Restaurant Road Trip | The Hidden Kitchen Route 80 - North Branford, CT | Season 2 | Episode 7

(upbeat music) - If you're looking for a great breakfast in North Branford, we have several choices.

But if you're looking for a great breakfast that may make you question your food life itself, then look no further than Hidden Kitchen.

This husband and wife duo are serving up some fun takes on some old classics right now on "Restaurant Road Trip."

Sandi, it's so nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you.

- Thanks for having us.

- Oh, we're so excited to have you here.

- I mean, especially it's brave of you to say yes to us on a morning, like to have breakfast when you're full like this.

- We're full, we're busy all the time.

We've got a great customer base.

All the locals like to come in and have a little breakfast with us.

- And your granddaughter is back.

- [Sandi] And our granddaughter.

- [Chef Plum] How long you guys been in this location?

- So we have been in this location about nine years.

We started in Gilford in 2009.

So we've been at it a long time.

- Yeah, a long time.

- I joke about this is the longest job I've had.

- Well, you were a teacher for like a whole career as a teacher.

- Yes.

- And your husband was an engineer and you said, "Ah, let's retire and open a restaurant."

- Great idea, right?

Let's take it easy in our retirement, our golden ears.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- This is a very cool spot to be in.

- This is a great spot.

North Branford is kind of centrally located.

- Yeah, this is cult following here.

Like if anyone who's from this area even bring up Hidden Kitchen, their ears perk up, their eyes perk.

I mean, yes and ears, I do mean they'd be like this.

Like, "Oh, let me, that's a great place."

Let's talk about this menu 'cause I mean literally this menu is some of the craziest stuff and I've ever thought about.

- [Sandi] And it just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

- [Chef Plum] Oh my gosh, oh my gosh.

- Our Benedicts are super popular.

Today, we started the Thanksgiving Benedict.

Which, instead of English muffins is on two homemade stuffing patties.

- [Chef Plum] Oh wow.

- And when we turn our backs the customers literally pick up the plate and lick 'em clean.

- Wow.

- It's that good.

- And they wait all year for it to come.

- Well, maybe later on, I could try to come up with a dish that can make them- - I know it's pretty tricky.

You think we can teach you?

It's kinda hard work back there.

You have the coat, but... - Well you know, I got the voice.

I can be loud.

How's that?

Is that good?

- I think we can show you.

- I'm gonna go see if I can find your husband in that kitchen and then get my hands in there.

- Okay, sounds good.

(gentle music) - Dave, nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you as well.

- Thanks for having us in the kitchen here.

What are we making today?

- Today, I thought we'd do a classic.

We're gonna do a Cristo Dave.

Are you ready?

- I'm ready, let's do it.

- Cut a couple slices of that.

- Okay.

- Because it, we're doing it thick 'cause that cornbread breaks easy.

- Yeah, it'll break down easier more so than regular bread.

Okay, so we'll got the French toast right over there.

French toast batter, it's gonna get dipped in there.

Full coverage, don't wanna skimp.

- [Chef Plum] Don't be cheap.

All right, so we got cornbread down.

- Cornbread, so while that's cooking, next step is we're gonna cook off the pulled pork.

This is a Carolina barbecue.

- [Chef Plum] Okay, so mustard, Carolina barbecue, a little mustard base.

- [Dave] Yeah, vinegar.

- Little mustard, little vinegar.

Now when you do that is it important to get it on the stove when you- - Oh yeah, yeah, you gotta have it on the stove.

- You started it.

(group laughs) Get that pork nice and- - That looks good.

- Got a little taters.

- Got a little kick, but not tremendously.

- [Chef Plum] Right, so we're gonna flip this toast over?

- [Dave] Yeah, you can flip it.

So, one critical aspect.

Now we have to crack an egg.

We're gonna do a sunny side up egg on the grill.

- Okay.

- We can put a little butter down for it so it doesn't stick on you.

- [Chef Plum] Gotcha, no problem.

- [Dave] All right, you're looking good.

- [Chef Plum] So this is going right on the cornbread?

- [Dave] Right on the cornbread, you got it.

- [Chef Plum] The smell of this with that Carolina style sauce is amazing.

All right.

- [Dave] Okay, perfect.

- These cheesy potatoes on top of that too?

- You got it.

- Oh my God.

- Just layer it right on there.

So yeah, best you can.

- [Chef Plum] All of those taters?

- [Dave] Yep, you're good right there.

That's a nice portion.

And we're gonna put that right on top of this.

- Right on top.

- So now we're gonna hold it together.

- [Chef Plum] With a knife.

- [Dave] Right there.

- [Chef Plum] That's a serious sandwich right there.

Look at that.

- Yeah and missing one thing on it right now, that egg.

- Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

- [Dave] Just try to fit it on there.

- [Chef Plum] Yep.

- [Dave] You may have the honors.

Now, we're gonna do the sugar right around the rim of the plate.

- [Chef Plum] We're gonna sugar this?

- [Dave] Sugar it up and that my friend is done.

- What?

That is a monster.

- Isn't it beautiful?

- That's a monster.

- Yeah.

- [Chef Plum] Look at this.

Are you kidding me?

This is a beast.

- You gotta take a nap after you have that.

- I'm telling you what, I'm gonna feed everybody out there with this.

This is incredible.

Wow, Chef, that's awesome.

Oh, here, we'll pound it out with gloves on.

- Way to go.

- This is an incredible amount of food, brother.

I am blown away right now at how much is sitting on this table.

I mean... - It's our way of saying welcome from Hidden Kitchen.

- [Chef Plum] Let's start with this omelet.

I'm gonna take a bite outta it here while you tell me a little about it.

- [Dave] So what you have there is the Tijuana omelet.

It's got a homemade black bean paste inside there.

And then we have some sauted chorizo and tomato together, cheddar and we have our homemade corn strips, homemade salsa verde and finished off with some fresh cilantro on top.

- [Chef Plum] Little black beans in there.

- Yeah, we make our own black bean paste on it.

- This is incredibly well-balanced.

- Thank you.

- I love the flavor of it.

I love how the acidity really kind of cuts through some of that sausage that's in the background, which is nice 'cause sometimes this tomatillo salsa can be overpowering.

This is really delicious.

I would order five of these to go.

We're taking notes.

Five of these to go.

Perfect.

I know you got a new guy in the kitchen who's doing a great job.

- Right, that's your special right there.

- Now look at this.

This is crazy.

And we'll just, we'll get in there and get a little bit of that love on there.

Look at that, come on.

- [Dave] Ah, that's beautiful, huh?

- That's what we're talking about.

Now, how does one eat this?

I mean, look at this, if I pick this up and take a bite out of it.

- No, no, no, no fork and, fork at knife.

- [Chef Plum] I kind of want try it.

- Good luck.

- Okay, here we go.

Geronimo.

(Dave applauds) - Yay.

- Wow.

- Good job.

- Wow, wow, that is amazing.

I want another bite of it.

The sweetness and a little bit of spices that cut through from the pork, it works, it makes sense.

- Yeah, it's the play.

You have the savory of the obviously of the pork and then the sweetness.

It ties it together.

Especially with the French toast of the cornbread.

- [Chef Plum] Cornbread's delicious.

Also, I've heard so much about this Thanksgiving Benny.

We gotta try it.

- So what we have there, we have our homemade stuffing.

- Is that chicken cutlet?

- No, turkey cutlet.

Really what makes the dish is the sauce.

Cranberry, pear and apple on it.

It's got a little sweet but the crans bring back that tangy, tartness of it.

- Two adjectives I used to describe you too, Dave.

Tangy tartness.

(group laughs) That's pretty fun.

It really is.

It tastes like Thanksgiving.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- So many different choices here.

So many different menu items on the menu.

So many options.

There's something for everybody, that's for sure.

- Yes.

- I mean, I'm gonna ask you a favor.

- Sure.

- I want to go cook something.

I wanna see if I can make something.

- Right, right.

- That's unique and fun that maybe, if you like it, you'll put it on the menu.

- Sure, we can name it after you.

- All right, deal.

Let's do it.

I'm gonna go back in the kitchen and see what I can figure out.

You got, you can eat all this, right?

- Oh yeah, I got it.

I got this.

- My name is Greg Anderson and I'm from Bloomington, Indiana and this food is incredible.

We've come 14 hours to eat this breakfast.

The cinnamon bun walnut pancake.

I'd give up one of our children for it.

- My name's Cole, I've been coming here since I was probably eight, 10 years old.

It's awesome.

I mean, they make everyone feel at home.

It's a big community.

You can't say anything bad about it.

It's been a pleasure to come here and I love it.

(gentle music) - Oh, you guys.

Here we go.

All right, let me tell you what I got here, okay.

Kinda touching on my southern roots, a little bit of traditional.

We've got a crispy corn beef hash, poached eggs.

A little Hollandaise sauce on top of an English muffin.

Are you kidding me?

And wait, wait, wait, before you say anything, the menu name.

Oh, the menu name's a good seller.

Are you ready for this?

I can see it now on the walls.

Plum Daddy Benny.

- Oh my God, isn't that awesome?

- Come on, right, right, my man.

- Good job, good job Chef.

Did you check the menu?

- Yeah, I read the menus all over.

- We have something exactly like this.

- What?

- The menus are all around.

- I read every, I didn't see anything like this.

- Check the restroom.

- The rest.

- The restroom.

- The restroom?

- Why is the rest, what is she talking about?

The restroom?

What on earth?

Why's a menu in the restroom?

Oh my gosh.

You have to be kidding me.

Really?

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