To those who know me this will come as no surprise, I am not a morning person. I also have a hard time with big food that early. Eggs for me is a light supper with a salad and a bottle of wine. Now that REPUBLIC is open and fully operational, I walk into incredible espresso and our baker’s creations every morning. We have biscotti, scones, cinnamon twist bread, galettes (small sweet and savory open faced pies), almond horns with chocolate, quiche and small panini.
Our baker Ryan Musgrove, trained in Germany and also makes our amazing country rye that we use on the croque sandwiches. It is strange for me to have an employee that I only see on payday since Ryan begins his day ( or night) at 1 AM and leaves before I arrive. If you come in just as we open at 7 AM on weekdays, you may catch sight of him. If he appears a bit pale, that’s just the flour.

Also, Claudia my wife- business partner- lover- teacher – accomplished photographic artist, has a show opening on Wednesday at the NH Institute of Art Gallery, 77 Amherst St, Manchester (www.nhia.edu) from 9 am to 5 pm . She will be displaying pieces from her Graffiti series and also some of her pin-hole work. After the show I know a good place for a drink, small bite or a coffee!!!

See you soon
Ed

OPEN AT LAST

We have made a beginning. The evolution of REUBLIC has begun and my excitement about the journey is hard to contain. I feel like I am 30 years old (My grey hair not withstanding of course).

So much effort has been expended to get to this point. Chef Keith has single handedly created a distribution network for all of our current and future local ingredients and the kitchen staff has worked seemingly non- stop. The front of house training has been intense and the opening parties were fun and, I must say, educational. Many last minute tweaks were made to the menu and a few of our “oversights” were brought to our attention both on the culinary end and to the facility as well. The space is so comfortable it feels like it has been here for years. Guests cannot stop stroking the marble bar. It’s almost erotic to watch.

The fund raiser for the Food Bank was a success for us both and the Family and Friends practice dinner came off as intended, a true teaching moment for our staff. We quietly opened the doors on Thursday and for the next three days guests trickled in. Most were just walking by and many were friends of the staff along with the outstanding employees of the Milltowne Grille. To my surprise a few of the “walk ins” walked in three days in a row. They came initially out of curiosity and stayed for wine and a small bite. Some came the next day for coffee and some fresh made bread and then showed up on Saturday night for dinner.

As I told many people this weekend, what you see now, what you will see 6 months, and a year from now will be an adventure in the growth of the concept and the exploration of local ingredients combined with Mediterranean recipes. As the seasons change, we will continue to focus on what is fresh.

Our chickens are incubating, the hams are brining, the wine is chilling and our staff is pacing. Come on in, we are ready.

Ed

Our custom built beer and wine tower designed by Don Jaillet.

Trying to find the right draft system for Republic proved to be harder than expected. The catalogs had many cookie cutter choices for beer towers but none that we felt captured the spirit of our space. Having gone back and forth trying to settle on a particular design Don finally proposed that he build us a custom tower to reflect what we had described to him as our ideal. As you can see he gave us a unique “gem”.

You will have to visit Republic to see how incredible this piece is and to taste its brews and vintages!