Grammie’s offers up favorite carbs for breakfast
Good morning, Westport. You can now order doughnuts, cronuts and egg sandwiches for delivery or easy pickup, thanks to the new Grammie’s Donuts & Biscuits.
The Post Road breakfast spot, a “ghost kitchen” offering only takeout and delivery options without seating, is in its third week of business. Charlie Gilhuly, a former restaurant manager for several well-known Fairfield County venues, launched the new operation in mid-February.
Before Gilhuly opened Grammie’s, he served as general manager at The Cottage and director of operations for OKO, both in Westport.
He left his position at OKO in May, looking for a new professional move, he said.
While he was still at OKO, he was inspired by the online ordering and curbside pickup operation the restaurant quickly put together during COVID. He dreamed up his own business plan for the ghost kitchen, offering classic and creative doughnuts, buttermilk biscuits, and egg and cheese sandwiches.
“I couldn’t talk myself out of doing it,” he
said. He had a “big breakthrough” with finding Grammie’s eventual space on Post Road, which is next door to the hub kitchen for his wife Molly Healey’s business, Manna Toast.
“I found that space in Westport, and with my background being in Westport, I thought that was a good way to go,” he said. “It’s just worked out really well.”
Grammie’s is a veritable emporium for breakfast carbs. Doughnuts are of both cake and yeast varieties, with classics (glazed, Boston cream, chocolate frosted and oldfashioned, jelly-filled) and creative flavors, including birthday cake, lemon meringue, coconut cream, and strawberry topped with frosting, jelly and streusel. Cronuts, a flaky hybrid doughnut/croissant, are available in classic vanilla and more exotic caramel and passion fruit options.
“Doughnuts are hot right now. In the pandemic environment, comfort food became super, super successful,” Gilhuly said.
Southern-style buttermilk biscuits and pure butter croissants stand on their own, or as bases for the egg sandwiches, with cheese, hash browns and choice of meat (bacon, sausage or house-made chorizo). The most indulgent sandwiches, though, are built on cronuts, mixing sweet and savory.
Biscuits and croissants are $3 apiece; $12-$14 for a halfdozen and $22-$25 for a dozen. Doughnuts and cronuts are $3 and $4 apiece; half-dozen and dozen quantity prices vary. Sandwiches are $5 and $6.
Gilhuly credits his chef, Ruben Palma, with helping him elevate his original vision. Palma, the pastry chef at the former Gabriele’s Steakhouse and former head chef at Versailles, both in Greenwich, brought the croissants and cronuts to the table, Gilhuly said.
“That was something that took my vision of biscuit sandwiches and doughnuts to a totally different level,” he said. “It doubled the offerings...it brought a lot of versatility and flash to it.”
With Palma’s experience and talents, Gilhuly is hoping to launch other concepts out of his Post Road space, including savory lunch and dinner options. He has ideas for a Mexican menu, with tacos and tamales, and a potential Asian menu, centered around dumplings.
The ghost kitchen setup has worked out well for him, he said, as customers have grown accustomed to delivery and pickup during the pandemic. Local delivery is available with a minimum $20 order, and patrons can order up to two weeks in advance. Delivery is also available through GrubHub.
Grammie’s Donuts & Biscuits, at 971 Post Road East in Westport, is open Wednesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. 203-557-8789, grammiesgfc.com.