Legend has it that Michael Clarke joined The Byrds because he looked like Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, not due to his drumming skills. The similarly named Birds, In Theory, a local band celebrating their debut album at The Shaskeen on March 9, has a close but slightly different story.
Its drummer, Nick Matsis, admits that he had more enthusiasm than talent when he joined high school pals Tim Dacey and Shawn Murray to form the pop punk band Eagle Jesus. The name changed, to a riff on the conspiratorial belief that birds are fake creatures created by NASA, when Dave Maloof came on as drummer post-pandemic and Matsis moved to bass.
The band’s sound coalesced with a seasoned new member behind the kit, offering a sonic fury favorable to fans of Green Day, Blink-182 and Bowling for Soup. It was a change that delighted Matsis.
“I can’t drum to save my life and that guy is a machine,” Matsis said self-deprecatingly by phone recently. “I taught myself drums playing Rock Band on the Xbox.”
A song from the forthcoming record Aviary jokes about this, along with the dichotomy between the band’s more and less polished musicians. “Guys, Where Are We?” includes a few moves that Maloof and lead guitarist Dacey handle with ease; rhythm guitar player Murray and bassist Matsis, not so much.
“That’s the only song we really changed time signatures in,” Matsis said. “We would get lost playing it at first because me and Shawn aren’t great at changing time signatures, and Tim and Dave are classically trained. So they’re like, ‘Guys, what are we doing? Where are we?’”
Other standout tracks include the slow-burning breakup song “Cover Story” and “Tourniquet,” which builds into a rager and showcases Dacey’s shredding blended with Matsis’ chugging rhythm guitar, and Maloof and Murray locked in on rhythm. This new freedom enhanced the making of Aviary.
As a trio, “we just couldn’t get as fancy as we wanted in the writing process,” Matsis said. “Dave, he’s a big Travis Barker fan; he can get in there and play anything as fast or complicated as he wants. Having that in the recording room was amazing, because he was getting that stuff done in one or two takes…. It made it so much easier.”
Birds, In Theory cites a variety of influences. Matsis is a big fan of Balance and Composure, particularly the Pennsylvania band’s 2011 LP Separation. “Shawn’s more into pop punk and indie, Tim used to be in a death metal band,” he said. “Dave’s into anything from Blink-182 to instrumental prog metal. It’s definitely a range.”
Their lyrical mood is informed by bands like The Wonder Years and Car Seat Headrest. “‘Tourniquet’ is about watching someone you thought you knew kind of change over time, and ‘Reflections’ deals with not wanting to take your emotions out on the people around you and just trying to communicate that it’s not them,” he explained. “A lot of our songs are more down, emotionally charged. Maybe not in the most positive way, but we like to make them fun.”
With a new record to celebrate, they’ll top the bill at The Shaskeen, but they’re also part of many multi-band events in the area.
“We’re lucky that we’ve been close-knit with a lot of people over the last few years and we played so many shows,” Matsis said, “That’s fun for us because we like playing with our friends and seeing our friends play.”
Beyond that, “My only hope is more new bands come around,” he continued. “This is actually our first time playing with Promise Game, so that’s exciting … I just hope the kids keep coming out and making music because there’s only so many 31-year-olds like us that can still get out there.”
Birds, In Theory w/ Promise Game, Cozy Throne and Oziem When: Saturday, March 9, 8 p.m. Where: Shaskeen Pub, 909 Elm St., Manchester Tickets: $10 at the door, 21+
If I ran the Oscar ceremony — which will this year air on Sunday, March 10, at 7 p.m. on ABC — my goals for the annual event would be: (1) to convince people to watch movies, (2) to convince people to watch these, the nominated movies, and (3) to give the presenters and winners enough space to say funny or touching but mostly funny things.
To the last point, see Steven Yeun winning a Golden Globe this year (where he realizes his life mirrors the plot of Frozen) or Adam Sandler winning anything — this year’s People’s Icon, 2020’s Indie Spirit award. That’s what you want at an award ceremony. Maybe just give Adam Sandler some kind of award every year — at least you’d have all of New Hampshire tuning in.
To the movie-watching goals: The Oscars stand as the answer to everyone who complains nothing but superhero movies gets released anymore. Here are a bunch of movies, only two of which are Marvel-related — Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (nominated for visual effects; available for rent or purchase and on Disney+) and Spider-Man: Across the Universe(nominated for Animated Feature Film; available for rent or purchase and on Netflix) — that were in theaters (or will be, in a few cases) and are now largely available for your viewing pleasure in your house.
My case for movie watching and for the Oscars itself, would go something like this:
• Oscar nominates popular movies! Including those aforementioned Marvel-character films, four of the films in the 2023 box office top 10 are nominated for Oscars, the other two being the two sides of the summer movie-going event known as Barbenheimer — Barbie (nominated in seven categories; rent or purchase and on Max) and Oppenheimer (nominated in 13 categories; rent or purchase and on Peacock). Also nominated are top-20-box-office earners Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One(nominated for Sound; rent or purchase and on Paramount+) and Elemental (nominated for Animated Feature Film; rent or purchase and on Disney+). See? You’ve heard of those movies. You may not have liked Elemental — and I’d agree with you in that — but you’ve heard of it.
• Oscar nominates fun movies!Barbie, my favorite movie of 2023 and my pick for Best Picture, is super fun — from its detailed attention to the toy-doll-ness of Barbie and her world to absolutely everything to do with Ryan Gosling’s Ken, including the song “I’m Just Ken,” which is nominated for Original Song and will likely be performed during the broadcast. Other fun films include Original Song nominee Flamin’ Hot (on Hulu & Disney+), the Eva Longoria-directed true-or-whatever story behind Flamin’ Hot Cheetos; its self-conscious tall-tale-ishness is goofy fun. The Creator (nominated for Sound and Visual Effects; rent or purchase and on Hulu) is a very wide-tent futuristic tale about AI robots and humanity’s difficult relationship with them. My pick for Animated Feature Film would be Nimona(nominated in that category and available on Netflix), a very fun underdog quest movie that my older elementary-and-up kids have watched multiple times (as the shape-shifting girl warrior Nimona would say, “metal”). I haven’t seen it yet but Godzilla Minus One (nominated in Visual Effects) is the first Godzilla movie to ever receive an Academy Award nomination and I am generally pro-Godzilla-movies.
• Oscar nominates movies that make you appreciate your streaming services!Rustin, featuring the nominated lead actor performance by Colman Domingo; Nyad, nominated for Annette Bening’s performance in lead actress and for Jodie Foster’s very good performance in supporting actress; Society of Snow(an International Film and Makeup and Hairstyling nominee), and May December, nominated for original screenplay, are all Netflix movies (where you can still find them), as is Best Picture nominee Maestro(also a nominee in six other categories). Napoleon(nominated in Costume Design, Visual Effects and Production Design), the bloated biopic that isn’t a terrible watch, and Killers of the Flower Moon, a solid Martin Scorsese movie (nominated in Best Picture and nine other categories, including the outstanding Lily Gladstone for best actress), are both Apple Films, and while they had an initial theatrical run they are now available to Apple TV+ subscribers to watch (as well as for purchase).
• Oscar’s Best Picture list includes some comedies!American Fiction(five total nominations; available for purchase) and The Holdovers (five nominations; rent or purchase and on Peacock) are both solid, laugh-out-loud for-grown-ups comedies. Past Lives(two nominations; rent or purchase and on Showtime) also has its funny moments, even though it is a quieter almost-love story. I heartily recommend all three.
• Oscar, of course, nominates serious films for when you want to get serious and watch films.The Zone of Interest(nominated in five categories; available for purchase) is a harrowing movie about a really horrifying thing (the Holocaust and the willing participation of one family therein) and yet it was also excellently well done and totally worth seeing. The same could be said of documentaries Four Daughters (rent or purchase and via Kinko Film Collection), about one Tunisian family’s difficult history, and 20 Days in Mariupol(rent or purchase and via PBS.org), about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the two strongest of the three documentary nominees I’ve seen. They are difficult to watch yet important and well done films. The Eternal Memory(for rent or purchase and on Paramount+) is also heartbreaking — the tale of a couple trying to hold on to each other even as one is losing his connection to himself from Alzheimer’s. Of the other documentaries Bobi Wine: The People’s Presidentis available on Disney+ and To Kill A Tigerdoes not yet appear to be available.
Back to the best picture nominees: Anatomy of a Fall (nominated in four other categories; available for rent or purchase) is a serious drama that examines the unknowability of a relationship via a murder trial. The previously mentioned Killers of the Flower Moon is at its strongest when it is telling the story of the Osage and attempts to steal their oil money. Poor Things (11 total nominations; available for purchase) is maybe my second least favorite Best Picture nominee (after Maestro) but perhaps this is a movie I need to give a second look to. And even if I don’t ultimately love — or even like — it, arguing about your serious films is a fun part of the movie fan experience.
• Oscar reminds you that interesting movies can come in all sizes. The 15 movies nominated in the three shorts categories — animated, documentary and live action — are a good reminder that film is a storytelling medium that creators can use in all sorts of ways. See shorts.tv/theoscarshorts for updates about watching the packages of films at home. Individually, films you can watch now include all the documentary nominees — The ABC’s of Book Banning (Paramount+), The Barber of Little Rock (via The New Yorker), Island in Between (via The New York Times), Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó (Disney+) and The Last Repair Shop(Disney+), my favorite of the ones I’ve seen from this very strong bunch, which is about kids, their musical instruments and the people who fix them. In the animated short category, I could find Letter to a Pig(for rent via Vimeo), Ninety-Five Senses(find it via docplus.com) and Pachyderme(for rent via Vimeo). In the live action category, I found The After (Netflix), Invincible(for rent via Vimeo), Knight of Fortune (for rent via Vimeo), Red, White and Blue(for rent via Vimeo) and The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar(Netflix).
• Oscar can remind you of all the other movies you can see. Go to abc.com/shows/oscars and print out your ballot. Sure, you can use it on March 10 to predict the winners and place your friendly snack-based bets with your fellow Oscar watchers. But you can also use it as a “what to watch” guide the next time you’re fruitlessly scrolling through your streaming services. And then head to filmindependent.org/spirit-awards for their list of 2024 nominees — you’ll find some overlap (American Fiction and Past Lives are also in their Best Feature category) but you’ll also find new movies to check out. Ditto the Screen Actors Guild Awards (sagawards.org), which has more overlap but also TV nominees; the Bafta Awards (bafta.org), Oscar’s British equivalent, and the Golden Globes (goldenglobes.com/nominations/2024) with its drama, comedy and “Cinematic and Box Office Achievement” categories. Watch these movies, watch other movies, just keep watching movies.
The Fremen help Paul Atreides, gifted with both visions of the future and preternaturally good hair, fight the weirdos of House Harkonnen in Dune: Part Two, a movie about sand and vibes.
Previously on Dune: Paul (Timothée Chalamet) and his mom Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), who is pregnant, had to run off and hide in the deserts of Arrakis, the planet from which comes Spice — a space fuel that can also make your eyes blue. House Harkonnen, which had controlled Arrakis but was stripped of the Spice trade by the Emperor, attacked the Atreides base on Arrakis and killed Paul’s very hot father Leto (Oscar Issac), previously head of House Atreides and Duke of Arrakis. The Harkonnen are now back in charge of Arrakis but are fighting an insurgent war with the Fremen, the indigenous people of Arrakis who would like all of these Spice-hungry imperial families to just go home.
Paul and Lady Jessica are hanging out with the Fremen in part because that’s the only way they can survive the desert, in part because some of the Fremen think Paul might be their messiah and in part because Paul has been dreaming about Chani (Zendaya), a Fremen girl who he’d like to ask “hey, how you doin’?” Stilgar (Javier Bardem), leader of that particular tribe or whatever of Fremen, is pretty sure Paul is the messiah and says increasingly crazy things about following him. Chani is not impressed with all this religious fervor her maybe-boyfriend is inspiring — and how much worse it could be in the fundamentalist south of the planet — but she doesn’t seem to let that get in the way of sharing a tent with Paul. Meanwhile, Lady Jessica, a member of the order of magic-y religious-y ladies called the Bene Gesserit, spends a lot of time talking to her unborn daughter, who talks back and can also talk with Paul sometimes via dreams (I think?). Jessica has been made a Reverend Mother of Arrakis, which is helping her push this whole “Paul is the Messiah” thing which she does a bit out of genuine belief maybe but mostly out of a sense that it will help him survive and gain the power that comes with a Fremen army.
Also meanwhile, the Harkonnens are finding themselves losing Spice production equipment to the Fremen rebels. When Glossu Rabban Harkonnen (Dave Bautista) can’t get the Fremen in line, his way-crazier, even creepier younger brother Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Austin Butler) shows up to bomb stuff and be super evil.
Further meanwhile, the Emperor (Christopher Walken, whose character has a more elaborate name but who I always just thought of as “Emperor Christopher Walker”) is watching all this drama from afar, afraid that the other families will find out he was behind the fall of House Atreides. His daughter Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh) helpfully narrates some of this information; she mostly hangs around and looks concerned until the end when it becomes clear that she will have more to do next time if there is a next time.
Which I suspect there will be, as Dune: Part Two, for all that I will forget most of that plot by the time Part Three shows up, made $82 million in its opening weekend, according to IMDb. And I predict it will likely match Dune: Part One’sbig Oscar nomination haul next year — Part One had 10 nods, with six wins: Production Design, Sound, Visual Effects, Original Score, Cinematography and Film Editing. I fully expect it to be very competitive in those categories again, as well as Costume Design and Makeup and Hairstyling (two categories it was nominated in in 2022 but didn’t win). Will it get Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay nominations like it did last time too? Maybe, why not — it straddles the line between beautiful art and movie that gets its own commemorative popcorn box. Part Two looks beautiful, just as Part One did, but maybe feels like even more of a feat because this world isn’t brand new and we get more of the shades-of-brown Arrakis and the black-and-white Harkonnen home world. It’s lovely and creepy, according to what it needs to be, and I really did find myself dazzled by little details like the Bene Gesserit robes given to Lady Jessica or the fancy if kinda stupid headpieces worn by Princess Irulan. I mean, a lot of this doesn’t hold up to deep thought — it’s 10,000 years in the future and we’re still doing billowy capes? — but don’t ask a lot of questions and it looks great.
I feel like Part Two is also an improvement on Part One’s glacial pace. Sure, a merciless editor could have tightened this puppy up a good hour and we wouldn’t have lost anything, but I didn’t mind spending time in this world. The push and pull between Paul’s desires for Freman support but uneasiness with Fremen worship is moderately interesting and I am not too bothered by the generally chilly relationship between Paul and Chani because they’re both fully Movie Stars. Which I guess is how I feel about all of the characters. Everybody looks great — does not in any way resemble a human person and not just a game board piece — but they look great and hold your attention while on screen.
It’s all fine, is what I’m saying, Dune: Part Two is fine — like, better than average for a popcorn movie if not dazzling me with brilliant story or dialogue. But is that really why most of us are here? The big worms are cool, the “waaah”s on the soundtrack are unsettling and the sand looks so much more photogenic than sand is in real life. B
Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, some suggestive material and brief strong language, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Directed by Denis Villeneuve with a screenplay by Denis Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts, based on the novel by Frank Herbert, Dune: Part Two is two hours and 46 minutes long and released in theaters this time by Legendary Features Productions and Warner Bros.
NH Audubon in Concord showcases artist Jackie Hanson
Starting Tuesday, March 12, the artwork of New Hampshire native Jackie Hanson will be on display at the Susan N. McLane Audubon Center at 84 Silk Road.
“It is a really nice space,” Hanson said, describing the venue. “Great natural light, plenty of wall space — I feel like I need to make a few more pieces before I hang the show.”
Hanson, a 2022 Bachelor of Fine Arts graduate from New England College (after the New Hampshire Art Institute merged with the school) was thrilled to be asked by the New Hampshire Audubon to exhibit her collection titled “Human/Nature.”
“I do a lot of landscapes and other nature-based things,” Hanson said. This will be her third showing since September.
“I had my art hang at two different public libraries last year,” she said. “The first one was Nashua Public Library. That was in September and October. Then my work went to Amherst Town Library in December.”
The NH Audubon describes this collection on their website as “immersive landscapes that feature both well-known and overlooked vantages.”
Hanson likes to pick and choose how to express an image.
“This show will all be in soft pastel,” Hanson said, “which is kind of like a chalk. That’s what that series of work is, but apart from that I also like to use watercolors, acrylic, wash … I like to jump around in different mediums. I find that if I do switch now and then, then I am better at all of them when I switch again.”
The collection for this show is solid. “I believe I have around 15 or 20 pieces. The biggest one that I have is called ‘Annie C Maguire Shipwrecked Here 1886.’” The painting measures 30 by 62 inches installed.“It is a four-panel, I guess quadriptych, of a panoramic view at Portland headlight in Maine. I named it that because there is a rock that you can see that they have to repaint it every few months because of the tide, but it says the name of a shipwreck that happened there.”
Hanson, as the NH Audubon points out, enjoys the vantage points less traveled.
“I have done a few pieces in this way, where I went to an iconic landscape in New England and I kind of turned away from the classic view, which in this case would be the lighthouse,” Hanson said. “I had it behind me and I was taking a view of the little cove next to it instead. And you can actually see the place that most people stand to take their photo of the lighthouse in my painting.”
Hanson grew up in an artistic family; her mother is an artist and has “always been doing artwork,” she said. “My family and my mom have shaped my idea of what’s beautiful in the world. So I like to promote that with other people, to look for beauty in everyday moments. ”
“I have a full-time job and it can be tricky,” she said; Hanson makes the most of her time, though, “painting at night and on the weekends. As we get into the warmer months, I do a lot of art and craft fairs on the weekends. You can find me all around the state and sometimes into Maine or Massachusetts, bringing my art and prints and cards and stickers of my art to different places. I like to do pop-ups, making it accessible to everyday people to have artwork in their homes. That’s a lot of how I get my art income. I do have my work at a store in Contoocook called Maple Street Mercantile as well.” The majority of her pieces will be for sale at the McLane Center.
Be on the lookout for future shows from Hanson.
“I just finished up an unrelated series that’s in mostly acrylic but some mixed media that’s botanicals, mostly house plants. I wanted to make sure that they had a distinctly feminine aesthetic.” As she sees it, “a lot of the high art world and some of the academic art world doesn’t think that things considered feminine are necessarily worthy…. So, a lot of pink, a lot of vibrant colors. I was thinking: art by a woman for women.”
Human/Nature Where: McLane Audubon Center, 84 Silk Farm Road, Concord When: March 12 through May 17; the gallery is open Tuesdays through Fridays 11 a.m to 5 p.m. An artist reception will be held Saturday, March 23, from 2 to 4 p.m.
More info: “Looking Back: Owl’s Head” by Jackie Hansonart. Courtesy Photo.
A quartet of Broadway actors in need of a reputation reboot and a gay high school student looking to disrupt the status quo in her small town are at the center of The Prom, a musical that’s at turns heartwarming and hilarious. The latest production from the Palace Theatre, it will run Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through March 24.
Creative Director Carl Rajotte decided to do the show after watching a Netflix adaptation of it with Palace staff during the pandemic.
“We just all loved it,” he said in a recent phone interview. “People cried, we all laughed; we thought this should be something that we put in our season once we reopened.”
The story begins as diva actors Dee Dee Allen and Barry Glickman are finishing opening night of Eleanor: The Eleanor Roosevelt Story. The musical is immediately panned by the critics for missing the point. Both actors are slammed for being narcissistic and out of touch. Dee Dee is played by Michelle Rajotte, seen most recently in Dancing Queens. Jay Falzone plays Barry; it’s the ninth production for the Palace veteran.
Crestfallen, the two decide to combine altruism and public relations and look for a cause. With help from Trent Oliver, an underemployed Juilliard graduate (Richard Gomez), and Angie Dickinson, an actress who wants to move beyond 20 years in the Chicago chorus line (Katie Harvey), they learn about Emma (played by Palace newcomer Juliana Chimenti), whose attempt to take her girlfriend to the prom caused the whole thing to be canceled.
To the soundtrack of the un-self-aware anthem “Changing Lives,” the four hatch a plan to love-bomb the prom back into existence. Hopping on the bus with Trent, who’s in a non-union touring company of Godspell, they head to Indiana and an incredulous reception. The object of their crusade (mixing in Godspell is a lovely touch) is among the most bewildered.
Of course, the well-meaning bunch is undeterred. Like four bedazzled bulls in a China shop, they push their Big Apple agenda, as it were (“I’m a liberal from New York who’s come to save you!” Trent shouts at one point), on a cornfield community. Gratefully, life lessons outnumber caricatures, and The Prom’s heart shines through in the end.
The Prom’s greatest strength is taking a serious topic and leavening it with outsized humor, while weaving in compelling subplots to move the action along. The Broadway-loving (and Emma ally) high school principal who has a lifelong crush on Dee Dee, and Barry vicariously living his dashed high school prom hopes through Emma, are among the entanglements that carry things forward — along with great songs.
Ultimately, it succeeds because of what’s stumbled upon in an errant pursuit of redemption.
“It’s a comedy but it has so much heart too, it’s so charming,” Rajotte said. “Elites from the big city come thinking that they’ll bowl over the small town and they begin to learn where the soul of this place is, and they learn about themselves as well in the process.”
In preparing for the show, Rajotte was surprised to learn that playwright Jack Viertel got the idea for The Prom from a real event. “In Mississippi in 2010, a girl went to her school and asked to bring her girlfriend, and she wanted to wear a tux and they ended up canceling the whole prom,” he said. “That kind of hit me hard; that’s why this show is just so important.”
A few years back, Rajotte helped with a prom for teenagers in the Palace’s Youth Theatre program; it opened his eyes. “I thought … we’ll put some music up, dance a little bit,” he said. “But then I talked to the kids; one came to me, and this hit me like a brick wall. He said, ‘thank you so much for doing this…. I love it here more than school because I’m able to dance and be myself, and no one will make fun of me.’”
The moment reminded him why the show’s message matters. “Being inclusive and taking a moment to step in someone else’s shoes for a second before you judge … see it from another point of view and see how much someone can be hurt because of that,” he said. With The Prom, “we’re trying to get that message across, of course, with a ton of humor.”
The Prom When: Fridays, March 8, March 15 and March 22, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays, March 9, March 16 and March 23, at 2 and 7:30 p.m., and Sundays, March 10, March 17 and March 24, at 2 p.m. Where: Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St., Manchester Tickets: $28 and up at palactheatre.org
Local Eateries talk about how they’re faring, Plus a pairing of restaurants and theater in Manchester
Running a restaurant has never been easy.
The past four years have surpassed the definition of “challenging” for the restaurant industry — from the pandemic that shut New Hampshire restaurants down in March 2020 to all the supply chain, staffing and inflation issues that have come after. So how’s it going now?
How it’s going
Less than optimal, according to Todd Roy, owner of Cheers Grille and Bar in Concord.
“It’s not great,” he said. “Everything is down; I can tell you that.”
Roy blames a combination of inflation and too many restaurants in the Concord area.
“There’s just not enough population to support all of us,” he said. But he sees inflation as a bigger challenge to his business. Rent, utilities, and especially food costs have gone up, but there are secondary effects as well. When money is tight, he clarifies, restaurant patrons have to set priorities: “Going out to eat goes farther down the list.”
“We’re all struggling. I’ve added breakfast on the weekends to raise our revenue,” Roy said.
Jeff Paige, chef and co-owner of Cotton in Manchester, is happier about business conditions. “Business has been great,” Paige said. Overall, his regulars have been very loyal.
“We’ve been able to build a relationship with our customers over the years,” Paige said. “A few of them come in so regularly that they call in to let us know if they can’t make it in.”
He agrees that staffing can be challenging. Cotton, which pre-pandemic was open weekdays for lunch, has had to drop lunch service.
“Lunch was busy; we just didn’t have the staff,” Paige said. Fortunately, most of Paige’s core kitchen staff have been with him for 20 years or more. “We make sure we take care of those people. We’re fortunate that we’ve been able to pay more than a lot of other restaurants.”
Amanda Wihby, co-owner and COO of Red Arrow, agrees that business is good. During uncertain times customers crave comfort food — something that diners like the Red Arrow specialize in.
“It’s been a tumultuous four years,” she said. “We’re finally coming out of the effects of the pandemic. Because of inflation, we’re seeing the customers coming back.”
Takeout. Photo by John Fladd.
Ready to eat?
Keith Sarasin, cookbook author, chef and owner of The Farmer’s Dinner Dining Group, sees a change in many restaurant customers, who have traditionally had conservative tastes in food. “It’s encouraging,” he said. “People are embracing foods that they aren’t familiar with — that haven’t been represented in the mainstream up until now. The education piece has been much higher for the average diner. As a chef, that’s super encouraging.”
He also sees more of a relationship between customers and individual chefs.
“I’m seeing trends where people are getting involved with the [local] chef community. I see diners following chefs from restaurant to restaurant,” Sarasin said.
Chris Viaud, the chef and owner of Greenleaf (serving seasonal, contemporary American style food) and Ansamn (Haitian cuisine) restaurants in Milford, has been surprised and gratified by the loyalty of his customers over the past few years.
“Our guests have been so supportive,” he said. “In 2019, we got off to a great start, then boom! But our customers have been supportive of both our restaurants, coming out during Covid and helping build us back up.”
Viaud, too, sees customers becoming more adventurous.
“They’re definitely more sophisticated than they used to be,” he said. “Diners do want to see different and new things. As a chef, my excitement comes from being able to adapt and change. I’m excited that there is such excitement for new and different cuisines.”
Chef Chris Viaud. Courtesy Photo.
On the menu
While traditional comfort foods will always play an important role in New Hampshire dining, across the board, cuisine diversity was frequently mentioned as the biggest change in the local restaurant scene.
“I think we’re getting more international food,” said Jessica Martin, Executive Director of Intown Concord. “We’ve got our classics, but we’re getting a lot more restaurants in Concord that reflect how diverse our population is becoming.” She cited Batulo’s Kitchen, a Concord restaurant that specializes in Somali-inspired cuisine, as one example.
“There’s Buba Noodle (a Vietnamese restaurant), N’awlins Grille (Creole), and STREET, which specializes in dishes inspired by street food from around the world,” Martin said.
Sarasin agrees that the New Hampshire restaurant community is embracing diversity and food from around the world. He points to Classic Biryani, Kabab and Curry — an Indian restaurant on Manchester’s West Side.
“I travel all over the country, tasting food everywhere. As far as I’m concerned, this is the best kebab house in the country. It’s incredibly encouraging that a community like Manchester can support an Indian restaurant of that quality,” Sarasin said.
Wihby of the Red Arrow agrees.
“I’d like to see even more diversity in fine-dining restaurants,” she said. “It would be great to see more places popping up.” She expressed a fondness for Thai Food Connection, which has restaurants in Manchester and Bedford.
Viaud, whose Ansanm restaurant in Milford specializes in Haitian-fusion cuisine, feels vindicated by the expansion of offerings.
“Coming up in the industry, you get pigeonholed,” Viaud said. “I feel strongly that this is my background, and I want to share it. Customers have definitely become more sophisticated. Indian, Mexican, Italian — they’re open to it all.”
Kaji Maharjan of Kathmandu Spice, a Nepali/Indian restaurant in Manchester, said before Covid most of his business was in-house dining.
“2021 was a very bad year, though,” Maharjan said. “Now, 25 to 30 percent of our customers eat here; the rest of our business is takeout, at this point.”
He said that in addition to customers using Grubhub, UberEats and DoorDash, his restaurant has changed its online presence. “Now people can order online or call in their orders,” which, he said, translates into even more takeout business.
Maharjan said that over the past year, however, in-house dining has been on the rise.
“There are more people eating here,” he said. “It’s slowly getting better.”
Cheers. Courtesy Photo.
What’s next
According to Jessica Martin at IntownConcord, there are some very positive developments on the horizon. She points to the Capitol Center For the Arts’ Culinary Artist in Residence program, which works with newly arrived community members who want to start a food business. The culinary residents are able to use the Capitol Center’s two commercial kitchens to develop a customer base and to work out recipes on a commercial scale.
She also points to State Street Kitchen’s incubator program, which helps provide equipment and training for prospective small food businesses. Traditional restaurant models are changing. “We’ve been working on bringing more food trucks to the area,” she said, such as the food trucks that show up for the monthly First Friday shopping events.
Jeff Paige at Cotton sees more changes to traditional service models in the future.
“I’m seeing a trend toward dinner-only service,” he said. Staffing issues and kitchen efficiencies make eliminating lunch more attractive to restaurant owners. He also points to the difficulty of staying open seven days a week.
“Tuesday through Sunday makes the most sense for most of us,” he said, “and holiday Mondays.” Paige said that although the past few years have been tough, he’s cautiously optimistic. “We’re doing really well and a few of our friends who own restaurants are doing well, too.”
Kaji Maharjan at Kathmandu Spice agrees. His restaurant has been open seven days a week for years, but has just started closing on Tuesdays.
“Being open all the time is just too hard,” he said. “My staff needs a break.”
Roy at Cheers continues to worry about rising business costs: “I just signed a three-year contract with my food reps to keep prices down.”
Sarasin sees New Hampshire’s restaurant scene as only becoming more diverse, and more focused on superior ingredients. “More small, chef-driven restaurants centered around high-quality, fresh, seasonal ingredients are going to thrive,” he said.
Viaud sees area restaurants working together to build a culinary community where restaurants play off each other. As customers at one restaurant open themselves up to new experiences, hopefully they will take that spirit of adventure with them to other restaurants.
Different restaurants with different cuisines pull together to build a common culinary vocabulary. “I’m hoping the industry continues to be collaborative,” he said.
Chef Keith Sarasin. Courtesy photo.
Great Manchester Restaurant Week
Greater Manchester Restaurant Week runs through March 14. The Greater Manchester Chamber and the Palace Theatre are working together this year, to promote the Palace’s production of the Broadway musical The Prom (running weekends March 1 to March 24) by collaborating with more than 25 participating Manchester restaurants, who will have special offerings from custom cocktails to prix-fixe meals.
“Pairing a Restaurant Week with the Palace Theatre’s production of Prom is quite a creative way to experience the culinary and cultural contributions of the Greater Manchester community,” said Cole Riel, Director of Small Business and Community Development at the Greater Manchester Chamber, in a press release.
“We’ve been wanting to sponsor a restaurant week for a couple of years now,” says Kelsey Collins, the Marketing Director for the Palace Theatre. “Prom is a new show for us and we’re very excited about it, so we decided to do it now.”
The Prom is a musical comedy about four overly enthusiastic Broadway actors who try to help an Indiana teenager, who has been banned from attending her prom. Their over-the-top efforts are overwhelming to the teenage girl, who just wants to be left alone.
Many participating restaurants will be serving prom-themed cocktails and meals. Campo Enoteca has developed a pair of bespoke cocktails called “The King of Prom” and “The Queen of Prom.” The Gyro Spot is featuring an “After Prom Special” — two gyros of the customer’s choice, and a special chocolate-covered loukoumades. Current Kitchen & Bar at DoubleTree is serving a Honey Nut Cheerios ‘Prom-tini’ with Honey Nut Cheerios-infused rum, Angry Orchard hard cider and honey cinnamon simple syrup.
“A lot of theater-goers are going out to dinner,” Collins explains, “either before or after a show. This is a good way to let them know about the great restaurants in the area, and vice versa.”
The Prom is running at the Palace Theatre until March 21. For tickets and a list of participating restaurants, see palacetheatre.org/restaurant-week.
