Supreme Kitchen
has been a staple of Somerville since April 2001. Before that,
Sapochetti tells us he was the owner of a small grocery store near City
Hall called Portabella's, but decided to close it some years ago and
"do something different." With the current national and state-wide
recession going on, Mr. Sapochetti admits this financial crisis is
hurting his business, "It's definitely hurt…other than McDonald's, I
don't know many restaurants that have done well through the recession."
However to help his restaurant and hurting Somervillians too,
Sapochetti has added so-called recession specials; for $4.50 one can
order, for example, two eggs, home fries, bacon, toast and coffee. When
asked if these new additions sell well, Sapochetti is pleased to say
they do. "You can have two people come in for $10 and get two big
breakfasts," he says. The recession specials are currently only
available weekdays, Monday through Friday.

Supreme Kitchen
prides itself on its Eggs Benedict, Sapochetti says, telling us, "Not a
lot of places do Eggs Benedict." They have a Mexican and a Southwestern
Eggs Benedict, which come with chili and salsa, and reportedly sell
very well. Customers who want to eat healthier, Sapochetti, says
"…could do an egg white omelet," but admits his restaurant is not
geared toward the health-conscious crowd, saying "Bacon's bacon." While
there is a menu written up, Sapochetti is flexible with custom orders,
saying, "Whatever we have, you can have." Supreme Kitchen is mainly a
breakfast joint but the diner also does "a pretty good lunch,"
Sapochetti adds, with chicken, soups, salads and hamburgers. Somerville
Hospital is directly opposite of Supreme Kitchen and on the weekends,
customers can park in the hospital's lot for free. During the week,
there are few 30-minute parking spaces right outside the restaurant,
but most of the clientèle, Sapochetti tells us, are Somerville natives
and repeat customers who can simply walk to his restaurant.
Sapochetti's diner atmosphere is welcoming and low-key; he knows most
of his customers orders before they come inside the door. "You know
their names, you become friends with them."

Hanging from the
diner walls, in two spots, are abstract paintings from a local artist
and fellow restaurateur, Lola Riveras, who runs Café Lola, also on
Highland Ave. Sapochetti continually hangs up new paintings,
photographs or artwork to give his place a new and different feel. "I
had a whole wall up here of U2 stuff, because that's my favorite band,"
he comments.

Supreme Kitchen recently reopened its doors last
November after a being closed for four months in 2008 due to a traffic
accident; a van accidentally backed into the restaurant but as
Sapochetti tells us, no one was hurt; however it took a while to be
able to start everything up again. The diner is located on 233 Highland
Avenue, is open every day from 7 am – 3 pm, and accepts cash only.