Fourth annual fundraiser to feature local samples, raffles
After a couple of years off, Bedford-area restaurateurs, bakers and caterers will once again gather inside the town high school’s cafeteria for Taste of Bedford, set to return on Tuesday, Jan. 24.
The tasting is the flagship fundraiser for Bedford High School’s Distributive Education Clubs of America. Attendees will have access to samples of a wide array of local food offerings.
“We try to promote it to families as a great alternative for a Tuesday night dinner,” said Betsy Doyle, DECA advisor and a science teacher at the high school.
Because Taste of Bedford has not taken place the last two years due to pandemic concerns, Doyle noted that there is a greater than normal number of new participants this year. It’s also going to be the largest lineup of restaurants to date in the event’s history. Among them are Rig A Tony’s Italian Takeout & Catering, which opened a new storefront in town back in June 2021; and Wicked Good Butchah, which relocated to a larger space inside the former Harvest Market in late February that same year. Simply Delicious Baking Co., known for its scratch-baked goods like scones and cookies; and The Inside Scoop, a Bedford ice cream shop, will also be there.
The most recent Taste of Bedford, in January 2020, was the first time it expanded to restaurants in some neighboring communities, and Doyle said that will continue. El Rincon Zacatecano Taqueria, a Mexican restaurant in downtown Manchester, is participating this year, as is Playa Bowls, a fast casual concept specializing in acai bowls, poke bowls, smoothies and other health-focused options; and Sweet Ginger, a Thai restaurant in Merrimack.
“We have a student leader who is different every year, usually a junior,” Doyle said. “They’ll visit as many local restaurants as possible and basically ask that they come and participate, [and] sample whatever part of their menu they would like the community to try. We try to do as much advertising as possible for these businesses.”
She added that a few additional businesses — Tucker’s, which opened its sixth location in Bedford in October 2021, and Great New Hampshire Restaurants, the parent company of T-Bones Great American Eatery and the Copper Door Restaurant — have donated gift cards.
“They weren’t able to donate food and time to personnel, so instead, they offered us gift cards to raffle off to our attendees in lieu of food,” she said.
Proceeds from Taste of Bedford help to reduce overall travel expenses for DECA students, who participate in business competitions in New Hampshire and across the country.
“The students themselves sell tickets to the event, and the money they collect … goes directly under their name for the purposes of travel through the club, so for competition fees, travel fees and things like that,” Doyle said.
Participating establishments • The Bagg Lunch (bagglunch.com) • Ben & Jerry’s (benjerry.com) • El Rincon Zacatecano Taqueria (elrinconnh.com) • Great New Hampshire Restaurants (greatnhrestaurants.com; gift card raffle only) • Hannaford Supermarkets (hannaford.com) • The Inside Scoop (theinsidescoopnh.com) • Playa Bowls (playabowls.com) • Rig A Tony’s Italian Takeout & Catering (rigatonysitalian.com) • Simply Delicious Baking Co. (simplydeliciousbakingco.com) • Sunshine Baking (sunshineshortbread.com) • Sweet Ginger Thai Cuisine (sweetgingerthai.com) • Taipei & Tokyo (taipeiandtokyo.com) • Taj India (tajindia.co) • The Thirsty Moose Taphouse (thirstymoosetaphouse.com) • Tucker’s (tuckersnh.com; gift card raffle only) • Wicked Good Butchah (wickedgoodbutchahnh.com) • Yianni’s Pizza (yiannispizzanh.com)
Taste of Bedford When: Tuesday, Jan. 24, 6 to 8 p.m. Where: Bedford High School, 47B Nashua Road, Bedford Cost: Online tickets are $10 per person, $30 per family of four or $40 per family of five (families must include at least one parent) Visit: tasteofbedford.org
Since November the Concord Makerspace has been looking for a new home. Now the organization’s president, Jared Reynolds, has announced that there is a new location at 197 N. Main St. in Boscawen.
“We found this building seemed like a great fit,” Reynolds said. “It’s quite a bit smaller but we think that it’ll be good to have more of a compact space. We’re pretty close to our old space, just a few minutes down the road in Boscawen.”
The group left its former space in Penacook due to a leaky roof and other problems, according to the Concord Monitor in a Dec. 5 story. Reynolds said there was another location in Concord that the group had planned to rent, a building with a whopping 60,000 square feet that had sat vacant for 15 years. But while he said that space was interesting, Reynolds added that a lot of work would have been needed to make the building fit for a makerspace.
“That space needed a lot invested in it and we didn’t own it,” Reynolds said. “It just drifted beyond our mission, to revitalize a 60k-foot building.”
The new location in Boscawen is a much more modest 5,000 square feet. There is still a lot to get done with the space before it opens for public use, Reynolds said.
Concord Makerspace is a place for anyone to learn more about working with their hands, said Reynolds. While the location is mainly known for the woodshop and woodworking, there are other tools available for people, including CNC machines, a form of 3D printer.
“Makerspaces are places that provide access to equipment that others might not have,” Reynolds said. “Woodshops in your basement are expensive and not feasible so it makes sense to have shared tools.”
Reynolds emphasized that the makerspace isn’t just for people who are entrepreneurs building their own things to sell, but that most people who come are hobbyists and artists working with wood and other material for fun.
While the makerspace doesn’t have an official day for opening to the public, there are many new things coming to the space. Reynolds hopes for more classes to be offered and to purchase some more high-quality equipment for people to work with.
Last year the makerspace got a state grant to hire its first employee. Reynolds said that having someone working, even if it is only a part-time employee, will allow for more classes at the volunteer-based organization.
“We’re now a more manageable space with a bigger impact,” Reynolds said.
Concord Makerspace New location is 197 N. Main St., Boscawen. While there is no official opening date, the group is aiming to have everything up and running by March 1. Call 565-5443 or visit concordmakerspace.org for info.
Featured photo: The new makerspace. Photo courtesy of Jared Reynolds.
New York style versus Montreal, everything versus asiago, and all the other variations that go into the perfect bagel
Remzi Kahya was only about 10 years old when, in 1996, his father, Ismail, opened Bagel Cafe on Hanover Street in Manchester.
Ismail had moved to the United States from Turkey several years earlier. Through a referral from a family friend, he got a job in New York making bagels. It was in Long Island, Kahya said, where his dad learned the ins and outs of the bagel business from a Jewish family who at the time had a small chain of shops in the New York area.
The knowledge and experience he gathered there would be passed down to his son — but, as Kahya recalls, not right away.
“I watched him. He didn’t let me make anything for a long time. I think it was probably like high school [when] I got to play around with the dough,” Kahya said. “I’ve been pretty much in that store ever since. … I went off to college, did other stuff, but I’ve been making bagels with dad pretty much since then.”
Throughout his college career, Kahya said, he never ruled out the possibility of continuing to work in the family business. In 2011 he opened a second Bagel Cafe on Second Street in the Queen City, eventually moving that to its current spot in Bedford in 2013. By September 2021 they had a third shop, this time in Nashua, called Simit Cafe (named for the Turkish word for a bagel-like bread). This all as the original Bagel Cafe continues its run of more than 25 years.
A bagel sandwich from What A Bagel in Nashua. Courtesy photo.
At around 3,000 square feet, Simit Cafe was the largest of the three storefronts, and this had originally inspired Kahya to introduce more of a full-service cafe concept with additional items. But because the bagels and bagel sandwiches have been far and away the most popular, he said the decision was recently made to rebrand the business as a third Bagel Cafe.
For many local bagel businesses like the Kahyas’, most roads lead back to New York or New Jersey. Take Bob Weygant of Rolleyholers in Exeter as another example — a home baker since his mother taught him at the age of 6, he would move to New Hampshire from New Jersey in the mid-2000s.
“When I moved up here, I missed bagels desperately,” Weygant said. “We used to go back and forth to New Jersey, bring up bagels … and freeze them. … And I got to the point when I said, ‘You know what, I’m going to learn how to make bagels. I know it’s a tremendous process, but hey, let’s go for it.’”
Weygant started selling his own home-baked bagels as a hobby in 2016 before making the transition to a commercial kitchen a few years later. By late December 2020 he would quit his day job with the goal of opening his own brick-and-mortar spot in the new year. Rolleyholers indeed arrived the following June.
Sheryl Tedford of Northfield — who grew up in Bergen County, New Jersey, just outside of New York City — also recalls frequently traveling south for bagels. “We’d go down to New York and New Jersey, come back with like three dozen bagels and put them in the freezer,” said Tedford, who started Bagels From NH as a “pandemic business” in 2020 following her retirement. “We didn’t like any of the bagels you could buy in bags because they just weren’t what we were used to.”
On a whim, Tedford decided to try her hand at making her own and was pleased at how well they came out. She started selling them, eventually becoming a staple at local summer farmers markets in communities like Canterbury and Franklin. Next, she’ll be in Danbury on Feb. 4.
Styles and preferences
Brett Fleckner recalls a proposal made by his stepfather, Robert Frank, who had an established background in the restaurant business.
“He thought we should do either pasta or bagels, and I just went along for the ride,” said Fleckner, whose family has owned and operated Bagel Alley in Nashua since 1989. “He felt that those were two things that would always continue. And, I mean, he was right. Bagels worked.”
More than three decades later, Bagel Alley has become something of an institution in the Gate City, known for its enormous bagels, thicker than your fist and made fresh every morning.
“I get up at 3:30 [a.m.] every day and I come in by 4:30, and if it’s not me it’s my nephew Zachary, and then my sister is here six, seven days a week,” Fleckner said. “That’s what it takes. There’s no shortcuts.”
Bagel Alley has several wholesale accounts in southern New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts. Less than a mile away is What A Bagel, another shop known for making its own bagels fresh every morning, in addition to made-to-order bagel sandwiches.
“Almost all of my bagels are what you would call New York-style,” said owner Chris Weier, a Marine Corps veteran and Nashua native who took over the shop in 2019. “They are all hand-rolled, boiled bagels. … A traditional New York-style bagel is going to be very dense and very chewy.”
At Bagel Cafe, Kahya said, his are more of a take on the traditional New York style.
“We like to steam our bagels,” he said. “We do a lot of sandwiches and I just think, personally, [steaming] the bagel makes it better for making a sandwich. You still have the crust that you want, but it’s not too hard. … I think it’s better than a New York bagel.”
At Rolleyholers, Weygant said he considers his bagels to be akin to New York or New Jersey styles.
“From my definition, a New York style is slightly larger. They have a tougher crust on the outside. … The New Jersey style is going to be a little softer on the outside … and they are slightly smaller at about four and a half ounces,” Weygant said. “But I mean, it really kind of comes down to your recipe and methods. … We’re kettle boiling and using a specific set of ingredients … [and] the amount of time that the bagel is spent in the kettle, the amount of time that they spend in the oven, the temperature at which they’re baking — all of that is going to play a part in what the real result is.”
What A Bagel also offers a few flavors of what Weier referred to as Montreal-style bagels. “Those bagels involve eggs,” he said. “So once you bring eggs into any baking process, you end up with a much softer, fluffier product. Easy to chew, if you think of, say, a brioche bread.”
Kahya said Montreal-style bagels are also traditionally known for being baked with honey-sweetened water in a wood-fired oven.
“I’ve eaten them in Montreal, but I like the New York style and the ones we do better,” he said, adding that the terms can be subjective.
Rolling in the dough
Bagels start with a flour- and water-based dough mixture that must be proofed, or left to rest, over a period of time, just like any yeasted bread.
“One of the significant factors of what makes a bagel a bagel is the hydration of the dough,” Weier said. “The amount of water that’s in the dough is lower than any other bread product that exists.”
Doughs for Weier’s bagels are hand-rolled anywhere from a day or two to a week ahead of time, depending on the batch, before they’re allowed to proof in the cooler.
“When you see those little air pockets inside the bread, that’s what the yeast is doing, is it will rise,” he said. “The longer you can get away with proofing it, the better. We try to stretch it out as many days as possible, because the longer it proofs, the more flavor comes out in the bagel.”
After the dough has finished proofing is where you’ll see bagels either boiled or steamed, depending on where you go. Sometimes they’re formed into their ring shape by hand from a long, thin piece of the dough, or other times a bagel machine will perform that function.
Bagel sandwiches from Bagel Cafe, which has locations in Manchester, Bedford and Nashua (formerly known as Simit Cafe). Courtesy photo.
“At all three of our locations, we have a bagel machine, a mixer and bakers there, so we’re making them at all three,” Kahya said. “We usually do [them] in 50 pound and 100 pound flour batches. The machine has … a former and a divider. So the divider takes slabs of dough and cuts them into perfect amounts, and then it goes through a former and it comes out like a perfect circle.”
Kahya noted that, when it comes to flavors, all of the seeded options can be created starting with a plain bagel dough. The more intricate bagel flavors — think jalapeno cheddar, spinach or French toast — have additional ingredients in the dough and thus must be done in separate batches.
Some bagels at Rolleyholers start with a dough that’s formed by hand, while others use the bagel machine, which Weygant affectionately refers to as “Steve.”
“He’s got to have a name, because he’s our No. 1 employee of the month every year,” Weygant joked. “We did 84,000 bagels last year, all because of him.”
Through extensive practice and trial-and-error, Weygant said he eventually found a “sweet spot” in the water temperature when it comes to kettle-boiling his bagels.
“What you put in that kettle and the temperature of the water … is everything to the final product. If it’s too high or you put it in for too long, you’re going to get garbage,” he said. “We also differentiate ourselves by seeding them on both sides afterward.”
When bagels are ready to be baked, Kahya said this step only takes around 15 minutes, though it may depend on the amount they’re baking at one time.
Weygant pointed out that bagels do not have a long lifespan, which is why they’re baked fresh daily, and multiple times a day at that.
“Bagels begin to degrade the moment they leave the oven, but they do freeze well,” he said. “That said, the only freezer a bagel should ever live in is your own. We never freeze bagels. … So, instead of kettling and baking all of our bagels all at once first thing in the morning, we do it throughout the day so that you get maximum flavor. You get the best possible product, because all of these bagels are only minutes old rather than hours old.”
“Everything” you want
Plain used to be far and away the most popular flavor at Bagel Alley, Fleckner said — that is, until around 10 years ago, when the everything bagel took over.
“Eighty percent of the people that come in here, if they get a bunch of them, everything [bagels are] in that mix,” he said. “It’s amazing how many pans of everything [bagels] we go through compared to everything else.”
The exact ingredients of what you’ll find on an everything bagel may vary slightly.
Everything bagels from Bagel Alley in Nashua. Courtesy photo.
“If you go to the supermarket, there’s probably going to be two or three types in the seasoning aisle that call it an everything topping,” Weier said, “but generally speaking, you’re going to have garlic, onion, poppy, sometimes oat, sometimes sea salt. Generally it’s all the seeds that you would see on the various other bagels, just all combined onto one.”
What A Bagel, he said, will churn out anywhere from 18 different flavors of bagels to as many as 22 flavors on the weekend, from plain and everything to jalapeno cheddar, Asiago, cinnamon sugar, chocolate chip, maple cinnamon French toast and even a rainbow-colored bagel. Fleckner, meanwhile, said Bagel Alley will offer pumpkin-flavored bagels in the fall and green bagels for St. Patrick’s Day in addition to their regular lineup of around 16 flavors.
Asked about the different bagel flavors he can produce, Weygant said the total number is “immeasurable,” with endless possible combinations.
“There’s the ‘Big Seven,’ which is going to be plain, everything, sesame, poppy, onion, garlic and salt. Those are the core flavors that every bagel shop should have,” he said. “[But] I can do bespoke custom bagels for everybody that have more or less anything in them.”
Recently, for example, Weygant made a small, limited batch of Almond Joy bagels.
“It’s a traditional bagel dough, but what I did was I rolled ingredients into the dough by hand,” he said. “Basically it creates sort of like a tube on the inside of the dough, and it was filled with chocolate chips, sugar, coconut and pralined almonds.”
Schmears, eggs and lox
To many of us, a nice toasted bagel just isn’t in the cards without a spread of some cream cheese — or, if you prefer, a schmear.
Bagel with lox from Bagel Cafe (formerly known as Simit Cafe) in Nashua. Courtesy photo.
“When you get a bagel in Jersey or New York, it is loaded with cream cheese. I mean, it’s really front and center,” Bob Weygant of Rolleyholers in Exeter said. “Not everybody wants that much, and so we’ll size people up and give them the option on how much they want.”
Weygant said his shop will typically carry about seven or eight types of cream cheese at any given time, from plain, chive and veggie to other options like maple nut. He’ll make blueberry or strawberry cream cheese when those fruits are in season, and he’ll roast his own garlic for a fresh garlic and herb-flavored spread. He’s even done a sun-dried tomato and pesto cream cheese.
“Right now, I’m actually trying to figure out what the January, February, sort of late winter or mid-winter flavors are going to be,” he said. “I’m leaning toward things like banana, pineapple, vanilla [or] coconut. Just lighter flavors to play with.”
At What A Bagel in Nashua, owner Chris Weier said about eight variations of cream cheese are typically in stock at any given time, from plain and strawberry to cinnamon raisin walnut, bacon and scallion, chive and jalapeno. Bagel sandwiches are also a big deal at his shop — there’s a good selection of variations on the egg sandwich for breakfast, all of which are made to order.
Another traditional add-on to a bagel is known as lox — derived from the Yiddish word “laks,” according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary — or filleted pieces of brined, sometimes smoked, salmon. Weygant said you’ll most commonly also see lox accompanied by cream cheese, capers, red onions and thinly sliced tomatoes in a bagel sandwich.
“In my mind, the best bagel for lox is either a pumpernickel or rye, or a marble. That’s a traditional Jewish meal right there,” he said. “But as long as it’s savory, it will work well. I wouldn’t put it together with a sweet bagel of any kind.”
Bialys
Similar in size and shape to a bagel, a bialy is a traditional delicacy with Polish Jewish roots. But unlike bagels, bialys are simply baked, never boiled. An impression is made in the center of the dough, and will most often contain an onion and poppy seed mixture inside.
Bialys from The Bread Peddler, based in Sanbornton. Courtesy photo.
“It’s kind of like a cross between an English muffin and a bagel,” said Sheryl Tedford of Bagels From NH, a Northfield-based homestead business that also offers bialys. “You toast it like a bagel and eat it like a bagel, [with] cream cheese or butter or whatever you want to put on it.”
Bialys, she said, get their name from the Polish city of Bialystok, where they were first made.
“When you toast it, it’s actually a little crunchier, more like an English muffin. It’s crispier,” she said. “I do an overnight rise on that one, so it rises for 12 to 15 hours at a time, and it’s a much, much wetter dough, so it’s really sticky … and it’s baked quickly at a higher temperature.”
Bob Chertoff of The Bread Peddler, based in Sanbornton, grew up in a Jewish household outside of New York City, where bialys were commonplace. Today they’re a part of his regular lineup of products, which also includes various types of Eastern European breads. You can find him at Seacoast Eat Local’s winter farmers markets on Saturdays in Stratham and Rollinsford. During the spring and summer, he also participates in the Concord Farmers Market on Capitol Street.
“Traditional flavoring for a bialy is caramelized sweet onions mixed with poppy seeds,” Chertoff said. “[It’s] also made at times with garlic or other spices, but I only make the traditional.”
Where to get New Hampshire-made bagels
Here’s a list of local shops, restaurants and homestead businesses that make their own bagels from scratch. Did we miss any that aren’t on this list? Let us know at food@hippopress.com.
Agora Bagels 633-0286, Find them on Facebook @aggiesbagels Paying homage to the traditional New York-style bagel, Agora Bagels is the project of Vassilios Palaskas of Milford, offering a variety of flavors of handcrafted artisan bagels, from plain, everything or cinnamon to French toast and Fruity Pebbles. Call or send a message through Facebook to place bagel orders for pickup on Friday, Jan. 27, at Murphy’s Diner (516 Elm St., Manchester). The cost is $13 per half-dozen and $25 per dozen. The diner will also be officially selling the bagels thereafter as a staple, Palaskas said.
Assorted bagels and cream cheese from Almolu’s in Northwood. Courtesy photo.
Almolu’s 2 Cooper Hill Road, Northwood, 608-1072, find them on Facebook @almolusbakery Almolu’s opened in Northwood in May 2021, getting its name by combining the first names of owner Nat Ewing’s three daughters, Alice, Molly and Lucy. The shop is known for its hand-rolled bagels, of which Ewing said there are around 15 regular flavors in addition to some seasonal specials. Almolu’s also blends more than a half-dozen flavors of its own cream cheese.
Bagel Alley 1 Eldridge St., Nashua, 882-9343, find them on Facebook A stone’s throw from Main Street in downtown Nashua, Bagel Alley has been owned and operated by the same family for more than three decades. Robert Frank and his stepson, Brett Fleckner of Westford, Mass., purchased the shop back in 1989. Bagel Alley makes all of its own bagels from scratch every day, featuring a lineup of about 16 flavors in addition to several kinds of cream cheese and a wide variety of bagel breakfast and lunch sandwiches. The shop also has several wholesale accounts across southern New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts.
Bagel Cafe 373 Hanover St., Manchester, 647-2233; 19 S. River Road, Bedford, 644-5555; 262 Amherst St., Suite A, Nashua (formerly Simit Cafe), 204-5141; bagelcafenh.com In 1996 Ismail Kahya opened the first Bagel Cafe on Hanover Street in Manchester, which he continues to operate today. A second Bagel Cafe opened on Second Street in the Queen City in 2011 before moving to its current spot in Bedford two years later. In September 2021, Kahya’s son Remzi opened Simit Cafe on Amherst Street in Nashua (now also known as Bagel Cafe following a recent rebranding). All three locations are open seven days a week and produce their own hand-crafted bagels every day. Depending on which shop you visit, there’s usually 10 to 12 different flavors alongside a full menu of bagel breakfast sandwiches and several types of cream cheese.
The Bagel Mill Cafe & Bakery 145 Grove St. Ext., Peterborough, 924-0887, bagelmillnh.com Since 1996 this Monadnock shop has been baking bagels and pastries fresh every morning. More than two dozen flavors are available, and with several toppings and spreads to choose from, the combinations are endless.
Bialys from Bagels from NH, based in Northfield. Photo courtesy of owner Sheryl Tedford.
Bagels From NH bagelsfromnh.com, find them on Facebook @bagelsfromnh Sheryl Tedford of Northfield started Bagels From NH, what she called a “pandemic business,” in 2020 after retiring from her regular full-time job. She makes her own New York-style bagels in a variety of flavors, from everything and sesame to raisin and Asiago cheese, in addition to bialys, which she described as a cross between a bagel and an English muffin. Find her next at the Danbury Winter Market on Saturday, Feb. 4, from 9 a.m. to noon, at the Grange Hall (15 North Road, Danbury). During the summer months Tedford has participated in farmers markets in Canterbury, Gilmanton, Franklin and Wilmot.
Bagels Plus 2988 White Mountain Hwy., North Conway, 356-7400, bagels.plus Located just a few minutes’ drive from the center of North Conway, this shop makes its own bagels fresh daily, featuring a lineup of nearly two dozen flavors in addition to various cream cheese and bagel sandwiches.
The Bakeshop on Kelley Street 171 Kelley St., Manchester, 624-3500, thebakeshoponkelleystreet.com This West Side shop makes its own bagels in several flavors, from traditional options like plain and everything to Asiago, garlic onion and jalapeno cheddar. Bagels can also be ordered as breakfast and lunch sandwiches.
Big Dave’s Bagels & Deli 1130 Eastman Road, North Conway, 356-3283, bigdavesbagels.com Before opening his shop in New Hampshire’s Mount Washington Valley in 2010, Dave Hausman learned how to make bagels in New York while working under Arthur Goldberg, whose sons have continued his legacy in several shops across the city’s metro area. In 1989 Hausman opened Monroe Bagels & Deli in Monroe, New York, which he operated for nearly two decades. Bagels at his North Conway shop are scratch-made with a variety of flavors to choose from.
Blue Loon Bakery 12 Lovering Lane, New London, 526-2892, blueloonbakery.com This New London bakeshop opened in June 2018 in the site of a 19th-century barn and farmhouse. Bagels are hand-rolled from scratch and include flavors like plain, everything, sesame, Asiago and cinnamon raisin, and the option to add butter, cream cheese or peanut butter, as well as on several breakfast and lunch sandwiches.
Brown’s Bagel Shop 80 Main St., Newmarket, 292-5988, brownsbagelshop.com Family-owned and -operated, Brown’s makes its own bagels from scratch daily, featuring a variety of flavors like plain, everything, pumpernickel, spinach, French toast and jalapeno cheddar, alongside several types of cream cheese and egg and bagel sandwiches.
Flight Coffee Co. 209 Route 101 West, Bedford, 836-6228, flightcoffeeco.com Flight Coffee Co., which opened in its current space in June 2021, is known for making all its baked items from scratch daily, including its bagels, with flavors like plain, everything, Asiago and rosemary sea salt.
Loxsmith Bagel Co. 1B Wall St., Windham, 507-6105; 11 Main St., Dover, 507-6100; loxsmithbagelco.com With two locations in New Hampshire and a third in Saco, Maine, Loxsmith Bagel Co. is known for making its own bagels fresh every day, featuring a variety of flavors in addition to specialty and build-your-own bagel options.
Rolleyholers 92 Portsmouth Ave., Suite 2, Exeter, 580-4460, rolleyholers.com Rolleyholers, which opened in June 2021, is known for churning out hundreds of bagels a day, and you never know what flavor of dough or cream cheese spread owner Bob Weygant may think of next. There are classics like sesame, cinnamon raisin and everything, but also Asiago, blueberry and jalapeno cheddar. As for the spreads, Rolleyholers has dabbled in everything from plain, chive and veggie to pizza, sun-dried tomato and basil, and even a Dutch apple pie cream cheese.
What A Bagel 24 E. Hollis St., Nashua, 809-4466, what-a-bagel.com Lifelong Nashua native and Marine Corps veteran Chris Weier took over this East Hollis Street shop in 2019. What A Bagel makes its own hand-rolled bagels from scratch daily, producing around 18 flavors during the week and upwards of about 22 flavors on the weekends. Nearly all of them, Weier said, are akin to a traditional New York-style, while a couple of flavors closely resemble Montreal-style bagels, which he said traditionally contain egg. What A Bagel is also known for its breakfast and lunch bagel sandwiches, which are always made to order.
Wicked Sweet Cakes and Treats 2370 Route 114, Bradford, 938-2663, wickedsweetcakesandtreats.com Homemade bagels are baked fresh every Saturday morning at this Bradford shop, according to its website, and are available to order as is or on an egg sandwich.
Winnipesaukee Bay Gulls 118 Whittier Hwy., Moultonborough, 253-3177; 18 Weirs Road, Gilford, 527-8051; winnipesaukeebaygulls.com Bagels here are baked continuously throughout the day. Flavors include everything from the classics — plain, poppy, sesame and everything — to others like cinnamon sugar, Parmesan and cracked wheat.
The Works Cafe 42 N. Main St., Concord, 226-1827, workscafe.com Downtown Concord is just one of several Works Cafe locations you’ll find across New Hampshire (Keene, Durham and Portsmouth), Massachusetts (Amherst), Vermont (Brattleboro and Manchester), Maine (Portland) and New York state (Latham). Traditional New York-style bagels are boiled and baked in small batches daily and are available with a variety of flavored spreads or egg sandwiches to choose from.
Featured photo: A bagel sandwich from What A Bagel in Nashua. Courtesy photo.
The Currier Museum of Art in Manchester welcomes a new chief curator and curator of contemporary art, Lorenzo Fusi. According to a press release, Fusi has curated more than 100 exhibitions and commissioned nearly 200 works all over the world, including the Yerevan Biennial in Armenia, the Liverpool Biennial and Open Eye Gallery in the U.K., the Fondation Prince Pierre in Monaco, Griffin Art Projects and the Illingworth Kerr Gallery in Canada and the Palazzo delle Papesse Contemporary Art Centre in Italy. “I am honored to join the Currier Museum of Art,” Fusi said in the release. “The museum has strong artist and community programs and I hope that my enduring interest in art in the public sphere will deepen and expand these initiatives.” Fusi’s position will entail leading contemporary commissions and the museum’s residency program; promoting collaboration and innovation in the museum’s presentation and interpretation of art; and developing local and international partnerships.
Help for seniors
United Way of Greater Nashua is collecting donations for its Shoebox Project for Seniors now through the end of the month. According to a press release, the nonprofit plans to assemble 500 kits to distribute to low-income homebound seniors who are served by Gateways Community Services, Meals on Wheels and The Caregivers. Accepted items include exercise bands, puzzle books, healthy recipes books, note and greeting cards, stamps, magnifying
glasses, pocket calendars, small stuffed animals, colored pencils, adult coloring books, combs and brushes, dental floss, facial tissue; hot chocolate, tea and coffee bags; and travel size shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap and hand cream. Donations can be dropped off at United Way (20 Broad St., Nashua) on weekdays between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., no later than Feb. 1. Visit unitedwaynashua.org.
Drug warning
Gov. Chris Sununu, with New Hampshire State Police Colonel Nathan Noyes and stakeholders, announced a new public awareness campaign, “No Safe Experience,” at a press conference on Jan. 12. According to a press release, the campaign, which is being overseen by the New Hampshire Department of Safety, was created to inform people that consuming drugs that have not been prescribed to them by a medical provider is not safe under any circumstance. “There is no safe experience with substances, unless they are prescribed by a provider, and taken only as directed by the person they are prescribed to,” Sununu said in the release. “Our campaign will be laser focused on this critical message to help save lives.” The campaign will launch within the next couple of months and run through the fall. It will include video and public service announcements, an active media campaign with personal stories and data, social media campaigns, an informational website, billboards and highly visible signage and posters and materials that will be distributed across the state and made available to schools.
Help in winter
Granite United Way, in collaboration with other nonprofits and community partners, has launched the Manchester Winter Relief Fund, an effort to provide services and shelter to unhoused individuals in Manchester during the winter months. “Given that shelter beds across the state are near or at capacity, we are tremendously grateful for the collaboration between the City, our nonprofit and faith-based partners, as well as the community, to implement additional emergency shelters in Manchester this winter,” Mayor Joyce Craig said in a press release. “This fund will directly support ongoing short- and long-term efforts to meet critical needs in our community.” To donate to the fund, visit graniteuw.org or text WINTERMHT to 41444.
Outstanding women
Nominations are open now for New Hampshire Business Review’s Outstanding Women in Business Awards. According to a press release, nominees should be women from New Hampshire’s business community in any profession who have a strong sense of self and success-driven work ethic and accomplishments to show for it. Visit nhbr.com/events-awards/outstanding-women-in-business to nominate a colleague, family member, client or friend and share how they are a leader in their field through their commitment, vision and talents. Nominations close on Feb 3.
The Concord School Board has voted unanimously to raise the graduation credit requirement for Concord High School students, the Concord Monitor reported. The new requirement will be implemented over the next two school years, raised from the current state minimum of 20 credits to 22.5 credits for the class of 2027 and to 24 credits starting with the class of 2028. Only about 5 percent of Concord High School students graduate with the minimum of 20 credits; the majority of students graduate with between 24 and 27 credits, according to the article.
The Children’s Scholarship Fund New Hampshire branch will host a school fair at The DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown (700 Elm St., Manchester) on Saturday, Jan. 21, from 11 a.m to 2 p.m., as part of National School Choice Week. According to a press release, more than 50 K-12 public and private schools and home-school and online school representatives will be there to talk with families about New Hampshire schooling options and scholarship opportunities. Visit scholarshipfund.org or call 289-4999 for more information.
The Addition Recovery Coalition of New Hampshire in Milford (180 Elm St.) will host a human trafficking info session on Friday, Jan. 27, at 6 p.m. According to a press release, presenter Jasmine Grace Marino, a survivor of human trafficking and author of The Diary of Jasmine Grace. Trafficked. Recovered. Redeemed, will share her story and discuss how to best support someone who may be affected by human trafficking. Visit arcnh.org or call 554-8142.
Winning the Rising Star New Hampshire plaque at this year’s New England Music Awards was quite gratifying for rapper Fee The Evolutionist, but also bemusing. “I was laughing about that,” he said by phone recently. “I’m a rising star — it only took me 20 years.”
It’s actually a bit longer than that.
Bill Fee was dropping rhymes in the mid-1990s, with DJ Lyrical in the group X-Caliber. The period birthed an incredible story, when they impressed producer Ski Beatz during his visit to the radio station at UMass-Lowell. This led to an invite to Ski’s New York City studio, but their opportunity got bumped so another rapper could finish his first album — Jay-Z.
The rest is hip-hop history.
“Looking back, you know, it was probably the right decision,” Fee said with just a little irony. “We weren’t ready.” Ski Beatz stayed a mentor and produced X-Cal’s “Back in the Dayz” last year. The old-school track recounts that heady time and includes Fee’s life partner Ruby Shabazz on vocals.
Fee’s solo career is a newer development.
“I’ve always been in bands,” he said. “Playing drums, percussion, songwriting, rapping, singing … last November was my first solo release.” That would be the blistering “Go,” a two-minute sprint that evokes punk and metal with the same fervor as hip-hop.
Such cross-pollination is typical for Fee, and it’s one reason he and Shabazz have been called “King and Queen of New Hampshire Hip-Hop” more than a few times. Another is the couple’s consistent civic engagement. “We love it,” he said. “We embrace the community, and the community embraces us.”
The latest example of his genre-hopping ways will be on display Sunday, Jan. 15, in his home town of Nashua, when Fee performs with guitarist Adam Payne at Millyard Brewery. The centerpiece of the show, which will also include brief sets from Shabazz and fellow Nashua rapper Cody Pope, is an acoustic set featuring Fee rhyming and Payne’s looped playing.
It’s hip-hop, time-traveling to a ’60s jazz club. “A folk vibe,” Fee said. “I’m gonna bring my cajon and bongos, and some percussion … it’s going to be a lot of improv. Set songs, some familiar covers, but we’re also going to flip stuff, make it fresh.”
This is Fee’s first gig with Payne, who he initially saw perform at a festival in downtown Nashua a few months back. “I loved it, and I said, ‘Hey, I’ve gotta link up.’ This was the opportunity,” he said. Millyard’s a logical venue choice, he added. “I just feel like a brewery is a good place to have guitar and percussion, and kind of introduce what we do.”
The microbrewery has been a big supporter of the local arts scene, offering regular weekend events. In a Jan. 4 email, Millyard’s Dean Baxter called 2022 “a storming year,” saying “we are fast becoming a leading live music venue [and] continue to support some of the best-known musicians in New England. Fee is one of those.”
Fee adopted his Evolutionist moniker to underscore his solo career as a step away from band days, along with the way he draws from many eras as an artist. “I’ve seen the evolution of hip-hop; I’m taking you through that,” he said. “I have soul samples from the ’70s, a little R&B, and I’ll get a little bit more aggressive … that’s one aspect; the other is the evolution of myself, and my growth as a person. I’m always evolving, and trying to learn new stuff.”
He views his NEMA win as validation for the genre in the region. “It’s flourishing; we’re in a renaissance period for hip-hop up here,” he said, pointing to the success of Pope and DJ Myth, who he also collaborates with, and other local artists, along with the excitement that surrounded the recent Hellhound for the Holidays showcase at Nashua Garden as examples.
His own brand of hip-hop is distinct from many others, Fee continued. “I consider it more of the jazz style; it’s organic,” he said, noting it attracts an eclectic group of musicians eager to work with him. “You’d be surprised how many people are open to that … they’re like, ‘Oh, I have never done this before.’ It’s new; we’re kind of making our own genre right now.”
Fee The Evolutionist w/ Adam Payne When: Sunday, Jan. 15, 5 p.m. Where: Millyard Brewery, 25 E. Otterson St., Nashua More: feetheevolutionist.com
Featured photo: Fee The Evolutionist. Courtesy photo.
A terrifying giant doll becomes even more terrifying thanks to some A.I. programming in M3gan, a lively thriller coming in at a brisk hour and 42 minutes.
Gemma (Allison Williams) is a toy designer who becomes the guardian for her tween-ish-aged niece Cady (Violet McGraw) after Gemma’s sister and brother-in-law die in a car accident. Cady, who was in the car with her parents at the time, is understandably distraught about both the traumatic accident and their deaths. Gemma, who is unsure about this whole parenting thing, decides that she can cross two tasks off her to-do list — cheer up Cady and beta test a new toy — by introducing Cady to M3gan, a 4-foot-tall doll who will bond with its primary user and learn how to relate with that particular child. Previously, Gemma had helped develop toy company Funki’s Purrpetual Petz, a sort of toothy-Sonic-plus-Furby creation that looks nightmarish but has impressive tech (we later learn that Gemma has programmed it to listen to its kid owners and collect data — but of course). It is also sort of chef’s-kiss perfect in how annoying it is portrayed as — it makes realistically parent-aggravating noises and has all of these dumb app-based features.
M3gan (voice by Jenna Davis; Amie Donald does the doll action, according to Wikipedia), which will be a kid’s best friend, surrogate parent and gentle nag about teeth brushing all rolled into one, also seems like a just awful product and one of the great aspects of this movie is that most people’s reaction to seeing the doll for the first time is to be instantly creeped out by it. For some reason, though, it isn’t until a therapist points out that Cady is transferring all of the grief-bonding that should be happening with Gemma to the doll, that Gemma starts to get a little concerned. She tries to get Cady to take some breaks from M3gan, but by then her silicone creation has started to get sassy.
Again, it is really quite delightful that this movie never tries to get us to think maybe M3gan is a good idea. From the first moment we meet the first prototype (whose face melts! It’s great!), the movie makes it clear that this poorly-thought-out toy will be some kind of horror show, even if we don’t know at first what kind. When I first saw the trailer for this movie, I probably thought something like “ugh, what ridiculous nonsense.” After seeing it, though, my reaction is “What ridiculous nonsense! 10 out of 10! Four stars! No notes!” Like the brutal artificial intelligence it portrays, it feels like this movie guessed the potential response to it and absolutely leaned all the way in. Is it all intentional, what a snort-laugh hilarious movie this frequently is? I think probably. Williams has such a great “ha! What?” energy the whole time and everyone is so appropriately, un-horror-movie wigged out by M3gan that I feel like M3gan knows it’s chosen gothicly silly over scary and that that choice was correct. B+
Rated PG-13 for violent content and terror, some strong language and a suggestive reference, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Directed by Gerard Johnstone with a screenplay by Akela Cooper and a story by Akela Cooper and James Wan, M3gan is a delightful hour and 42 minutes long and is distributed by Universal Studios.
