WHS

I'm living vicariously through your posts. We spent New Year's Eve at the Four Seasons a couple of years ago--champagne flowed, as did Phuket lobsters, foie gras and sharks fin soup--among many other choices. Thanks for reviving the memories of an extraordinary place.

Next available Saturday reservation is October 14th at 10p.m.

Franklin Spa--great diner breakfast with a Portugese twist. Mama Luisa--very good Italian Brunch at Castle Hill Inn

Here's a link to an amusing article in the Boston Globe: http://www.boston.com/ae/food/articles/200...in_my_vindaloo/

Clio's website is under construction--does this mean a change of direction with the menu?

In the immortal words of Pim (and she should know): "Pretentious snobs are people too." I think I'll get that printed on a t-shirt.

Since this has become the default NH thread, I just wanted to alert you all to a great Vietnamese restaurant in Manchester. It's called Pho Golden Bowl, and it's located on Queen City Blvd next to Hesser College. We had a deep, flavorful pho made with various beef parts, grilled quail glazed with a sweet hoisin type sauce, amazing salt & pepper pork chops and steamed vermicelli and beef wrapped in lettuce. Ask about the specials taped to the wall that are in Vietnamese only. My favorite moment was the West African couple speaking to the Vietnamese waiter in French--globalization at its best!

My Concord pals tell me that the place to go for Italian is Angelinas: http://www.angelinasrestaurant.com/

Do you or anyone else know anything about Portsmouth? Other than the obvious, which is that it's just about as cute as it can be. We've driven over there each time I've visited Concord, and know we'll be going back. Are there any lunch places right in downtown Portsmouth that any one of you would recommend? We park and then stroll around and when noon comes along, we stand there looking at each other like, "anyone know where to go to grab a bite?" It'd be great if we did. ← If you go over the bridge to Kittery, right smack dab in the middle of outlet mall hell is a really good clam shack/lobster roll place called Bob's. http://www.bobsclamhut.com/ It's famous, been around since before the malls. Jaymes, glad you liked Arnies. We just got back from dinner in Peterborough at Pearl restaurant & oyster bar. It was spectacular and if you get over to P'bo for the Players or Monadnock Music or McDowell Colony open studio day, make sure you have dinner there. Opens at 5. Note: they don't take reservations except for parties of 6 or more. ← In Portsmouth, there's also the Oar House which has a deck overlooking the harbor: http://www.portsmouthnh.com/oarhouse/index.html

Do you or anyone else know anything about Portsmouth? Other than the obvious, which is that it's just about as cute as it can be. We've driven over there each time I've visited Concord, and know we'll be going back. Are there any lunch places right in downtown Portsmouth that any one of you would recommend? We park and then stroll around and when noon comes along, we stand there looking at each other like, "anyone know where to go to grab a bite?" It'd be great if we did. ← If you go over the bridge to Kittery, right smack dab in the middle of outlet mall hell is a really good clam shack/lobster roll place called Bob's. http://www.bobsclamhut.com/ It's famous, been around since before the malls. Jaymes, glad you liked Arnies. We just got back from dinner in Peterborough at Pearl restaurant & oyster bar. It was spectacular and if you get over to P'bo for the Players or Monadnock Music or McDowell Colony open studio day, make sure you have dinner there. Opens at 5. Note: they don't take reservations except for parties of 6 or more.

Yeah, the more I thought about it, I more I wondered if any NH BBQ could hold a candle to what you can get...anyway, here's the website for Arnie's Place: http://www.arniesplace.com/index.html You could always go there for a hamburger, and feast on their ice cream. It's worth a trip for atmosphere alone.

Well, shame on you for going to a Mexican restaurant in New Hampshire! On our way back from Crawford Notch today, we stopped by Arnie's in East Concord--they have great BBQ and home-made ice cream. The pulled pork sandwich was very good, and they offer hot and smoky versions of BBQ sauce. Try it when you return.

We had to take a friend to Logan last night--because of all the rain her flight was delayed, and we had a leisurely 2 and a half hour meal at Legal Seafood in Terminal C. We shared fried calamari Rhode Island style, fried belly clams, and seared tuna sashimi for apps, and had soft shell crabs and the crab cake combo with grilled shrimp and scallops for mains. Everything was very fresh--the tuna was absolutely pristine. For airport food, the meal was shockingly good. Service was a little haphazard--had to ask for bread, and our Boston Cream Pie never came--they ran out and the waitress was the last to know. Still, considering the staff has to trip over suitcases to serve, the experience was top notch.

FYI, the Hollis Strawberry Shortcake Social is scheduled for next Saturday, June 24th on the Common.

Our local farmer's market has opened for the summer, and we were able to get really FRESH cod from a lady who goes down to the fish market in Boston at the crack of dawn. The 2 cups of cream in the chowder came from a local dairy farm that sells its milk in glass bottles. Good fish stock, Maine potatoes, fresh thyme. Finished with Celtic sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Sublime.

We made a fish chowder last night from Jasper White's "Chowders" cookbook with fresh cod from our local farmer's market. I take back every nasty thing I've said about New England food.

For funky Chinese (intestines, tripe, shrimp with the heads intact), there's South Garden in Merrimack. ← Thanks, I'll check it out. On a sad note, there was an article yesterday in the UL noting that Baldwin's on Elm has closed. As one of the cornerstones of Manchester's new dining scene, it will be missed.

Is this new place where the old sushi/Japanese place used to be, up on the hill in the d'Angelos/Indian restaurant strip mall? We always had so-so service at the old place, so I'm happy to hear of something new -- and good -- in the neighborhood. ← You're thinking of Osaka Tea Garden, which has closed. Takumi is farther north on DW--up near the amusement center, Hacienda del Rio, past Barnes & Noble.

Hey, welcome back to balmy, tropical New Hampshire! Bare Bonz is definitely not a full-service butcher--the places in Bedford NH are MUCH better. What is it with marinated steak tips? We got a nice kielbasa at the Russian store--definitely better than the supermarket variety. Fully cooked, so you just need to brown it on the grill. If you like sushi, there is a fabulous new(ish) place on DW Highway called Takumi--very elegant, and they have very unusual selections.

How about the Oak Room at the Copley Plaza? Beautiful room, and named "Best Steakhouse" by Boston magazine. http://theoakroom.com/page/1915f/Home.html

I'm not a huge fan of battered and breaded fried seafood myself. We had some terrific grilled clams with garlic butter at Summer Shack the other night. The steamers were good too.

In Newport there's Franklin Spa on Spring St for a good diner breakfast. It's a local institution that serves things like Azorean omelets (with chourico) and crab cakes benedict. If you're into ceramics and tableware, there's a great store down the street called Roy that sells beautiful things including Heathware and a line of pewter from Italy called Match. We had a fancy brunch at the Castle Hill Inn. Lobster Hash, Lamb & eggs, spectacular desserts. The location is great--just off Ocean Drive with a view of the water. We enjoyed dinner at Mama Luisa's, which has an extensive wine list and a good selection of Northern Italian dishes. It's way down at the far end of Thames St. Nancy, the owner of Roy, also suggested a place called Salvation Cafe for dinner. Asian fusion and where the locals eat. Since we were only there for the weekend, we didn't have time to try it.

There is some debate in the New England forum about the best fried clam--though the consensus seems to be leaning toward the Clam Box in Ipswich. Woodmans in Essex is where the fried clam was born, and my suggestion is to do a taste test and judge for yourself. Force yourself.

Being based in Concord, you'll have easy access to many areas. There's no way to cover everything here, but within an hour's drive, I highly recommend: A stay at Notchland Inn up in the White Mountains. The inn was built by one of the original settlers of Crawford Notch and the present owners serve wonderful 5 course dinners using local ingredients. A drive from there up through Bethlehem and Littleton will give you a taste of "above the notches". Littleton has a great local bookstore too. The Connecticut river towns are beautiful and classic. Walpole is where Burdick Chocolates are made--stop for lunch at their cafe. There is a b&b called Home Hill Inn in Plainfield that is very special--Maxfield Parrish painted sets for the local town theater here. The Saint-Gaudens gardens in Cornish are one of the most beautiful places in the US. Further up is Dartmouth College in Hanover--it doesn't get much more Norman Rockwellish than this. There's a soda fountain on Main St that looks like it's out of the 50's. The Monadnock region has the second most climbed mountain in the world--Mt. Monadnock. Peterborough was the inspiration for Thornton Wilder's "Our Town"--try Aqua Bistro by the river. Drive through towns like Fitzwilliam and Hancock (the inn has good food) and visit the farmers' market held in the old horse stalls behind the Hancock Congregational Church . This is all just an hour or so away--once you start exploring further afield, you will be able to experience fried clams in Essex MA, and lobster rolls at Red's in Wiscasset ME!

Now, I've had my (un)fair share of overcooked meat and two veg from my New England forebears, but I got a bit miffed at that statement (and to the word "cuisine" being in quotation marks). After all, while "New England cuisine" could be defined by the traditions established by the Yankee settlers, it could also be defined by the Italians in the North End of Boston, or the Portuguese or Quebecoise along the coast, or the Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Thai folks here in Providence -- or by Jasper White, Lydia Shire, Gordon Hammersley, Neath Pal, George Germon and Johanne Killeen.... Harumph. Having said that, I don't think that I really have a clear sense of what New England cuisine was or is. Seemed like an interesting question to toss your way. Thoughts? ← A well-prepared New England boiled dinner is a beautiful thing, and minimalism in cooking can be sublime. Perhaps my use of the word "cuisine" was inappropriate. It might be more accurate to say that the majority of "non-foodie" people I encounter in New England prefer their cooking to be pretty straight-forward. I'm not talking about Laotians living in Lawrence; I'm talking about your basic Anglo who grew up here. I work with people who like their "Ragu" sauce strained as it comes out of the bottle so there are no chunks, or who hate mushrooms. The thought of garlic makes them gag. They like their meat "well-done". Do these people define New England cuisine? That said, there are enough of "us" to support a vibrant restaurant scene, from little towns like Rockland ME (Primo) to Boston (Clio, No 9 Park, etc, etc), farmer's markets that encourage the use of local ingredients (I can even buy NH wine at mine--not bad), and the proliferation of ethnic markets, so that I can incorporate kaffir lime leaves and nam pla into my cooking. I think the effects of globalization are so profound that it's almost impossible to call something New England "cuisine" unless you describe in almost cartoon-like terms: steamed lobster, fried clams and tuna wiggle.