OLD LYME–José Plasencia, the new owner of The Hideaway Restaurant Wood-Fired Pizza, lives by two codes: family and pizza.
The 33-year-old restaurateur forged his focus in Ecuador, where he grew up watching his grandfather, father and mother toss pizza dough into circles.
It’s a tradition he and his wife, Diana, continue for their 7-year-old daughter, Sydney.
“Kids like when we float the dough around,” he said.
This week, Plasencia told his story from a table opposite the restaurant’s new pizza counters built around a wood-fired pizza oven.
The Hideaway, a Halls Road fixture since 1990, had built its reputation on an extensive menu of American fare. But Plasencia knew right away he had to put his own spin on the place. So he added Wood-Fired Pizza to the restaurant name, which now boasts a menu featuring pizza as well as more than half of the traditional Hideaway options.
One neat pile of wood can bring the temperature in the oven to 950 degrees, according to Plasencia. That’s hot enough to cook a pizza in three minutes.
They churn out as many as 280 pies on a busy weekend night.
“That’s my thing,” he said. “Pizza.”
Plasencia recalled coming to this country when he was 16-years-old because Ecuador was not safe. He said the decision to leave his homeland was as much about protecting his mother and sisters from harm as it was about building a prosperous future.
“It’s all about family,” he said. “That’s one of the codes I have.”
Plasencia got his first job working for then-Hideway owner Jim Caramante before following his passion for pizza to Mango’s Wood-Fired Pizza Company in Mystic. His brother-in-law, José Luis Marin, worked in the kitchen at The Hideaway for 16 years.
Now Plasencia is at the helm of Hideaway, while Marin owns The Stumble Inne across Halls Road.
Both men purchased the businesses from Caramante in March. Caramante ran the Hideaway, which opened in 1990, for over two decades after buying it from original owners Carl and Lois Lutender. He opened The Stumble Inne in 2022.
“What a small world,” Plasencia said. “After 13 years I’m coming back to the Hideaway, but as the owner.”
Penny Smyth, a Lyme resident and one of the earliest customers at the new Hideaway, said she heard Plasencia’s story from a coworker in the real estate business, who happened to be the daughter of the original owners.
She said it touched her heart to hear about Plasencia’s transition from teenaged cook to owner.
But it was the new pizza menu, with its fresh ingredients, that whet her appetite.
“The wood-fired pizza is really a distinguishing factor that caught my attention after many years of not going to the restaurant,” she said.
She ordered a Funky Fungi Festa pizza and a vegetarian pizza on her first visit, she said. The first delivered a base layer of mushroom puree made with garlic, mushrooms and wine topped with mozzarella cheese, spinach and blue oyster mushrooms. She upgraded the second pizza to include bacon.
“I was floored,” she said. “I was so delighted with everything about it.”
She said she began posting about the restaurant on her Facebook page right from the table.
“I think it’s a personal value of mine to try to support local businesses,” she said.
Plasencia, who said he works about 70 hours per week at the restaurant, gets help from family members including his father, his mother and Marin.
“Now, because I own the place, I’ve got to be here seven days a week,” he said. “Trying to spend time with my daughter is a little hard right now.”
But he ekes out time for Sydney while looking toward a future at the restaurant he hopes will feed his family and the Old Lyme community for decades to come.
“This is my dream,” Plasencia said. “I always want to be a success in the country. I always work hard, hard, hard, doing nothing bad. Just trying to prove myself for the people.”
Plasencia said it was important to him to retain all the staff members employed by Caramante.
“I want to make sure they have a job for their families,” he said. “The only thing we add is our family.”
Editor’s Note: The Hideaway Restaurant Wood-Fired Pizza at 19 Halls Road is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.