The Hidden Kitchen
535 Albany Street, Boston, MA
Open Monday - Friday 6 A.M. - 2:30 P.M.
617-426-1544
This little slice of a diner will never become a "destination" stop for breakfast or lunch for the rest of us but for the workforce in and around 535 Albany Street, it's friendly confines are a kitchen away from home. I've been in walk in closets that are larger, but none of them serve home made chicken soup loaded with noodles, chunks of white meat, celery, carrots and a spice that I can't identify but has been permanently imprinted on my taste buds.
If a film crew ventured to Boston in search of a hole-in-the-wall eatery with ethnic overtones and an authentic neighborhood feeling, they'd stop in their tracks when they entered The Hidden Kitchen. The enterprise’s first owner was Lebanese; for the past 14 years it's been a Greek husband and wife operation five days a week for Maria and Nick Koufos. Maria does the talking, Nick makes those home made soups and slings the hash. Maria greets customers by name and even Nick, barely visible behind a cabinet of rolls and pastries, chimes in on the friendly bantering.
To call the place unpretentious would be an overstatement. Every square foot of the place is has a function. Three tiny tables and rickety stools and a tall case for cold beverages take up the front half and the order counter, cooking surfaces, and supply shelves fastened to the olive drab-colored walls in a sort of homey disorder take up the rest. A menu listing about 40 items including breakfasts, salads, hot and cold sandwiches, and side dishes takes up the only wall not occupied by storage shelves.
With the exception of the hearty soups, the food is what it is - good old American diner food. If you ever do find this place, I'd recommend the soup of the day (see below) or one or the daily specials. With prices like $1.65 for a fried egg sandwich to $8.50 for a daily special, you don't need a trip to an ATM to finance your meal. Today's special was Steak tips, rice, and salad for $8.50. I heard that their Friday fish and chips is a big hit. Anyone care to join me some Friday?
This little kitchen is in a nook of a small lobby of a relic of Boston architecture on the corner of Albany and Wareham Streets. Situated on the eastern frontier of the South End, it was built in 1888 as a cold storage building that now houses the usual beehive of creative businesses in the arty district: graphic designers, architects, printing presses, interior designers, upholster shops, multimedia creators and last but not least, the nationally recognized Fiandaca Fashion Studio. If I hadn't been looking for an exhibit at the AA/B Gallery (www.artadvisoryboston.com) on the third floor of the building, I would have never discovered it.
The Hidden Kitchen is an elegy to the kinds of places our grand parents knew well, a kind of eatery that filled a customer's basic needs for comfort and connection: like having a meal in a neighbor's kitchen.
Scores of modern franchises feature reliably fine food and chic interiors that are welcoming and may even have "personality". When it comes to "character", though, The Hidden Kitchen serves it up five days a week.
Soups on…
Monday: Chicken noodle
Tuesday: Minestrone
Wednesday: Corn chowder
Thursday: Beef orzo
Friday: Clam chowder
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