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].
Megan Kurs is the owner of The Yolk Grill (116 Bridge St., Pelham, 635-0992, theyolkgrill.com), a family restaurant that opened in the fall of 2019, offering breakfast and lunch seven days a week. Originally known as Alicia’s Diner, the eatery was first owned by Kurs’s stepsister’s dad, Roger Chagnon, and she worked there when she was younger. Benedicts, omelets, burgers and sandwiches are all part of the menu, while other items have their own unique twist, from Oreo cookie-filled pancakes and Captain Crunch French toast to Tater Tot nachos and Buffalo chicken and waffles. The Yolk Grill is also known for its monthly rotating freakshakes: flavored milkshakes stacked with all types of candies and baked goods.
What is your must-have kitchen item?
Definitely a spatula, no matter what position on the line I am in.
What would you have for your last meal?
It would be a filet with asparagus and mac and cheese. That’s my favorite meal, and it’s my go-to when we go out to eat.
What is your favorite local restaurant?
We enjoy going to the Old School Bar & Grill in Windham. It just has a really good atmosphere.
What is your favorite thing to cook at home?
We like to cook chicken Parm. Just a regular ziti with some hand-breaded chicken.
What is your favorite thing on your menu?
If I’m looking for something sweet, then it’s the Captain Crunch French toast, but if I’m really hungry I’ll have the rib-eye and eggs with loaded home fries.
What celebrity would you like to see eating in your restaurant?
Sandra Bullock or Ryan Reynolds. Either one of them. My favorite movie is The Proposal, which they are both in, but I love watching any of their other movies.
What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?
I feel like right now what’s super trendy are the sampler-style [items]. Right now, we have four different alcohol flights, like a mimosa or bloody mary flight, and then I’ve seen a couple of other places do food flights. … People like to have different things they can take pictures for and post them on social media and tag us and things like that.
Homemade brown gravy From the kitchen of Megan Kurs of The Yolk Grill in Pelham
1 pound unsalted butter 2 cups white all-purpose flour 1 container beef base 1 can beef broth Kitchen Bouquet browning and seasoning sauce (optional)
Melt butter in a pot. Once melted, whisk in flour to make a roux. Cook roux on low heat until simmering. Whisk frequently. Add beef broth and bring to a boil. Add two tablespoons of beef bask and whisk frequently. Continue cooking on low heat while your gravy thickens. For a darker color, add a splash or two of Kitchen Bouquet.
Beau Gamache has spent the last several years mastering the art of pizza-making. In 2017 he started an Instagram account called “ThePizzaGram,” where followers could watch his journey creating dough, sauces and cheese blends. Eventually it became known as Ray Street Pizza (named after Gamache’s Manchester street), and in early 2020 he made the leap to host a series of pop-ups at what was then Brookstone Park in Derry.
“That was the first real kind of movement toward this becoming an actual business,” Gamache said. “I believe it was in March of that year when I moved to the ghost kitchen at Bayona [Cafe in Manchester] … and it kind of blew up from there, so I quit my day job.”
Meanwhile, the pop-ups continued — Gamache branched out to other locations across New Hampshire with a mobile setup, notably at breweries like Concord’s Lithermans Limited. But he knew that with his growing popularity came the need for a larger, permanent space.
Enter Ray Street Pizza on Main, now open in the former Vikster’s Pizza storefront in Goffstown. With the help of chef Jon Talbot, whom he has worked with on pop-ups and catering events, Gamache now has a regular brick-and-mortar spot where you can try many of the pizza recipes he has spent years perfecting. Even though it’s technically on Main Street, Gamache said he decided to keep his existing name simply because “too many people knew about it” by that point.
“Everyone thinks my name is Ray too, which is pretty funny,” Gamache said. “Someone would be like, ‘Hey, where’s Ray?’ so eventually I was just like, ‘It’s OK, I can be Ray.’”
Since the space was a turnkey operation, Gamache ended up inheriting some equipment, including the conveyor oven, which he said was different from the Ooni ovens he was used to.
“We had to adjust a few things in the dough … [by] just updating the recipe enough so that it cooks well and it looks nice,” he said. “We had to change the type of pans they were cooked on, and the proofing process is different now because it’s cooked at a different temperature.”
Aesthetically, Gamache described his pizza as being similar to a New York-style, while the dough itself more closely resembles a New Haven-style, due, he said, to its wet and soft texture.
The menu mostly combines pies Gamache had been dabbling in at the ghost kitchen with newer versions of some non-pizza items that had previously been available at Vikster’s.
“I wanted at least a majority of the menu to still be available for the folks who come in for lunch but don’t get pizza,” he said. “It’s just been updated in terms of quality, and quantity too. We add more steak in the steak and cheese [and] more chicken in the grilled chicken sandwich. … We’ve also upped the small size for pizzas. They used to be 10 inches, and they are 12 now.”
Slices of cheese and pepperoni pizza can usually be ordered Monday through Friday until about 4 p.m. A lineup of domestic and local craft brews is available, and Gamache is currently working toward implementing a full-service bar, which will additionally have wines and cocktails.
For the long term, Gamache has his hopes set on opening a flagship restaurant in a larger city.
“I want to do something kind of like Roberta’s in Brooklyn, where you walk in and you see this giant pizza and you can watch people make the pizza,” he said. “The menu would be tiny, just a handful of pizzas and maybe some small appetizers or salads and a nice big bar. … I think there’s something to be said about making pizza that’s so good that you don’t serve anything else and yet it’s busy, and Roberta’s is incredible.”
Ray Street Pizza on Main Where: 23 Main St., Goffstown Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (hours may be subject to change) More Info: Visit raystreetpizza.com, find them on Facebook and Instagram @raystreetpizza or call 497-8211 Local deliveries are available within about a five-mile radius.
Rambling House and TaleSpinner Brewery open in Nashua
Since Debbie and Denis Gleeson founded The Nature of Things (now known as 2nd Nature Academy) in 1997, the South Nashua school has evolved to have a multi-faceted curriculum focused on sustainability — the Gleesons also operate a sister farm where they raise their own eggs, lamb and cattle. Twenty-five years later, the couple has a new locally sourced restaurant with a seasonally rotating menu, along with an accompanying craft brewery onsite.
Rambling House Food & Gathering opened March 4 on Factory Street and it’s a true family affair — all three of the Gleesons’ daughters, Erin, Kerry and Meghan Ayer, are co-founders, while TaleSpinner Brewery is spearheaded by their uncle Dave, a longtime avid homebrewer.
Multiple connections to the family’s farm or school are present, from spent beer grains going back to feed the cows, to baked goods sourced directly from the campus’s commercial kitchen. It’s a concept that’s been several years in the making, said Erin Gleeson, who serves as president.
“When I was graduating college, I had it in my mind that I wanted to run my own business [and] I was interested in food, craft cocktails and farming,” she said. “I think what we were finding was that there were places around to eat and drink, but they felt like just that, places to just eat or just drink. … What we’re trying to be … is more of a community gathering space. That was our goal, and I think luckily since the time we started thinking about this, a lot of that has been popping up in Nashua. It’s growing in that way, which I definitely think is the right direction.”
In addition to the Gleesons’ own farm, the eatery’s dinner and bar menus feature ingredients sourced from purveyors all over New England, and an in-house cafe with locally roasted coffee and grab-and-go items is expected soon. Here’s a closer look at each core part of the business.
Rambling House
Erin and Kerry’s paternal grandfather, Maurice Gleeson, immigrated to the United States from Ireland as a teenager. Growing up on a farm in the small village of Glenflesk in County Kerry, Maurice would visit a traditional “rambling house,” an informal inn of sorts that was known by all the locals as the family home to come gather and share stories, play games or listen to music.
Crohan craft cocktail. Photo by Donna Desimone Photography.
“It was just the spot where everyone knew in the community to be almost like that safe harbor, and it was also the place where a weary traveler was always welcomed in by the fire to lay their head for the night,” Kerry Gleeson said. “He’d tell us all the time about how when he was young he would go visit the rambling house that was up the street from him. … He had such fond memories of it, and we just loved that sentiment, so that was a no-brainer for us for the name.”
Today, the Gleesons remain very much connected to their Irish heritage. Framed photographs taken by Maurice throughout the 1950s and early ’60s adorn the walls, and a small plaque by the door heading out to the upstairs balcony proclaims the “Margaret Mary Martha Murphy Mezzanine,” an inside joke and reference to their cousin overseas, with whom they are close.
But despite the strong family influences, Rambling House is not an Irish pub — rather, what you’ll find here is a diverse offering of meat, seafood and vegetarian options that will change every few months based on product availability and seasonality.
“We’re going to start with four menus a year, but that will probably grow to six menus a year, because our seasons are a little quick,” Erin Gleeson said. “We’ll keep a lot of the skeleton of the menu, so for example we’ll always have a burger on it, but the toppings will be different. We’ll always have a chicken [dish] on it but it might not be the lemon roast chicken we have now.”
The Gleesons have brought on Jeremy Guyotte to serve as the eatery’s head chef. A native of Gloucester, Mass., Guyotte has extensive experience working with seafood, notably during culinary stints he spent at Captain Carlo’s Oceanfront and at Passports Restaurant in Cape Ann.
Out of the gate, seafoods at Rambling House include a pancetta-wrapped Atlantic monkfish loin; pub mussels sourced from Blue Hill Bay in Maine with tasso ham, onion and herbs; and a bouillabaisse, featuring shrimp, scallops, mussels, littleneck clams and whitefish.
“When Jeremy first started making us seafood samples, we were like, ‘Oh, my gosh, who have we brought on?’” Kerry Gleeson said. “He is an artist, and our sous chef, Karyn [Polley], is fantastic too. She has been with us even longer, working at the school.”
Other menu items, like the porchetta and the shepherd’s pie, have so far received rave reviews. The latter is a traditional version made with lamb, veggies and house herbed gravy.
Baker Angel Lopez is an ardent bread maker and Erin Gleeson herself even makes her own small-batch ice cream, passion projects that are now part of Rambling House’s menu respectively in the form of desserts like brioche bread pudding and house brownie sundaes.
The restaurant’s main dining area features a unique post and beam layout with a bartop and shelves all designed by Erin and Kerry’s brother-in-law, Kyle Ayer of Green Building & Consulting Group. Once it gets a little warmer, an outdoor rooftop deck with additional seating areas will open, offering panoramic overhead views of the Nashua River.
“Our favorite thing so far is that when you’re up on that top deck, that skyline is where you can see the fireworks on the Fourth of July,” Erin Gleeson said.
A full bar features TaleSpinner brews on tap, in addition to a menu of craft cocktails, hard ciders, wines, non-alcoholic beer and hard kombucha. The cafe, meanwhile, is at the front of the restaurant and will soon be offering coffee from Bedford’s Flight Coffee Co., as well as various takeaway items like baked goods and breakfast sandwiches.
TaleSpinner Brewery
On the first level below Rambling House, TaleSpinner Brewery can be accessed through the opposite end of the building, on the Water Street side. The tasting room is at the top of a short flight of stairs from the entrance, and overlooks its full production area.
The brewery, which opened a few weeks earlier than its restaurant counterpart, was similarly named with Erin and Kerry Gleeson’s grandfather — described by Kerry as “a consummate tale spinner,” or storyteller — in mind. Their uncle Dave works closely with head brewer Scott Karlen to create TaleSpinner’s lineup of brews, which currently include a few New England-style IPAs, in addition to a Belgian blonde ale, a raspberry sour, a German-New Zealand Pilsner lager, and a Belgian strong ale. They’re also working on a peach apricot sour and an Imperial brunch stout with maple syrup, cacao nibs, vanilla bean and coffee from Flight Coffee Co. There are a total of 24 taplines: a dozen each in the restaurant and brewery.
“My uncle … made great stuff as a homebrewer and had a passion for it, and it became part of a conversation that it would be really fun to open a brewery,” Kerry Gleeson said. “So it was a natural sort of thing where the two concepts just fit into each other like puzzle pieces.”
A small bar menu is available out of the tasting room, featuring some items you’ll find upstairs at Rambling House, as well as others mostly exclusive to that space, like the fish and chips, the poutine and the duck confit flatbread. Those items, while not on the regular dinner menu at the restaurant, do become available upstairs as well after 9 p.m., Kerry Gleeson said.
Guyotte will sometimes cross-utilize TaleSpinner’s products with his food, notably a beer gravy for the poutine and spent grain waffles for the chicken and waffle sliders.
“There’s definitely a cycle with everything, and we want to build on that and make it as close to coming full circle as we can,” Kerry Gleeson said.
Rambling House Food & Gathering and TaleSpinner Brewery Where: 57 Factory St., Nashua, Suites A and B Current hours: Wednesday and Thursday, 4 to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5 to 11 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. (extended hours likely coming soon) More info: Visit ramblingtale.com or follow them on social media (@ourramblinghouse and @talespinnerbrew on Facebook, and @ramblinghouse and @talespinnerbrew on Instagram) TaleSpinner Brewery’s entrance is accessed at the opposite end of the building on Water Street.
Featured photo: Winter charcuterie. Photo by Donna Desimone Photography.
• Franco Foods challenge: Join the Franco-American Centre for its inaugural Fleur Délices Challenge, an amateur baking competition happening on Saturday, April 9, at 6 p.m., at Anheuser-Busch Tour Center & Biergarten (221 Daniel Webster Hwy., Merrimack). Contestants are welcome to bring a cake of their own representing a country that’s part of the International Francophonie (or where French is among the most commonly spoken of languages). Winners will be chosen by a panel of local judges who will follow a grading criteria – they include pastry chef Alexandre Waddell of Cremeux French Patisserie in Merrimack and chef Matt Provencher of Red Beard’s Kitchen, a two-time winner of the New Hampshire PoutineFest. The cost is $20 and registration forms are due by March 18. See facnh.com for details.
• Bunny campaign: The Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary is selling chocolate Easter bunnies made by Granite State Candy Shoppe now through April 1 as part of its Bite Out of Hunger Campaign. The cost is $8.50 for an eight-ounce solid milk, white or dark chocolate bunny. Proceeds benefit The Salvation Army’s Kids’ Café program, which offers evening meals and recreation activities to local children and teens multiple days a week. Call Sylvia Crete at 490-4107 to order a bunny, or visit nne.salvationarmy.org/manchester to download the bunny order form. Bunnies may be picked up at The Salvation Army’s Manchester Corps (121 Cedar St.) any Monday through Friday, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
• Between the vines: LaBelle Winery owner Amy LaBelle has partnered with Kerri Zane of KZ Enterprises to produce a lifestyle show based on her life. According to a press release, The Winemaker’s Kitchen Show will feature both of LaBelle’s restaurants in Amherst and Derry, as well as their vineyards, event centers and other amenities that were unveiled last year, like the Derry property’s onsite golf course and artisan food market. The show will also provide various culinary tips, tricks and recipes commonly covered in her regular cooking classes and seminars. LaBelle has hosted televised cooking shows previously, when she partnered with New Hampshire PBS last year to produce a series of interactive classes geared toward kids. In a statement, Zane, an Emmy Award-winning television executive producer, said LaBelle is “poised to unseat Martha Stewart as the reigning queen of all things kitchen.” Visit labellewinery.com.
• New spots for beer and barbecue: Concord’s newest craft brewery has landed — after more than a year of planning, Feathered Friend Brewing Co. (231 S. Main St.) officially opened last week in the former Taylor Rental space in the city’s South End. Owner Tucker Jadczak told the Hippo in February that the brewery’s name stems from his love and appreciation of birds. He has worked with head brewer Ryan Connor to create a lineup of craft beers that includes a red ale, a stout, a sour and a double dry-hopped IPA with Galaxy and Citra hops called Second Sun. Barrel-aged beers are also in their planning stages. An adjoining space next door to Feathered Friend Brewing Co. is the new home of Smokeshow Barbeque Co., which also recently opened its doors. Smokeshow owner Matt Gfroerer said the space triples the seating capacity of what he had before and allows him to build on his menu of Texas-style barbecue favorites. Visit featheredfriendbrewing.com or smokeshowbbq.com for more details on each.
Celebrate the sweet stuff with sugar house visits and maple tastings
Season of syrup
New Hampshire Maple Weekend returns
New Hampshire Maple Weekend When: Saturday, March 19, and Sunday, March 20 Where: Several participating sugarhouses and farms statewide Visit: nhmapleproducers.com
On March 5 and March 6 Ben’s Sugar Shack in Temple kicked off the first two days of its maple touring season to a great turnout — and an overall “back to normal” type of feeling, operations manager Emily Sliviak said. Free tours are set to continue every weekend through April 3.
“This is the first year that we’re starting to do samples again,” Sliviak said. “Everyone wanted a sample, and it was great to see that nobody really seemed uncomfortable or scared or anything, especially in the evaporator room, just because it is kind of a tighter space.”
Ben’s is one of hundreds of sugarhouses across the Granite State gearing up for New Hampshire Maple Weekend, happening on Saturday, March 19, and Sunday, March 20. Maple producers large and small traditionally hold open houses throughout the weekend — or all month long in March — for families to visit, take a free tour, and sample syrup and other maple goodies.
Maple warm pudding. Photo courtesy of Ben’s Sugar Shack.
It’s overseen by the New Hampshire Maple Producers Association, a nonprofit founded in 1943 that now represents roughly 350 maple purveyors statewide, president Andrew Chisholm said.
“Last year we decided to advertise it as Maple Month so that producers would have the option to spread everything out over the entire month and not have large groups come to sugarhouses, as is common on Maple Weekend,” said Chisholm, a maple producer himself who runs Chisholm Farm in Hampstead. “This year we’re doing kind of a hybrid, so we’re giving producers the option to advertise themselves as participating in Maple Month or Maple Weekend, and then my guess is that by 2023 we’ll hopefully be fully back to … calling it a Maple Weekend.”
Here’s a look at how this year’s maple sugaring season has gone so far in southern New Hampshire and what you can expect when you visit a local sugarhouse on Maple Weekend.
Maple warm pudding Courtesy of Ben’s Sugar Shack in Temple. Recipe by Mareh Bleecker
2½ cups whole milk ⅔ cup maple sugar ½ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 Tablespoons cornstarch 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened Strawberry jam Fresh whipped cream
In a small bowl, mix half a cup of cold milk with the cornstarch. Place the remaining two cups of milk, the maple sugar and the salt in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook just until the mixture begins to steam. Add the cornstarch mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture starts to thicken and barely reaches a boil, about 5 minutes. Immediately reduce the heat to very low and stir for five minutes until thick. Remove the pudding from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla extract. Spoon the pudding into individual jars or ramekins and let cool slightly. Top with jam, compote, fresh fruit and whipped cream.
Tapping traditions
Tours are offered at Ben’s every 15 minutes between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. and will typically last about half an hour depending on questions, Sliviak said. Attendees learn all about the process of collecting sap and the importance of daily maintenance of the trees, especially against windy or rainy weather conditions and the intrusions of animals like squirrels, bears and moose.
“We walk them across the woods to where they can see the modern way of collecting, which is through the tubing system and the vacuum system,” she said. “Then we’ll walk groups back over to where the trucks will bring the sap. We have a 10,000-gallon holding tank, and all of the sap from there will run into the reverse osmosis room, which is a fancy system that separates the water from the sugar molecules … and that makes it much less work for the evaporator to boil.”
Depending on the sugar content levels and the time of the season, Sliviak said it takes roughly 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup. After the reverse osmosis process, the sap then runs into the evaporator room, where tour attendees learn about the boiling, filtering and bottling of the syrup, as well as the grades that are produced and how each is different in taste.
Samples are provided at the conclusion of the tour, and a gift shop will also have various maple products for sale. Last weekend Ben’s began offering maple ice cream — that’s expected to continue through the last two weekends of the month, Sliviak said, in addition to their maple roasted nuts, maple cotton candy and their popular maple doughnuts.
“We’re just kind of easing into everything and gradually getting back into all of the other stuff that we normally would do with the tours,” Sliviak said.
In May, following the end of this year’s production season, Ben’s is expected to break ground on a new 16,000-square-foot building on the corner of Route 101 and Webster Highway in Temple, which Sliviak said will accommodate tours that much better by this time next year.
Chisholm will similarly open his operation up for free tours, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day of Maple Weekend. He’ll have maple ice cream sourced from Shaw Farm just over the state line in Dracut, Mass., as well as maple doughnuts and a variety of his own products available for sale.
“What I like to do that’s a little unique are infused maples, so I do a vanilla-infused maple and a cinnamon-infused maple, and then also some barrel-aged stuff,” he said.
Weathering the storm
Despite a slow start to the 2022 maple season, the temperatures over the last couple of weeks and the forecast have set the stage for an ideal Maple Weekend, according to Sliviak.
“A lot of times we’re able to produce a decent amount in January and even in February, and that was not the case this year,” she said. “We’re looking for warmer days and colder nights, ideally 40 degrees or 45 at the most, but definitely a slight freeze at night, so around 25 to 30 degrees. … Overall it looks like it’s going to turn out really well, and one of the reasons is because of the amount of rain that we had in the past year, in the summer, fall and through the winter, even.”
Maple onion jam. Courtesy of Ben’s Sugar Shack.
It’s already shaping out to be a better season for sugarhouses compared to last year, which Chisholm said was widely classified as a disaster due to very warm and dry conditions.
“Most producers only made about 40 percent of what they would expect to make, myself included,” he said. “Last year was an early start and a very early finish. … It warmed up real quick at the end of March, and I think for us down here in southern New Hampshire it never went below freezing. As a whole the 2021 season was a short crop across the entire region.”
Sugarhouses haven’t been immune to rising costs and supply chain issues impacting all kinds of industries in the pandemic’s wake, from plastic containers and glass bottles and jars to everything in between. But with that, Sliviak said sales of and demand for syrup are still up from before.
“We literally had some farm stands double their average sales with us last year,” she said. “I don’t really know what it’s from, whether people are more out and about or their kids are home more and they needed maple syrup, but we’re still seeing that upward trend.”
Maple onion jam Courtesy of Ben’s Sugar Shack in Temple. Recipe by Mareh Bleecker
2 large onions, thinly sliced (about 2 cups) 2 Tablespoons neutral oil (grapeseed, avocado or ghee) 2 Tablespoons Ben’s organic maple syrup 1 teaspoon fresh thyme 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard 1½ teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add the oil, onions and salt. Turn the heat to low and cook, stirring frequently until the onions begin to soften and turn translucent. Add maple syrup, black pepper and thyme. Add a little bit of water if the onions begin to stick to the bottom of the pan. Continue to cook the onions for 25 to 30 minutes or until the onions are caramelized and deep brown in color. Add the mustard and lemon juice and stir for one minute. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed. Pour into a small jar and let it cool. Refrigerate for up to two weeks.
Visit a sugarhouse
Here are some local farms and sugarhouses participating in this year’s New Hampshire Maple Weekend, scheduled for Saturday, March 19, and Sunday, March 20. Some will be offering maple sugaring tours and demonstrations, while others will be selling and providing samples of a variety of maple-infused products. Be sure to contact each one directly for their most up-to-date plans for Maple Weekend. For a full list of sugarhouses, visit nhmapleproducers.com.
• 6 Saplings Sugarhouse (31 Kearsarge Valley Road, Wilmot, 526-2167, find them on Facebook) Open Saturday and Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., offering tours, samples and products for sale, from maple syrup to maple cream, sugar, candied nuts and more.
• Babel’s Sugar Shack (323 Hurricane Hill Road, Mason, 878-3929, find them on Facebook) Open on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., for an open house, with samples and syrup for sale.
• Beaver Brook Maple (1 Beaver Brook Drive, Bow, 491-0500, find them on Facebook @bbmaple) Open on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for maple demonstrations.
• Beaver Meadowbrook Farm Sugar House (402 Route 103 East, Warner, 224-2452, find them on Facebook) Visitors welcome any time, but calling ahead is recommended. Face masks are required when inside the sugar house.
• Ben’s Sugar Shack (83 Webster Hwy., Temple; 693 Route 103, Newbury; 924-3111, bensmaplesyrup.com) Open on Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free maple sugaring tours are offered every 15 minutes and last about a half hour, depending on questions. Samples and products for sale include maple syrup, soft serve, doughnuts, roasted nuts and more.
• Beyond the Horizon Farm (19 Gillis Hill Road, Bennington, 588-6210, beyondthehorizonfarm.com) Open on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring complimentary maple cinnamon swirl rolls and doughnuts as well as coffee, cocoa and tea while supplies last.
• Blueberry Hill Sugarworks (31 Blueberry Hill Road, Raymond, 300-6837, wickedsappy.com) Open weekends during maple season; hours vary. Check back on the website or call for details.
• Charmingfare Farm (774 High St., Candia, 483-5623, visitthefarm.com) Open Saturday and Sunday for its annual Maple Express event, to be held at various times between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. each day. Tickets start at $22 and include horse-drawn and tractor train rides, maple syrup demonstrations and tours, taste testing, visits with the animals and more.
• Chisholm Farm (641 Main St., Hampstead, 421-4727, chisholmfarm.com) Open on Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tours will be conducted on an on-demand basis and a variety of products will be available, from maple ice cream and doughnuts to all kinds of infused syrups.
• Chris-Mich 3 Farm (285 Elm Ave., Antrim, 588-2157, find them on Facebook @chrismich3farm) Open Saturday and Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a variety of maple products available, from maple syrup to maple cream, sugar, candies, walnuts and more.
• Connolly’s Sugar House (140 Webster Hwy., Temple, 924-5002, find them on Facebook) Open Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., for tours. Connolly’s, which is also a family-owned dairy farm, will have its own maple ice cream made fresh on site with its syrup.
• Dill Family Farm (61 Griffin Road, Deerfield, 475-3798, find them on Facebook) Open on Saturday and Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring maple syrup samples available, in addition to maple candy, cream and sugar for sale.
• Fletcher & Family Sugar House (2528 E. Washington Road, Washington, 340-4035, fletcher-farm.com) Open on Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring maple syrup, candy and sugar for purchase, in addition to some free samples. Coffee, hot chocolate and doughnuts will be served in the morning and hot dogs and chips will be served for lunch.
• Folsom’s Sugar House (130 Candia Road, Chester, 370-0908, folsomsugarhouse.com) Open Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tours will be ongoing throughout each day, and there will be a variety of specialty products available, from maple syrup, candies and cream to maple barbecue sauce, mustard, pepper seasonings and pancake mixes.
• Gould Hill Farm (656 Gould Hill Road, Contoocook, 746-3811, gouldhillfarm.com) Open on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring free maple syrup samples, as well as cider doughnuts and maple hard cider for sale. The Contoocook Cider Co.’s tasting room will also have live music by Colin Hart from 1 to 4 p.m. that day.
• Ice Mountain Maple (276 Queen St., Boscawen, 341-4297, icemountainmaple.com) Open on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., offering maple syrup and candy for sale, as well as maple coffee.
• Jessie James Maple Farm (164 Allens Mill Road, Gilmanton, 267-6428, jessiejamesmaple.com) Open Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., featuring its own maple syrup for sale, in addition to other specialty products like maple mustard, maple chipotle seasoning and cinnamon maple sugar.
• Journey’s End Maple Farm (295 Loudon Road, Pittsfield, 252-6669, journeysendmaplefarm.com) Open on Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring live maple sugaring demonstrations, a local vendor pop-up event and a variety of maple products for sale, from maple syrup to iced maple lattes, maple shakes, sundaes, cotton candy and more.
• Kaison’s Sugar House (75 Forest Road, Weare, 660-6019, find them on Facebook @kaisonssugarhouse) Open on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring maple sugaring demonstrations and maple products for sale like syrup, lollipops and candy drops (cash only).
• Kearsarge Gore Farm (173 Gore Road, Warner, 456-2319, teamkgf.com) Open Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., for maple sugaring demonstrations and syrup samples.
• Ledge Top Sugar House (25 Oak St., Boscawen, 753-4973, ledgetop.com) Open on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring maple syrup and other products for sale.
• Main Street Maple and Honey Farm (186 Main St., Belmont, 527-9071, mainstreetmapleandhoney.com) Open on Saturday and Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring maple syrup making demonstrations and a variety of products for sale.
• Mapletree Farm (105 Oak Hill Road, Concord, 224-0820, mapletreefarmnh.com) Open Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring self-guided maple sugaring tours and a variety of maple products available, like maple syrup, cream, candy and more.
• Matras Maple (821 Catamount Road, Pittsfield, 724-9427, find them on Facebook @matrasmaple) Open on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 12:30 to 5 p.m. There will be maple syrup making demonstrations and all kinds of maple products for sale, like maple cream, maple sugar and local ice cream topped with maple syrup and crunchy candies.
• Munson’s Maple (44 Blueberry Hill Road, Raymond, 303-8278, find them on Facebook) Open Saturday and Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., for maple tours, samples and products for sale.
• Old Pound Road Sugar House (37 Old Pound Road, Antrim, 588-3272, oldpoundroadsugarhouse.com) Open Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring maple tours and a variety of free samples, like coffee, maple syrup and candy.
• Parker’s Maple Barn (1316 Brookline Road, Mason, 878-2308, parkersmaplebarn.com) Open Saturday and Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for maple tours, and specialty products like gourmet maple coffee and maple glazed doughnuts will also be available for sale.
• Peterson Sugar House (28 Peabody Row, Londonderry, 383-8917, [email protected]) Open Saturday and Sunday, from noon to 5 p.m., featuring maple sugaring demonstrations, maple syrup samples and various maple products for sale.
• Pfeil Family Farm (311 Cram Hill Road, Lyndeborough, 801-3158, pfeilfamilymaple.com) Open Saturday and Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring maple syrup for sale as well as coffee, doughnuts and other various maple products.
• Remick Country Doctor Museum & Farm (58 Cleveland Hill Road, Tamworth, 323-7591, remickmuseum.org) Open Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., featuring outdoor maple sugaring demonstrations and maple syrup for sale while supplies last.
• Ridgeland Farm (736 Loudon Ridge Road, Loudon, 520-4337, ridgelandfarmnh.com) Open on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring tours of the sugarhouse and samples of maple syrup and maple peanut butter fudge.
• SMD Maple Syrup (6 Falcon Drive, Merrimack, 978-815-6476, find them on Facebook @smdmaplesyrup) Open Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., featuring maple syrup making demonstrations, samples, maple syrup for sale and more.
• Somero Maple Farm (21 Poor Farm Road, New Ipswich, 562-0822, someromaplefarm.com) Open on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring free maple syrup making tours and a variety of products available for sampling and for sale.
• The Sugar House at Morning Star Farm (30 Crane Crossing Road, Plaistow, 479-0804, find them on Facebook @thesugarhouseatmorningstarfarm) Open Saturday and Sunday, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., offering its full line of maple products, which include syrups, cream, jelly, mustard, nuts, candy, confections, homemade doughnuts and more.
• Sunnyside Maples (1089 Route 106 N, Loudon, 848-7090, sunnysidemaples.com) Open Saturday and Sunday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring maple sugaring demonstrations and several maple products for sale in its gift shop, like syrup, cream, mustard, candy, seasonings, coffee, pancake mixes and more.
• Trail Side Sugar House (246 Currier Road, Andover, 748-1307, trailsidesugarhouse.com) Open Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., offering maple tours, samples and demonstrations. Available products all weekend will include maple syrup, candy, cream, barbecue sauce, mustard, doughnuts, cotton candy, nuts and whoopie pies.
• Turkey Street Maples (673 Turkey St., Chocorua, 323-9320, turkeystreetmaples.com) Open Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring maple sugaring demonstrations and various maple products available for purchase, including syrup and cotton candy.
• Two Sappy Guys Sugar Shack (324 Joppa Hill Road, Bedford, 860-7992, find them on Facebook @2sappyguys) Open Saturday and Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring fresh maple syrup for sale.
• Windswept Maples Farm (845 Loudon Ridge Road, Loudon, 491-9130, windsweptmaples.com) Open Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring maple demonstrations and maple syrup, maple sugar candy and other products for sale.
Featured photo: Maple sugaring tours at Ben’s Sugar Shack in Temple. Courtesy photo.
Bradley Labarre of Manchester is the new executive chef and program manager of the Recipe for Success culinary job training program at the New Hampshire Food Bank (700 E. Industrial Park Drive, Manchester, 669-9725, nhfoodbank.org), having assumed the role in early January. The free eight-week program helps people suffering financial hardships gain work in the food service industry in the state — students learn various skills such as nutrition, proper use of kitchen instruments and equipment, safe food handling and meal presentation. Labarre’s role with the Food Bank also involves coordinating food donations and managing its regular inventory of products, and he’s currently working on getting the Recipe for Success program accredited through the American Culinary Federation. A Queen City native, he’s been involved with the Food Bank as a volunteer for more than eight years, including as a participant in its annual Steel Chef Challenge.
What is your must-have kitchen item?
A very sharp knife.
What would you have for your last meal?
A perfect bowl of mushroom risotto, topped with an unctuous slab of nicely seared foie gras. … Of course, it would have to be followed by something sweet, so perhaps a nice slice of wild blueberry cheesecake or Blake’s brand Moose Tracks ice cream.
What is your favorite local restaurant?
At the top of my list right now is Greenleaf in Milford, with chef Chris Viaud. They are totally killing it over there. Every time we go there, our heads are exploding. … We love that place, and we love Chris too. He’s a super, super nice guy.
What celebrity would you like to cook for?
[Chefs] Alice Waters, Peter Hoffman or Dan Barber. I’ve been inspired by their farm-to-fork approach with food for years. … Cooking for any one of them would not only be an honor, but it would teach me so much about my deep-seated approach to cooking.
What is your favorite thing that you’ve ever cooked for the NH Food Bank?
One that really sticks out to me was the first meal we ever made for the Steel Chef challenge back in 2016, which was a beef tenderloin. Although it wasn’t the most difficult thing I ever made, it was one of the most memorable. Not only did I get to do this with my then future wife and a few friends, but this plate of food made such a difference in so many people’s lives.
What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?
Plant-based cooking. I’m noticing that more and more chefs are focusing more of their energy on plant-based foods made with care.
What is your favorite thing to cook at home?
Anything in my outdoor wood-fired oven. Specifically, though, I love a crisp, airy pizza topped with a few slices of fresh mozzarella, some spicy arugula and thinly sliced prosciutto. You can’t beat it. … [The oven] is handmade in Portugal and it weighs 1,300 pounds. I actually had to have a crane put it in my yard.
Wild mushroom risotto From the kitchen of Executive Chef Bradley Labarre of the New Hampshire Food Bank
1 pound wild mushrooms 8 Tablespoons butter 2 small shallots, minced 4 garlic cloves, minced 2 fresh thyme sprigs ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper ¾ cup dry white wine 1 Tablespoon lemon juice 5 cups chicken or vegetable stock 1½ cups arborio rice 1 cup heavy cream 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese Fresh parsley, minced (optional)
Warm broth over low heat in a small saucepan. In a heavy skillet, melt half of the butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and shallots and saute until tender, about eight minutes. Add garlic, thyme sprigs, salt and pepper and stir for an additional minute. Remove mushroom mixture from pan and set aside. Add remaining butter to pan over medium heat. Once melted, add rice and stir until rice begins to look translucent. Add dry white wine and lemon juice and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly until the liquid is absorbed. Add mushroom stock or one cup of vegetable broth and stir until almost all of the broth is absorbed. Continue adding the broth one cup at a time and stir until the liquid is almost absorbed. Add mushroom mixture into the rice and stir to combine. Gently stir in the heavy cream and Parmesan cheese and cook for an additional five minutes on low heat. Transfer risotto to a serving bowl and top with freshly ground pepper, shaved Parmesan and fresh parsley if desired.
Featured photo: Bradley Labarre. Photo by Bruce Luetters of 3Sixty Photography.
