Foodstuffs Small Plates: Dean Kamen, Restaurateur?
Small Plates is a roundup of New Hampshire food news.
Lest you thought he was merely a world-renowned inventor and FIRST robotics founder, the Union Leader reports Dean Kamen is about to become a restaurant owner, planning a space called The Foundry in Manchester’s Millyard area. Kamen’s company, DEKA Research & Development, declined to comment, but the Union Leader report says the Foundry is slated to open this summer, paying tribute to “the industrial heritage of the mills” at 50 Commercial Street. The menu is reportedly still under development, but given some of Kamen’s recent inventions we can safely assume that the restaurant’s drinking water will be really clean.
Space Is The Place For CQ Coffee Roasters
Coffee lovers have been keeping a close eye on CQ Coffee Roasters ever since one of the Bedford-based roaster’s blends was named one of the five best in the country. When owner Claudia Barrett talked with Foodstuffs in 2014, she mentioned that eventually she wanted to have a storefront in town, and according to a post on the CQ website, that storefront is in the works, but with a twist: the company will henceforth be known as Flight Coffee Company. Barrett writes that the new name has a double meaning. The new space, she says, will “complete the circle” from farm to cup, but she also notes that the term “coffee flight” is used for tastings “which allow tasters to get a feel for breadth or depth.”
Blake’s Deal Brings ConAgra To Concord
The brands in the ConAgra Foods, Inc. portfolio include Chef Boyardee, Orville Redenbacher’s, Slim Jim and Egg Beaters. Now the Nebraska-based food company can add a New Hampshire company to that list: ConAgra announced last week it had acquired Blake’s All Natural Foods, which produces frozen entrees such as pot pies and casseroles. The details of the all-cash agreement weren’t disclosed, but the New Hampshire Business Review reports Blake’s will continue to operate in Concord, with CEO Chris Licata and 60 employees.
Links to take home: the Chowder Fest at Portsmouth’s Prescott Park is less than a week away. Sit still for an entire lunch (maybe) at one of these kid-friendly cafes. If all else fails, hire a sitter and have a drink along the coast. Best reason to name your new restaurant after a turtle: “turtles are my favorite – I have a tattoo of one.”
