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].

Barbecue takeover

Great New England BBQ & Food Truck Festival returns

Smoked meats and cold brews take center stage at the Great New England BBQ & Food Truck Festival, returning to Milford’s Hampshire Dome on Saturday, Aug. 13. With eats from more than a dozen local food trucks, the fifth annual event will feature one of the largest showings of food options in its history, along with a beer tent, live local music and artisan vendors.

“We sold out of barbecue last year, so we’re definitely adding more barbecue options,” festival organizer Jody Donohue said. “We’ll have lots of specialty foods this year, [from] different spices, seasonings and dips [to] hand-filled cannolis and fresh-squeezed lemonade on site.”

As during previous years, food trucks will be set up around the perimeter of the dome’s parking lot, with all kinds of offerings both local to New Hampshire and neighboring New England states. Prime Time Grilled Cheese, an attendee favorite since the festival’s inception for its specialty grilled cheeses, is back once again this year, as is Sweet Crunch Bakeshop & Catering Co., which will have its freshly baked cookies. Carla’s Coffee, a mobile trailer formerly known as Jayrard’s Java Cafe, is also carrying on its predecessor’s festival appearance with its Costa Rican coffees and espresso-based drinks, in addition to some smoothies and lemonades.

hands holding a mac and cheese sandwich
Photos courtesy of the Great New England BBQ & Food Truck Festival.

Newcomers to this year’s festival include The Big Bad Food Truck, which hails from the Seacoast and serves up an always changing menu of scratch-made barbecue comfort items, like beef brisket, pork shoulder, burgers, hand-cut fries and vegan alternatives like jackfruit. Grace’s Kitchen Pizza Truck — known for its specialty pizzas and smaller bites like hand-breaded chicken tenders and loaded Tater Tots — and Friends 4 OBA, which offers various Asian fusion street food options, are also joining the festival’s truck lineup for the first time. Piggy Sue’s Steakin’ Bacon, another new vendor, will be there with its signature “bacon steak” skewers, as well as poutine and fried ice cream.

A “libations tent” will feature a variety of signature craft cocktails, along with local beers from Frogg Brewing of Marlborough and Martha’s Exchange of Nashua, Donohue said. Dozens of vendors will be selling their wares both inside and outside the dome, including everything from handmade baskets, candles and jewelry to soaps, lotions and other personal care products.

Live music will be featured all day long, starting with Matt Bergeron from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., followed by Brian Weeks from 1:45 to 4 p.m. and Peter Pappas from 4:15 p.m. through the end of the event. The “Kidz Zone” is also returning, with various activities available for the younger crowd, like free bounce houses, face-painting, bubbles and henna tattoos.

One activity brand new to this year’s festival, Donohue said, is a mobile ax throwing trailer — it’s brought to you by Axes on the Go, owned by Manchester’s RelAxe Throwing. There will also be indoor cornhole games available to play, and caricature artists are expected to attend.

“We try to incorporate fun for everybody and make it an event where you want to come and stay for a bit,” Donohue said.

Great New England BBQ & Food Truck Festival
When: Saturday, Aug. 13, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Where: The Hampshire Dome, 34 Emerson Road, Milford
Cost: General admission tickets are $5 in advance and $10 at the gate (free for attendees ages 14 and under). Food and crafts are priced per item.
Visit: gne.ticketleap.com/greatnewenglandfoodtruckmilford to purchase advance tickets online
Free parking and an ATM are available on site. Seating will be provided, but attendees are welcome to bring their own chairs or blankets. No pets are allowed.

Featured photo: Photos courtesy of the Great New England BBQ & Food Truck Festival.

The Weekly Dish 22/08/11

News from the local food scene

• Greek eats return: Join Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church (68 N. State St., Concord) for its next boxed Greek dinner to go event on Sunday, Aug. 21, from noon to 1 p.m. Now through Aug. 16, orders are being accepted for boxed meals, featuring a Greek chicken kabob salad with pita bread and a Greek cookie 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 also has similar upcoming takeout events planned — a roast pork dinner will be served on Sept. 11, followed by a Greek meatball dinner on Oct. 9 and a stuffed peppers dinner on Nov. 3. Visit holytrinitynh.org.

• African flavors: Building on the success of its bi-monthly Taste of Africa dinners, Nashua’s Mola Foods (9 Simon St.) will launch Taste of Africa Lunch, a weekly series every Thursday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., beginning Aug. 11. According to a press release, the lunches will include your choice of one of two dishes from Africa — each from a different country — and an African dessert. “It provides more opportunities for people to experience African food, and it allows me to focus my takeout business primarily on Taste of Africa,” LaFortune Jeannette Djabea, a native of Cameroon who founded Mola Foods in 2016 and expanded into her current space in early 2021, said in a statement. Lunches, which can be pre-ordered online to enjoy inside Djabea’s space or for pickup, can also be customized for businesses. “I want to reveal the diversity, deliciousness and versatility of African food in a modern context,” she said. Meals are priced at $25 per person. Purchase tickets in advance at molafoods.com/africalunch.

• Food truck frenzy: The Town of Windham’s Recreation Department is holding a food truck festival at Windham High School (64 London Bridge Road, Windham) on Sunday, Aug. 14, from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. In addition to a diverse showing of eats from local food trucks, the event will feature a craft and vendor fair, a cornhole tournament, raffle opportunities and live music by the local cover group All Day Fire. Admission to the festival is free, with all foods and drinks from the trucks priced per item. Contact the Windham Recreation Department at [email protected] or at 965-1208 for more details.

• Scrumdiddlyumptious: Get your tickets now to a Willy Wonka kitchen takeover dinner party happening at Chunky’s Cinema Pub (707 Huse Road, Manchester) on Sunday, Aug. 21, at 7 p.m. The event will feature a screening of the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory starring Gene Wilder, with a total of five special themed courses to be served throughout the movie. The menu is presented by chef Keith Sarasin of The Farmers Dinner. Tickets are $75 per person and include the movie viewing. There’s also a VIP wine pairing option for $110 that includes access to an early cocktail hour in the lobby bar. Visit chunkys.com to purchase tickets.

In the kitchen with Ira Street

Ira Street of Manchester is the chef and owner of Squaloo’s BBQ (75 Webster St., Manchester, 232-7288, squaloosbbq.com), a mostly takeout barbecue eatery that opened inside Bunny’s Superette in December. An Army veteran and Chicago native, Street has been working in the food industry for more than 25 years. Squaloo’s, named after his childhood nickname, features a menu of fresh meats smoked daily — several items, like the rib tips and the hot links (spicy smoked sausages), are traditional barbecue staples of the Midwest. Other options include beer can barbecue chicken, fried catfish, jerk chicken, and brisket on weekends, as well as fried apple pie with a side of ice cream for dessert. Since opening its doors, Squaloo’s has joined forces with several other local businesses — they now offer a special catering menu in collaboration with The Potato Concept (thepotatoconcept.com), and also recently held their first barbecue pop-up event at Mountain Base Brewery (553 Mast Road, Goffstown).

What is your must-have kitchen item?

I need my carving knife and my French knife.

What would you have for your last meal?

My last meal wish would probably be brisket, with a side of ribs. I love spare ribs.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

I would love to give a shout out to Backyard Brewery [& Kitchen] on Mammoth Road [in Manchester]. Besides my food, I think it’s the best food in town.

What celebrity would you like to see ordering from your restaurant?

It’s between Denzel Washington and Dennis Rodman. … Denzel is one of my favorite actors, and then Dennis Rodman, when he helped [the] Chicago [Bulls] win those last two championships, he became one of my favorite people.

What is your favorite thing on your menu?

That would probably be the jerk chicken … because I put so much time into it, and the finished product is so good to me. There are so many herbs and spices that go into it.

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

Thai. I feel like there are a lot of Thai places popping up.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

My go-to at home, when I’m feeling it, is homemade pepper steak and rice.

Chef Ira’s homemade pepper steak
From the kitchen of Ira Street of Squaloo’s BBQ in Manchester

1 round steak, cubed
1 each red and green pepper, cubed
1 sweet onion, cubed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ginger, minced
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon cooking oil
⅓ cup water
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat one teaspoon of oil over medium heat. Add peppers and onions and cook for three to four minutes. Place on a plate. Add steak to the pan and cook until brown. Add garlic, ginger, peppers and onion to the pan. Mix cornstarch with the water and add to the pan. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes and serve over rice.

Featured photo: Ira Street, chef and owner of Squaloo’s BBQ in Manchester. Courtesy photo.

Italian inspired

Pelham pastry chef takes over Nashua’s Riverwalk cafe

Life sometimes has a funny way of coming back full circle — at least that’s been the case for Rachel Manelas. The Pelham native and internationally experienced pastry chef frequented downtown Nashua’s Riverwalk Cafe & Music Bar while a student at Bishop Guertin High School, never once thinking she would someday take over the spot as owner.

Earlier this year, after studying abroad in Florence, Italy, and launching her own successful home baking business, Manelas purchased the Nashua storefront from longtime owners Steve and Jane Ruddock. She has big ideas for the storefront — now known as Riverwalk Bakery & Cafe — that will include an expanded focus on scratch-made pastries, as well as future plans for an evening menu, all while continuing to offer fresh breakfast and lunch options and house-roasted coffees. An adjoining space that recently became available will soon be home to a larger kitchen.

“I want it to be the place you go to before you go out,” said Manelas, a baking and pastry arts graduate of Johnson & Wales University who went on to attend Italy’s Florence University of the Arts. “In Italy, there’s a concept that I love that’s called aperitivo, where you can get a drink and a small plate or bite of food in the afternoon, and it’s kind of like a happy hour special. … It also helps people be able to taste things that might be different from what they’d been coming in here for. So my goal is to really try to get into a place where we can do that, and hopefully have more room in the new kitchen for experimentation with different foods and pastries.”

After completing her bachelor’s program a year early, Manelas spent the summer of 2019 in Florence, where she “fell in love” with the country and ended up staying longer than the two months planned. In late February 2020 she flew back home to join her family for a vacation, with the goal to return to Italy a week later — Covid, of course, had other plans.

“They canceled my flight and closed the borders. I had left everything there, my laptop included,” Manelas said. “Five months later I got to go back, but within that time frame, I kind of said, ‘OK, I don’t know when they’re going to open the borders again, I need to do something.’”

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 with its own online ordering system for specialty cakes, freshly baked cookies, themed French macarons and more — pickups for all of those items are now available at Riverwalk.

The cafe’s regular breakfast and lunch menus have largely remained the same, though Manelas has added her own items here and there, like a smashed avocado toast on fresh sourdough bread with cherry tomatoes, feta cheese and sunflower seeds. Coffees are still roasted in house every week using an old-school Turkish drum roaster, and Manelas is continuing to build on the pastry side — she recently added cinnamon rolls to the menu on the weekends.

“I would also love [for us] to make our own croissants. I used to make them every day in Italy and they are really, really good when they are made from scratch,” she said.

In late 2019, Riverwalk transitioned away from a ticketed live music venue in favor of a more community-focused coffee house and cocktail bar. Manelas said she plans to carry on that vision — a rotating selection of cocktails is available as part of her aperitivo concept.

“I just want it to be a nice meetup place in a casual setting, because it’s such a part of the culture out in Italy … and that was the culture that I fell in love with,” she said.

Riverwalk Bakery & Cafe
Where: 35 Railroad Square, Nashua
Hours: Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Friday through Sunday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
More info: Visit riverwalknashua.com, find them on Facebook and Instagram @riverwalknashua or call 578-0200

Featured photo: Photos courtesy of Riverwalk Bakery & Cafe in Nashua.

Starring the sandwich

City Hall Pub now open in Manchester

Gourmet deli-style sandwiches and craft cocktails are the stars of the menu at City Hall Pub, a new eatery now open in downtown Manchester’s theater district. The latest addition to Southern New Hampshire Hospitality Group, which also owns Mint Bistro, The Wild Rover Pub and Elm House of Pizza — the latter opened on the southern end of Elm Street early last year — City Hall Pub lies directly across the street from its namesake, sporting a uniquely rustic interior look.

Like Elm House of Pizza before it, City Hall Pub inherits a space long used by favored local eateries of the past — most recently, it was a gourmet grilled cheese restaurant and whiskey bar called Cheddar & Rye. Before that it was Tiya’s, a popular Thai restaurant, for several years.

hamburg sandwich on bun, on plate beside bowl of salad
Photos courtesy of City Hall Pub in Manchester.

“We’ve really liked a lot of what we’ve been seeing on Hanover Street … and had an opportunity to open a business in a room that I’ve certainly loved over the years, way back to being Tiya’s,” co-owner Tim Baines of Southern New Hampshire Hospitality Group said. “So we wanted to add to what is already a lot of great things going on in the area of downtown … and create a community space where people from all walks [of life] can feel comfortable and gather.”

At a seating capacity of nearly 100, the pub features everything from a renovated back bar to various booths, low- and high-top tables, a larger community table and an outdoor patio.

Along with presenting City Hall Pub as a gathering space, Baines said the eatery’s deli sandwich concept was born out of a desire to bring more lunch options to downtown Manchester.

“We definitely saw a demand for more lunch options in the downtown [area] … and we pride ourselves on being open seven days a week, for both lunch and dinner,” he said.

Out of the gate, Baines said the build-your-own sandwich option has been especially popular. You have five types of bread to choose from — ciabatta, sourdough, a pretzel bun, a whole-wheat wrap or a gluten-free wrap — and can load them with turkey, honey ham or roast beef. The customization goes even further when you add your favorite type of cheese — cheddar, Swiss, mozzarella, American or Gorgonzola — and other toppings, like lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles or cucumber; and condiments or spreads, like garlic mayonnaise, pesto or honey mustard.

pretzel rolls on plate with 2 types of sauces
Photos courtesy of City Hall Pub in Manchester.

If you aren’t that picky, try one of the pub’s specialty sandwiches. The Thai soy chicken wrap and the City Hall burger have been among the top sellers, Baines said — the latter is topped on a pretzel bun with mixed greens, roma tomatoes, red onions and your choice of cheese.

“The City Hall burger has been the most popular item by far,” he said. “Seeing the success of the burger, we’re actually going to be doing a menu revision … and expand on the burger options.”

Non-sandwich options include various soups, salads, chilis and chowders, as well as appetizers, like a spinach queso dip with pita chips, and a hummus and vegetable platter. The full food menu is available until 10 p.m. seven nights a week, while the bar stays open for a few more hours.

On the drinks side you’ll find everything from bottled and draft beers and red and white wines to an extensive classic and specialty cocktail list. Baines said live local jazz music is currently featured at the pub every Thursday night from 7 to 10 p.m., and there are plans to expand the live music schedule in the coming months.

City Hall Pub
Where: 8 Hanover St., Manchester
Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to midnight, and Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. (kitchen stays open until 10 p.m., seven days a week)
More info: Visit cityhallpub.com, find them on Facebook @cityhallpubnh or call 232-3751

Featured photo: Photos courtesy of City Hall Pub in Manchester.

The Weekly Dish 22/08/04

News from the local food scene

• Live free, eat local: August is observed as NH Eats Local Month by the New Hampshire Food Alliance — according to a press release, this year’s celebration of farms and food across the Granite State is centered around the Live Free + Eat Local Challenge. Throughout this month, participants can eat at or from five New Hampshire farms or other food businesses for a chance to win a prize. “Whether you adventure to a farm for pick-your-own peaches, look for local food at the grocery store … or buy some seafood from the coast, there are endless ways to eat local food,” Nicole Cardwell, program director for the New Hampshire Food Alliance, said in a statement. Challenge submission forms are available at more than 50 participating businesses, or online at nheatslocal.com. According to the release, they will be accepted through Aug. 31.

• Bring on the poutine: Tickets to this year’s New Hampshire PoutineFest go on sale on Saturday, Aug. 6, at 10 a.m., according to the event’s website. The festival itself is due to return to Anheuser-Busch Brewery (221 Daniel Webster Hwy., Merrimack) on Saturday, Oct. 15, with VIP admission beginning at 11:30 a.m. and general admission beginning at 12:45 p.m. Since 2016 the New Hampshire PoutineFest has brought together local and regional restaurants, food trucks and other vendors to compete for the best poutine dish as voted by attendees. It had traditionally been held in the summer, but the response to last year’s Halloween-themed festival from vendors and poutine-lovers alike has prompted organizers with the Franco-American Centre to make the permanent shift to an October date. Tickets are $39.99 per person for general admission and $49.99 for VIP admission. Kids ages 6 to 12 get in for $14.99 with poutine sampling or free with no sampling, while those ages 5 and under are free. The event is rain or shine and costumes are encouraged. Purchase tickets at nhpoutinefest2022.eventbrite.com.

• Native eats: Join the Hopkinton Historical Society and New Hampshire Humanities for a virtual cooking program on traditional Native American frybread, scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 11, at 7 p.m. via Zoom. Darryl Peasley of the Abenaki Trails Project will lead this demonstration — the program is one of several taking place during the Hopkinton Historical Society’s ongoing exhibit “Gather ’Round: Telling Our History Through Food,” which opened back on June 25. Upcoming programs also include an Abenaki harvest food tasting event at the Slusser Senior Center in Contoocook in October. Visit hopkintonhistory.org for a full list of events and to register.

• Flavors of Haiti: After more than a year of hosting monthly pop-up dinners featuring scratch-made Haitian meals, Greenleaf owner and chef Chris Viaud and his family are gearing up to open up a new brick-and-mortar spot. Ansanm, which gets its name from the word meaning “together” in Haitian Creole, is due to open this fall at 20 South St. in Milford, just off the Oval in the former Wicked Pissah Chowdah storefront, according to recent announcements on its website and social media pages. “We will continue to offer our authentic dishes featuring our family’s recipes along with new twists on the classics,” the post reads in part, also saying that Ansanm will operate as a quick-service restaurant and will feature music, art, food and tropical drinks all celebrating Haiti. Viaud, who was a featured contestant during Season 18 of Bravo’s cooking competition series Top Chef, launched Ansanm in early 2021 as a pop-up dinner series with the help of his wife, parents and siblings. Visit ansanmnh.com for updates.

Stay in the loop!

Get FREE weekly briefs on local food, music,

arts, and more across southern New Hampshire!