News from the local food scene
• Get ready for Easter: Visit hippopress.com for our annual Easter listings (available for free to everybody thanks to our members and supporters), which include details on local restaurants and function centers serving special brunches or dinner menus, as well as bakers, chocolatiers and candy makers offering unique creations of their own. Easter Sunday is April 4; for the most up-to-date availability, check the websites or social media pages of restaurants, bakeries and function centers, or call them directly.
• Shop local: There’s a new indoor spot to get some local products like fresh veggies, breads, baked goods, honeys, gifts and other non-perishables and handcrafted items. The Weare Real Food Market opened March 15 and is now open seven days a week, at 65 N. Stark Hwy. in Weare, owner Marek Rivero confirmed. The market’s mission, Rivero said, is to present a venue where local farmers, crafters and artisans can come together to provide products directly to the Weare community. The market is open Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Visit wearerfm.com or follow them on social media.
• Temporary takeout change: Great New Hampshire Restaurants, the local group that encompasses all T-Bones, CJ’s Great West Grill and Copper Door restaurants in the state, announced last week it has temporarily suspended takeout services on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, from 5 to 8 p.m., across all of its locations, including online ordering and phone-in orders during those times. “Takeout has become so busy during these up-times that it is impeding our ability to serve in-house guests at the level we demand of ourselves,” reads a March 26 company statement released on its newsletter and social media channels. Takeout will still be available outside of those hours as Great New Hampshire Restaurants continues to prioritize the increasing return of indoor and outdoor dining.
• Ribfest update: For the second year in a row, the Great American Ribfest & Food Truck Festival will not be taking place during its normal Father’s Day weekend timeframe, nor will it be happening at Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Merrimack, according to a statement recently issued on the event’s website and Facebook pages. Organizers hope to have the festival at a new location sometime later this year, but according to the statement, “negotiations are taking longer than expected.” The three-day event, which typically features local and regional barbecue vendors and food trucks, as well as live music, a beer station and a variety of family-friendly activities, was postponed multiple times in 2020 before it was ultimately canceled. Updates on the status of a 2021 festival will be made as they become available at greatamericanribfest.com.