Katherine’s Kitchen

As they suspected when they opened Katherine’s Kitchen at 102 Church Hill Road in Sandy Hook in February 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, was nominated for Small Business of the Year by the Newtown Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce. “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 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.

Take the edge off of hot summer days at the coffee bar, with an icy delight. A Polar Freeze machine, dispensing frozen coffee and fruit slushies, is the newest piece of equipment at the café.

During the warmer months, as well, Katherine’s Kitchen clientele can dig into the deli’s delights al fresco, at umbrella-topped tables set up in front of the cafe.

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 setup 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. Additionally, sports fans can look forward to event-specific catering menus for upcoming winter and spring sports spectacles, like the Super Bowl and Indie 500.

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 fries, 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, Connor, and Cory, who pitch in and help out every day at the café. A new addition in 2011 is the Panini Specials Board, featuring a changing selection of crispy, grilled flatbread sandwiches, such as the Super Mario (grilled chicken, Monterey jack cheese, bacon, grilled onions, and barbeque sauce).

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.”

Katherine’s Kitchen has recently added a specialty hot dog and burger menu. Cin City Hot Dog features a Boar’s Head all-beef hot dog topped with chili, chopped onion, and cheese. The Windy Dog is a Boar’s Head hot dog with lettuce, tomato, pickle, celery salt, and hot pepper relish. A hand-formed chuck patty topped with melted pepper jack cheese, bacon strips, crispy onion rings, and ranch dressing on a hard roll is the new Cowboy Burger. Austin Angus is also a hand-formed chuck patty, with melted cheddar, bacon, grilled onions, hot peppers, and chipotle ranch dressing, rolled tightly in a soft flour wrap. All specialty burgers and hot dogs are served with a dill pickle spear and potato chips.

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

Making it even easier for Katherine’s Kitchen customers, is the restaurant’s utilization of Vroom Delivery Services to deliver any menu items directly to customers.

Katherine’s Kitchen, 102 Church Hill Road, Sandy Hook, is open from 6 am to 4 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 203-270-8828 or faxing an order to 203-270-8829. Daily specials and the menu can be viewed at katherineskitchen.com.

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