Matt Poles is not one of those chefs who searches out bizarre, exotic ingredients to glam up the breakfast and lunch dishes he creates for Small World Coffee’s two locations in town. The 30-year-old graduate of the Culinary institute of America prefers to keep things simple.

“I tell a lot of people I like to use the ‘kiss’ method — ‘keep it simple, stupid’,” Poles said this week, with a chuckle. “Sometimes salt and pepper are all you need.”

Mr. Poles has recently introduced a range of new menu offerings at Small World, made and sold in the store at 254 Nassau Street. Some items are also available at the original location on Witherspoon Street. New on the lunch list for Nassau Street are a pulled pork lunch burrito, a sweet potato and kale lunch burrito, and a beet and pickled fennel salad. Homemade toppings include “Raisin Hell Salsa,” guacamole, citrus slaw, and honey chipotle sauce.

“Matt has been working for us for awhile, but he’s just taken over the helm in the kitchen,” said Small World owner Jessica Durrie. “He had a lot of good ideas and we’re going to use his talents more. There is such a great lunch scene going on in that end of town on Nassau Street, and we had the capacity in our kitchen. So it just made sense to do this.”

Small World opened on Witherspoon Street 21 years ago. Originally, the kitchen was housed in the store’s coffee roasting facility in Rocky Hill. In 2006, the kitchen was moved to the second retail location on Nassau Street. In addition to beverages like the NOLA frappe and different syrups, the kitchen turns out seasonal granola, brownies, scones, cookies, small salads, and healthy “grab and go” lunch options.

A major renovation in 2010 removed the small amount of food preparation that took place in the Witherspoon Street store and replaced it with seating. “It was a good decision,” said Ms. Durrie. “We had already had the Nassau Street store in place for a few years, so we decided to consolidate the kitchen there. They supply the Witherspoon Street store with food twice a day, and it has worked very well.’

Mr. Poles grew up in Allentown and graduated from Allentown High School. After the Culinary Institute, he moved to California and worked for a bakery for a few years. Returning to New Jersey, he worked construction and did some silk-screening before resuming the profession for which he had trained. “Small World graciously took me back into the cooking world, and I’ve been here ever since,” he said.

Future dishes are in the planning stages. “We will work on some toasts, and we have been making some homemade ricotta and homemade jams in the kitchen,” Mr. Poles said.

Ms. Durrie considers herself lucky to have held on to Mr. Poles. “He is such a cool guy, and it’s great to have that kind of young talent stay in Princeton instead of taking off,” she said.

“I had always wanted to move back to California,” said Mr. Poles. “But here, they give me creative freedom in the kitchen. I work with really good people, and you can’t really put a price on that. So it’s given me more reason to stay. Plus, there is such a good sense of community here. Princeton is pretty cool.”

As for the long-standing success of Small World, which has become a local landmark, Mr. Poles chalks it up to consistency. “That’s hard to do,” he said. “People want to consistently feel like they belong to something. So when you go to a place where they remember your name and remember your order, that means a lot to people.”