Chef Mike Renslow, third from left, and his wife Meghan Renslow, second from left, mark the opening of their new downtown Traer breakfast restaurant, The Hidden Kitchen, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, May 29, 2026. Also pictured from left: Traer Chamber of Commerce member Madison Snider, President April Johnson, member Terrill Karr, member Dr. Shellina Herink, and Vice President Nate Drummer. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

TRAER – A new, family-run breakfast spot has bloomed in downtown Traer.

The restaurant The Hidden Kitchen, owned by Traer residents Mike and Meghan Renslow, officially opened its doors to the public on Tuesday, May 26. Tucked inside the east room of the floral shop Simply Blooming which is owned and operated by Lisa Eikamp, the new eatery, located at 520 Second Street, is wholly a family affair.

“We sat down as a family for like five hours and created the menu,” Meghan told the newspaper on Friday, May 29, following a ribbon cutting held earlier that morning by the Traer Chamber of Commerce. “We’re a very close family. Our girls are our whole world.”

While the restaurant is called The Hidden Kitchen due to its location inside Eikamp’s shop, the name was created using the first letters of the Renslow daughters’ names, Hannah and Kayley (HK). The menu – which features breakfast all day plus a few additional lunch specials – is chock full of similar Renslow family “Easter eggs” from Grandpa’s Favorite (two eggs, choice of meat, hashbrowns, and toast) to Kayley’s Monte Cristo (ham, turkey, Swiss cheese, scrambled eggs, raspberry Dijon sauce between French toast) to Chad’s Sandwich (turkey, tomato, green apple, cranberry mayo, and provolone cheese on sourdough bread) and more.

But despite so much family support – both Meghan and Mike’s mothers are assisting for now as the restaurant’s only staff – the decision to open a restaurant was not made lightly.

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

“I did everything I could to figure out how to say no [to Eikamp] – but I couldn’t say no. [Mike] is so happy. That’s priceless to see. He’s finally excited to get out of bed. It’s just amazing.”

Today, Mike works as The Hidden Kitchen’s full-time chef after recently quitting his longtime career as a certified pipelayer, while Meghan continues to work full-time down the street as the store manager for Traer’s independent grocery store, Hometown Foods.

“Mike’s career in construction has provided for our family, but his longtime dream has always been to buy a food truck and travel the country,” Meghan explained in a social media post made ahead of the restaurant’s opening. “He has spent years gathering supplies, ideas, suggestions, inspirations – you get it – working towards this dream. We host our families and friends frequently, where he amazes everyone with his delicious creations. We agreed to wait until our girls were both out of college before we took any chances and bought a food truck. That has been the plan for the better part of two decades.”

Eventually, the Renslows would like to make their food truck dreams come true, but for now, they’re loving every minute of operating The Hidden Kitchen.

“I’m tired of making other people money,” Mike said with a laugh while preparing breakfast last Friday, his mom behind the cash register and nearly a dozen folks gathered inside the restaurant space.

Menu for The Hidden Kitchen.

As it stands today, The Hidden Kitchen does not have table service – although they are licensed to do so, Meghan said. Due to staffing, the menu is served takeout-style, but patrons are welcome to eat at one of the restaurant’s tables. The space can currently accommodate up to a dozen people on a first-come, first-served basis. Eventually, the entire east side of Simply Blooming will transition into a sit-down restaurant. Meghan also has plans to add outdoor seating later this summer.

When asked if she had any concerns about opening a restaurant on the same street as her employer, who operates a full-service deli, Meghan said that by focusing on breakfast, The Hidden Kitchen is unique to downtown Traer.

“I approached my boss [Jill and Doug Eilderts] and he thought it would be awesome for the community,” Meghan explained. “I’m going to get a good chunk, if not all, of my food from [Hometown Foods]. We have some lunch options, but they’re very minimal and made with (ingredients) from our breakfast menu.”

By shopping local for ingredients, the Renslows are hoping to keep menu prices reasonable. Indeed, most of the items on the menu are $10 and under and feature “decent portions.”

“We don’t want to charge an arm and a leg,” Meghan said. “As low as we can keep it and as big as the portions (can be) – that’s what Mike wants. We know how expensive everything is.”

The Hidden Kitchen chef and co-owner Mike Renslow pictured on Friday, May 29, inside his new restaurant’s kitchen in downtown Traer. Owning and operating a food establishment has long been a dream of Renslow’s, who recently quit his career as a certified pipelayer to do so. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

In the future, the Renslows plan to not only expand from takeout to sit-down, but also hire staff.

“If we didn’t have our moms, I don’t know what we would do. But they’re already tired.”

The Hidden Kitchen — serving everything from biscuits and gravy to grilled cheese with bacon and, in Meghan’s words, “real black coffee, regular and decaf” — is currently open Tuesday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, including the menu, follow the business’s Facebook page. To place an order for takeout, call 319-939-7136.