Category: Food

Rebecca Wheeler

Rebecca Wheeler is the owner of The Traveling Taco (rebeccascrazytacos@gmail.com, and on Facebook and Instagram @thetravelingtaconh), a food trailer specializing in multiple types of tacos, taco salads, nachos and soups that she runs with the help of her friend Olivia Turcotte. Since launching the trailer in December, Wheeler has dabbled in a variety of her own creative takes on tacos, from Jamaican jerk chicken to chipotle orange pulled pork and roasted sweet potato and black bean, in addition to those with more traditional fillings like seasoned ground beef. The Traveling Taco was a weekly mainstay at Pats Peak Ski Area in Henniker throughout the winter season. In addition to being available for catering and private events, Wheeler is planning to participate in several events later this spring and summer, including Taco Tuesday nights at Lake Shore Village Resort in Weare, as well as at select shows at Northlands (formerly Drive-In Live) in Swanzey.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

Hands down, it would have to be my knife.

What would you have for your last meal?

King crab legs and a delicious salad, probably an arugula salad with some kind of goat cheese and a balsamic drizzle.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

Harlow’s Pub in Peterborough. I like the Blairwich sandwich. It’s a roast beef sandwich and it has pepper jack cheese, horseradish mayo and jalapeno peppers.

What celebrity would you like to see ordering from your food trailer?

The first person that came to mind was Snoop Dogg, so I’m going to go with him. … I feel like he’d be smiling and ready to eat some tacos.

What is your personal favorite menu item that you have offered?

My favorite … has been the black bean and sweet potato tacos, [which also] had guacamole and a drizzle of salsa verde.

What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?

Food trucks, especially now, because I feel like you can dine out from a food truck and it feels more normal … than when you go eat inside of a restaurant.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

One of our favorite meals in my family is surf and turf. A really nice grilled steak and then maybe crab or seared scallops to go with that.

Jalapeno tomato cheddar bisque
From the kitchen of Rebecca Wheeler of The Traveling Taco food truck

5 jalapenos (depending on size and spice level desired)
5 shallots
2 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 pint heavy cream
1 cup cheddar cheese
Splash of sherry
Sea salt and black pepper
Slice shallots and jalapenos and saute in a soup pot with a little olive oil. When they start to caramelize, add a splash of sherry and diced tomatoes, then simmer. When the flavors all come together, blend until smooth. Finish by adding heavy cream and cheddar cheese. Season with sea salt and black pepper.

Food & Drink
Farmers markets
• Cole Gardens Winter Farmers Market is Saturdays, from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Cole Gardens (430 Loudon Road, Concord), now through April 17. Visit colegardens.com.
• Downtown Concord Winter Farmers Market is Saturdays, from 9 a.m. to noon, at 20 S. Main Street in Concord, now through late April. Find them on Facebook @downtownconcordwinterfarmersmarket.
• Salem Farmers Market is Sundays, from 10 a.m. to noon, inside the former Rockler Woodworking building (369 S. Broadway, Salem). Visit salemnhfarmersmarket.org.

Featured photo: Rebecca Wheeler

Tastes of Puerto Rico

Empanellie’s opens in Nashua

Steps away from Main Street, a new eatery now open in downtown Nashua is serving up authentic Puerto Rican cuisine, including made-to-order hot pressed sandwiches, loaded french fries and an eclectic assortment of sweet and savory empanadas.

Empanellie’s, which arrived last month near the corner of Main and West Pearl streets, also features a daily Latin food buffet and a selection of locally sourced cold desserts. Owner Nelson Mercado, who was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and came to Nashua at the age of 6, said the restaurant gets its name by combining the word “empanada” with the name of his mother, Nellie, who is one of several celebrated cooks in his family.

Mercado, who also owns Made Men Barbershop & Lounge a few blocks down the same street, said talks to open an empanada restaurant originated last year with his clients as a great addition to the growing diversity in Nashua. He began renovating the empty storefront that would become Empanellie’s just before the onset of the pandemic, briefly pausing on the project for a few months before jumping back in.

The first things you may notice when you walk into Empanellie’s are its bright warm colors and vibrant aesthetics — Mercado said they represent the uplifting of cities and neighborhoods in Puerto Rico that were affected by recent natural disasters like Hurricane Maria. Much of the restaurant’s featured decor is also representative of different traditions on the island.

Empanellie’s general manager, Francisco “Franky” Arocho, who is also from Puerto Rico and has been in New Hampshire for nearly a decade, said the empanadas are among the top sellers. Each empanada shell is six inches wide when folded and a couple of inches thick, stuffed with anything from beef or chicken with cheese to all kinds of experimental fillings. One such option that has been popular lately, he said, has been the pastelón empanada.

“Pastelón is basically a lasagna, but made out of sweet plantains. If you’re Puerto Rican then you always ate that when you were a kid at home,” Arocho said. “We decided to incorporate that inside of an empanada, so it’s a mixture of beef, cheese and sweet plantains.”

A buffet offering various meats, rices, fruits, vegetables and more is also available with an always changing menu of items sold by the pound.

“I think if you grab a little bit of everything, the most you’ll pay is probably $14,” Arocho said. “It’s not a set menu either. It can change every day, but we try to have what sells the most.”

Other items are made to order, like the sandwiches — those options include a traditional Cubano with ham, pork, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard; a tripleta, or a three-meat blend of chicken, pork and steak that’s topped with potato sticks, cheese and a house sauce; and a jibarito, or a sandwich made with flattened plantains in place of the bread.

“The jibarito is a very famous sandwich from Puerto Rico,” Arocho said. “We smash the plantains, fry them up and then add lettuce, tomato, cheese and whatever meat you like.”

Empanellie’s also serves alcapurrias, a popular Puerto Rican fritter dish featuring mashed green bananas stuffed with meat and served with a house dipping sauce; and papas locas, or loaded french fries with chicken, pork, steak, barbecue sauce, cheese and hickory-smoked bacon. Similar dishes can be prepared with sweet plantains in place of the fries.

For dessert, you’ll find some flavors of sweet empanadas like strawberry and Nutella, apple pie, and guava and cream cheese, plus a collection of items sourced from Dulces Bakery of Manchester. The tres leches, for instance, are cakes soaked in three different types of milk, topped with homemade whipped cream and served in refrigerated single-portion cups. They come in a variety of flavors, from vanilla and salted caramel to Nutella, guava, pineapple, and dulce de leche.

Eventually, Arocho said, they hope to expand their menu offerings to include breakfast empanadas and sandwiches, and they’d like to feature live music.

Empanellie’s
Where: 83 W. Pearl St., Nashua
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 6 p.m. (hours may be subject to change)
More info: Follow them on Facebook and Instagram @empanellies or call 417-7875. A website is expected to be launched soon.

Feautred photo: Photo courtesy of The Flight Center Taphouse & Eatery

Taking flight

Flight Center opening second location in Manchester, introducing speakeasy concept

When you walk inside The Flight Center Taphouse & Eatery’s newest location in southern Manchester, on track to open later this month, you’ll be asked a simple question — are you here for your “flight” or are you here to “pick up your luggage?”

Depending on your answer, you’ll then be led to one of two uniquely different operations under one roof, or “a concept within a concept,” as Flight Center founder Seth Simonian coined. One side, featuring a dining room and bar with brick-oven pizzas, sandwiches, appetizers and more than 50 craft beers on tap, will look and feel familiar to patrons of the eatery’s Nashua counterpart. The other side, facing away from the main road, is home to a 1920s-inspired speakeasy-style bar, similar to others in New Hampshire, like CodeX Books. Antiques. Rarities. (B.A.R) in Nashua and Chuck’s BARbershop in Concord.

“All you’re going to see is a wall of suitcases, and it’s soundproof, so you’re not going to hear anything from the other side,” Simonian said. “You have to press the right suitcase to signal the host on the other side of the door to know that you’re there to let you in and greet you.”

Liu Vaine, one of Simonian’s partners, has helped build several of the other speakeasy-like spaces across New Hampshire after being inspired by the concept in New York City. Much like this one, the entrances to these “secret” bars are hidden behind some type of structured facade.

“Liu and I had been tossing around the idea of what The Flight Center and CodeX would look like in the same building,” said Simonian, who is also a managing partner in local eateries like the 1750 Taphouse in Bedford and Cheddar & Rye in Manchester. “[The speakeasy] will be called The Lost Luggage, [but] you’re not going to see that on a sign anywhere.”

Simonian said the group’s original plan was to pursue opening a brewery in the now-closed British Beer Co. location in Westford, Mass. When those plans fell through, they learned that the Massachusetts-based chain’s Manchester location had become available.

“We came into this space … and realized it was perfect for what we had been talking about,” Simonian said.

Several mainstays of The Flight Center’s food menu in Nashua — including the pretzels with house beer cheese, the chicken wings, the tater tot “totchos,” and the brick-oven pizzas — will all be on the menu in Manchester, along with some new items like house burgers, and entrees like steak and frites and shrimp and grits. New house desserts are in the works too, like Black Forest brownies and seasonal cheesecakes prepared with select types of beers or liquors.

In addition to the always rotating line of beers on tap, there will be a selection of bourbons, whiskeys and scotches, plus an expanded offering of wines.

The speakeasy side, which encompasses about a third of the building’s overall interior space, according to Simonian, features a craft cocktail menu of its own.

“The idea is that it’s a very high-end craft cocktail experience, where your bartenders have the ability to build a cocktail to your mood,” Simonian said. “At CodeX, there is a cocktail menu that you’re ordering 14 to 15 drinks from, and then they’ll also build you a cocktail based on your needs. You’ll see something very similar here.”

The Flight Center Taphouse & Eatery
Featuring the in-house speakeasy-style bar The Lost Luggage. An opening date is expected in the coming weeks. Follow them on social media or email them for updates.
Where: 1071 S. Willow St., Manchester
Hours: TBA
More info: Find them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @flightcentermht, or send an email to info@flightcenterbc.com

Feautred photo: Photo courtesy of The Flight Center Taphouse & Eatery

The Weekly Dish 21/04/08

News from the local food scene

• Cheers to beers: Breweries all over the Granite State are celebrating New Hampshire Craft Beer Week, which kicked off on Wednesday, April 7, and will continue all the way through Saturday, April 17. Be sure to check in with your favorite breweries on their websites or social media channels — many will showcase special beer releases and host virtual or in-person trivia nights, live music performances and other events — or visit nhbrewers.org for the most up-to-date happenings. Our coverage of Craft Beer Week can also be found on page 30 of The Hippo’s April 1 edition.

• Spring into deliciousness: Local gourmet food products, cookbooks for sale and onsite food trucks will all be part of the Great New England Spring Specialty Foods & Artisan Show, a two-day rain or shine event happening on Saturday, April 10, and Sunday, April 11, at the Hampshire Dome (34 Emerson Road, Milford). In addition to more than 100 booths featuring artisan and food vendors both indoors and outdoors, the show will feature live music, cash door prizes, raffles and more. Tickets are $5 per person (free for kids ages 14 and under) and are valid for both days — show times are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. Visit gnecraftartisanshows.com.

• LaBelle Market coming soon: LaBelle Winery owners Amy LaBelle and her husband Cesar Arboleda recently announced the name of their new culinary market and gift shop coming soon to Derry. LaBelle Market, according to a press release, is scheduled to open by mid to late May in the space that formerly housed the onsite pro shop of Brookstone Events & Golf (14 Route 111, Derry). “The concept … came about after many years of traveling in the United States and abroad,” LaBelle said in a statement. “I often visited markets selling incredibly fresh, local and unique products, and always found shopping at them to be fun and inspiring.” According to the release, the market will feature prepared and made-to-order foods, including baked goods, specialty sandwiches, salads, grain bowls and wood-fired pizzas. Grocery items will include assorted breads, artisanal cheeses and prime cuts of beef. The market, which is adjacent to the new Americus Restaurant, will be open seven days a week, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., with both indoor and outdoor seating available. Visit labellewinerynh.com for updates on its opening.

• NOCA to introduce new flavors: Spiked still water company NOCA, launched in 2019 by University of New Hampshire graduates and friends Alex Febonio, Galen Hand and Richard Roy, has announced plans to move its production to the Granite State and will also be releasing new flavors in April, according to a press release. The original product line of NOCA, which stands for “no carbonation,” features three flavors of filtered water with a fermented cane sugar base: dragon fruit mango, watermelon lime and triple berry, all with an ABV of 4.5 percent, according to the NOCA website. The new flavors, which are expected to roll out this month, will include pineapple, cherry, peach, lime and lemon, according to the release.

Madeline Rossi and Olivia Lenox

Madeline Rossi and her wife Olivia Lenox are the owners of New Roots Meals (newrootsmeals.com, and on Facebook and Instagram @newrootsmeals), a Manchester-based company offering weekly deliveries of fresh plant-based items like sandwiches, salads, grain bowls, pastas, breakfasts and more. Even though both are from New England (Lenox from New Hampshire and Rossi from Connecticut), the couple met in Portland, Oregon, where Lenox had owned and operated a vegan food truck called Flourish. They eventually came to New Hampshire to be closer to family members, launching New Roots Meals as their newest business venture in October. Their menu changes every other week, but all items are 100-percent plant-based. They’ve done everything from Buffalo cauliflower wings and fried mushrooms to vegetable lo mein, Italian polenta bowls, yuca shepherd’s pie and caprese quiches. Orders are accepted until 8 p.m. every Friday. All meals are cooked at Jerome’s Deli in Manchester on Sundays, which Rossi and Lenox rent out as a commissary space. Free deliveries are made on Mondays, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., for all customers within a 30-mile radius of Manchester.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

Madeline: Our mandoline, which we use to thinly slice all our veggies.

Olivia: The Vitamix blender, because I like to make cheeses and sauces from scratch. I could probably record a commercial for them, I love it so much.

What would you have for your last meal?

Madeline: Honestly, I would probably get the udon stir-fry with tofu, from Buba Noodle [Bar in Manchester]. That is one thing I cannot recreate myself.

Olivia: I feel like I would want a big giant vegan burrito. I love the mushroom chorizo burrito from Dos Amigos [Burritos in Concord]. I feel like it would save my life.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

Madeline: Troy’s [Fresh Kitchen & Juice Bar in Londonderry]. I’ve been working my way through their menu. I’m a sucker for hash browns, so I love their Southwest scramble with tofu. I also usually like to get the blueberry pancake smoothie.

Olivia: The Local Moose Cafe [in Manchester]. I get the same thing every time: the tofu bánh mi sandwich and the matcha latte with oat milk and a lot of sugar.

What celebrity would you like to see ordering from New Roots Meals?

Madeline: Definitely Lizzo, for sure!

Olivia: Yeah, let’s just go with that.

What has been your personal favorite menu item that you’ve offered?

Madeline: The Korean barbecue cauliflower. I love having a lot of color in our dishes, and that one just came out really colorful and tasty.

Olivia: Mine is the quiche, which we sell whole or sometimes by the slice. The base for them is made with garbanzo bean flour.

What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?

Olivia: Avocado toast.

Madeline: Hot chocolate bombs, especially around Christmas. Loon Chocolate [in Manchester] has a vegan option.

What is your favorite thing to make at home?

Madeline: I love making vegan charcuterie plates often. I’ll use crackers, maybe some kind of vegan sausage or cheese, and then whatever veggies we have in our fridge that we need to use up.

Olivia: I like to make soups that are miso-based, with cabbage or maybe carrots or mushrooms, some fresh cilantro and a lot of red pepper flakes and ginger.

Beetroot hummus
From the kitchen of Madeline Rossi and Olivia Lenox of New Roots Meals, newrootsmeals.com

1 can (1½ cups) chickpeas
⅓ cup olive oil
⅓ cup cooked beets
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If using raw beets, dice them and place on a greased baking sheet. Salt beets, cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Add chickpeas, beets, water, lemon juice and garlic powder to a blender and blend on high. While ingredients are blending, pour in olive oil until you reach a smooth consistency, adding more olive oil if necessary. Salt to taste and enjoy.

Featured photo: Madeline Rossi (left) and her wife Olivia Lenox (right).

Keep on brewing on

New Hampshire Craft Beer Week returns

New Hampshire Craft Beer Week, an annual celebration dedicated to highlighting brewery culture in the Granite State, is returning for its seventh year. Starting Wednesday, April 7, in line with National Beer Day, and continuing through Saturday, April 17, breweries all over New Hampshire will be showcasing special beer releases, hosting virtual events and participating in various collaborative social media efforts to keep the community connected.

Craft Beer Week was introduced by the New Hampshire Brewers Association in 2015, when there were just 44 licensed craft breweries statewide. Today, there are over 90, according to executive director C.J. Haines. In 2019, he industry contributed more than $500 million to the state, the most recent data currently available.

Brewery happenings

Even now, brewers are finding ways to celebrate with their customers.

Several beer trails (you can receive prizes or giveaways based on how many participating breweries you visit) are planned — including a special one through the New Hampshire chapter of the Pink Boots Society. The beer trail is being held in lieu of a collaborative release from women representing multiple Granite State breweries.

Each brewery is instead releasing its own beer highlighting the hop blend released by Yakima Chief Hops. The trail, featuring nearly a dozen craft breweries across Manchester, Concord, the Lakes Region and the Seacoast, will be open throughout the months of April and May with grand prize drawings for those who complete it.

Great North Aleworks in Manchester, in addition to releasing a new lager to benefit the Manchester Historic Association on April 7, will host a trivia night that evening at 6 p.m., featuring executive director and author John Clayton. According to Great North sales and marketing manager Brian Parda, Clayton will be using the Manchester Wall of Fame, the Millyard Museum’s interactive exhibit, to play a game of “Who’s Who” that people can participate in either virtually or in person.

More new brews

In Derry, Cask & Vine owners Andy Day and Alana Wentworth happen to be celebrating the first anniversary of the Daydreaming Brewing Co. during Craft Beer Week. Their venture has gone in directions Day never thought it would go in since the pandemic hit.

“Our original intention was to do English-style ales,” Day said. “We started doing barrel-aged variants with our distillery, which was not what we had set out to do, but the reception has been pretty fantastic. … We’ve also found ourselves in stores and have a few draft accounts in restaurants. That was another thing we didn’t plan on doing.”

Fierce Princess, a German Pilsner brewed with rye and spicy peppers, is a new brew that will be available beginning Thursday, April 15. It’s the first of a series of beers being released that’s based on a Dungeons & Dragons campaign Day is running called Insidious. It will also be the first Daydreaming Brewing Co. beer to come in cans as well as on draft. Three more releases in the series are expected to follow, every four months. The following day, Friday, April 16, they will release a special anniversary ale, Day said, a blend of Daydreaming’s Russian imperial stout, barleywine and Belgian strong dark ale that has been aged in a whiskey barrel.

Lithermans Limited Brewery in Concord also has an anniversary coming up in line with Craft Beer Week — its fifth, according to owner Michael Hauptly-Pierce. On Friday, April 9, Lithermans will be releasing a new double dry hopped IPA called Styles and Dynamics, followed by the re-release of Inner Light Spectrum, a dry hopped Pilsner, on Friday, April 16.

“We opened up an online store as soon as [the pandemic began], and that’s been huge in helping us get through,” said Hauptly-Pierce, adding that the outdoor patio at Lithermans is expected to reopen starting Saturday, April 3.

Last week, Manchester’s To Share Brewing Co. had two new releases of its own — Swhale, a hazy New England-style double IPA with flavors of strawberry, melons and coconut; and Up Cider, a dry hard cider made with orange zest and juice to give it a citrus-y kick.

To Share co-founder Aaron Share said he has plans to collaborate with Martha’s Exchange in Nashua on a beer he hopes to have released by May. The brewery will welcome several live music acts over the course of Craft Beer Week, like Ryan Gagne-Hall on April 10 and Kevin Horan on April 11. It also recently received approval to bring back extended outdoor seating.

“Throughout Covid, we’ve had to continue to adjust our business model in terms of how much canning we do versus what we have here on tap,” Share said. “For a while, we were canning a majority of the beer we were producing, but over the last several months things have picked back up [in the taproom]. … We usually see a dip in business in January, but in fact, January this year was pretty phenomenal for us.”

Looking ahead

The Brewers Association’s annual summer festival was canceled last July, but a couple of virtual or drive-thru events were held in its place to raise funds.

“We did the first one back in May, and I think we hit the timing just right because not everybody had suffered the whole Zoom burnout yet,” Haines said. “We meet with all of the other brewers guilds and associations weekly, and they’ve all done one to two virtual events since the pandemic started. Their participation numbers for those virtual events have definitely dropped.”

Instead of another virtual festival, Haines said, there are plans later this year to introduce a collaborative beer release among local breweries to benefit the Association.

With the launch of its new website earlier this year, Haines said the Brewers Association is now shifting away from its app in favor of a more user-friendly directory.

“There are all kinds of different search filters, so you can tell which breweries have outdoor seating, which breweries you can bring your dogs to, things like that,” she said. “We’re also going to be launching a new campaign on social media called ‘Your Next beer is Here,’ with the emphasis on the ‘n’ for next and the ‘h’ for here to highlight New Hampshire. So it’s going to be a way to encourage people to get out and enjoy their next beer at a place not in their homes.”

New Hampshire Craft Beer Week
When: Wednesday, April 7, through Saturday, April 17
Where: Various breweries statewide throughout the week; follow the New Hampshire Brewers Association on social media or visit their website for the most up-to-date details on special beer releases, events and more
More info: Visit nhbrewers.org or find them on Facebook @nhcraftbeerweek

Feautred photo: Courtesy photo.

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