Author: Matt Ingersoll

Matt Ingersoll writes about all things food and drink, covering new restaurants and following the most delicious foodie trends in the state. Reach him at [email protected].

Burgers, Tots and beyond

Woods Grille opens in Northwood

When The Stand Cafe closed its doors in Northwood earlier this year so its owners could pursue a coffee roasting venture elsewhere, Heather Heigis and her husband, Pete — the owners of the property since February 2021, which includes Heather’s real estate brokerage upstairs — saw a unique opportunity. For about five years before that, the restaurant space operated as Umami Farm Fresh Cafe, a spot lauded in the community for its creative burgers and cozy atmosphere.

“This is a building that we’ve loved since we were going to college at UNH,” said Heather Heigis, adding that her family has lived in Northwood since 1999. “We were common customers when Umami was here. It was always a great place to see our neighbors and bump into friends, and have a good meal. It was something that, when it went away, I think our town really missed.”

The vision of Woods Grille, now open in an all new revamped, rustic setting, is all about bringing back that vibe. The Heigises have recruited their own team that includes Mike Brieger and Lola Lamb, both of whom have a hand in creating the eatery’s final menu. Brieger, who serves as Woods Grille’s general manager, is a longtime friend of the couple with more than three decades of experience in the restaurant industry. Lamb, meanwhile, was a former employee of The Stand Cafe with a few additional years of her own spent working as a private chef.

With an interior space decked out in everything from the Heigises’ own former living room furniture to makeshift bar tops and tables using repurposed wood from downed trees in their backyard (caused by a microburst), Woods Grille is a restaurant literally built for comfort. A local artist was even brought in to paint a mural on the wall of shadowed trees under a blue sky.

“I wanted it to be warm and cozy, and the kind of place that somebody felt like they could have a beer and sit down and talk to their friend, and not feel like they’re trying to flip the table really fast,” Heather Heigis said, “and so, we were really going for that ski lodge, barn type of feel.”

Among the highlights of Woods Grille’s menu are the “gourmet grille-wiches.” They feature a total of nine signature sandwiches, all of which you can choose your own protein for, from a beef burger patty or grilled chicken to a veggie burger or portobello mushroom. If you simply can’t choose a specialty option — the “Woods-wich,” with blue cheese, bacon, sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions and avocado, is a favorite of Lamb’s — you can build your own. All of the burgers and sandwiches have the option to substitute a gluten-free bun at no extra cost.

Woods Grille is also unique for not offering french fries — in fact, they don’t even have a frialator in their kitchen. Instead, they offer baked Tater Tots, complete with up to five signature dipping aiolis to choose from. You can order them as a side to your burger or sandwich, or on their own to share. Aioli flavors include basil, garlic, barbecue, chipotle and honey Dijon.

“I almost feel like we have gourmet Tater Tots now,” Heather Heigis said. “We find that people are coming back for them and they want a different aioli with them than the last time.”

Other items include house salads — with the option to turn each into a wrap — and tacos, which are filled with either grilled chicken or blackened mahi mahi in addition to cheese, shredded cabbage, diced tomato, pickled onions and avocado. Those come on either flour or corn tortillas.

Brownie ice cream sundaes and crustless cheesecakes with a berry sauce are among some of the featured desserts, and you can also fruit smoothies or milkshakes in a variety of flavors.

Woods Grille is currently open for lunch and dinner just from Friday through Sunday to start, but the goal, Heigis said, is to eventually expand the hours. They’re also working on building out the outside seating space directly adjacent to the restaurant.

Woods Grille
Where: 284 1st New Hampshire Turnpike, Northwood
Hours: Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. (extended hours likely coming soon)
More info: Visit woodsgrille.com, or find them on Facebook and Instagram @woodsgrille

Featured photo: Photo courtesy of Woods Grille.

Ryes to the occasion

Bread Makery now open in Salem

Andrey Bredstein found success in New Hampshire with his Russian baking business, Hidden Berry Cakes & Breads — he was perhaps best known for his rustic roadside trailer near the intersection of Routes 102 and 121 in Chester, where he lived until 2018. Now, after a short stint spent baking down in the Austin, Texas, area, Bredstein is back in the Granite State with an all new brick-and-mortar spot offering his own authentic Russian breads, tea cakes and pastries.

The Bread Makery, which opened last month in the nearby town of Salem, features all of the same menu items Bredstein has perfected over his years as a baker, from multiple types of freshly baked rye breads to traditional Russian baked goods like rum balls and wizard cakes. Breads are made fresh daily, and Bredstein even uses old Soviet-era standardized recipes. His bread baking journey began in 2002, when he moved to the United States from Moscow and found himself looking for a quality product that reminded him of home. Living in Texas at the time, when he couldn’t find a good loaf of bread, he began experimenting in his own kitchen.

“We started looking for options in baking ourselves. I don’t have any formal training as a baker. … I read books, I watched videos … [but] mostly I relied on my memory of taste,” Bredstein said. “I started making my own steps, and finally I was able to get a loaf that I like. Then our neighbors started asking, you know, ‘Can you bake me a loaf or two?’ And so we did that.”

Bredstein’s product lineup includes a white sandwich loaf, as well as three types of rye breads — a traditional Russian rye, a Jewish rye and a darker “special rye” made with rye malt called Borodinsky — that are unique for containing rye flour and using sourdough starters.

“The white bread we make early. I come in here at 6 [a.m.], so [by] 11-ish, we have a fresh white bread ready,” Bredstein said. “A rye bread we make later in the day, closer to the evening. … Until it’s cooled down inside, it’s not considered ready. So normally it’s ready at 11 at night and then we sell it the next morning. Its shelf life is long — it’s four or five days.”

In addition to his breads, Bredstein offers a selection of traditional Russian sweets regularly stocked in a pastry case. Among them is a wizard cake, a white cake with a custard filling and a chocolate glaze he equated to a Boston cream pie — it’s sold either by the slice or as a whole. You can also try rum balls, or bite-sized cakes that are mixed with cream, coated with cocoa butter and hand-shaped into the shape of a small potato. Tea cakes, the first product that Bredstein offered when he originally launched his business, are also regularly available at the Bread Makery. They feature dried fruit — traditionally raisins, although Bredstein admits he likes to fill his with dried cranberries — and are commonly enjoyed with a cup of hot tea.

A small retail area of the shop offers various items, like rye crisps — Bredstein slices down extra loaves of his Russian rye bread and slowly bakes them at a low temperature. They result in a crunchy snack that he said pairs well with beer or your favorite dipping sauce. Bredstein also sells three-pound bags of rye flour; imported bottles of kvass, a fermented drink popular in Russia and Ukraine; and cans of smoked sprats, small fish he said are similar to sardines.

“It’s made in the Baltic area, so Latvia, Lithuania [and] Estonia,” Bredstein said. “It’s [in] an oil, so when you put it on bread, it will soak a little bit in and it becomes a nice sandwich.”

In many ways, Bredstein is simply picking up where he left off a few years ago in Chester. In fact, he’s already seen customers walk through the door who ordered from him during his days on the trailer. Others are being introduced to his breads for the first time. But no matter who comes in to visit, Bredstein said he’s happy to back baking in the Granite State.

“Tastes are very different. When we lived in Chester, I would say maybe 80 percent of what we made was bread,” he said. “In Texas, nobody wanted bread … but they liked our pastries very much. Personally I’m most interested in making bread, especially rye bread.”

Bread Makery
Where: 115B Main St., Salem
Hours: Tuesday, noon to 6 p.m., and Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed on Sundays and Mondays.
More info: Visit breadmakery.com, find them on Facebook or call 912-7677

Featured photo: Borodinsky, or Russian “special rye” bread (right). Photo courtesy of Bread Makery in Salem.

The Weekly Dish 22/09/01

News from the local food scene

• Get your Greek feast: Join Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church (68 N. State St., Concord) for its next boxed Greek dinner to go, a drive-thru takeout event, on Sunday, Sept. 11, from noon to 1 p.m. Now through Wednesday, Sept. 7, orders are being accepted for boxed meals featuring dinners of Greek pork roast, spinach pita, roasted potatoes, carrots and a roll for $20 per person. The event is drive-thru and takeout only — email [email protected] or call 953-3051 to place your order. The church is also planning similar takeout and pickup meals over the next few months, including meatballs with rice on Oct. 9, stuffed peppers on Nov. 3 and cheese pitas with a Greek vegetable medley on Dec. 11. Visit holytrinitynh.org.

• Fresh from the market: The third and final scheduled Mums Pop Up Market, a small pop-up farmers market presented by Manchester Grows in partnership with other local nonprofits, is happening on Thursday, Sept. 8, from 4 to 7 p.m. Local vendors selling art, freshly grown produce and other items will be set up by the intersection of Union and Spruce streets in the Queen City. Similar markets were also held on Aug. 11 and Aug. 25. Email [email protected] for more details on vendors, or visit manchesternhgrows.org.

• Celebrate with lobster: Makris Lobster & Steak House (354 Sheep Davis Road, Concord) is planning its first annual Lobster Palooza on Saturday, Sept. 3, from 1 to 10 p.m. The end-of-summer celebration will take place in the eatery’s backyard beach and tiki area, featuring a wide array of lobster and beer specials, along with live music, giveaways, a 50/50 raffle, and a Sam Adams Oktoberfest stein hoisting challenge at 7:30 p.m. Visit eatalobster.com or check out the Facebook event page for more details.

• Hot sauce fest a success: More than 2,000 “fiery folks” attended the first annual New England Hot Sauce Fest at Smuttynose Brewery Co. in Hampton on July 30, which collectively raised nearly $10,000 for its two beneficiary organizations, according to a press release. The event featured more than 25 craft hot sauce companies from across New Hampshire and other New England states, along with several food trucks and craft and specialty vendors. Canadian celebrity competitive eater Mike Jack of Mike Jack Eats Heat even consumed 60 Carolina Reaper peppers (the world’s hottest pepper), beating his own personal record. “Our goals were to raise money for our local ocean-conservation beneficiaries, and to put New England on the map as an up and coming spicy region,” event organizer Gabe DiSaverio of The Spicy Shark said in a statement. “We are so thrilled to raise money for Blue Ocean Society and Seacoast Science Center, each receiving $4,417.” Plans are already underway for the festival to return for a second year, on July 29, 2023. “We plan on keeping the same formula that made Year 1 such a success, and we’ve got a bunch of new spicy surprises in the works as well!” DiSaverio said. Visit newenglandhotsaucefest.com.

In the kitchen with Rachel Manelas

Rachel Manelas is the owner of Riverwalk Cafe & Music Bar (35 Railroad Square, Nashua, 578-0200, riverwalknashua.com), which she purchased from longtime owners Steve and Jane Ruddock in April. A Pelham native, Manelas studied baking and pastry arts at Johnson & Wales University before going on to attend Italy’s Florence University of the Arts. Around April 2020, while working as a line cook at Windham Junction, she started an online bakery through Instagram called Life’s What U Bake Of It — that business has since evolved into a website (lifeswhatubakeofit.com) with its own online ordering system for specialty cakes, freshly baked cookies, themed French macarons and more, all available for pickup at Riverwalk. Manelas’s plans as the storefront’s new owner include an expanded focus on scratch-made pastries, as well as an evening menu, all while continuing to offer fresh breakfast and lunch options and house-roasted coffees. A space adjoining the cafe that recently became available will soon be home to a larger kitchen.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

Definitely a spatula, a whisk and a scale. [For] all my recipes, I scale. It makes everything a lot more accurate.

What would you have for your last meal?

Chocolate chip cookies. I could live off of them — they are my weakness!

What is your favorite local restaurant?

I am a huge Italian lover. Tuscan [Kitchen in Salem] usually has a good menu. … Surf [in Nashua] is also really good, and then Pressed [Cafe] is another place in my realm. Watching them start in Nashua and grow has been really cool. … I really like Fody’s [Tavern] a lot too. I work late a lot and they’re right next door, so I’ll go and pick up some food there.

What celebrity would you like to see eating at Riverwalk Bakery & Cafe?

Massimo Bottura. He’s a three-Michelin-star Italian chef, and he just seems like the sweetest, most gentle soul. And his food is really delicious. … I ate at his restaurant, Osteria Francescana in Italy, for my birthday in 2020 and it was amazing.

What is your favorite thing on your menu?

I would say for lunch, the Southwest chicken salad wrap … and then for breakfast, it’s The Feta [sandwich] or the granola with fruit and yogurt, because we make the granola ourselves and it’s really yummy.

What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?

I would say avocado toasts and bowls have both been really popular. … I’ve added avocado toast here, and I definitely want to be able to do more things like that.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

I love to do homemade pastas. Gnocchi is probably my favorite thing to make, especially with potatoes.

Sweet potato gnocchi with butter and sage sauce
From the kitchen of Rachel Manelas of Riverwalk Bakery & Cafe in Nashua

For the gnocchi:
1 kilogram sweet potatoes
250 grams flour (preferably double zero pasta flour)
1 egg yolk

Bake or boil the potatoes until fully cooked (with a fork pierced through). If baking, 400 degrees for just under an hour, depending on the potatoes’ size, is recommended. Immediately peel the potatoes and mash them while hot. Let the potatoes cool. Once cold, add the yolk and then incorporate the flour. Working in pieces, roll the dough into logs about a half-inch long. Cut into rectangular pieces — ¾ inch to 1 inch — and roll each gnocchi until round. Once round, use a fork or gnocchi board to add texture. To cook the gnocchi, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook until the gnocchi floats to the top, which should take around a minute or two.

For the butter and sage sauce:
125 grams butter
5 sage leaves
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Garlic
Parmesan cheese

Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add in the sage and slightly fry. Add the gnocchi to the pan with a little bit of pasta water. Season with salt, pepper, paprika and garlic to taste. Remove from the pan and serve with grated Parmesan cheese.

Featured photo: Rachel Manelas, owner of Riverwalk Bakery & Cafe in Nashua. Courtesy photo.

Filled with deliciousness

Sunny Cafe now open in Manchester

Dumpling and pierogi bowls are the stars of the menu at Sunny Cafe, a new eatery in Manchester offering several signature options with a variety of toppings and sauces. The fast-casual concept, which opened last month in a newly developed unit on South Willow Street, also features sweet crepes, honey and waffle cakes and locally roasted coffees with all kinds of house syrups.

“This space itself, it gets a lot of sun in the afternoon, so that’s exactly where the name came from,” said Londonderry native Yev Makarov, whose sister Yelena owns the cafe. “We wanted to create a place with a very happy, sunny atmosphere for people to come to. That’s why it’s very airy and very open … [and] our logo is even a dumpling that looks like the shape of a sun.”

Makarov, whose sister finished culinary school about a decade ago, said that food has always been her passion and that starting her own business was something she had always wanted to do.

“She has always been big into baking, cooking and preparing food,” he said. “Dumplings and pierogi go way back in the Slavic culture — of course, my grandparents were eating them. … We love to go out to eat and there’s just nobody around that serves our style of dumplings, or pierogi, especially in a bowl the way we do them with all these different toppings and sauces. You can obviously get them plain if you want, but then we have signature bowls for the dumplings and signature bowls for the pierogi that we’ve customized the way we like them.”

Dumplings can be filled with beef and chicken or beef and pork — ordering a regular-sized bowl will give you 20, Makarov said, while a large bowl has 25. Specialty bowls include the Shakin’ Bacon — topped with bacon, cheese, green onion, ranch and sour cream — and the Kickin’ Pepper bowl, which has banana peppers, cheese, green onion, red pepper and spicy mayonnaise.

Pierogi, which are potato-filled, are slightly smaller in size, giving you 15 for a regular bowl and 20 for a large. Those include a mushroom cheddar bowl with caramelized onions and sour cream; and a loaded mashed bowl with cheese, bacon and green onion. Of course, if you just can’t decide, you can completely customize your dumpling or pierogi bowl to your liking.

Sunny Cafe even has sweet pierogi bowls that are cherry-filled, as well as a few traditional baked options like honey cakes and waffle cakes. Crepes, meanwhile, run the gamut on their sweet offerings, from the cafe’s signature chocolate strawberry crepe with Nutella and bananas to a cinnamon swirl crepe with brown sugar and a white chocolate sauce. The cafe partners with Hometown Coffee Roasters of Manchester to feature hot and iced coffees and a full line of espresso drinks. Black and green teas sourced from Numi Organic Tea were also recently added.

Makarov said additional baked items are in the works, while savory crepes — such as a tuna salad flavor and other options — are likely to be added to the menu too.

Sunny Cafe
When: 50 S. Willow St., Manchester
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (7 a.m. to 7 p.m. starting Sept. 6) Closed on Sundays.
Cost: Free admission; food is priced per item
More info: Visit sunnycafenh.com, find them on Facebook and Instagram or call 935-8658

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

From Rio to Nashua

Brazil Fest returns to Greeley Park

A large one-day celebration of Brazilian culture with authentic food options, live music, samba dancing and an inflatable soccer tournament, Brazil Fest has grown significantly since its inaugural event in 2016. The free event returns to Greeley Park in Nashua on Saturday, Aug. 27.

“Last year was huge. I think it was probably our biggest year yet,” said Mariana Silva, who co-organizes Brazil Fest with Bruno D’Britto. “It’s like a day in Brazil, you know, the whole experience [is] like people going to spend a day in Rio without having to travel there.”

According to Silva, the event was originally started as a way for Brazilian people in the area to come together and get to know one another. In 2017, Brazil Fest happened to fall on the same weekend as the Nashua Area Artists’ Association’s annual Greeley Park Art Show, with each event taking place on one side of the park. Many art show attendees since then have returned to Brazil Fest each year, Silva said, turning it into a celebration for the entire community.

meat and hard boiled eggs on a bed of shredded greens
Feijão Tropeiro, a traditional dish from Sabor Brasil in Nashua, one of this year’s returning Brazil Fest vendors. Courtesy photo.

At least 12 area restaurants and community members selling different types of authentic Brazilian dishes are expected to attend, Silva said, the largest number of vendors in the event’s history. Gu-La Haven and Sabor Brasil, both of Nashua, are two of the returning eateries, as well as Delicious Bites. Options will include pastel fritos — which Silva equated to Brazilian empanadas — and acarajé, a dish made from peeled beans deep fried in palm oil.

“Acarajé is very unique because you can only find it in the state of Bahia in Brazil,” Silva said. “Not everybody loves it, but the people who do will travel for it. Last year, I had people travel for like an hour and a half just to eat the acarajé, because you can’t really find it anywhere.”

If you attend the festival during lunchtime hours, Silva said, there will be opportunities to order to-go boxes of traditional Brazilian-style barbecue with rice and beans. Coxinhas, which feature fried dough filled with shredded chicken, sauce and vegetables, and molded into the shape of a teardrop, are another featured option commonly consumed as a snack. For sweeter indulgences, there will be brigadeiros, or traditional Brazilian chocolate truffles.

“The brigadeiro is very, very famous,” Silva said. “Every single birthday party as a child in Brazil, you know, you needed to have that. That was more important than the cake itself.”

In addition to the food, there will be an inflatable soccer tournament, plus several live performances on the park’s stage throughout the day. Two DJs and a group of Brazilian samba dancers, dressed similar to those who famously perform in the annual Rio Carnival, will be there.

Capoeira, a traditional Brazilian-style martial art with dance elements, is also part of this year’s performances. Silva said door prizes like gift certificates to participating businesses will be drawn during the afternoon, which all attendees will have a chance to win.

Brazil Fest
When: Saturday, Aug. 27, noon to 6 p.m.
Where: Greeley Park, 100 Concord St., Nashua
Cost: Free admission and parking; foods are priced per item
More info: Contact event co-organizers Mariana Silva at 438-4263 or Bruno D’Britto at 760-848-4797

Featured photo: A samba dancer (left) at last year’s Brazil Fest in Nashua. Courtesy photo.

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