Phantom Gourmet: Southern Kin Cookhouse

SOMERVILLE (CBS) -- How can you describe Southern cooking?

"It's big food, big flavors, very bold," says Bill Brodsky, Executive Chef at Somerville's Southern Kin Cookhouse.

Located at Assembly Row in Somerville, Southern Kin is bringing Southern style, Southern hospitality, and most importantly, some seriously good Southern eats to New England.

"Southern Kin Cookhouse is the ultimate southern restaurant," Brodsky says. "There's a lot of loud music playing, there's a lot of people here having a good time, there's an open kitchen so there's a lot of buzz and a lot of energy in the room."

The food coming out of that open kitchen is courtesy of Brodsky, who's created a menu that draws on his time cooking in the South and pays homage to the kinds of dishes that bring people together.

"What's great about Southern cuisine is that it's all about sharing," he says. "It's all about conversation. All the dishes come to the table and there's oohs and ahhs and everyone gets to try everyone else's food. Sometimes when you're dining at a fancy French restaurant, there's not lot of sharing going on. Here it's encouraged, and in fact, it's a necessity."

That's because most of what's served here is big--from the bucket of crispy fried chicken and slow smoked ribs to the pitchers of housemade lemonade and iced tea, served with fruit-infused ice cubes.

"We have these huge mason jars with little spigots on the bottom," he says. "When it comes over to the table, everyone helps themselves, passes them around, it gets a conversation going."

And with a fun Southern vibe in the air, classic Southern cocktails served up at the bar, and plenty of good Southern food on the plate, Chef Bill is thrilled to cook for his Southern Kin.

"Making people happy, and seeing their reaction when they eat something that they really love, that really does it for me," he says.

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