Author: Matt Ingersoll

Gurung’s Kitchen opens inside Bunny’s Superette

Inspired by the supper club, or the concept of serving creative comfort foods and cocktails in an intimate setting, Stones Social is the newest eatery to join the dining scene in Nashua.

The restaurant opened on June 26 in the former space of Pig Tale on Amherst Street. But according to Aislyn Plath of Stones Hospitality Group, it has been in the works since at least 2015. Her father, Scott, is the owner and founder of two successful restaurants in northern Massachusetts — Cobblestones of Lowell, which has been serving elevated tavern fare since 1994; and Moonstones, an eatery featuring global small plates that opened in Chelmsford in the late 2000s.

“Stones Social has a really intimate and casual neighborhood feel,” Plath said. “We wanted this to [have] almost more of a social club style that offers creative comfort food with a great bar program and really amazing cocktails. … We felt that this space would be perfect for that.”

Stones Social’s menu borrows some items that are popular mainstays at both Cobblestones and Moonstones, as well as new options. Chef Adam Hervieux, who has worked at both locations, has taken over the new eatery’s kitchen.

“We’re doing different menu levels, so at the top level we have bar snacks. That has things like housemade potato chips and housemade pickles,” Plath said. “We also have a mushroom jerky that’s insane, and we do a furikake popcorn, which [has] a seaweed and sesame spice.”

Other options include Buffalo tenders with blue cheese, ahi tuna tataki, pork belly with jalapeno ranch, and Chinese five-spice short ribs with house kimchi.

The menu also features a section of wood-fired skillet options, like the garlic jumbo shrimp; the shawarma beets with hummus, harissa and pepitas; and the dry-rubbed barbecue glazed wings. Sandwiches and burgers include a grilled cheese with the option to add barbecue short rib or kimchi, and a cheeseburger with house relish on a potato bun. For salads, the Spa Sampler Plate has greens, hummus, peppadews and crispy chickpeas, while the “Schrute Farms” beet salad features greens, goat cheese, pistachio, honey mustard and the option to add chicken.

If you want more of a traditional, larger-sized entree, Stones Social offers those too, on the “supper time” section of its menu. It features a seared ahi poke bowl, house macaroni and cheese, pork belly fried rice with egg and edamame, vegetable fried rice, and slow braised short rib with smashed olive oil potatoes and garlic green beans.

A majority of Stones Social’s cocktails, Plath said, are originals for the new space. There is the 603 Spritz, which has vodka, elderflower, a cucumber simple syrup and a little bit of absinthe; the Pink Drink, with hibiscus, mezcal and cranberry juice; and the Marge and Rita, or a passion fruit margarita with a five-spice salt rim. The Moonhattan, a house-infused rye whiskey with vermouth that is a staple at Moonstones, has also made it onto the menu.

“We’re trying to have as much fun with the cocktails as possible,” Plath said. “We’re really focusing on New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont too for our drafts.”

In lieu of sit-down table service, Plath said, Stones Social has more of a fast casual concept. Guests can order food and drinks at the bar and create a tab if they wish. Food runners are then assigned to deliver your order to the table. Takeout and online ordering are also available.

“One of the goals here … was to run with a really tight team and to cross-train our staff,” Plath said. “I like working in a small space like this, because you can see everyone and we’re all here to take care of each other and create a nice energy and atmosphere.”

Featured Photo: The #1 Burger with cheese and house relish on a brioche bun. Courtesy photo.

Stones Social
Where: 449 Amherst St., Nashua
Hours: Wednesday through Saturday, 4 to 11 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 8 p.m. (may be subject to change)
Contact: Visit stonessocial.com, find them on Facebook and Instagram, or call 943-7445

Saucy options at new Milford food trailer

A new food trailer now open on the Milford Oval is offering its own ground burgers, hand-cut fries and hand-breaded chicken tenders, and more than a dozen original sauces — or, in line with its name, “fuel” — like blueberry barbecue, Hawaiian honey mustard, hoisin-plum, curry and chive and Sriracha maple.

Fuel is the latest project of John Goldberg, owner and operator of The Riverhouse Cafe. The trailer made its debut on June 12 outside the Riverhouse, which has added about 40 seats in a roped off area out front, along with an outside bar and live music every Friday and Saturday. Customers who order from the trailer are given a pager to alert them when their food is ready. The trailer features new options not previously available at the cafe, plus rotating specials, and according to Goldberg the response has been very positive so far. He recently brought in chef Jon Talbot, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York, to oversee Fuel’s menu.

“It’s a simple American menu … but it’s not your ordinary food truck. You’re not getting frozen chicken tenders or anything,” Goldberg said. “We grind our own burgers, we hand-cut our own fries, we dry-rub our own chicken wings and we make our own hot dog buns.”

Fuel features a few salads, all of which have the option of adding smoked chicken, pulled pork or smoked brisket as a protein. The most popular salad, Goldberg said, has been the Rocket Road, which features arugula, pickled onions, figs, almonds and goat cheese. There is also the Chubby King Caesar salad, with romaine, pancetta and jalapeno croutons, and the Trailer Greens, which include lettuce, carrot, tomato, onion and crispy chickpeas. Among the salad dressings to choose from are buttermilk ranch, honey balsamic, creamy poppy seed, and — Goldberg’s favorite — blueberry-riesling vinaigrette.

Items like the Fuel burger, the Hummel dog or the hand-cut fries can be ordered with a beer cheddar cheese. The Fuel burger is a double-stack patty that comes on a brioche roll with lettuce, tomato and house pickles, while the dog features toppings like the beer cheese as well as Maine onion jam and celery salt, house sweet relish or chili.

“The beer cheese is ridiculous,” Goldberg said. “You try it and you can’t stop.”

The trailer serves a falafel on its own homemade pita, topped with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, lemon and tzatziki sauce. You can also substitute smoked chicken for the falafel.

Other options, like the crispy chicken tenders and the smoked chicken wings, are really where you can get creative with all the different “fuel” sauces.

“We can toss them in one and then we give you the other one on the side,” Goldberg said. “I can’t even begin to name them all. We have blueberry barbecue, peach barbecue, Latin barbecue, curry and chives. … All kinds of different stuff.”

Just out in front of the Riverhouse Cafe’s doors is a full-service outside bar where craft cocktails are available. Live local music acts are booked to perform on Fridays and Saturdays all throughout the summer, Goldberg said.

The Riverhouse Cafe moved to its current location at 167 Union Square last year. Goldberg said the plan is for Fuel to provide the food options for those who visit Station 101, a new craft beer and wine bar opening in a renovated 1950s gas station next door. The old Riverhouse Cafe, meanwhile, will likely be turned into a doughnut shoppe.

Mangia Sano, Goldberg’s other restaurant just down the road on Nashua Street, has recently begun offering New York style pizza. It’s currently available for takeout and curbside pickup only.

“Right now, that’s all we do [at Mangia Sano],” Goldberg said, “but we’re going to reopen it under a [reinvented] new brand.”

Featured Photo: Bacon and beer cheddar fries. Photo by Matt Ingersoll.

Fuel
When: Wednesdays and Thursdays, 5 to 8 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays, 5 to 10 p.m. (hours are subject to change and may extend later this summer)
Where: 167 Union Square, Milford
Contact: Visit damngoodgrub.com/fuel, follow them on Facebook and Instagram @fuelnh or call The Riverhouse Cafe at 249-5556