How the food scene in New Hampshire has grown since the Hippo’s debut
The local food scene looked a lot different when the Hippo launched 20 years ago. Farm-to-table menus were few and far between, smoking in restaurants was still allowed, and craft beer was mostly still a thing do-it-yourselfers were brewing in their garages. In the third of our month-long series looking back at some of the subjects Hippo has covered over the years, we talked to a few people who have been part of that food scene about how it’s changed, what it might look like 20 years from now and the challenges ahead.
Alex Ray
Alex Ray is the owner and founder of the Common Man Family of Restaurants, which includes six Common Man restaurants throughout the state, the Airport Diner in Manchester, the Common Man Roadside at the rest stops in Hooksett off Interstate 93, and several other restaurants in the Lakes Region and beyond. He opened the first Common Man in Ashland in 1971.
How would you describe the local food scene 20 years ago?
Twenty years ago I think there was a greater percentage of independent owner-operated places where the owner, and often the family, was on site every day. Some restaurants were big, some small, but they were predominantly owner-run day to day.
What do you think the most significant changes have been over the last 20 years, pre-pandemic?
I think there’s less individual personality [in] restaurants. I think as a result there’s less variety and more national branded restaurants. Another change is [that there is] less on-site cooking and creating from scratch across the board and more pre-prepped food. This is because labor costs have risen faster than general costs.
What has surprised you about the way the state’s food scene has developed?
There has been a more recent return to independent restaurants with buying local and more individual chefs and owners coming into the industry. In general people don’t come to restaurants just to eat food; they come for an experience. They like the personality of a place. That personality and vibe comes from the greeting and service that are welcoming and enjoyable. The vibe could be a burger shack or a high-end bistro. People return again and again not solely for food but for that consistent experience they enjoy.
What do you think the food scene will be like 20 years from now, and what challenges will it face?
I think this year people are looking for prepared food in markets or grocery stores and to-go food in restaurants. This is a new world restaurants are adapting to based on increasing demand. People value time but still enjoy a well-made meal. Markets have responded well to this demand and restaurants are starting to address this well. Quality food and packaging along with the personality of a place will be important. This is a great new sector for those who pursue it.
What’s your favorite part of owning restaurants in New Hampshire?
The fun is in the dining room — the hum, buzz, cacophony. You hear it when you walk in. Again, people go out for a pleasant experience. It starts when you open the door and stays with you going out [the door] at the end of the evening. But most of all it’s the people who come to the restaurant and who work in the restaurant every day. You said your grandmother worked at the Capital City Diner back in the ’80s. I remember her well. She was that spark that makes a difference to guests. Those are the memories that are my favorites.
Aside from your own place, what’s your favorite local restaurant?
Long-term favorites vary greatly, from the well-oiled Panera to the unique Corner House Inn in Sandwich, and even new places like the Friendly Toast. The Main Street Station diner in Plymouth is also a favorite. I have lots of favorites!
— Meghan Siegler
Brian Shea
Brian Shea is the owner and executive chef of The Barley House Restaurant & Tavern, which opened on Main Street in downtown Concord in March 2000.
How would you describe the local food scene 20 years ago?
I originally had the idea to open up a brew pub, but then when this location across the street from the Statehouse came up we kind of pivoted to being a tavern and a beer bar. There were a few restaurants around Main Street [in Concord], but I really felt like we were bringing something that was brand new at the time. … I’ve always been a burger guy, and when I was in culinary school, I remember I had this idea in my head that I wanted to build this place called Brew and Burger, which would be an upscale burger place … and I remember we were about three years in at The Barley House, and I think I was down in Brooklyn, New York, and I’m watching all of these cool things that some of these smaller places are doing, like grinding their own beef for their burgers, curing their own pork bacon and things like that, and I had a little bit of an epiphany. I said, ‘Why am I not doing this?’ So that’s exactly what we started doing. We grind and form our own fresh burger patties every single day, we cure our own bacon and smoke it, and we make our own sausage. If that wasn’t new and different in Concord, or even in New Hampshire at that point, I don’t know what was.
What do you think the most significant changes have been over the last 20 years, pre-pandemic?
There has been, kind of, this movement toward comfort foods. For us, we always want to evolve and keep looking for fresh ideas to keep the staff excited, and we try to do that across the board, because we’re going for a smaller and more concise menu with a bigger bang.
What has surprised you about the way the state’s food scene has developed?
I don’t know if anyone could predict that IPAs would become such a big thing. … When craft beer really took off, the IPA went through all these different Americanizations and all of a sudden we’re having three to four IPAs on our draft. I think IPAs really led to the beer drinker becoming more and more engaged and discovering different flavors and styles, and that’s emboldened breweries unbelievably.
What do you think the food scene will be like 20 years from now, and what challenges will it face?
Delivery and takeout is a part of the future, there’s no question about it. I think the days of larger restaurants with 300 seats are gone. Because of Covid, everyone has to think differently now about how to go forward. One of the things we’ve started diving a bit into is Detroit-style deep dish pizza. … I just like things that are kind of simple that you can sort of elevate.
What’s your favorite part of owning a restaurant in New Hampshire?
The best part of this business is the people. The food part of it is great too, but it’s nothing without the people around you. Especially your staff, because you’re with them a lot, and you get to know them and their life and they spend a lot of time with you. … It’s rewarding when you bring somebody in, and maybe it’s their first job in the kitchen, and maybe two months later they are doing prep or six months later they’re up to line cooking, and then eventually they might leave you to go get a very high-paying cooking job somewhere. That’s a great feeling, because The Barley House is a place where you can experiment and pursue your passion. If you show me you have some passion, I want to ignite that.
Aside from The Barley House, what’s your favorite local restaurant?
That’s a good question. I don’t really have a favorite, but for me what really hits home are kinds of places where I can just sit at the bar, like Hermanos, where I can have a beer or a cocktail and just be relaxed.
Carol Lawrence
Carol Lawrence was just 23 years old when she bought the Red Arrow Diner in September 1987. In her more than three decades as owner and president, she has been at the forefront of building on the beloved spot’s brand while staying true to its nostalgic charm. Additional Red Arrow Diner locations under Lawrence’s leadership have opened in Londonderry, Concord and, most recently, Nashua last May.
How would you describe the local food scene 20 years ago?
I grew up in restaurants — my parents actually bought the Belmont Hall [and Restaurant in Manchester] when I was 11 years old. One of the first things that we did at the Red Arrow was we went smoke-free, and that was unheard of in restaurants at the time. Everybody, even my dad, told me that we would go out of business if we went smoke-free, but the following Monday after we did, sales immediately went up 10 percent.
What do you think the most significant changes have been over the last 20 years, pre-pandemic?
I’m still very close with the original owners, the Lamontagne family, who have always been about the quality and consistency in the food. Way back when, our most popular item besides breakfast was called the No. 1 Special, which is a basic hot hamburg sandwich. … They really don’t sell as much as they used to, and in that respect I’ve seen a lot of changes in that way. We’ve put up daily specials where we would be crazy creative with different things and they’d sell well. The power of just even offering items to customers with a lot of different additions, like the burger bar or the poutine bar, has always intrigued me.
What has surprised you about the way the state’s food scene has developed?
Just the nostalgia and the charm of the diner. People, when they hear about us from afar, tend to come to the Manchester location and usually they can never get in. … Every four years, I always ask myself if all the politicians are going to come back and they all do. There have been people that have come in and gotten engaged at the diner, and now they’re married and their kids are coming in, some whose parents I’ve known before they were even married.
What do you think the food scene will be like 20 years from now, and what challenges will it face?
The diner is still going to be the focal point of the community, but I also think that, because of this pandemic, a lot of things are definitely going to change. We’re definitely going to continue with outdoor seating. That has been a new revenue stream for us we never thought we’d have. … We’ve added online ordering too, which I was actually against at first. I said, ‘Who’s going to order eggs online?’ But that’s actually been a huge hit and something that we should have done sooner.
What’s your favorite part of owning a restaurant in New Hampshire?
By far, for me, it’s the history and just meeting so many great people. My staff are like my family. We have some people that have been with us for 20 years.
Aside from the Red Arrow Diner, what’s your favorite local restaurant?
I have two. My husband and I are Mexican food fanatics, and our favorite go-to place is Puerto Vallarta on Second Street [in Manchester]. I also really love the North End Bistro on Elm Street. The sweet and spicy salmon is delicious.
Edward Aloise
New York City native Edward Aloise already had more than two decades of hospitality experience in New Hampshire when he and his wife, Claudia Rippee, opened Republic Cafe on Elm Street in Manchester in 2010, followed by Campo Enoteca, a farm-to-table Italian restaurant and wine bar also on Elm Street a few years later. From 1989 to 2000, Aloise and Rippee owned and operated Cafe Pavone in Manchester’s Millyard. They also ran a restaurant consulting company, E&C Hospitality and Consulting Services, in the early and mid-2000s. In August 2020, Republic moved all its operations under the same roof as Campo Enoteca, where both restaurants continue to serve separate menus.
How would you describe the local food scene 20 years ago?
When I first arrived here, it was like the hospitality environment was non-existent, not only in Manchester but in the southern tier. You’re looking at primarily a few ethnic restaurants … and a lot of diner-style American food kind of places. … Right about then, even Boston was just beginning its culinary awakening. That really didn’t happen until the early ’90s, and I think a lot of what was happening down in the Boston area kind of worked its way up here. You had chefs like Jody Adams and Todd English that were doing some really cool culinary stuff … and the hospitality industry, for the most part, follows the market. As a consultant, I can tell you that restaurateurs … are exciting people. They are hardworking people. They are not always risk-takers, contrary to what people believe. They kind of say, ‘Well, what do people want.’ So that was kind of making people look down at Boston and New York and kind of copy them. … The thing that was missing was the farm-to-table aspect, and that’s what Claudia and I saw as an opportunity.
What do you think the most significant changes have been over the last 20 years, pre-pandemic?
In the year 2000, I started [E&C Hospitality and Consulting Services] … and I was able to maneuver myself throughout the southern tier and to watch what was developing in the hospitality area, mostly between Portsmouth, Manchester and Nashua. As the [industry] developed, the city seemed to develop around it as well. … I would say from the year 2000 on, the momentum up here really started to change. The physicality of downtown Nashua changed. The physicality of downtown Portsmouth changed. … Bedford started to become a little more of an engine with the Bedford Village Inn as an institution. … When Claudia and I opened up Republic, that really kicked off a whole other resurgence of the area here as well, because farmers and raisers were now beginning to see that they had a market besides somebody just driving up and buying a couple dozen eggs or a bag of lettuce or something. … [Farm-to-table] was already a big deal from up in the Hudson Valley down to New York City, but New Hampshire was like a desert for that. The first four years of Republic it was a struggle just to keep product in house, but as we got busier and busier, finally we found vendor partners. There were more people who understood what was going on.
What has surprised you about the way the state’s food scene has developed?
The biggest surprise was that it moved so quickly once it started. The hospitality industry was very staid until the ’90s and 2000s, and then it just exploded. Regionally, it was really something to see in the Portsmouth and Boston areas.
What do you think the food scene will be like 20 years from now, and what challenges will it face?
I’m not expecting any explosions of immense creativity or chefs breaking out of their shells … until at least the fall, when there’s some stabilization in the market. … People are going to just open their doors and grab as much business as they possibly can, because they need it. … Once that happens, I’m thinking the next big move is going to be more non-protein-based items. I’m not saying steakhouses are going to be gone, but I think that’s going to be the next underlying, driving trend, is predominantly non-protein-based menus. I mean, we’re finding it out even right now. A good 35 to 40 percent of what we sell here is non-protein-based.
What’s your favorite part of owning a restaurant in New Hampshire?
It wasn’t our intention to come to this state. We came here for financial reasons … and like anything else, we started to look around and get more and more comfortable here. The area appreciated what we were doing from a business perspective and it really rewarded us and solidified us as human beings. We became part of the community … and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Aside from Republic Cafe or Campo Enoteca, what’s your favorite local restaurant?
Our favorite restaurant in the area is Surf down in Nashua. I’ve known [chef and owner] Michael [Buckley] for over 30 years. There’s also a place on the Seacoast … called the Atlantic Grill in Rye. We have a friend that lives out there, so whenever we are in Rye we go there.
Jeffrey Paige
Jeffrey Paige has owned and operated Cotton Restaurant in Manchester since 2000 and has been part of the New Hampshire food scene since the age of 24, when he became executive chef of Levi Lowell’s Restaurant in Merrimack. In 1988 he became the chef at the Canterbury Shaker Village, and he helped establish the New Hampshire Farm to Restaurant Connection in 1991.
How would you describe the local food scene 20 years ago?
For me, it hasn’t changed that much. I’ve been sourcing local for over 35 years now. [There are] a lot more options now available to source local provisions … and there are a lot more chef-owned establishments continuing to drive the farm-to-restaurant movement. Chef-owners tend to be willing to spend a little more to source local. … There are still a lot of restaurants owned by business people, [or] non-chefs. Sometimes it’s difficult for them to justify spending more for local products when similar products are available by national food vendors at a lower price. This has changed dramatically over the past 10-plus years, as both restaurateurs and chef-owners see the value offered in supporting local.
What do you think the most significant changes have been over the last 20 years, pre-pandemic?
The amount of new cattle, pig and chicken farms, vegetable farms, mushroom foragers and growers, wineries, breweries, distilleries, cheesemakers, fishermen, etc., along with the growth of chef-owned and -operated restaurants, bread bakeries and pastry shops opening. It’s so wonderful to see! If you’re a chef or a consumer, you can pretty much find it now in New Hampshire.
What has surprised you about the way the state’s food scene has developed?
How slow [buying and supporting] local was to catch on here in New Hampshire. Vermont, Maine and Massachusetts have always been several steps ahead of us, but New Hampshire has just as much to offer. It’s nice to see that New Hampshire can hold its own now with our neighboring states. The support has been tremendous the past 10 years and it continues to grow. [I am] also surprised at how craft brewing really took off here.
What do you think the food scene will be like 20 years from now, and what challenges will it face?
I think it’s going to continue to grow with both new restaurants and local vendors and sources. My only concern is that we could reach a saturation point where there are more sources than restaurants and consumers to support each other.
What’s your favorite part of owning a restaurant in New Hampshire?
All of the people I’ve met and the friendships I’ve made, from patrons, employees to vendors, [like] cheesemakers, fruit growers, dairy farmers, vegetable farmers, pig, chicken or cattle ranchers, smokehouses, sugar shacks, breweries [and] wineries.
Aside from Cotton, what’s your favorite local restaurant?
[I have] too many favorite restaurants to narrow it down to one. Polly’s Pancake Parlor, Hanover Street Chophouse, Mint Bistro, O Steaks & Seafood, Buckley’s Great Steaks, Asian Breeze, Bavaria German Restaurant, KC’s Rib Shack and many more.
Kevin Cornish
Kevin Cornish and his business partner, Greg, opened KC’s Rib Shack in Litchfield in 1998 before moving to its current location on Second Street in Manchester.
How would you describe the Manchester food scene 20 years ago?
I think the Manchester food scene was just starting to blow up a little bit around when we opened in ’98. I think the recent additions of cable TV channels such as the Food Network, the Cooking Channel and the Travel Channel played a huge part in many different types of food getting exposure in parts of the country that may have never been heard of before. Cooking-themed shows definitely played a big role in barbecue spreading across the country. People had barely heard of pulled pork when we first opened 22 years ago. That’s certainly not the case now. The restaurant scene was mostly dominated by small privately owned restaurants but that was beginning to change as the larger chain restaurants began to move into town, which [started to push out] many of the smaller locally owned restaurants.
What do you think the most significant changes have been over the last 20 years, pre-pandemic?
I think people were excited for something different as the new chains came to town. Your Bugaboo Creeks, Dave’s Famous BBQ, Chili’s, Ruby Tuesday, Outback Steakhouse and TGIF. The list is long and some of them have survived but I think over the years people started to resent corporate chain restaurants and began to support locally owned business again. Pretty much all of [those] chain restaurants … have all come and gone in the last 20 years and I’ve seen more privately owned local restaurants begin to thrive again.
What has surprised you about the way the state’s food scene has developed?
I think I was surprised the most by the restaurant scene’s growth. I remember in the first decade we were open I could put an ad in the paper for kitchen or front of house help and literally get 50 or 60 applicants. I had to start taking pictures of people as I interviewed them and staple a copy to their application in order to help me remember who I liked and had spoken to that afternoon. There were several times I called and hired a different person than who I thought I was hiring just because I had too many applications on my desk. Fast forward to the restaurant scene just before Covid hit and I was lucky to get one applicant if I posted a job. It was getting very hard to find employees. I was questioning where some of these new restaurants that were coming to town planned on finding people to work for them. Literally every person who wanted a job in the food service industry already had one.
What do you think the food scene will be like 20 years from now, and what challenges will it face?
Boy, isn’t that the golden question? I wish I had a crystal ball for that one. I’m still working on trying to figure out what challenges I will face in the next 20 weeks.
What’s your favorite part of owning a restaurant in Manchester?
My favorite part of owning a restaurant in Manchester is I love that KC’s has become a landmark in not only my hometown of Manchester but in the entire state of New Hampshire. We have gotten notoriety on several worldwide television programs such as Food Paradise and Man vs Food, which just last month proclaimed KC’s Rib Shack as “The Best BBQ in America.” I love cooking barbecue and making people happy. It makes me very proud that out of 327 restaurants listed in Manchester on Tripadvisor we have remained in the Top 5 for the last decade. I’m very grateful for our success and longevity. Prior to Covid we had over 20 years in a row of growth.
We are super thankful for the support Manchester and all of New Hampshire has given us over the years.
Aside from your own place, what’s your favorite local restaurant?
My two favorite local restaurants are Cotton in Manchester and Amphora in Derry.
— Meghan Siegler
Tom Boucher
Tom Boucher is the CEO of Great New Hampshire Restaurants, which includes T-Bones, Cactus Jack’s, CJ’s and The Copper Door. He started out as a server at T-Bones, which opened its first location in Salem in 1984.
How would you describe the local food scene 20 years ago?
[There weren’t] nearly as many restaurants as there are today, and healthy options were just starting to become a trend, although at the very early stage of it. Fine dining really did not exist as it does today.
What do you think the most significant changes have been over the last 20 years, pre-pandemic?
The growth in fast casual is probably the most significant change — think Chipotle or Panera concepts. These will continue to see growth in the near future.
What has surprised you about the way the state’s food scene has developed?
It’s really grown to include a variety of cuisines, and the dining scene has splintered into more segments. It used to be fast food or casual dining. It’s now fast food, fast casual, casual, upper casual and fine dining. This brings a lot more choices in — not only the level of dining but the variety of cuisine has certainly expanded.
What do you think the food scene will be like 20 years from now, and what challenges will it face?
That’s a tough one to answer! Certainly the pandemic has already shown what the future will look like with more technology, more delivery, more takeout [and] drive-thru. I think you will see more and more convenience and the lines will continue to blur between restaurants and groceraunts.
What’s your favorite part of owning restaurants in New Hampshire?
I love seeing our employees grow with our company and fully embrace their careers with care and passion.
Aside from your own place, what’s your favorite local restaurant?
I would have to choose Hanover Street Chophouse. We rarely travel to downtown Manchester but when we do it’s to visit the Chophouse.
