Copper Kettle To Go opens in Wilton

Chris and Megan Gordon really want you to feel at home inside their new Wilton cafe — they’ve even added their own kitchen table to the main dining space. But Copper Kettle To Go in Wilton, which quietly opened its doors on Sept. 17, is more than just a cafe. It’s also a grocery shop offering take-and-bake meals and a downstairs taphouse featuring a rotation of local brews.

Even though much of their preparation for the new cafe has taken place amid the pandemic, Chris Gordon said he and his wife, who previously owned the Copper Kettle Bakery in Brookline, have taken it in stride. After all, their mission from the beginning was to bring families back together around the dinner table at home with their offerings, which include pastas and sauces, fresh baked goods, spinach pie and other comfort meals.

“We wanted to bring something to the community here that we knew we were missing,” he said. “It’s difficult to find fresh vegetables that are already prepared and food that’s cooked in heartier meals, or just basic things like a nice homemade spaghetti sauce. … I think that one of the things with Covid that’s actually been almost a positive thing for us was that it taught people that our business model can exist and that it can be strong.”

If you’re visiting the space, which is directly across from the Wilton Town Hall Theatre on Main Street, just to shop, you don’t have to leave the upstairs level of the cafe. There are several designated areas across the space, including for raw meats, fresh produce, and seasonings and spices. A refrigerated case is stocked with prepared dinners in 8×8 or 13×9-sized pans (including comfort items like macaroni and cheese and chicken pot pie), plus dairy products like butter and cream and a small selection of canned beers. Across the room, a pantry section features various nonperishables like boxed pastas and rice.

“The floor plan was designed in a free-flowing path, with signs above that categorize everything, sort of similar to a grocery store,” Gordon said.

But if you’re sitting down to enjoy a meal, there’s space for that too. Gordon said a few lunch and dinner menu items are available for diners of either the upstairs cafe or downstairs taphouse. They’ll likely change all the time, with a few constant offerings, like the Bennington Railrolls, named after the Milford-Bennington Railroad behind the building.

“They are steak and cheese egg rolls served with a garlic aioli, and they’ve been our leading seller,” he said. “Nearly every customer ordered them when they came in the first week.”

Other recent items have included loaded baked potato soup; shepherd’s pie; a grilled vegetable sandwich on a sub roll, served with summer squash, zucchini, peppers, onions and mayonnaise; a pulled pork sandwich on a sesame seed bun with barbecue sauce from Tim’s Drunken Sauces & Rubs; a BLT with hand-cut smoky bacon, lettuce and tomato, served on rye or white bread; and a pot belly burrito with cilantro lime rice, wrapped and smothered in enchilada sauce with cheese and house espinaca on top.

“We’ll roll something out all the time that’s new, fresh and exciting,” Gordon said. “We’re big-time foodies, and we love nothing more than to bring something new in. So you can expect the menu to change quite frequently.”

Visitors can also venture downstairs to the taphouse, which includes additional seating on wooden bar tables Gordon built himself. Eight taplines, many representing local breweries like Henniker Brewing Co., Laughing Crow Beer in Amherst, 603 Brewery in Londonderry, Concord Craft Brewing Co. and the Contoocook Cider Co., are expected to rotate periodically.

“We’ll definitely keep the juicier IPAs in here, and then maybe bring out some porters or stouts in the winter months and some more lighter stuff as we get warmer again, to really match the seasons,” Gordon said. “Just like our food menu, it will be a really free-flowing kind of thing.”

A door from the taphouse leads outside to a deck overlooking the Souhegan River. Gordon said both the taphouse and the deck are also available to rent for private events or functions.

Copper Kettle To Go
Where: 39 Main St., Wilton
Hours: Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Thursday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Visit: copperkettletogo.com

Featured photo: Loaded baked potato soup. Photo courtesy of Copper Kettle To Go.

Drive-thru and to-go food festivals across New Hampshire

Despite the absence of traditional food festivals and fairs this year, organizers are reimagining events as drive-thru or to-go only in an effort to promote social distancing. Several of them will be taking place across southern New Hampshire over the next couple of weeks.

Though the Deerfield Fair was canceled back in June, there will be fair food available on the days it would have taken place. The Taste of the Fair, a pre-buy ticket only event, will be held on Friday, Oct. 2, Saturday, Oct. 3, and Sunday, Oct. 4.

According to Debora Wyman of the Deerfield Fair Association, attendees must reserve a blocked time on the hour in advance (the ticket page can be accessed through the fair’s website, deerfieldfair.com) and show up at the fairgrounds 15 minutes before. Times are between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Sunday. The cost of admission is $5 per person and a maximum of 200 tickets per time block per day are being sold.

When you arrive at the fairgrounds, there will be signage and event staff directing you where to drive through and park. Several fair vendors selling items like fried dough, fried Oreos, cotton candy, fried pickles, pizza, french fries, sausages, caramel and candy apples, pretzels, and corn dogs will be set up along a designated section of the fairgrounds.

Masks are required and electronic payments are encouraged, as there will not be an ATM onsite. To prevent congregating, there will be no seating on the fairgrounds. Each group, Wyman said, has 45 minutes to purchase their food before leaving the fairgrounds to allow the next group to come in. All surfaces will be sanitized during the 15 minutes in between each allotted time block.

Dan Keough of Dan’s Fried Dough, a featured vendor at the Deerfield Fair for 45 years, said he approached the association with the idea for the event after experiencing success at similar festivals in Vermont and Massachusetts over the last few months.

“We’ve been doing the best we can to get a variety of food vendors,” he said.

Also happening this weekend, St. Philip Greek Orthodox Church in Nashua will host a two-day drive-thru event on Friday, Oct. 2, and Saturday, Oct. 3, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., offering a menu of homemade Greek items usually enjoyed during its annual festival in the spring, like baklava, spanakopita and stuffed grape leaves.

According to event volunteer Joyce Powell, the menu for this event has expanded to include spit-roasted lamb and pastichio (Greek lasagna), two options that weren’t available from the first drive-thru festival. Dinners are available for purchase, which come with Greek-style rice and green beans, and dessert options have been expanded to include koulourakia, or Greek butter cookies.

“We’ve also added a cookbook of recipes made by some of the women of the church, and some face masks that were handmade in Greece,” Powell said.

Advance ordering online is encouraged, but call-aheads will also be accepted on each day.

In Concord, Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church is hosting its next Greek meal to go next weekend. Orders must be placed by Oct. 7, with pickups at the church on Sunday, Oct. 11, from noon to 1 p.m. The meal will include a half Greek lemon-roasted chicken with rice pilaf, a salad and a dinner roll, for $15 per person. The church will also offer similar meals over the next several months, including on Nov. 8 (stuffed peppers), Dec. 13 (dolmathes, or stuffed grape leaves), Jan. 10 (pork souvlaki) and Feb. 7 (Greek meatballs).

Glendi, a long-running three-day Greek food festival in Manchester, was also canceled earlier this year, but St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral members and volunteers are holding smaller food events. Following a “Gyro Day” drive-thru pickup event that was presented on Sept. 26, the church will hold a lamb shank dinner to go on Saturday, Oct. 17, from 4 to 7 p.m.

Orders must be placed by Oct. 11 by calling the church office — the dinner will include lamb shanks, rice and green beans for $20.

Upcoming drive-thru and to-go food festivals
• The Deerfield Fair will host the Taste of the Fair on Friday, Oct. 2, and Saturday, Oct. 3, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 4, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., on the Deerfield Fairgrounds (34 Stage Road). Advance tickets online are required — visit deerfieldfair.com to pick a designated time slot. Only 200 tickets will be sold per hour, per day, and masks are required.
• Join St. Philip Greek Orthodox Church (500 W. Hollis St., Nashua) for its next pop-up drive-thru food festival on Friday, Oct. 2, and Saturday, Oct. 3, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pre-ordering in advance is required — items include lamb, pastichio, dolmathes, Greek meatballs and spanakopita, plus pastries and sweets like baklava and koulourakia. Visit nashuagreekfestival.com.
• Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church (68 N. State St., Concord) is offering its next Greek dinner to-go on Sunday, Oct. 11, from noon to 1 p.m. (order by Oct. 7). All meals include a half Greek lemon-roasted chicken with rice pilaf, a salad and a dinner roll, for $15. Visit holytrinitynh.org.
• St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral (650 Hanover St., Manchester) will serve a drive-thru lamb shank dinner on Saturday, Oct. 17, from 4 to 7 p.m. (order by Oct. 11). Meals include lamb shank, rice and green beans, for $20. Visit stgeorgeglendi.com.

Featured Photo: Greek Food Festival in Nashua. Courtesy photo.

News from the local food scene

• Indian inspired: Chef Keith Sarasin of The Farmer’s Dinner, a series of farm-to-table dinners at New Hampshire farms, will host a live cooking class via Zoom on Sunday, Oct. 4, from 5 to 6 p.m. Participants will also learn the basics of Indian food during the class, as Sarasin, who learned to cook under an Indian chef for three years, walks through an easy recipe and talks about his own experiences. The cost is $29.99 per person and all virtual attendees will be emailed an ingredient list and video link in advance of the class. Visit thefarmersdinner.com.

• Smoked to perfection: On Sept. 11, Michael “Messy Mike” Massiglia of the Derry-based Messy Mike’s Barbecue & Catering Co. launched a new 30-foot mobile food trailer that you can now find every Friday through Sunday in the parking lot of Rockingham Acres Greenhouse (161 Rockingham Road, Derry), from noon until he sells out. The menu includes various meats sold by the pound, sandwiches, sides and other specialty barbecue favorites. Massiglia has been barbecuing full-time since 2014, catering all kinds of events across New England like birthday parties, cookouts, weddings and corporate gatherings, always offering a menu heavy on smoked meats and fresh sides. He also makes his own bottled hot and regular barbecue sauces, which are available for sale online and on some local store shelves. Visit messymikesbarbecue.com or follow him on Facebook @messymikesbbq.

• Cookie tour canceled: The Country Inns in the White Mountains has cancelled its 24th annual Inn to Inn Cookie and Candy Tour, which had been scheduled for Dec. 12 and Dec. 13, according to a press release. “Out of an abundance of caution for the safety of guests and the association’s innkeepers and staff, it became clear that the event might attract a crowd that would exceed safety limits determined by the state,” the release read. The tour, which originated as a holiday luncheon, has grown into one of the region’s largest holiday events and raised thousands of dollars for local nonprofits over the years. Dates for the event to return next year have already been set, for Dec. 11 and Dec. 12, 2021, according to the release. Visit countryinnsinthewhitemountains.com.

• Granite State Distilling introduced: Sazerac of New Hampshire, a Londonderry bottling facility of distilled spirits, has changed its name to Granite State Distilling, according to a recent press release. The name change also comes with a new logo that was recently unveiled, featuring a sketch of an Appalachian mountaintop inside the shape of a circle, with two outlines of the state of New Hampshire on either side. The new sign was installed on the premises over the summer, according to the release, and all bottled products are expected to reflect the name change in the near future. One of the oldest family-owned private distillers, Sazerac has operations in nearly a dozen states, as well as global operations. Visit sazerac.com.