New ownership but familiar dishes at Campo Enoteca
Three months after Campo Enoteca founders Edward Aloise and Claudia Rippee announced their retirement, a new owner has stepped in to carry on the pioneering couple’s legacy. Nashua native Eric Maxwell acquired the downtown farm-to-table Italian restaurant earlier this year, reopening its doors on March 16 and retaining much of its original staff.
For guests, especially loyal fans of Campo who have frequented the restaurant since its 2014 opening, the new ownership is welcome news. That’s because Maxwell said he plans to keep the menus the same, while also expanding the options and even adding a separate lunch menu soon.
“I come from an Italian family with a lot of restaurants in the Ohio and western Pennsylvania areas, so it’s always been sort of my dream to have an Italian spot locally,” Maxwell said.
Aloise and Rippee originally opened Campo Enoteca on the heels of closing the Milltowne Grille — the latter enjoyed a highly successful 20-year run at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. At the time of its opening, Campo was just a two-minute walk south of Republic Cafe, which opened four years earlier and would soon achieve recognition as the first New Hampshire eatery to receive “certified local” status by the New Hampshire Farm to Restaurant Connection.
Then came the pandemic, ultimately prompting Aloise and Rippee to make the decision to move all of Republic’s operations under the same roof as Campo. For more than two years thereafter, they operated as the “Republic of Campo,” offering two separate menus under one roof.
In December, the couple announced that, after a career spanning more than three decades in Manchester eateries, they would be stepping away from the kitchen. They put the restaurant up for sale, and Maxwell, who has a background in food manufacturing, decided to “jump on it.”
“I had been to Campo probably half a dozen times … and that concept really fit who I was,” he said. “When it went up for sale, the writing was kind of on the wall. … I had wanted to mirror something like that, but I couldn’t believe that it was that — one of the restaurants that I absolutely loved.”
Maxwell recruited his sister, Erin Convery, who has front end experience at local restaurants, to run Campo’s day-to-day operations as general manager. All of the eatery’s bartenders and waitstaff have returned, he added, as have a few members of the kitchen staff.
“Peter [Macone], the old GM, has actually been working with my sister, basically making the introductions to all the farms and the vendors, so [the ownership transition] has definitely been very smooth,” Maxwell said. “We’ll expand with some personal family touches, but we won’t get rid of anything that was on the menu before. The Republic recipes will also be on the menu.”
Instead of removing any staple items, Maxwell plans to only add to the existing menu, perhaps most notably when it comes to Campo’s house-made pastas.
“Lunch will be kind of a new concept,” he said. “It will be pick your stuffed pasta, pick your sauce, pick your salad or whatever, so you can come in and get cheese ravioli [or] beef ravioli and whatever sauce you want to try with it. That will cater toward the lunch menu side of things.”
Lunch is available on Fridays and Saturdays for now, but Maxwell said the plan is to also be open on Sundays in the coming weeks. As they were under Campo’s previous ownership, dine-in reservations are available, as well as online ordering and curbside pickup.
Campo Enoteca
Where: 969 Elm St., Manchester
Hours: Tuesday through Thursday, 4 to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, noon to 9 p.m. Expanded hours likely coming soon and will include Sundays
More info: Visit campoenoteca.com, find them on Facebook and Instagram @campoenoteca or call 625-0256
Featured photo: Photos courtesy of Campo Enoteca.
