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Phantom Gourmet: The Plate In Milton

MILTON - For Suzanne Lombardi, breakfast is definitely the most important meal of the day. Her English muffins are always made fresh. Her Hollandaise is spot on, and she might make the best breakfast sandwich you'll ever taste. She does it all at The Plate.

It all started in a tiny location on Central Ave. in Milton, which was so popular, she had to add another restaurant, just a short distance away, above a busy market.

"The Plate is on the second floor of the Fruit Center Marketplace in Milton," she said. "Hopefully, when people come into the market, they hear the bustling upstairs and want to come up and see what it's all about."

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There's no place like The Plate during their weekend brunch, when they offer a Benedict that can't be beat.

The Plate, Phantom Gourmet
Eggs Benedict at The Plate (Image: Phantom Gourmet)

"It's on our house-made English muffin. We actually poach our eggs to order, with care. There's a right way to do them, and we do that," Suzanne assured us. "We do a lighter version of a hollandaise, and it's more of a lemony flavor, so it's sort of light and citrusy. I love the sautéed spinach with garlic that's on that Benedict, as well."

And they definitely aren't stingy with the ham.

"If you order our eggs Benedict with ham, you get a really thick-cut. It's a lot of ham."

Brunch also includes great flatbreads topped with goat cheese and Scottish smoked salmon, a Roasted Root Vegetable Hash with two sunny side up eggs, and Blueberry Griddle Cakes which are always served piping hot. But the best brunch item may be the simplest: The Plate's Popovers served with plenty of butter and jam.

The Plate, Phantom Gourmet
Popovers at The Plate (Image: Phantom Gourmet)

"The popovers are amazing," Suzanne said. "We do them every half hour, so they come out nice and hot and fresh. It's steamy and just the perfect base for melted butter and jam."

For a solid breakfast any day of the week, try The Plate's Breakfast Sandwich, an eye opener that customers come from miles around to try. This sandwich will wake up your taste buds with an organic fried egg, garlic aioli, roasted cherry tomatoes, and arugula, all on a housemade English muffin.

The Plate, Phantom Gourmet
Breakfast Sandwich at The Plate (Image: Phantom Gourmet)

"The classic egg sandwich is a little bit sweet from the tomato, a little bit peppery from the arugula," described Suzanne. "We always do the egg over easy so you get a nice runny yolk, because to me, there's no other way to enjoy a good egg, and the toasty warmth of the bun."

If lunch is more your thing, The Plate is always full of creative sandwiches like the Prosciutto Americano, topped with a peppery broccoli rabe pesto; a flavorful falafel burger with pickled onions and a yogurt dressing; and the satisfying Turkey Gouda served with sweet onion tomato jam. Then there's the so-called Jimmy Style Sandwich.

"So the Jimmy sandwich is the invention of one of our great, regular, funny customers, Jimmy."

The local legend decided to alter one of the blackboard favorites by adding chicken to a prosciutto, mozzarella and fig sandwich, and the rest is culinary history.

The Plate, Phantom Gourmet
Jimmy Style Sandwich at The Plate (Image: Phantom Gourmet)

Beyond sandwiches, there are comforting soups made from scratch like a beautiful tomato fennel.

"The tomato soup is a little bit tangy, a little bit sweet, and then it has that earthy base of a really slow-roasted fennel," Suzanne explained. "Really balanced and seasoned well, but still, a very simple tomato soup."

There are also daily offerings from the mezze bar.

"There's always an interesting grain. There's always an interesting vegetable, and it's kind of a more of a salad way of eating, versus all of the yummy sandwiches that we have on our menu. It's just a nice fresh, seasonal, healthy way to eat."

If you want something truly heavenly to eat, there's nothing like The Plate's Coconut Cake.

The Plate, Phantom Gourmet
Coconut Cake at The Plate (Image: Phantom Gourmet)

"The coconut cake is amazing on multiple levels," Suzanne said. "Coconut milk, three layers, a really beautiful coconut cream cheese frosting, showered with unsweetened coconut all over it. One bite, and it really is a slice of heaven."

While running two restaurants is certainly taxing, Suzanne was born to serve you something special on The Plate.

"The restaurant business gets under your skin. I started working in restaurants as a college student, and I've never left. I love everything about food. I'm basically obsessed, and love cooking for people, making them happy. It never gets tiring."

You can find The Plate at 10 Bassett Street in Milton, and online at theplatekitchen.com.

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

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