Just Like Mom Used to Make

Two sisters' story of homecooking in the North Country

Story and photos by Jen Dunkerley

You know the feeling you get when you know you're at home? That warm, cozy feeling when you're totally comfortable and the smell of something good that just came out of the oven wraps itself around you? That's the feeling you get when you walk into Kaya's Country Kitchen in Plattsburgh, NY. It's a place where you can be at home.

When I walked into Kaya's for the first time, I expected it to be like any other diner. I was wrong. As soon as I walked in the door, I was greeted with smiles. Surrounded by a clean, comfortable setting, and the sounds of country music in the background, I knew this wasn't going to be just some old diner.

Breakfast special at Kaya's. All homemade.

As I sat down, taking advantage of the all-day breakfast special with my roommate, I noticed friends and family alike just enjoying their time together. Indulging in my two eggs, sausage with home fries, freshly baked bread and cranberry juice, I thought to myself, "This is the kind of place people love to come to enjoy the food and the company." It's a place where you can go to be at ease.

Kaya's is run by two sisters, which is where it gets its appropriate name from. "Kaya" is the Greek word for big sister. It was opened by Norma Hill, 41, and her big sister Lucy McCarthy, 50 this past month. They decided to run the diner together in order to join their love of cooking and baking for the North Country to enjoy.

Fresh donuts and carrot cake made that morning by Norma Hill.

Lucy is the former owner of Patriots Restauraunt on Weed Street. She is the one who is in charge of the cooking. Younger sister Norma works nights at the Plattsburgh Post Office, but comes in everyday to the diner and does the baking. Everything is homemade and fresh at Kaya's, something you can tell when you try it, from the specially made home fries with just the right spice to the free samples of donuts made fresh every morning. Both the cooking and the baking are something to try, which is what makes these sisters such a winning team. "We decided to get together after my restaurant burned down. I didn't want to stop there. I wanted to keep on cooking and asked Norma to join me," Lucy says.

With a menu only to satisfy, the diner is a commonplace for many of the locals around the Plattsburgh area. It's a place where college students around Plattsburgh can go to in order to get that well-deserved sense of home. It did for me, anyway. "We want our customers to feel like family. When someone goes to your house for a meal you want them to feel absolutely at home. That's what we try to do here," Norma says.

And that's exactly what they do at Kaya's. They make you feel at home. With very reasonable prices and a polite and welcoming vibe, this place is worth stopping by. I don't think I've been to a diner in the North Country that's made me feel as welcome as Kaya's. It's a place that I've enjoyed going to and will continue to visit, and I know other people will enjoy as well. It's a place I can truly recommend.

Have you tried Kaya's all day breakfast?