Katherine’s Kitchen

By Nancy K. Crevier

As they suspected when they opened Katherine’s Kitchen at 102 Church Hill Road in Sandy Hook in February of 2007, owners Katherine and Randy Pineau have found great support from the community and local businesses. Not only that, the deli/café, a dream come true for sandwich lovers, has rocketed to the top even beyond the borders of Newtown. Last November, after just nine months in business, Katherine’s Kitchen was awarded the People’s Choice Moosie Award by radio station i95 as the best deli in Fairfield County.

“Business has been excellent,” said Mrs Pineau, who does the bulk of the cooking for the business. “We have a regular clientele. I worry when one doesn’t show up,” she said.

The walls in Katherine’s Kitchen are painted burgundy and taupe, with oak-stained wainscoting wrapping the interior perimeter of the 1,200 square feet that make up the deli/café. A brass reproduction pressed-tin ceiling adds a warm glow above the deli-line workspace and over the main dining area. One wall is nearly taken up by the 18-foot walk-in drink cooler that Mrs Pineau said gives her the flexibility to provide many choices to her customers. In the center of the room, an 8- by 5-foot granite-topped coffee bar offers hot coffee, cappuccino, cocoa, and tea, and plenty of elbow room for the cups and condiments.

The menu served six days a week encompasses a large selection of breakfast items; pastries and bagels from Port Chester, N.Y.; hot and cold sandwiches and grinders prepared with Boar’s Head cold cuts and cheeses; soups; salads; and side dishes.

Off-site catering includes preparation, delivery, and set up for items ranging from sandwich platters or breakfast presentations, to upscale offerings for special occasions. The extensive catering menu includes appetizers and main dishes. Mini crab cakes with Mrs Pineau’s special tartar sauce, crab- or sausage-stuffed mushrooms, bruchetta, and spinach artichoke dip have been the top appetizer picks for parties. Chicken Patricia, chicken breasts stuffed with ham and Swiss cheese in a light white wine and mushroom sauce over rice; and sundried tomato and mushroom pork tenderloin with penne pasta are two of the  numerous main dishes prepared for special events. Katherine’s Kitchen will work with clients to develop a customized catering menu, including using the customer’s own recipes, and is happy to refer customers for china and glassware rental and other catering needs outside of food preparation. The complete catering menu is available online at katherineskitchen.com, or a catering menu can be picked up at the deli.

“Our bestselling breakfast item is definitely the classic bacon, egg, and cheese on a hard roll,” Mrs Pineau said of the breakfast menu, but the featured Breakfast-on-a-Bun runs neck and neck with it. Breakfast-on-a-Bun provides the hungry customer with scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, home fires, and a choice of ham, bacon, or sausage patty loaded onto a hard roll.

Katherine’s Kitchen has also responded to customer demand by adding made-to-order omelettes to the breakfast menu and additional breakfast specialties.

More than 30 cold and hot sandwich selections are available, including daily specials. The Bull’s Eye has been a big seller for the deli. It is slices of roast beef, cheddar cheese, pickles, onions, and horseradish on rye bread. The Great Steak is a popular hot sandwich, as well, made of strips of top-round steak, grilled onions and peppers, and cheddar cheese on a grinder roll, all topped with steak sauce. The Smokey Southern, a chicken cutlet with honey barbeque sauce, bacon, and pepper jack cheese, has become the favorite of the Pineau family, including sons, Ryan, 18, Connor, 14, and Cory, 11, who pitch in and help out every day at the café. Vying for attention are the Hap’ Cappy, a hot ham sandwich of cappicola and mozzarella cheese, and the panini grill sandwiches, which are small bread loaves buttered on the outside, stuffed with meats and cheeses, and grilled. Katherine’s Kitchen offers daily panini grill sandwich specials or custom-made panini sandwiches. Customers are welcome to tailor a sandwich to their own liking, so long as she has the ingredients on hand, said Mrs Pineau. “Special requests are fine.”

Salads such as the Caesar and the Mediterranean make up lighter fare, and made-on-premises soups are available each day, as well.

On Saturday, May 24, Katherine’s Kitchen will gear up to join in the festivities of the annual Lions Club Great Pootatuck Duck Race. From 11 am to 2:30 pm, duck race attendees can stop by the deli’s outdoor barbeque featuring sausage and peppers, hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, and cold drinks. The full menu will also be available inside the deli during regular Saturday store hours.

Katherine’s Kitchen, 102 Church Hill Road, Sandy Hook, is open from 6 am to 6 pm, Monday through Friday; and 6 am to 3 pm, Saturday. Special order breakfast and sandwich trays and deli platters can be ordered for takeout, as can any of the menu items, by calling 270-8828 or faxing an order to 270-8829. Daily specials and the menu can be viewed at katherineskitchen.com.