Theatre Kapow performs What The Constitution Means To Me
When Theatre Kapow put together its current season last spring, the selection for early February looked to be a good one. The independent company leans toward plays that engage, challenge and provoke audiences. What The Constitution Means to Me, Obie-winning playwright Heidi Schreck’s account of the document’s impact on her life, fit that bill.
As a teenager Schreck was an evangelist for the Constitution. “It was like a Bible to me,” she said in a 2018 interview. At 15 she toured the country earning college tuition money by winning Constitutional debate competitions. Much of her play looks at the document’s impact on women’s lives, beginning with her great-great-grandmother and moving forward.
No one could have predicted Theatre Kapow’s prescience in choosing What The Constitution Means to Me, however. While Carey Cahoon, who plays Schreck, and director Emma Cahoon certainly knew its themes were timely and important, the past several months have made them even more impactful.
“One of the amendments that Heidi talks about quite a bit is the 14th,” Carey said in a recent Zoom interview that included Emma. “Many of us have been thinking about that particular amendment a lot lately, because that’s birthright citizenship; due process, equal protection under the law.”
In the same 2018 BUILD Series interview, Schreck called the amendment an impetus for writing the play. “I was looking for ways my own life had been personally affected by the Constitution,” she said. “The 14th amendment is very powerful, and they used it to decide a lot of cases having to do with female bodies.”
Re-reading the script to prepare for her role reminded Carey of its relevancy. “What’s more important to understand is the impact on our daily lives,” Carey said. “What does it mean to live it?” Emma described cathartic preparations, as events in Minnesota, Maine and other places demanded attention.
“We come in at the top of every day and spend 15 minutes being like, ‘Oh my God, the news since we last met,’” she said. “Then we just dive into something that feels productive. We get to step outside of ourselves without ignoring the big thing; instead, really processing the big thing.”
Emma stressed that addressing vital issues isn’t the only reason they’re doing the play.
“It’s very vulnerable and also very dark, and its historical language can be very specific, but it’s also very funny,” she said. “As we continue to deconstruct this play I think we’re still finding a way to have fun with it in spite of everything.”
The cast includes Nick Meunier playing a Legionnaire who helps a young Schreck during her debates, and two students from New Hampton School, Adia and Inaya Robinson-Wood, who alternate as high school debaters. The play concludes with a debate, on whether the Constitution should be abolished, with audience participation encouraged.
What The Constitution Means to Me opens with three shows at Winnipesaukee Playhouse and concludes with three more the following weekend at Concord’s BNH Stage. Following each of two Sunday matinees, anyone who wants to stay is invited for a conversation with the cast and director, with the hope of personalizing the production.
Carey noted that native New Englanders have a unique perspective.
“Revolutionary and Constitutional history is the local history,” she said. “You’re talking about it starting in your elementary school, because those things happened right here. If you grew up in a different part of the country, you’re not necessarily so well-versed in that period of American history.”
Both urge audiences to arrive with a willingness to engage in active listening — but also to enjoy the play as theater.
“I’m finding it fun, and I’m finding it layered — and I’m finding it cathartic,” Emma said. “I’m hoping that’s the experience people have in the room with us as well. I hope the spirit we’ve found in the rehearsal room is exactly what it feels like to then join us as an audience.”
What The Constitution Means To Me When: Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through Feb. 15 Where: Winnipesaukee Playhouse, 33 Footlight Circle, Meredith (Feb. 6–8) and BNH Stage, 16 S. Main St., Concord (Feb. 13–15) Tickets: $30 and up at tkapow.com Advisory: Contains references to and discussions of domestic violence, sexual assault, abortion, and generational trauma
Featured photo: Carey Cahoon & Nick Meunier. Photo by Claire Gardner
Experts weigh in on this fully loaded party-ready snack
Nachos might be the most social food; they are meant to be shared.
Jon Carnevale, the owner of Shorty’s Mexican Roadhouse in Manchester and Nashua, agreed. “I think that’s the great thing about nachos,” he said. “I think it certainly really lends itself to just being social and going out with friends and enjoying yourselves, enjoying company. It’s something that, like our nachos here, they’re huge. So they can feed one, two, three people to an order, depending on the appetite. … [Nachos] have something primal about them — eating them with your hands. …There’s a connection there that doesn’t exist for some other dishes.”
According to Andy Sanborn, owner of Draft Sports Bar in Concord, it’s possible that nachos have become the No. 1 bar food. “We have some great nachos and it raises the question … are nachos overtaking chicken wings and tenders as the go-to snack for America,” Sanborn speculated, “and we think it could be. We have some awesome, awesome wings here that I’m very proud of. But it could be nachos over wings. They’re that popular.”
“Nachos are just like an easy grab-and-share item. I think that that’s what’s appealing to people,” said Elissa Drift, owner of Local Street Eats in Nashua. “Nachos are endless; you can put whatever you want on them and just really customize them to make them unique or different, colorful, and flavorful. And I think that is what the big appeal is. I’m a sucker for a nacho. I love a good cheesy nacho. But I just think it’s honestly just that a fun little grab and bite and you can put a little bit more on, a little bit less on, and it’s … just the versatility that it has to offer.”
For Jaime Metzger, manager of Granite State Candy in Manchester, it’s that versatility that makes nachos great.
“There are just endless options,” Metzger said. “You know, you have a chip and then you just, you have, there’s so many ways to, there’s so many ways to nacho. You can do sweet, you can do savory, you can add whatever toppings you want. It’s a group thing, but it can be individual — no judgments. Nachos aren’t judgy.”
The Chips
Nacho professionals agree that good nachos have to start with a base of good chips.
“We make our own chips with our own spices on them,” Andy Sanborn said. “I think that’s important. It keeps them fresh. It keeps them new. It gives them an individual taste.”
The tortilla chips at Shorty’s are made in-house, too. “Yeah, you’ve got to cook those every day,” said owner Jon Carnevale. “Those are done in-house again, seasoned by us.” While Carnevale and his staff don’t make tortillas from scratch, he emphasized that they make chips from them every day.
This focus on freshly made chips can extend beyond tortilla chips. Jeff DiAntonio, chef at The Peddler’s Daughter in Nashua, makes fresh potato chips for the base of his Irish nachos. “We cut our own chips,” he said. “We use 90-count russet Idaho potatoes, and then we fry those off to order.”
Other nacho-makers are less invested in making chips in-house but have high standards for the qualities of the chips they use.
“I get these really excellent corn chips from my vendor,” said Stanley Tremblay, owner, chef and head brewer of Liquid Therapy in Nashua. “They’re nice and thick with just enough salt to be tasty, with a good crunch, and they’re fairly thick so they withstand the toppings without getting soggy. So it’s really a primo chip that I love. It’s a real nice, crunchy, good yellow corn.”
The Cheese
Sharing equal billing as the most important element of an order of nachos is the cheese.
Jon Carnevale said the best cheese for nachos requires extra effort.
“You absolutely have to grate your own cheese,” Carnevale said. “You don’t want to use pre-bagged cheese that you’d find in the supermarkets, because it’s dry. It doesn’t have the moisture content that it would if you grated your own. That’s one of the big points. You don’t get the cheese pull, you don’t get that kind of luxurious cheesiness that you get if you grate your own.” The stretchy, melty cheese feels better in a person’s mouth, he said, and gives a plate of nachos important visual appeal.
“We use cotija cheese,” said Camaron Carter, co-owner of Sunstone Brewing in Londonderry. Cotija, pronounced “co-tee-hah,” is a dry, crumbly, Mexican cheese, a little like feta. “It just adds a little bit more saltiness to it. We like nachos that are more of the dip version of a nacho instead of your classic melted cheese on top. With melted cheese, you peel it off and you end up with that nucleus in the middle that everyone’s fighting over. This way, we kind of like this version of a nacho where it’s a lot easier to eat, easier to share.”
Andy Sanborn likes to have cheese options. “We use a tri-blend mix of cheese,” he said. ”But within our restaurant, we have something like seven different cheeses. So our ability to utilize different cheeses to hit differently on the taste palette is important.”
“We use a blend, a 50-50 blend of cheddar and jack,” said Jeffrey Spencer, a prep leader and shift supervisor at Margaritas Mexican Restaurant in Manchester. The cheddar gives the nachos a deeper cheesy flavor, he said, and the jack gives them a gooey, melty quality. “We have it shredded for us. It’s a specific brand that’s made for us specifically. They send us the blend; it has a box labeled Margaritas, mixed cheese.” This provides a consistency to the cheese; it is reliably the same every time.
The Build
We’ve all been disappointed at one time or another by finishing off delicious toppings only to be left with half an order of dry, broken chips. All our nacho experts agreed on the importance of making certain that all the chips are paired with toppings.
“We start with a skillet,” said Jeffrey Spencer, “and we put beans down on the skillet. Then we put a layer of chips and then we cover them with queso sauce. Then we do another layer of chips, add the protein, and then our mix of cheeses on top. And then when it comes out of the oven, it gets pico [pico de gallo, a fresh salsa], pickled jalapeños, guacamole and sour cream to add some brightness to set off all the stodge. We make our own queso. It’s not like from a can.”
“A key point is that you’ve got to do two layers,” advised Jon Carnevale. “You have to have one layer of cheese, more than whatever toppings you’re looking to add. You’ve got to have the right chip-to-cheese ratio. That’s very important, so you don’t have a little cheese on top and then a bunch of dry chips on the bottom. We do it in two layers here and we have a method that we stick to to make sure we preserve that ratio.”
Korean Nachos at Liquid Therapy. Courtesy photo.
Jeff DiAntonio is also a proponent of equal chip coverage, also in layers. “We [cook nachos] on a sheet pan in the oven,” he said. “We have a nice layer of chips and a little bit of cheese, and then a little bit more chips, cheese, and then the toppings go on top of that.”
For Stanley Tremblay at Liquid Therapy, though, the whole concept of layers of nachos seems fraught with danger. “Ours are cooked in the oven,” he said, “not under a broiler. The most important thing though is that everything is all on one layer, so you never get a bad chip.’
Andy Sanborn said that contrary to popular opinion putting together a really good plate of nachos can actually be fairly labor-intensive.
“I think you have to put in the work to make great nachos,” he said. “Look, you know, someone can just throw some tortilla chips out of a bag onto a pizza tin and throw some cheese on it, throw it in the oven and add some tomatoes, jalapeños and onions and call it a day. There are plenty of people that do that, and it works for them. We make everything from scratch at our restaurant; we want to make [our nachos] memorable.”
CLASSIC INGREDIENTS
Most people have a baseline image of nachos: tortilla chips, cheese and some fresh ingredients.
“The biggest thing for nachos is that you have to make a lot of them,” said Jon Carnevale. “That’s the key. And that’s what we do here at Shorty’s. I think sour cream has to be in there. Pickled jalapeños will go on them. Because you have all the richness from the cheese and all those other ingredients, you have the pickled jalapeños to kind of keep it in focus. It’s a good balance to that richness. It adds a little heat too. But it should be a little sprinkle. It’s not to overpower the plate, but just a little accent. We add a scoop of guac on each order of our nachos; that adds something. If you’re looking for meat, I’d pick good old-fashioned gringo ground beef, or even our chili. We make our Jailhouse chili in-house every day. And that on nachos is fantastic, especially this time of year.”
INNOVATIONS
What if you want to be a little more adventurous and experimental with your nachos? Nachos provide a great canvas to showcase special ingredients.
Short rib nachos
According to Michael Martin, chef at Miller’s Tavern in Manchester, highlighting a special ingredient on an order of nachos means the ingredient has to be of the highest quality. “We make our short ribs from scratch,” he said. “We have a house recipe that we use. Our short rib is slow-roasted for four hours so it’s tender and full of flavor. It’s so good. To top it off you can get it with our … barbecue sauce. We make nachos with pork or with the short rib. Most people go with the short rib. And then we top that with melted cheddar cheese, our house-made pico de gallo, along with our house-made barbecue sauce. You can add sour cream or diced jalapeños.”
Irish nachos
One increasingly popular form of nachos substitutes potato chips for tortilla chips. Jeff DiAntonio at the Peddler’s Daughter said potato chips support an even larger number of directions to take nachos in.
“These are something different. It’s not your typical corn tortilla. … The potatoes are a different spin on the ordinary nacho you get. We fry the chips to order, and we’ll top them with cheddar jack cheese, onion, tomato, sour cream and scallion for a basic one. But then we also have options to add barbecue pork, grilled chicken and bacon to them,” he said.
Street corn nachos
The nachos at Sunstone Brewing take their inspiration from Mexican street corn, which as its name suggests, is sold on the streets of Mexico, roasted and topped with lime juice, crema, and salty cheese.
“The base [of our street corn nachos] is a cream and cream cheese based street corn dip,” said Camaron Carter, “with corn, peppers and jalapeños. Obviously there’s the corn, which is fire roasted. And then you have some green and red peppers in there as well. Then on top you have the grilled chicken with some pickled jalapeños on top, some cotija cheese. And then chopped green onions to finish it. It was on our very first menu when we opened and people have loved it so much that it’s been there ever since.”
“I think our classic Sunstone Golden Ale goes perfectly with nachos,” Carter said. “It’s nice and light and not too hoppy. It has a breadiness to it that kind of helps deal with all the saltiness of the chips and all of that. I think it’s kind of perfect, especially if you’re watching a football game or any sports and having some nachos and some beers. You kind of want something light like that, that won’t overtake some of the flavors that you get from the nachos.”
Korean nachos
One very adventurous variation on traditional nachos is Liquid Therapy’s Korean-inspired Seoul-ful nachos.
“It’s a nice easy base of 100 percent corn chips,” Stanley Tremblay said, “with some cheddar jack on top. And then I have my shredded pork and my shredded chicken that I make in-house. That goes over the top. Then I’ll add some red onion, some mushrooms and some peppers. I add a little more cheese on top and a gochujang drizzle. If you’ve ever had Korean barbecue — it’s sweet, it’s tangy, it’s got a little heat. It’s got everything you want to have in something that’s super delicious and stick-to-your-ribs and comfort food.
“I also created an Asian-style pickle, with rice wine vinegar, a little apple cider vinegar, some ginger, some soy sauce, some heat from red pepper flakes, some garlic, and I fine-chopped some radishes, carrots and napa cabbage, with more red onion and garlic. I do a quick pickle to kind of create this kind of kimchi-meets-pickle salsa. A little cup of that goes out so people can put that on at their leisure on top of the nacho to get that, you know, little bit of continued Asian feel and warmth and deliciousness,” Tremblay said.
“My vendor had this awesome gochujang sauce that I was able to plug and play with, and it all just kind of came together. I even made chili out of it as well. I did a chicken pork chili with some peppers and onions and beans and then put a little gochujang with that pickle medley as well and people ate it up. So I think this year it really seems like that spicy-sweet setup is getting traction in the restaurant industry. I’ve noticed that a lot with my, you know, my Buffalo and I’ve got some other things that I made with a ghost pepper aioli with some honey and some other stuff. It has this full mouth feel, full tongue effect, bringing in all those different senses,” Tremblay said.
Carnitas and Buffalo chicken nachos
“For our Buff [Buffalo] chicken nachos,” Andy Sanborn said, “we fry chicken tenders that we dice, then we wet batter them again with our own wet batter. We fry the chicken off and then we have our own Buffalo sauce that we toss the chicken tenders in before we put them on the nachos. So you’re getting good, fresh, uniquely battered and uniquely Buffalo-y Buffalo sauce chicken on top.”
“For our carnitas nachos, we make pork carnitas [shredded roast pork] the old-fashioned way,” he said, “and then we have a southwestern cowboy queso dip that we include with the cheese. It actually kind of goes on top of the cheese near the end to give it yet another flavor profile, so it’s not just tortilla chips, cheese, tomatoes, onions and jalapeños. It’s more involved than that as something to eat.”
“We actually do our own smoking here,” Sanborn noted. “We smoke the pork off first. When we make our carnitas, it’s pork that’s smoked in-house. It’s dry rubbed in-house with our own special sauce and with our own special spices, which is secret. And then we smoke it until it’s finger soft. People talk about ribs falling off the bone, but you want your pork shoulder to break up easily because it’s easy for people to chew on. We kind of pride ourselves in our taste palate on our smoked pork.”
Ice cream nachos
Nachos are flexible enough to support sweet versions as well as savory ones.
Jaime Metzger invented ice cream-based nachos for Granite State Candy.
Ice Cream Nachos from Granite State Candy. Photo by Jaime Metzger.
“Ice cream nachos are a lot of fun, actually,” she said. “Basically, it’s pieces of waffle cone in the shape of round nacho chips. You can pick two different ice creams or two of the same ice creams. And you get your choice of two sauces. Again, you could do the same sauces or you could do different ones. Hot fudge, caramel, peanut butter, marshmallow, strawberry, the list goes on. And then you get to pick two toppings. So you can pick a candy topping, you can do sprinkles, you can do whipped cream, you can do any of those. And then there you are.”
“My only complaint,” Metzger said, “is, we have hard ice cream — versus soft serve — so sometimes the chips break when you try to dip them in the ice cream and that bothers me. We give spoons with it, though, so you could take the spoon and use it to load the chips.” Ice cream nachos are really good to order on a date, she said. “I’ve definitely seen couples get it. Like he picks and then she picks and they do their thing, because it’s two of everything. For an additional fee you can get an extra bag of the waffle chips if you don’t think there’s enough that comes with it. You can buy another bag of waffle chips. Any additional toppings or anything are available upon request, for an additional cost. I mean, you can go crazy and put tons and tons of things.”
Where to find these nachos
Traditional nachos: Shorty’s Mexican Roadhouse 1050 Bicentennial Drive, Manchester, 625-1730, shortysmex.com, Nachos – starting at $12.99 Margaritas Mexican Restaurant Manchester 1037 Elm St., Manchester, 647-7717, margs.com, Loaded Skillet Nachos – $16.99
Short rib nachos: The Miller’s Tavern 1087 Elm St, Manchester, 854-8442, themillerstavern.com, $18.95
Irish nachos: Peddler’s Daughter 48 Main St., Nashua, 821-7535, thepeddlersdaughter.com, starting at $13
Korean nachos: Liquid Therapy Brewery and Grill 14 Court St., Nashua, 402-9391, liquidtherapynh.com, Seoul-ful Nachos, $16
Carnitas and Buffalo chicken nachos: The Draft Sports Bar and Grill Concord Casino, 67 S. Main St., Concord, 227-1175, draftsportsbar.com
Ice cream nachos: Granite State Candy Shoppe 832 Elm St., Manchester, 218-3885, granitestatecandyshoppe.com, $8.95
Featured photo: Korean Nachos at Liquid Therapy. Courtesy photo.
NH Poet Laureate Jennifer Militello will present her new book Identifying the Pathogen: An Inquiry tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Gibson’s Bookstore, 45 S. Main St. in Concord, gibsonsbookstore.com.
Thursday, Feb. 5
Comedian Katherine Blanford takes the stage at the BNH Stage (16 S. Main St., Concord, 225-1111, ccanh.com) tonight at 7:30 p.m. Blanford is known for her “human golden retriever presence” on stage. Tickets are $32 in advance through the Capitol Center’s website or $37 at the door.
Friday, Feb. 6
Lotus Land: the definitive Rush tribute act performs at the Tupelo Music Hall (10 A St., Derry, 437-5100, tupelomusichall.com) tonight and tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 7, at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $50 through the Music Hall’s website.
Friday, Feb. 6
The Jewel Music Venue (61 Canal St., Manchester, 819-9336, jewelmusicvenue.com) hosts Loud Entertainment’s 2-Year Birthday Bash tonight starting at 7 p.m., featuring Hit-N-Run: Tickets are $20.98 through eventbrite.com.
Friday, Feb. 6
Mentalist Jon Stetson performs a live 18+ show of mysterious mental abilities tonight at 8 p.m. at Chunky’s Cinema Pub (707 Huse Road, Manchester, 206-3888, chunkys.com). Tickets are $35 through the Chunky’s website
Saturday, Feb. 7
Local author Robert B. Perreault will be signing copies of his books from 1 to 4 p.m. today at Barnes & Noble in Manchester (1741 S. Willow St., bn.com). His latest, Courtship in Purgatory, is his first historical romance novel. Perreault is also the author of nonfiction titles about Manchester history.
Sunday, Feb. 8
Join the High School Musical sing-along at the BNH Stage (16 S Main St., Concord, 225-1111, ccanh.com) today at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance through the Capitol Center’s website, or $20 at the door.
Sunday, Feb. 8
Watch your New England Patriots face off agains the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday, Feb. 8, starting at 6:30 p.m. The game airs on NBC and via Peacock.
Monday, Feb. 9
The Glimpse Gallery, 4 Park St. in Concord, theglimpsegallery.com, opens its newest show with the works of six featured artists — Barbara Morse, Linda Graham, Larry Smukler, Peter Sandback, Tessa Magnuson and Bonnie Beauchamp-Cooke — today. The show runs through March 9. See the website to RSVP to a Feb. 21 opening reception and to make an appointment to see the exhibit.
Save the Date! Friday, Feb. 13 The Community Players of Concord NH will present Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson Apt 2D at the Concord City Auditorium (2 Prince St., Concord, 228-2793, theaudi.org) at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13, and Saturday, Feb. 14, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 15. Oddball female roommates Sherlock Holmes and Joan Watson join forces solving mysteries and kicking butts until they come face to face with the villain who seems to have all the answers. Tickets are $22 for adults and $20 for guests under 13 or over 64 years old. Visit communityplayersofconcord.org or buy tickets at the box office 90 minutes prior to curtain.
Featured photo: Courtship in Purgatory by Robert B. Perreault
In a Facebook post on Feb. 2, Greater Nashua Mental Health said that the 440 Amherst St. location in Nashua is closed due to the fire on Monday afternoon. Three firefighters were injured and the building was destroyed in the fire after a natural gas leak and explosion, according to a Feb. 3 report on WMUR. Greater Nashua Mental Health advised patients to call during business hours if they are scheduled for in-person appointments at the 440 Amherst St. location; Greater Nashua Mental Health locations on Prospect and Pine streets are “operating as usual,” the Facebook post said. See gnmhc.org.
Discover science
SEE Science Center, 200 Bedford St. in Manchester, will hold a Community Discovery Night on Friday, Feb. 13, from 5 to 8 p.m. “During this free event SEE is inviting all members of the community to discover Black influence in Science Technology Engineering and Math,” according to a press release. Sign up by Wednesday, Feb. 11, at see-sciencecenter.org. This family event will feature food, demonstrations, activity stations, a scavenger hunt and more, the website said. “SEE will continue the celebration during February to celebrate Black History Month. The scavenger hunt will be available daily and pop-up activities will be available on select weekend and vacation days,” the press release said. SEE will be open extra days for school breaks in February: Monday, Feb. 16, and Monday, Feb. 23, from 10 a.m to 4 p.m., the release said.
Farming conference
The Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Hampshire will hold its 24th Annual Winter Conference on Saturday, March 7, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, according to a press release. The conference, featuring the theme “Taking Root: Nourishing Community,” is open to farmers, gardeners, food system professionals, organic advocates and others, and will feature more than 20 workshops, the release said. The day also features a Green Market Fair and a keynote with David Trumble of Good Earth Farm and Sara Hansen of Kearsarge Gore Farm, the release said. See nofanh.org for tickets.
Housing conference
New Hampshire Housing will hold a homeownership conference at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord on Wednesday, March 18, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., according to an email about the event. “The agenda includes discussions on housing affordability, property taxes, and housing finance trends, along with a keynote fireside chat,” the email said. Tickets cost $75 and include breakfast. See nhhfa.org.
The Eleventh Letter Writing Gallery, 146 N. Main St. in Concord, in partnership with the Women’s Caucus for Art/New Hampshire Chapter, will hold a free drop-in Valentine’s Day Art Event on Saturday, Feb. 7, from 1 to 3 p.m., with supplies provided to decorate an “I Am Grateful For You” postcard, according to a press release. See theeleventhletter.com.
“Paint Your Partner” at Stark Brewing, 500 N. Commercial St. in Manchester, on Saturday, Feb. 14, 1 to 3 p.m., during a special Valentine’s Day event from Junior Service League of Concord and NH Craft Club. Registration for a pair costs $45 — “bring a significant other or a friend!” the press release said — with craft materials provided, and Stark Brewing’s menu will be available to purchase from. See jslconcord.org/upcoming-events.
Spyglass Brewing Co., 306 Innovative Way in Nashua, will hold a competitive puzzle night on Thursday, Feb. 5, from 6 to 8 p.m, according to spyglassbrewing.com. The fastest team (of up to four players) to put together a 500-piece puzzle wins a prize and bragging rights; limited spots available, the website said.
After his band The Ghost of Paul Revere called it quits after a dozen years together, singer, songwriter and guitarist Griffin William Sherry went solo. His debut album, Hundred Mile Wilderness, was greeted as one of 2024’s best. His live shows, sprinkled with Ghost songs, were equally lauded, and his fan base grew steadily.
However, as a recent phone interview got underway from Sherry’s home in Augusta, Maine, Sherry’s old band was top of mind. In mid-January, news broke of a fall reunion show and a reboot of Ghostland, the annual festival that ended with the dissolution of the much-loved band, amidst hopes it might carry on without them.
“That cat just ran out of the bag,” a laughing Sherry said. “Yeah, we’re getting the band back together, Blues Brothers style. Carrie Fisher will be exhumed from the grave and chase us down with a missile launcher…. We always wanted to play a show together and kind of kept that door open in case.”
He’s especially pleased that his band will perform at Ghostland, on Sept. 6 at Thompson’s Point in Portland, Maine. “That was something I really wanted to happen, for people that might not have been paying attention the last couple of years to see what I’ve been working on.”
His solo material is story-forward and personal, like “Roll Down Slow,” a hard-luck tale drawn from life on the road.
“As a touring musician, you tend to meet a certain type of people that tend to go pretty hard after the sun goes down,” he said. “That kind of flagrant irresponsibility was super interesting to me, and not something I was unfamiliar with.”
Written for his wife the morning after Roe v. Wade was overturned, “We Will Fight” is a defiant love song that resonates at shows. “I use it as an opportunity to platform both Planned Parenthood and also what I see as a civic duty to stand up for your neighbors and not let the times roll over you,” he said. “I think it’s pretty important right now.”
Hundred Mile Wilderness was recorded in Nashville’s legendary Studio B with producer Eddie Spear, who helmed Luke Bryan’s multi-platinum American Heartbreak and also worked with Brandi Carlile, Sierra Ferrell and breakout star Jesse Welles. Sherry played with a band of ace session players.
“My Juliet” is a breezy looking-for-love country song with a character highly informed by the studio band. Sherry allowed that many tracks reflect what he termed “the Nashville bluegrass [and] Americana sound that’s popular right now,” but his spirit, along with his original vision, still guides the effort.
“A lot of the stuff that I had brought to Eddie we ended up using on the final record,” he said. “The instrumentation we chose, certainly having Billy Contreras on fiddle, made it seem a little bit more like a bluegrass record. But that band … I can’t speak highly enough about all those guys.”
Sherry and his touring band, including guitarist Zachary Bence and bass player McCrae Hathaway, are at Manchester’s Rex Theatre on Jan. 30. He was at the venue around the same time last year, bringing filmmaker Ernest Thompson on stage to do “Cross The Bridge,” a song he co-wrote with Joe Delault and Thompson for the movie The Constituent.
Several new songs have made their way into sets lately, including the dreamy “Cathedral of Pine,” released in November, and “Moline,” a brooding ballad yet to be recorded. Sherry explained that he enjoys sharing his works in progress with an audience, and gaining insights from the experience.
“I don’t feel like a song is truly written until I’ve performed it in front of a bunch of people, to see where the reactions are and what needs to be changed or reinforced,” he said. “So I love playing songs for crowds before we put them on a record, so I have a little bit more of an idea what that song’s identity is.”
Griffin William Sherry When: Friday, Jan. 30, 7:30 p.m. Where: Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester Tickets: $40 at palacetheatre.org
Featured photo: Griffin William Sherry. Courtesy photo.
One of the attractions of going out for Korean barbecue or hot pot is the ability to completely design your perfect dish — literally from soup to nuts. OBA Korean BBQ & Hot Pot on South Willow Street in Manchester, which opened in mid-December, sets its customers up to make fundamental decisions about their meals, from the ingredients in their dishes to how they are cooked.
According to OBA’s Francesca Cardeo, customers will select ingredients for their meals and cook them themselves at their table. Each table is fitted out with a grill for cooking proteins and recessed heating elements where each customer can cook their hot pot.
“Everyone gets to pick their own hot pot base, which is a soup base,” Cardeo said. “And everything is raw. You cook everything yourself. And so say I pick the tom yum [Thai soup base], it will come out to your table, you turn the button on the heating element and it will bring it to a boil, and then you cook all your meat in it, and then your vegetables. Everyone does it differently. Some of the heating elements are stronger than others, but I will say that last night they brought my hot pot out and it was boiling within two minutes.”
“When I take people’s orders, I see if everyone wants to pick their hot pot first,” Cardeo said, “because I like to get the broth out first and get it going, even though it doesn’t take that long. And then I like to bring them any meat they’ve ordered. And then I do the fish and the extra stuff, followed by the ramen and the vegetables. And then I’ll flip, and then I’ll do the barbecue stuff.”
Cardeo said this style of dining gives groups of people an opportunity to try new foods.
“I had a table earlier of six people and they all chose their own broth and they all tasted each other’s broth. Then they know the next time they come which broth they want.” She said sometimes everyone at a table will want to grill the same meat, then customize their meal afterward. “If it’s a large table, and if someone wants bulgogi [a Korean cut of beef], we’ll ask, ‘Does anyone else want bulgogi? And then I’ll put in the amount of people that I have at the table. Then, when the meat comes out, it will all be on one tray. And then everyone shares it.”
Cardeo’s favorite combination of ingredients would be difficult to order off a menu.
“My favorite for the hot pot is the beef belly,” she said. “Then I get fried tofu. I get shiitake mushrooms, I get rice cakes, and then tofu skin, bean curds, and bok choy. That’s my favorite.”
Even though most customers associate tableside grilling and cooking with beef or pork, there are dozens of protein options to choose from, from different cuts of meat, to Spam, to baby octopus, chicken, shrimp and other, more vegetarian-friendly, options. “We do actually have a lot of vegans, and vegetarians that come in,” Cardeo said, “and they have a ball with the tofu, and stuff and all the vegetables.”
OBA has been designed around the concept of personalization; while the focus is on grilling and hot pot, there are different side dishes to customize with as well.
“We have a hot spot at the buffet with egg rolls, crab legs and all different kinds of hot food,” she said. “And then we have salads, kimchi, seaweed salad, that’s all included, once you pay your base price. So you can either do just hot pot, you can either do just Korean barbecue, you can do both. We don’t do takeout, and we don’t let people take food home, though.”
OBA Korean BBQ & Hot Pot Where: 371 S. Willow St., Manchester, 932-2168, obakoreanbbqhotpot.com Hours: seven days a week from noon to 10 p.m., and until 10:30 on Fridays and Saturdays.
