Posts by Carolyn R. Choate
One of New Hampshire’s most popular winter attractions is returning to Nashua. The New Hampshire Orchid Society will present, A Bounty Orchids, March 25 – 27, at the Courtyard Marriott, 2200 Southwood Drive, Nashua. Off Exit 8, Everett Turnpike.
Eating up the food, the friendly conversation, the sense that I’m in a remote – and scenic – destination far from home, and warmed in the glow emitted by gas heaters placed among the many well-spaced tables all occupied at the foot of McIntyre’s ski lift, you think, “life feels good again.”
Chef/owner Omar Abouzaid and his wife, Ibtisam, are no strangers to Manchester or the food biz. They first moved to the area 20 years ago from Morocco to attend Southern New Hampshire University. Ibtisam earning her degree in International Business; while Omar graduated with an MBA before continuing on to get an MS in Finance.
Before the world started looking eerily like a Charles Dickens throwback, Ed Aloise and Claudia Rippee, of Republic Cafe, 1069 Elm St., were reveling in their best year yet. Their tenth, in fact; a nod to the couple’s complete commitment to elevating the farm-to-table concept to a thoroughly flavorful, gourmet experience where even the prices were easy to swallow.
The 20-something Salem native with an associate’s degree in baking and pastry arts and a BA in culinary management from Southern NH University, purchased the former Michelle’s Bakery in December before stamping his own unique identity on the place in April: Bearded Baking Company.
In addition to all that regulars have come to expect from Angela’s Pasta & Cheese, Steve Freeman plans to start cooking classes – once we get past COVID-19 restrictions.
Things have really been hoppin’ at Bunny’s Superette, 75 Webster St., ever since a new Nepalese take-out restaurant took up residence in Pramod Nyaupane’s renovated store last week.
Gary “Diz” Window, chef/owner of recently opened Diz’s Café, 860 Elm Street, thinks the world could use some comfort food right around now. His spin? “Things your mother would make but I make ‘em better,” he tells me before readying for a long day in his newly appointed home away from home.
You don’t need TV financial analysts to tell you what your wallet has been feeling: the steady climb of food prices since the onset of Covid-19. Just last week, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that April saw the biggest one month increase at the nation’s grocery stores since 1974; a 4.3 percent increase in meat, poultry, fish and eggs, and a 7 percent across the board increase in all departments since this time last year.
Sales have doubled to over 800 meals a week for the already-booming Elm Street-based home-delivery and curbside pickup meal service since the outset of COVID-19.