Restaurants gather at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center
The Taste of New Hampshire is a yearly opportunity for the public to spend an evening mingling, seeing and being seen, and trying food from dozens of local restaurants. It is also one of the biggest fundraisers of the year for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central and Northern New Hampshire.
Kamini Jorgensen is the Events Manager for the organization. She said Taste of New Hampshire is a big night for the capital area restaurant community. This year the event will be held at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord. Participating restaurants will be spread throughout the museum, and attendees will be able to travel from one station to another, enjoying the Discovery Center’s exhibits and trying samples from each restaurant.
“We’ll have a bunch of local restaurants downstairs,” Jorgensen said, “along with a couple upstairs where the big bar will be, which is with New Hampshire Distributors. They are spread out throughout the whole museum. Down the hallway [on the first floor] toward their planetarium there will be about five restaurants. We’ll have a bunch in the main area and then some upstairs as well.”
John Constant will be on the first floor. He is the owner of Constantly Pizza (39 S. Main St., Concord, 224-9366, constantlypizza.net). He said that in terms of catering jobs Taste of New Hampshire is pretty low-stress.
“I would say this is a medium-sized catering job,” Constant said. “This one’s just a really special job because we’re doing it to raise money for the Boys & Girls Club, so this is more of like enjoyment than actual work, you know?”
Constant will be presenting dishes from his catering menu. “We’re going to have our homemade macaroni and cheese,” he said. “We’re going to have a ravioli pasta dish, we’re going to have our calzone platters, and we’re going to be sampling our homemade meatballs.”
Devin Flanagan, the owner of Flanagan’s South Ender Deli Market (250 South St., Concord, 856-8020, flanaganssouthender.com), will be focusing on meat.
“We started a boutique butcher shop within our store,” Flanagan said, “so we will be showcasing our marinated chicken breast, our marinated steak tips and our pork tenderloin.”
Last year was Flanagan’s first time at Taste of New Hampshire, and he was impressed with the way the event’s organizers spaced out the restaurants.
“I really thought it was a great turnout last year,” he said, “and I really like how they separated all the restaurants in different rooms, so you could actually explore the area. You know, a lot of people had never been there before, and it’s just really thoughtfully laid out.”
Kamini Jorgensen said Taste of New Hampshire is a high point of her job. “I really enjoy seeing a bunch of new faces come in,” she said.
The Taste of New Hampshire
When: Tuesday, Oct. 22, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Where: McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, 2 Institute Drive, Concord, 271-7827, starhop.com
Who’s there?
Participants at Taste of New Hampshire will include
110 Grill
70 North Kitchen
Alan’s Of Boscawen
The Barley House
Boys & Girls Clubs Of Central NH
CC Tomatoes
The Common Man
Concord Country Club
Constantly Pizza
Flag Hill Winery
Flanagan’s Southender
Granite State Candy
Hermanos Cocina Mexicana
M.S. Walker
New Hampshire Distributors
O Steaks And Seafood
Pats Peak Banquet Center
Red Arrow Diner
RNDC (previously known as Horizon Beverage)
Smokeshow Barbeque
The Brussel: Custom Catering & Events
The Wine’ing Butcher
Vinnie’s Pizza
Tandy’s Top Shelf
Featured Photo: Courtesy photo.