Year: 2024

Hooked on flavor

Hampton Beach Seafood Festival celebrates 35 years

Lobster rolls, clam chowders, crab cakes, fish tacos and so much more — you name it, and you’ll likely find it at the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival. The end-of-summer Seacoast tradition is back for a milestone 35th year, returning to the shores of Ocean Boulevard on Hampton Beach for three days from Friday, Sept. 6, through Sunday, Sept. 8.

“We will see approximately 80,000 people come through over the course of the weekend, but that can be [as high as] 100,000 if the weather is beautiful,” said Colleen Westcott, Director of Events and Marketing for the Hampton Area Chamber of Commerce and Chair of the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival Committee. “We have people that are coming year after year and bringing their friends, and so we’ve been seeing the numbers just keep increasing.”

Westcott said the festival was started in 1989 by a group of business owners on the beach who were looking to extend the summer season. It was originally in the town’s 50-acre state park before moving to Ocean Boulevard, and has continued to grow in scale and popularity ever since. Today, the entire stretch of road is closed to traffic during all three days, transforming into a pedestrian mall for festival-goers to roam freely and peruse the event’s many offerings, from the food and beer tents to the dozens of crafters and local live entertainment acts on two stages.

Attendees can expect many favorites including The Old Salt Restaurant in Hampton to Brown’s Lobster Pound in Seabrook and Rye Harbor Lobster Pound. Each will typically offer a smorgasbord of options ranging from menu staples to items created with the festival’s seafood theme in mind, like the 10-inch crab rangoon-inspired pizza from Deadproof Pizza Co. and the lobster empanadas from The Purple Urchin in Hampton.

For those who aren’t seafood lovers, there are plenty of alternative options to enjoy at the festival. Ronaldo’s Ristorante of North Hampton, for instance, will have meatball subs, fried ravioli and truffle Parmesan fries, while you’ll also be able to enjoy teriyaki steak skewers from Charlie’s Tap House and pulled pork sliders with homemade sweet coleslaw from The Big Bad Food Truck. Westcott added that the desserts and sweet treats are by no means an afterthought — those options will include apple crisp ice cream sundaes from Miss Bailey’s All American Kitchen, chocolate chip and Oreo fudge cannolis from Boston Cannoli Co. and doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, chocolate chip cookies and whoopie pies from the Bearded Baking Co.

On Friday evening on the Seashell Stage, a panel of judges will select a series of “Best Of” awardees among the food vendors. New this year, there will also be a people’s choice option for festival attendees.

“Each vendor will have a QR code and people will be able to vote on their phone for who their favorite food vendor is,” Westcott said.

The crew from Wicked Bites, a television show on NESN focusing on unique food destinations across New England, will host live cooking demonstrations in the culinary tent on Saturday and Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday’s festivities will also include two cornhole tournaments on the beach from noon to 4 p.m., as well as a fireworks display at 8:30 p.m. Panorama, a Cars tribute band, will perform on the Seashell Stage leading up to the fireworks.

The festival picks right back up early Sunday morning with a 5K road race along Ocean Boulevard organized by Millennium Running. New this year will be a military and first responder parade at 1 p.m., followed by a festival favorite on the Seashell Stage at 2 p.m. — the lobster roll eating contest. Westcott said the festival committee partners with McGuirk’s Ocean View Restaurant & Lounge to supply trays upon trays of lobster rolls for the contestants.

“People eat as many lobster rolls as they can in 10 minutes,” she said. “We have some contestants who [have] returned for the last couple of years and have gotten to know the Seacoast community, so they bring in their cheering squads. It’s a lot of fun to watch them try to beat the person next to them and win the trophy for this year.”

Courtesy of First Student, free shuttle services are available from a variety of parking locations within the festival’s vicinity, including the municipal parking lot on High Street, the old Town Hall parking lot on Winnacunnet Road, the Centre School on Winnacunnet Road, the Marston School on Marston Way and — new this year — The Brook casino on New Zealand Road in Seabrook.

“We’re excited about teaming up with the Brook casino this year because it’s a really nice way for folks to expand their fun in one day,” Westcott said, “whether they come up to the Seafood Fest, enjoy it and then go back to the Brook for some fun and games, or the other way around.”

A portion of event proceeds will be donated to area nonprofits that are providing volunteers to run the gates. Westcott added that the Ted Williams Foundation will be holding a 50/50 raffle for the weekend that will benefit the New Hampshire State Police Benevolent Association.

35th annual Hampton Beach Seafood Festival
When: Friday, Sept. 6, noon to 9 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 7, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday, Sept. 8, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Where: Ocean Boulevard, Hampton Beach
Cost: $10 per person per day, or $30 per person for the entire weekend (free admission for children under 12 years old). Tickets are available online or on the day of the event. Foods are priced per item.
Visit: seafoodfestivalnh.com
Pets are not allowed into the festival. Free parking and shuttle services are available from several in-town satellite parking lots; go to seafoodfestivalnh.com/plan-your-visit for the full list.

Participating food and drink vendors

  • Bearded Baking Co.
  • The Big Bad Food Truck
  • Boston Cannoli Co.
  • The Boston Chowda Co.
  • Brown’s Lobster Pound
  • Charlie’s Tap House
  • Clyde’s Cupcakes
  • Deadproof Pizza Co.
  • Extreme Concessions
  • Flamingos Coffee Bar
  • JR’s Seafood
  • La Spiaggia
  • Let the Dough Roll
  • Lupe’s 55 Cantina
  • Miss Bailey’s All American Kitchen
  • The Old Salt Restaurant
  • The Purple Urchin Restaurant
  • Ray’s Seafood
  • Rockingham Rolling Kitchen
  • Ronaldo’s Ristorante
  • Rudy’s Bubble Tea
  • Rye Harbor Lobster Pound
  • Seashore Seafood
  • Sweet Bottom Boys
  • Swell Oyster Co.
  • Troop 177
  • Wing-itz of Hampton

Comfort in a crust

The Pot Pie Bar takes being flaky very seriously

Like many recent food businesses, The Pot Pie Bar (132 Bedford Center Road, Bedford, 432-1927, thepotpiebar.com) got its start during the Covid-19 lockdown. Caroline Arend, owner of the Pot Pie Bar as well as Caroline’s Fine Food (132 Bedford Center Road, Bedford, 637-1615, carolinesfood.com), a well-established catering company, explained, “I found that some very loyal patrons of Caroline’s wanted to help us because we were basically shut down because we couldn’t cater. So they started purchasing meals for first responders. We found ourselves making a lot of pot pies and in fact it became just insanity. We kind of made a joke out of it and said, ‘Oh, I bet we can make anything into a pot pie.’ And we started just developing recipes. That was the birth of it, I guess. And then we opened up the pot pie bar.”

The original thought was to take orders online and ship frozen pies throughout the Northeast, but that turned out to be impractical. “Our shipping carriers were not reliable,” Arend said, “and the cost of shipping was prohibitive. I had no control over those costs because we’re a small company. So we switched gears and we sell all of our pies frozen out of our storefront.” Now customers place orders, either online or over the phone, and pick up their pies in person.

Although pot pies are a classic comfort food, Arend said a lot of work is involved to make them to her standard.

“Everything in the pies is made from scratch,” she said. “For example, for our braised short ribs [pot pie], we take the ribs, we put them in a rondeau [a short, wide pan similar to a Dutch oven], we sear them, we take them out, then we put the mirepoix [a mixture of chopped onion, celery and carrots] in, we deglaze with red wine, bring that down, and then put the bones back in, and braise it in the oven for three hours. Then we pull the meat off the bones, we reduce the braising liquid, and we mix it in with the filling. The only thing we don’t make from scratch is the puff pastry. And each pie has a different little puff pastry logo on it. So, for example, the chicken pie has a cutout of a chicken. The beef stroganoff has a cutout of a cow. The veggie [pie] is a carrot. So they’re all different.”

Arend is a classically trained chef, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), and a veteran of fine dining restaurants in the Boston area. She eventually branched off into high-end catering.

“And then I moved to New Hampshire,” she said. “I didn’t do it for a while and then I missed it.”

As of now, The Pot Pie Bar offers 14 different pies, from classic chicken or vegetable pot pies to more innovative choices such as a bratwurst, beer and cheddar pie, or a lobster pie made with whole lobster claws.

“We did a beef Wellington for the holidays,” Arend said. “It was delicious. It’s a duxelle [a French paste made from mushrooms, herbs and onions] in a thick layer on top of the beef. You have the puff pastry, then you have the duxelles, and you have the grainy mustard and the beef.” Arend said she and her team kept the beef from overcooking by just searing it before putting it in the pie. “And since it’s tenderloin, it’s not going to get too tough. It’s a center cut, muscle that’s not really exercised. It’s not like a shoulder.”

The Pot Pie Bar’s customer base has been surprising to Arend.

“I thought it was going to be primarily men because it’s like comfort food,” she said. “But it’s an older crowd. A bunch of people take them to dinner parties, which I didn’t even think of, but it makes sense. And one woman came in last week and she ordered four of them, [so she could have] people over for dinner at four different times.”

Arend has just purchased an existing restaurant in Goffstown and is hoping to move into it soon. “We’re currently looking into building out a USDA kitchen so that we can wholesale the pies,” she said.

The Pot Pie Bar
Orders for pot pies can be placed online at thepotpiebar.com or at 432-1927. Walk-in customers are welcome, but are advised to call ahead to find out what pies are in stock, as they sell out daily.

The Weekly Dish 24/09/05

News from the local food scene

• Sue’s is open: Sue’s Kimbap House (Bank of NH Stage, 16 S. Main St., Concord, 731-9085, Sueskimbaphouse.com) is officially open. Owner and chef Susan Chung will be Capitol Center for the Arts’ Culinary Artist in Residence for the next year. The new Korean street food-inspired restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. The Kimbap House website will be up soon.

• Chocolate factory tour: Van Otis Chocolates (341 Elm St., Manchester, 627-1611, vanotis.com) will host a tour of its chocolate factory Thursday, Sept. 5, from 11 a.m. to noon. Tours are approximately 45 minutes long and are recommended for ages 6+. All children must be accompanied by an adult. Tickets are $15 through eventbrite.com.

• Herbal tea class: Herbalist Maria Noël Groves will lead a class called “Make Your Own Herbal Teas for Flavor, Immunity and Digestion” at Bedrock Gardens (19 High Road, Lee, 659-2993, bedrockgardens.org) on Friday, Sept. 6, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 for members, $35 for non-members. The cass includes a day pass to Bedrock Gardens that day. Visit eventbrite.com.

• Dinner in a barn: Sanborn Mills Farm (7097 Sanborn Road, Loudon, 435-7314, sanbornmills.org) will host a Farm to Table Dinner on Saturday, Sept. 7, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. The evening will include a cocktail hour on the terrace followed by dinner and dessert in Sanborn Barn. Email [email protected].

Treasure Hunt 24/09/05

Hello, Donna.

We acquired this little gem contained in a box lot at a local auction. It’s quite small and the glass is very thin. It’s a miracle that it has survived since the 1770s-1780s as the auction tag indicates. It also states that it is quite rare. Do you have any clue as to its value?Paul

Dear Paul,

Your bottle does look like a legitimate 18c medicine bottle.

This type of bottle is usually from Europe and then used here in the U.S. The bottle does look oxidized. That is the white fogging color you can see in the photo. It could have been dug up from the ground at one point. Bottle collectors consider this a sick bottle.

The value on it would be in the $100 range to a collector. I’m just not sure being an oxidized bottle it would bring that. There are things out on the market that you can get to help clean some of that. It’s rare to get it all out but depends on what you want for a look from the bottle.

Kiddie Pool 24/09/05

Family fun for whenever

Indoor and outdoor fun

• NH KidsFest 2024 is hosted by the Daniel Webster Council at Bass Pro Shops ( 2 Commerce Drive, Hooksett) on Saturday, Sept. 7, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It’s a day of free family fun that includes touch-a-truck, live magic shows, puppet performances, wild animals, hands-on activities and giveaways, according to the event website. Visit their Facebook page or call 541-5200.

• Check out Beaver Brook Association’s (117 Ridge Road, Hollis) School’s Out: Forest Fun Days, the first of which is on Tuesday, Sept. 10. These one-day “camps” are child-led, inquiry-driven, and full of outdoor fun. Kids will explore streams, search off-trail for animal tracks, and play in the nature play area. This is a drop-off program for students in grades K-4, so kids will need to bring a backpack with an extra change of clothes, a snack, and a full water bottle, according to the website. No School Days will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. with a lunch provided of either pizza or hot dogs and Early Release Days will run from 1 to 4 p.m. and a snack will be provided on these days, according to the website. The program is $30 and participants will need to register in advance. Visit beaverbrook.org.

Storytimes

• Bookery Manchester (844 Elm St., bookerymht.com) welcomes special guests Chantelle Moynihan-Rector and Max the Retired Police Dog for storytime on Saturday, Sept. 7, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

• Wonderland Books and Toys (245 Maple St., No. 12, Manchester) will host Saturday storytime on Saturday, Sept. 7, from 2 to 2:30 p.m for kids from toddlers up to grades 1 or 2. Up to three different stories will be read unless one of them is considerably longer. Visit wonderlandbooksandtoys.com or call 628-2866.

• It’s time for Little Learners at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center (2 Institute Drive, Concord, 271-7827, starhop.com). This program for kids 5 years old and younger with an accompanying adult (older siblings are also welcome) is held on the second Wednesday of each month from 12:30 to 1 p.m., September through December, with a reading and discussion of a science-themed book. Participation is included with general admission.

Theater

• Camp Rock The Musical is presented by the Palace Youth Theatre, with performers in grades 2 to 12, on Wednesday, Sept. 18, and Thursday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester, palacetheatre.org). Tickets cost $12 to $15.

Horses, goats and a clown

Find country fun at the Hillsborough County Agricultural Fair

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

The 66th Annual Hillsborough County Agricultural Fair starts on Friday, Sept. 6, and goes on until Sunday, Sept. 8, in New Boston (17 Hilldale Lane). Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children, military members and veterans with ID as well as seniors (65 and older).

“We’re an agriculture-based fair, so most of our activities are based on learning about agriculture,” said Michelle Rowe, the President of the Hillsborough County Fair Board of Directors.

Gates open at noon on Friday and activities commence right away. A stock farm tractor pull will be revving up in the pulling ring, a farm horse and mule competition will take place in the Langdell Arena, and Crickey the Clown will be at the children’s tent and venue area, and that goes until 5 p.m. “It’s definitely very family-oriented,” Rowe said.

At 3 p.m, amusement rides by Fanelli whir to life in the midway section of the fairground, and ride bracelets will be available from 4 to 9 p.m. Occurring for the first time this year, there will be pedal tractor pulling that is open to the public for children 15 and under at the pulling track from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

A 4-H team-building activity titled The Toxic Waste Challenge at the Hinton 4-H Exhibitor Building gets going at 4 and runs till 6 p.m. Meanwhile there’s a flag ceremony as a Battle of the Bands competition gets underway that will rock on until 9 p.m.

Another new event for this year is the new Zero Turn Obstacle Course, which will be open to the public for those 18 and older to test their physical prowess from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

At 6 p.m. is the Giant Pumpkin Weigh Off in the Langdell Arena, presented by the New Hampshire Giant Pumpkin Growers Association.

The pumpkins “can get quite big,” Rowe said. “We don’t get the biggest ones at our fair because they usually take those down to Topsfield in Massachusetts, but last year our first-place winner was 250 pounds … probably about 4 feet tall and probably 4 feet wide. They have to be so careful getting them to the fair.”

New Hampshire grows big pumpkins.

On Saturday,events begin at 9 a.m. and there will be similar activities to the previous day although participants getting inside early will be able to sign in to see the 4-H Dog Show and Farm Tractor Pull.

Beginning at 10 a.m. will be a ham radio demonstration from the Granite State Amateur Radio Association, as well as 4-H rabbit and dairy goat shows in the Langdell Arena. That’s also when the horseshoe tournament begins. The Battle of the Bands winner will perform at noon and the amusement rides begin then as well. The Hi-Jack Band will perform afterward until 4:30 p.m. and then Tina J and the Nuff Said Band will take the main stage until the end of the night, which will wrap up with a fantastic fireworks display.

“The fireworks are always fun,” Rowe said. She was not able to pick a single favorite aspect of the fair. “There’s just so many things to see. … I was in 4-H growing up so I enjoy the animal shows and seeing the kids show their animals. The sheepherding demonstration is actually really cool too.”

There is also a homemade pie auction, a maple syrup tasting contest, and if there is a farmyard animal there will be some sort of demonstration for it through 4-H as well as an Animal Olympics, which is an obstacle course for the fuzzier participants of the fair.

“I enjoy the more agricultural side of it but we also have tractor pulls and truck pulls that really bring in a lot of people and of course the rides are always fun,” Rowe said.

The festivities will continue on Sunday, Sept. 8, at 9 a.m. with the same amount of fun as the days before, but the fair will close at 6 p.m. until next fall when Granite Staters get to do it all over again. “In my opinion it’s the best fair in New Hampshire and I just want to keep it going,” Rowe said.

66th Annual Hillsborough County Agricultural Fair
New Boston
Friday, Sept. 6, through Sunday, Sept. 8
Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for children, military members/veterans (with ID) as well as seniors (65+). Admission is cash only. Entrance gates can not take credit or debit cards.
Visit hcafair.org.

Featured image: Courtesy photo.

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