Category: Food

City Hall Pub now open in Manchester

Gourmet deli-style sandwiches and craft cocktails are the stars of the menu at City Hall Pub, a new eatery now open in downtown Manchester’s theater district. The latest addition to Southern New Hampshire Hospitality Group, which also owns Mint Bistro, The Wild Rover Pub and Elm House of Pizza — the latter opened on the southern end of Elm Street early last year — City Hall Pub lies directly across the street from its namesake, sporting a uniquely rustic interior look.

Like Elm House of Pizza before it, City Hall Pub inherits a space long used by favored local eateries of the past — most recently, it was a gourmet grilled cheese restaurant and whiskey bar called Cheddar & Rye. Before that it was Tiya’s, a popular Thai restaurant, for several years.

“We’ve really liked a lot of what we’ve been seeing on Hanover Street … and had an opportunity to open a business in a room that I’ve certainly loved over the years, way back to being Tiya’s,” co-owner Tim Baines of Southern New Hampshire Hospitality Group said. “So we wanted to add to what is already a lot of great things going on in the area of downtown … and create a community space where people from all walks [of life] can feel comfortable and gather.”

At a seating capacity of nearly 100, the pub features everything from a renovated back bar to various booths, low- and high-top tables, a larger community table and an outdoor patio.

Along with presenting City Hall Pub as a gathering space, Baines said the eatery’s deli sandwich concept was born out of a desire to bring more lunch options to downtown Manchester.

“We definitely saw a demand for more lunch options in the downtown [area] … and we pride ourselves on being open seven days a week, for both lunch and dinner,” he said.

Out of the gate, Baines said the build-your-own sandwich option has been especially popular. You have five types of bread to choose from — ciabatta, sourdough, a pretzel bun, a whole-wheat wrap or a gluten-free wrap — and can load them with turkey, honey ham or roast beef. The customization goes even further when you add your favorite type of cheese — cheddar, Swiss, mozzarella, American or Gorgonzola — and other toppings, like lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles or cucumber; and condiments or spreads, like garlic mayonnaise, pesto or honey mustard.

If you aren’t that picky, try one of the pub’s specialty sandwiches. The Thai soy chicken wrap and the City Hall burger have been among the top sellers, Baines said — the latter is topped on a pretzel bun with mixed greens, roma tomatoes, red onions and your choice of cheese.

“The City Hall burger has been the most popular item by far,” he said. “Seeing the success of the burger, we’re actually going to be doing a menu revision … and expand on the burger options.”

Non-sandwich options include various soups, salads, chilis and chowders, as well as appetizers, like a spinach queso dip with pita chips, and a hummus and vegetable platter. The full food menu is available until 10 p.m. seven nights a week, while the bar stays open for a few more hours.

On the drinks side you’ll find everything from bottled and draft beers and red and white wines to an extensive classic and specialty cocktail list. Baines said live local jazz music is currently featured at the pub every Thursday night from 7 to 10 p.m., and there are plans to expand the live music schedule in the coming months.

City Hall Pub
Where: 8 Hanover St., Manchester
Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to midnight, and Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. (kitchen stays open until 10 p.m., seven days a week)
More info: Visit cityhallpub.com, find them on Facebook @cityhallpubnh or call 232-3751

Featured photo: Photos courtesy of City Hall Pub in Manchester.

“New England’s first kava bar” opens in Nashua

A 3,000-year-old root indigenous to the South Pacific islands, kava is used in tea-like herbal beverages consumed socially at establishments known as kava bars. Around 200 such bars exist across the United States — and a new one has just arrived in New Hampshire.

Root Awakening, now open on Main Street in Nashua, is being touted as “New England’s first kava bar” by owner Greg Gately. Kava, he said, is lauded for its relaxing effects on the body and mind, and it’s also a popular natural remedy for anxiety and muscle and joint pain.

“What I like to say is that it slows down that 9-to-5 tick. It calmly relaxes you,” Gately said. “It’s definitely something that you want to finish off in two or three big gulps, like a shot … [and] instead of saying ‘Cheers,’ in the islands we say ‘Bula.’ It’s the celebration of life.”

Gately, whose mother is from the South Pacific, was born and raised in California’s Bay Area before moving east to New England for college. He said he first became introduced to the Fijian root and its properties through a friend, who owns several kava bars out on the West Coast.

“I really started drinking it heavily when I started going for my MBA program,” he said. “It helped me focus whenever I had a big milestone and had to put my head down and hit the books for four or five hours. … Kava really allows you to kind of focus in a really good, natural way.”

Inspired by his kava bar-owning friend and looking for his next move in life in the wake of the pandemic, Gately began looking for spaces last year to launch his own kava concept.

Root Awakening, he said, was built on the foundation of providing visitors with a “non-alcoholic alternative social experience” to traditional bars, using kava beverages as its vessel.

Three kava root varieties — sourced from the Fijian, Vanuatu and Tongan Islands of the South Pacific — are currently available at Root Awakening. Premium raw kava drinks come in a single-serve 10-ounce “kava shell,” or a plastic cup made to resemble half of a coconut shell. You can also get them in larger serving bowls called tanoas — small and large-sized tanoas are respectively 80 and 120 ounces, serving two to three and four to six kava drinkers.

“We chop down the roots, dry them out and then we grind them into a fine powder,” Gately said. “It’s going to then be brewed up almost like a tea. It gets rinsed in a giant tea bag, and then I squeeze out the active ingredient, which is called the kavalactones.”

The result produces “an earthy and pungent” drink that Gately likes to top off with a customer’s choice of a pineapple or strawberry as a chaser. He also serves single-serve mango-flavored kava shots that can be mixed with any beverage of your choice, as well as a total of five flavors of Leilo, a ready-to-drink canned kava product available in 12-ounce cans.

So far, Gately has reported “literally 95 percent” of his patrons to be first-time kava drinkers.

“I almost have an elevator pitch now about what kava is and what to expect,” he said. “A lot of folks are nervous about their first drink. They’ll look at the person they’re with and they’ll say to each other, ‘Are you ready? On three.’ … Usually my first-timers will drink two to three shells.”

As an alternative to kava, Gately does also offer multiple flavors of East Coast kombucha on tap. He also carries drinks like cold brew coffee, ginger beer, coconut water and orange cream soda, and hopes to soon expand his menu to include small perishable food options. Community events like trivia nights, open mic nights and comedy shows are also being planned for the space.

Root Awakening Kava Bar
Where: 300 Main St., Unit 603, Nashua
Hours: Monday through Saturday, noon to midnight, and Sunday, noon to 10 p.m.
More info: Visit rootawakeningkava.com, or find them on Facebook and Instagram @rootawakeningkava
Root Awakening requires customers to be at least 18 years of age or older to consume kava beverages. Drinks should not be taken with alcohol or prescription medications.

Featured photo: Greg Gately of Root Awakening Kava Bar in Nashua prepares ground kava root for two single-serve premium raw kava drinks. Photo by Matt Ingersoll.