash in a velvety white cheddar sauce. Then, a generous topping of crumbled, ridge-style cheddar and sour-cream-and-onion potato chips blankets the pasta. Lastly, delicately minced chives are sprinkled over the golden jumble.

There are three layers of flavor and texture in each bite. You get the soft chew of the pasta, the creamy cheesiness of the sauce and the crisp finish of the chip fragments. Along with the added crunch, the chips add more cheddar flavor, with a tart zing. It might make you aspire to jazz up your own mac and cheese at home.