Phantom Gourmet: Biscuits And Company In Biddeford, Maine

BIDDEFORD, ME - In Biddeford, Maine, about an hour north of Massachusetts, you'll find a cute, quirky breakfast and lunch spot where just about anything you want to eat is served up on a biscuit. It's called, appropriately, Biscuits and Company.

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It's all thanks to Chef Kerry Kraker, Pastry Chef Cara Chase, and the woman who started it all, Stacy Cooper. Stacy opened the restaurant about two years ago, and from day one, it's been a place where everyone comes to be welcome, and well fed.

"Ingredients make a huge difference. We use 20 percent Maine-grown grains in our biscuits. We use great butter. We use really good buttermilk," Stacy said. "I think a lot of it is in the handling just how you put the biscuits together. They need a light touch, and you sort of have to feel your way through them.

"It should be a little bit crispy on the outside; it should be soft on the inside. When you open it up you just get all these fluffy layers. And when it's hot, there's just this steamy goodness that comes and you can smell the wheat and you can smell the butter.

"Everybody has a different definition of what a good biscuit is. So I've had people come in here and say, 'Well, these aren't southern biscuits. These aren't the fluffy southern biscuits. These aren't Pillsbury Pop and Fresh biscuits.' No, they're not. They're Biddeford biscuits. They're Maine biscuits."

At Biscuits and Company, you can always enjoy a biscuit on its own, or spread with some sweet jam, but that's just the beginning. These biscuits also pair perfectly with just about everything coming out of Chef Kerry's kitchen.

"It's a great vehicle for almost anything, because it's great if you want to like, sop something up, like gravy or barbecue sauce," said Chef Kerry. "It actually does just lend itself to, like, all sorts of cuisines, all sorts of flavors, and it's the thing that carries everything else."

There are classic biscuits and pepper sausage gravy; Eggs Benedict on a biscuit with thick cut ham and homemade hollandaise; and Biscuit Breakfast Sandwiches that put the fast food versions to shame.

"When you bite into that, first you get the little crunch of the biscuit; and then you go through the soft of the biscuit; and then you get to the kind of salty, smoky of the cheese; and then you get the runny yolk of the egg; and it just all comes together into this perfect breakfast bite," Stacy described.

If you need a little something extra to get you going in the morning, especially if you overindulged the night before, ask for something called Pop's Cure, named for the bar next door.

"I was really hungover one morning," Chef Kerry recalled, "so I just created this thing. It's like a biscuit smothered with sausage gravy, covered with two eggs, melted cheese and bacon. And I ate that, and I felt much better. So I was like, huh, what can we call this? Let's call it Pop's Cure, because it actually does help when you're really hungover."

If you stop by for lunch and want a little barbecue on your biscuit, try the Pulled Pork with Moxie barbecue sauce. If for some reason you don't want a biscuit at Biscuits and Company, there's a delicious bacon and onion quiche, addictive housemade granola with Greek yogurt, and a fluffy sausage, bacon, and cheese omelet.

Best of all, customers enjoy it all in a bright, friendly space filled with local art, reclaimed wood, and plenty of smiling faces.

"I want them to feel welcomed. I want them to feel at home. I want them to feel like this is not your usual restaurant," said Stacy. "And people tell us all the time that that's exactly what happens."

You can find Biscuits and Company at 25 Alfred Street in Biddeford, Maine, and online at biscuitsandcompany.com.

Watch Phantom Gourmet on Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 and 11 a.m. on myTV38.