Hot!! Oh yeah it’s hot. It is hotter than … well you can finish. Heat comes with summer and we will all pine for a bit of it come January, not that I am happy with the “…stalled high pressure sitting over New England” . Summer does however bring treasures: Days at the beach and nights sitting out staring at the stars with a cool barley beverage are high on the list, but what I am talking about is real food grown just kilometers away from my kitchen. Wonderful friends Alison and John, accomplished professionals and artists-now-gardeners, are showing up every other day with extraordinary greens, edible and beautiful flowers, and other delights that I am incorporating into our daily special menus. You will even see greens that Claudia has raised ( Webster Street Farms) showing up. Milk and Honey Farm in Canterbury is now delivering chickens and ducks every Tuesday. We are getting produce from Northern Mass and within a week from New Hampshire.
Swordfish, Monkfish, Halibut as well as Scallops the size of bocci balls are now readily available. Our ham is now fresh from Kellie Brook Farm in Greenfield, and one of my line chefs, Ken, is smoking it for 12 hours. We are serving it for breakfast and on our Croque Madame with a farm fresh egg and Pineland Farm Swiss. Our flatbreads are being made with regional mozzarella, ricotta and goat cheese. Nowhere else in the city can you get the variety of local products that we are procuring. No lie.
I have never been able to deal with extreme weather, either hot or cold. A kitchen, however, is a case study in extremes. In winter, frigid air is blowing down on your head from the make-up air system, producing a monstrous headache, and in the summer 500 degree heat is blasting from the ovens not 6 inches from your face. We hang meat thermometers from the hood and high five each other when the temp reads 110. Trips to the refrigerated walk-in are mandatory.
So, its hot. Soon it will be cold, and then it going to be hot again. Let’s focus on the gifts of this short (and hot) season. I promise as much garden fresh produce as I can get delivered. The freshest of just-landed fish and char-grilled grass-fed Miles Smith Farm Beef. The blackboard will be full for sure. Wash it all down with something cold from our beer and wine tower, made to taste even better from 7-9 PM ( 1/2 price) . Enjoy it from our “street seats” with the only view of the mountains in the city.
Yes it’s very hot, but soon it it will be very cold……
See you soon
Ed
Also: Skatewing with brown butter and lentils du puy are on the menu this weekend.
Free parking every night after 5 at the Wellington Trade Center lot on Lowell Street.
Bear with us if some of the proteins are not available on occasion. Our Farmer/Partners are are working hard to meet our volume requirements.
The “Meet the Farmer” dinner dates will be announced soon via e-mail, so don’t spam lock me out!
Do some good Tuesdays! 3% of sales donated to NH Food Bank and the Manchester Animal Shelter.