Perry’s Plate, a brand new restaurant in the Andover Village Square, lies where the former Lantern Brunch used to stand. The restaurant aims to recreate traditional American brunch items, such as eggs benedict and buttermilk pancakes, with an emphasis on freshness and homemade styles, according to Matt Perry, the owner of Perry’s Plate and lifelong Andover resident.
Inspired by his father, an alumnus of Phillips Academy, and owner of his family’s restaurant Hudon’s in Hampton, N.H., Perry and his wife, Elizabeth, decided to open up a small breakfast and lunch place of their own.
“After working 15 years for several banks in the community, our love for food, our love for the restaurant business, and our prior experience in the restaurant business prompted us to open up Perry’s Plate. It’s a place that I think people feel comfortable in. It’s a fun, friendly atmosphere where myself and my wife are always there, and we’ll often interact with the customers, even when I’m cooking. So the openness and the feel there… it’s a place where you can come and talk and really enjoy good food,” said Perry.
Freshness is key at Perry’s Plate. Everything on the menu, whether it’s buttermilk pancakes, fluffy omelettes, homemade soups, or lobster-topped steak and cheese sandwiches, is made fresh with local ingredients delivered daily.
“We went around brunch and lunch, and the good thing about it is that they serve lunch from 11:00, but they serve breakfast all-day long. So my mom ordered like an egg sandwich, and then I ordered Greek salad, and we split it half and half. It was really fresh. It’s owned by a couple, and they cook right in front of you. It’s really fresh, and all the food was so good,” said Zenia Bhathena ’19.
With Perry so deeply rooted in the Andover community and so interactive with his customers, the friendly atmosphere of the restaurant is one of the first things the local people notice when they stop by to eat.
“[What makes the restaurant unique is that] it’s owned by the couple, and that they cook it, and [Matt Perry] went to Merrimack College, so the waitresses are from Merrimack College, too, and they know the family so it’s like a family business… It’s very local and homey,” continued Bhathena.
The many contemporary additions and renovations such as an increased seating capacity, flat screen televisions, internet service, new floors and tabletops, and greater kitchen space, have created a cleaner, fresher look in Perry’s Plate. In spite of this remodeling, the restaurant has not lost the friendly, community-based atmosphere that characterized the Lantern Brunch.
“One thing we’ve already noticed in the first three weeks [that we’ve been open] is that we’ve had customers come in, and they’ll meet other people that they haven’t seen in three days, three months, or 30 years in some cases, so that really is something that’s kind of fun that we want to continue on that the Lantern Brunch did an exceptional job of, that sense of community,” said Perry.
Perry’s Plate is open from 6:15 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. every day.
