BEYOND THE PLATE WITH CAROL

Welcome to Episode 77 of Beyond the Plate with Carol Podacst! This week, Carol sits down with sisters-in-law Brylie Murphy and Kylie Murphy, the duo behind Daily Dough Co., a homemade cinnamon roll stand in Manchester, New Hampshire!It started with one cinnamon roll recipe. Then another. Then about five. By June 2026, sisters-in-law Brylie and Kylie had turned their shared love of baking into Daily Dough Co., a small home-based cinnamon roll stand on Front Street in Manchester, New Hampshire.Carol first discovered their Saturday setup thanks to a friend's recommendation. In this episode, she invites the women behind the rolls to The Studio at The Beacon in Manchester, NH to find out how a family-supported first-week sellout grew into a much bigger local following. The turning point? A surprise message from Joey the Roaming Foodie, who found their Facebook Marketplace post and later shared their story.They talk blueberry and cookie butter cinnamon rolls, rotating specialty flavors, peach cobbler and chai, Friday baking after full-time jobs, and why the 3 a.m. wakeups had to go. Kylie works in drafting and design, while Brylie teaches sixth grade and even brings cinnamon-roll making into her school's Franklin Fridays program. You'll also hear the meaning behind the Daily Dough name, how faith shapes their packaging, why their stand is seasonal, and whether a Thanksgiving or Christmas pop-up might happen.Plus: an unexpectedly serious fluffer-nutter cinnamon roll debate, a Manchester-area coffee recommendation, and a heartfelt conversation about hospitality and ROCA Kids.Daily Dough's regular Saturday stand had finished for the season at the time of recording. Holiday drops were discussed as possibilities, not confirmed events. Follow Daily Dough Co. directly for announcements.📍 Daily Dough Co. -- Front Street, Manchester, New Hampshire🔗 Look for Daily Dough Co. on social media for availability and updates.Carol Erickson ran the Red Arrow Diner for nearly 40 years, and today she hosts Beyond the Plate with Carol, a New Hampshire-based podcast covering food, restaurants, and hospitality all across New England. Every episode, Carol sits down with the chefs, entrepreneurs, content creators, and everyday people with an interesting New England story to tell -- from family-owned restaurants and food trucks to rising creators like Brylie and Kylie of Daily Dough Co. It’s not just about the food -- it’s about the journeys, the community, and what drives people to go beyond.This episode is sponsored by Belmont Hall & Restaurant.Manchester, NH -- family-owned for over 90 years.belmonthall.net | Instagram: @belmonthallandcatering | Facebook: @belmonthallandcateringThis episode is brought to you in part by 603 Perks -- free for local businesses to join.Want to put your business in front of more people? With a featured listing, Carol personally visits and creates a video that captures what makes your business special -- then it’s promoted through 603 Perks and Beyond the Plate with Carol.603perks.com🔔 New episodes drop every Tuesday -- hit SUBSCRIBE and turn on notifications so you never miss one!Find Beyond the Plate everywhere: linktr.ee/BeyondtheplateNH0:00 - Welcome to Brylie and Kylie1:15 - Carol finds the Front Street stand2:27 - Sisters-in-law and housemates3:16 - How Daily Dough began4:33 - Deciding to start selling5:15 - First-week sellout6:00 - The Saturday stand routine6:35 - Three flavors and porch pickup7:28 - Why they stick to cinnamon rolls8:03 - Cookie butter, blueberry and chai8:46 - Preorders and full-time jobs10:00 - Designer and sixth-grade teacher11:06 - Rolling in the Dough at school11:52 - Seasonal closing and holiday hopes13:17 - When momentum took off13:53 - Joey the Roaming Foodie discovers them15:30 - The story behind the name17:01 - From 3 a.m. baking to better routines19:04 - What makes their partnership work21:29 - Where new flavors come from22:52 - Belmont Hall and 603 Perks messages24:05 - Baking science and sourdough29:55 - Lightning round begins32:15 - The fluffer-nutter debate33:19 - Baking without a playlist33:40 - A local coffee hidden gem36:20 - Hospitality and ROCA Kids38:20 - Closing and possible holiday drop

Phil Meyer grew up on a dairy farm in Iowa, joined the Air Force at 18, and worked his way into cyber security before becoming the volunteer CEO of Nourish New England, the man behind New Hampshire Eats, and the Farmboy Foodie. In Episode 76, Phil is back on Beyond the Plate with Carol for a redo of his first interview, and it kicks off with a chai latte taste test between Williams & Sons Coffee and Mocha Pot at the Studio at the Beacon in Manchester, New Hampshire.Carol Erickson and Phil trace how a farm kid whose family could taste when milk was going off went from Air Force satellite communications and Lincoln Laboratory to running food communities across New England, including New England Eats, Vermont Eats, and Rhode Island Eats. Phil explains how New Hampshire Eats grew from a small Southern New Hampshire group into a Facebook community with over 212,000 members, why "be nice or be gone" is the rule, and how the group has helped change the trajectory of New Hampshire restaurants.Along the way: the Greek restaurant boom along the 93 corridor, Phil's New Hampshire well done pizza theory, his top three barbecue picks, his burger rankings, the One of Everything Social Club, and a story about a donkey cart full of watermelons in Turkey. Phil also shares a first taste of Nourish New England, the food insecurity nonprofit he and the New Hampshire Eats community created, plus the upcoming New Hampshire World Christmas Market on December 12 and 13 at Owl's Nest Resort in Thornton, New Hampshire. Then it's the lightning round and Phil's hospitality story about turning leftover food into a way to fight food insecurity.📍 Nourish New England and New Hampshire Eats -- New Hampshire, serving all of New England🔗 Find New Hampshire Eats on Facebook | Nourish New EnglandCarol Erickson ran the Red Arrow Diner for nearly 40 years, and today she hosts Beyond the Plate with Carol, a New Hampshire-based podcast covering food, restaurants, and hospitality all across New England. Every episode, Carol sits down with the chefs, entrepreneurs, content creators, and everyday people with an interesting New England story to tell -- from family-owned restaurants and food trucks to community builders like Phil Meyer. It's not just about the food -- it's about the journeys, the community, and what drives people to go beyond.This episode is sponsored by Belmont Hall & Restaurant.Manchester, NH -- family-owned for over 90 years.belmonthall.net | Instagram: @belmonthallandcatering | Facebook: @belmonthallandcateringThis episode is brought to you in part by 603 Perks -- free for local businesses to join.Want to put your business in front of more people? With a featured listing, Carol personally visits and creates a video that captures what makes your business special -- then it’s promoted through 603 Perks and Beyond the Plate with Carol.603perks.com🔔 New episodes drop every Tuesday -- hit SUBSCRIBE and turn on notifications so you never miss one!Find Beyond the Plate everywhere: linktr.ee/BeyondtheplateNH#BeyondThePlate #NewEnglandFood #NHEats #NourishNewEngland #manchesternh 0:00 - Intro0:25 - Welcome back, Phil1:02 - Why we're doing a redo1:37 - The chai latte taste test3:13 - A farm-raised palate5:30 - Mocha Pot's chai7:43 - From cyber warfare to foodie12:34 - The donkey cart full of watermelons 😂14:39 - How New Hampshire Eats started17:43 - The no-negativity rule: be nice or be gone21:17 - Beyond New Hampshire: the Eats network24:08 - Restaurants New Hampshire Eats has changed27:48 - Greek food on the 93 corridor33:04 - How Phil recommends a restaurant35:20 - The great pizza debate38:30 - "New Hampshire well done"52:39 - Top three barbecue joints55:40 - The One of Everything Social Club58:31 - Favorite burgers1:02:05 - A taste of Nourish New England1:09:01 - The Pickity Place adventure1:15:15 - Lightning Round1:23:22 - Phil's hospitality story1:25:07 - New Hampshire World Christmas Market1:25:32 - The Farmboy Foodie reveal

On Friday, October 23, 2026, Manchester Country Club turns into the Emerald City. The Wizard of Pawz Gala -- There's No Place Like a Furrever Home -- is the annual fundraising gala for Friends of the Manchester Animal Shelter, and in this episode Carol Erickson heads to 490 Dunbarton Road in Manchester, New Hampshire to find out what it pays for. She sits down with Judie Brown, Vice President of the Board of Directors, Executive Director Michael Constance, and Director of Operations Hannah Hurley.Here is why the night matters. The shelter gets roughly $95,000 a year from the city of Manchester and costs about $1.2 million a year to operate. Last year's gala helped pay for phase one of the shelter expansion, which the team had just moved into when Carol visited. This year's gala pays for phase two and helps raise the money for phase three. Judie Brown walks through the whole evening -- a red carpet, a twister, an Emerald City ballroom, a live band and a live auctioneer -- along with tickets ($200), tables of 10 ($1,500), sponsorships for small businesses and the auction items they are still looking for.You will also hear what that money does. Michael Constance explains cruelty cases, where New Hampshire law treats an animal as property and one recent case kept a dog in limbo for more than two years at a cost of about $25,000. Hannah Hurley tells the stories of Reader's Digest, the dog whose wheelchair was funded on Facebook within a few hours, bonded seniors Millie and Bella, Cooper the black cat who has been waiting since July 2025, and Droplet, the stray whose original family spotted him on the shelter's website. Plus how to volunteer, the NH pet food pantry, low-cost spay and neuter clinics, and their favorite local places to eat.🎟 Wizard of Pawz Gala tickets, tables and sponsorships -- give.manchesteranimalshelter.org/event/manchester-animal-shelters-wizard-of-pawz-gala-theres-no-place-like-a-furrever-home/e822485📍 Manchester Animal Shelter -- 490 Dunbarton Road, Manchester, NH🔗 manchesteranimalshelter.org -- adopt, volunteer and donate | Instagram: @fmasnhCarol Erickson spent nearly 40 years in the hospitality industry as the longtime owner of the Red Arrow Diner before turning her attention to Beyond the Plate with Carol, a New Hampshire-based podcast covering food, restaurants, and hospitality all across New England. Every episode, Carol sits down with the chefs, entrepreneurs, content creators, and everyday people with an interesting New England story to tell -- from family-owned restaurants and food trucks to community organizations like Friends of the Manchester Animal Shelter. It's not just about the food -- it's about the journeys, the community, and what drives people to go beyond.This episode is sponsored by Belmont Hall & Restaurant.Manchester, NH -- family-owned for over 90 years.belmonthall.net | Instagram: @belmonthallandcatering | Facebook: @belmonthallandcateringRestaurant and small business owners -- Carol partnered with 603 Perks, and it's completely free for businesses. All you have to do is give a perk. Sign up at 603perks.com🔔 New episodes drop every Tuesday -- hit SUBSCRIBE and turn on notifications so you never miss one!Find Beyond the Plate everywhere: linktr.ee/BeyondtheplateNH0:00 - Intro0:11 - Carol at the Manchester Animal Shelter1:18 - Why Michael Constance took the job2:52 - A day in shelter operations with Hannah Hurley3:55 - What the board actually does4:34 - Cruelty cases and the two-year wait8:04 - What phase one fixed9:49 - Why the expansion is not just more kennels11:26 - How fostering works12:12 - Reader's Digest, the dog who got a wheelchair13:57 - Judie Brown on watching it get built15:32 - Carol's 603 Perks shout-out16:00 - The small animal room and 50 guinea pigs17:27 - Millie and Bella19:48 - Ramona and Cooper22:57 - $95,000 from the city, $1.2 million to operate24:24 - The Wizard of Pawz Gala and what it pays for25:31 - Mutt Strutt26:25 - Tickets, tables, sponsors and auction items29:19 - What gala night looks like30:11 - What a successful gala means30:52 - How to volunteer32:42 - What to donate and the blanket apocalypse35:50 - The dog that changed how Michael sees the work37:20 - The moment that never gets old38:20 - What they wish people understood40:31 - A shelter is public health too41:33 - Lightning round45:26 - Favorite local food spots48:00 - One word for the shelter48:17 - Hospitality stories: Droplet and the cat from Florida53:27 - How to help and outro

Being executive chef was always the dream for Travis Greene -- he just never expected to find that kind of fine-dining opportunity in the Lakes Region. He started as a first-year culinary student at Lakes Region Community College, plating baked haddock for the public at a student-run cafe. Now he's the Executive Chef at The Lake Estate on Winnisquam, one of New Hampshire's newest luxury resorts, running a Dining Room, a Bar, a poolside grille, a wine cellar, and four event spaces that hosted roughly 500 guests in a single weekend.From Hart's Turkey Farm in Meredith to Steele Hill, five years in dining services at Plymouth State University, Hermit Woods Winery, and The Common Man's Lakehouse Grille, Travis built almost his entire career ten minutes from where he grew up in Northfield, New Hampshire. He joined The Lake Estate's opening team as Banquet Chef alongside Chris Viaud and Aaron Millinghaus, and stepped into the Executive Chef role eleven months later.In this episode, Travis talks about competing in the 2025 New Hampshire Food Bank Steel Chef Challenge alongside Marcus Samuelsson, breaking down a whole red snapper live on stage, earning a 2026 NHLRA Chef of the Year finalist nod, and building dishes like Brussels sprouts with lemon-chili ricotta and a crispy skin chicken with Carolina Gold rice and Aleppo honey jus, sourced from Vernon Family Farm in Newfield and Row 7 Seed Company. He also opens up about raising two kids in the Lakes Region he calls home.📍 The Lake Estate on Winnisquam -- 725 Laconia Road, Tilton, NH🔗 thelakeestatenh.comCarol Erickson spent nearly 40 years in the hospitality industry as the longtime owner of the Red Arrow Diner before turning her attention to Beyond the Plate with Carol, a New Hampshire-based podcast covering food, restaurants, and hospitality all across New England. Every episode, Carol sits down with the chefs, entrepreneurs, content creators, and everyday people with an interesting New England story to tell -- from family-owned restaurants and food trucks to rising creators like Travis Greene. It's not just about the food -- it's about the journeys, the community, and what drives people to go beyond.This episode is sponsored by Belmont Hall & Restaurant.Manchester, NH -- family-owned for over 90 years.belmonthall.net | Instagram: @belmonthallandcatering | Facebook: @belmonthallandcatering🔔 New episodes drop every Tuesday -- hit SUBSCRIBE and turn on notifications so you never miss one!Find Beyond the Plate everywhere: linktr.ee/BeyondtheplateNH0:00 - Intro0:12 - Welcome to Chef Travis Greene0:31 - The 2012 culinary student article1:49 - Getting his GED, finding his path2:28 - What LRCC taught him3:11 - This winter's kitchen training program4:06 - From Hart's to Steele Hill to Plymouth State5:02 - Becoming Banquet Chef at The Lake Estate5:40 - Guest plug: Chef Travis Greene6:24 - 2025 Steel Chef Challenge with Marcus Samuelsson7:22 - 2026 NHLRA Chef of the Year finalist8:04 - Banquet Chef to Executive Chef in 11 months9:00 - Building the opening kitchen team9:30 - A day in the life at The Lake Estate13:27 - Why he loves the expediter role14:54 - Dining Room, Bar, Folly Grille, and the winery16:01 - The Brussels sprouts dish17:01 - Crispy skin chicken and Sean Brock20:26 - What "New Hampshire food" means to him24:00 - Chasing the cabbage trend28:11 - Staying close to home in the Lakes Region30:23 - Family life and two kids33:34 - Cooking for the NH Food Bank37:06 - Five-year goals and James Beard39:10 - A hospitality story from Hermit Woods40:18 - Outro

Jenny Cyr of Live Life Bites never planned any of this -- she was 14 years old washing dishes at a small bakery, and now her protein bites are feeding cancer patients at a treatment center affiliated with Dana-Farber. In this episode, Jenny sits down with Carol to trace the whole path: a Pastry Arts degree from Johnson & Wales, staging in NYC kitchens under Bobby Flay and Todd English, burning out and becoming an art teacher in Hampton, NH, and nine years bartending at 900° in Manchester just to stay close to food.During COVID, Jenny started selling French macarons out of the trunk of her car -- $1,200 in sales her first December alone. She and her husband Mitch soft-launched Lemon + Lavender Pastries at the Kittery Farmers Market in June 2023, and by 2024 they'd built Live Life Bites, a line of clean-ingredient protein bites that's grown from nine bags at their very first market to roughly 550 bags a week, sold in almost 40 locations across Maine and New Hampshire. Two weeks before this recording, Jenny retired the macarons for good to go all-in on the bites -- including a new wholesale partnership with New England Cancer Specialists, whose “Food Is Medicine” Passion Project sent 200 bites through a treatment center in under two weeks.📍 Live Life Bites -- founded in Buxton, Maine, sold throughout Maine and New Hampshire (including Exeter, Manchester, Bedford, Portsmouth, and Rye)🔗 livelifebites.comCarol Erickson spent nearly 40 years in the hospitality industry as the longtime owner of the Red Arrow Diner before turning her attention to Beyond the Plate with Carol, a New Hampshire-based podcast covering food, restaurants, and hospitality all across New England. Every episode, Carol sits down with the chefs, entrepreneurs, content creators, and everyday people with an interesting New England story to tell -- from family-owned restaurants and food trucks to rising creators like Jenny Cyr. It's not just about the food -- it's about the journeys, the community, and what drives people to go beyond.This episode is sponsored by Belmont Hall & Restaurant.Manchester, NH -- family-owned for over 90 years.belmonthall.net | Instagram: @belmonthallandcatering | Facebook: @belmonthallandcatering🔔 New episodes drop every Tuesday -- hit SUBSCRIBE and turn on notifications so you never miss one!Find Beyond the Plate everywhere: linktr.ee/BeyondtheplateNH0:00 - Intro0:12 - Welcome to the studio -- meet Jenny Cyr of Live Life Bites0:51 - Two brands, one story: Lemon + Lavender vs. Live Life Bites3:16 - Pastry school, Johnson & Wales, and life in Europe6:08 - Her first wholesale accounts -- a flower shop, then a Portland hotel6:28 - Why an active, outdoorsy couple built a protein bite instead of a cookie7:26 - The “ghetto bag” protein bites that sold out in 5 minutes 😂9:46 - 40 locations, two states -- and retiring the macarons for good10:18 - Where the name “Live Life Bites” actually came from11:36 - Staging in NYC under Bobby Flay and Daniel Boulud17:36 - What “staging” even means -- and bumping into an executive chef 😂29:46 - This episode is powered by Belmont Hall & Restaurant31:14 - The new wholesale deal: New England Cancer Specialists32:19 - “Food is medicine” -- why this partnership hit different37:40 - From 9 bags to 550 bags a week38:04 - Cafe Luna and Foley’s -- their first big believers48:53 - Pushing into New Hampshire: Warrior Yoga, McKinnon’s, Portsmouth55:20 - Her favorite farmers market vendor (and the drink that started it)56:28 - The hospitality story: Mel Harrington’s Sunday Supper1:00:39 - Closing thoughts

Bianca Alicea of Mama Bear's Cookies didn't set out to become a baker. She ran a successful jewelry manufacturing business in Rhode Island with her mother -- then sold everything, packed up her family, and moved to the quiet woods of Sullivan, New Hampshire for a completely different life. When COVID hit while they were still unpacking boxes, Bianca started baking cookies to keep herself sane. Her family got a little sick of being the taste testers. The neighbors loved them. And what started as a small self-serve stand became one of the most talked-about food destinations in the Monadnock region -- a whimsical, bright yellow cookie cottage at the end of a dirt road with a crooked window, a pink door, and no cashier in sight.In this episode, Carol Erickson sits down with Bianca to talk about building the cottage with her father (who got plenty of questions from neighbors about that intentionally crooked window), changing the entire menu every single week, the "you-vote" menu where her cookie crew picks the flavors, the honor system that runs the whole operation, stuffed cookies, cookie fries, snacking peanut butter jars, her partnership with Feeding Tiny Tummies in Keene, and what it's really like to foster newborns while running a business from home in rural New Hampshire. Plus -- the guilty pleasure meal nobody would expect from a gourmet cookie baker, and the Italian family holiday tradition that shaped everything Bianca does today.📍 Mama Bear's Cookies -- 1 Paquette Drive, Sullivan, NH 03445🔗 mamabearscookies.shop | Instagram: @mamabearscookiesnhCarol Erickson spent nearly 40 years in the hospitality industry as the longtime owner of the Red Arrow Diner before turning her attention to Beyond the Plate with Carol, a New Hampshire-based podcast covering food, restaurants, and hospitality all across New England. Every episode, Carol sits down with the chefs, entrepreneurs, content creators, and everyday people with an interesting New England story to tell -- from family-owned restaurants and food trucks to rising creators like Bianca Alicea. It's not just about the food -- it's about the journeys, the community, and what drives people to go beyond.This episode is sponsored by Belmont Hall & Restaurant.Manchester, NH -- family-owned for over 90 years.belmonthall.net | Instagram: @belmonthallandcatering | Facebook: @belmonthallandcatering🔔 New episodes drop every Tuesday -- hit SUBSCRIBE and turn on notifications so you never miss one!Find Beyond the Plate everywhere: linktr.ee/BeyondtheplateNH0:00 - Intro0:12 - Meet Bianca Alicea0:30 - The whimsical cookie cottage1:07 - The Mama Bear name1:25 - Why Bianca chose cookies2:19 - Rhode Island roots & jewelry2:47 - Christmas after New Year's3:07 - Moving to New Hampshire3:38 - Mama Bear's Cookies, Sullivan NH4:01 - COVID sparked a baking obsession5:05 - The self-serve cottage idea5:48 - Building the cottage6:10 - Carol's first visit7:03 - Packaging & marketing8:01 - The crooked window 😂8:27 - Inside the cottage9:01 - The mug exchange10:04 - Peanut butter, milk & post-its10:41 - Does the honor system work?11:00 - No bears and no locks 😂11:45 - Minnesota buys the whole table12:24 - A week in Bianca's life13:05 - Stuffed cookies & cookie fries13:46 - Growing up with Italian bakeries14:59 - A new menu every week15:05 - The you-vote menu16:18 - Sour cherry pistachio flop16:54 - Dubai chocolate & trends17:55 - Feeding Tiny Tummies18:06 - Fostering connection19:12 - NH Food Bank backpack program20:58 - How fostering began21:13 - Moving to NH in 8 months22:07 - Fostering newborns22:53 - Seven foster children23:35 - Belmont Hall sponsor24:18 - Ordering & shipping cookies25:00 - A true destination spot25:43 - Santa's Cookie Cottage 😂26:18 - The Cookie Crew community27:03 - Sullivan Country Store28:04 - Imposter syndrome & winter29:03 - How to start fostering29:43 - Fostering: joy & heartbreak31:23 - Saying yes to one more baby 😂32:50 - Anything we missed?33:40 - Packaging & cookie favorites35:03 - Lightning Round35:14 - Sweet or savory?35:21 - Baker or cook?35:41 - Guilty pleasure: taquitos 😂36:20 - Four-coffee production days36:38 - One cookie forever: Biscoff37:12 - Baking until 4am37:30 - Best dunking cookie37:39 - Cookies in three words37:52 - Favorite New England staple38:07 - Carol's fish cakes38:32 - Iggies in Warwick, RI38:41 - Favorite Keene spots39:55 - Carol doesn't like breakfast 😂40:31 - Grandpa Jim's hospitality41:42 - Everyone is welcome42:37 - Visit Mama Bear's Cookies

Throwback -- this is Episode 1, originally recorded in spring 2025 and first aired June 19, 2025. Hap's Roast Beef closed in July 2025.Seventy episodes ago, before Beyond the Plate with Carol had a studio, a logo, or a single subscriber, it had two chairs at a table, a camera Carol Erickson's son set up for her, and that same son sitting across from her. This is Episode 1 -- Carol's very first podcast -- recorded with Tyler Isabelle of Hap's Roast Beef in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, eight days after Tyler and his partner Amanda Long brought home Carol's first grandbaby.Tyler grew up inside the Red Arrow Diner. He jokes that he was born in the basement, and he worked every job across all four New Hampshire Red Arrow locations -- dishwashing, prep, the line, front of house, manager. In January 2023 he and Amanda took over Hap's, a forgotten sub shop on Lafayette Road with missing ceiling tiles and a lot of history, and spent two and a half years turning it into one of the most talked-about roast beef sandwich spots on the New Hampshire Seacoast.In this episode Tyler walks Carol through perfecting North Shore style roast beef -- pink and rare, never gray -- and the 1986 Berkel slicer that finally made it right after oven cooking, convection and sous vide all failed. He explains the New England beefer world, a Facebook community roughly 50,000 members deep that will absolutely tell you when your beef is off, right down to napkin count and beef-to-bun ratio. He tells the story of the Hap's bathroom -- the black toilet, the gold fixtures, the murals and fine art, its own scent machine and its own one-song playlist -- and why he thinks every restaurant owner in New England should invest in their bathroom. And he opens up about closing Hap's, becoming a dad, and personally hand-picking Tostimo's Pizza Kitchen out of Seabrook, New Hampshire, to take over the Portsmouth space so the community would be in good hands instead of watching the lease go on the open market.Hap's closed for good in July 2025, which makes this one a time capsule. Watch it for the story of how a shuttered roast beef shack got its shine back, for a mother and son talking shop as equals, and for the first time Carol Erickson ever hit record.📍 Hap's Roast Beef -- 2222 Lafayette Road, Portsmouth, NH (the location is now Tostimo's Pizza Kitchen)🔗 hapsportsmouth.comCarol Erickson has spent nearly 40 years in the hospitality industry as the owner of the Red Arrow Diner -- four New Hampshire locations, all open 24/7 -- and hosts Beyond the Plate with Carol, a New Hampshire-based podcast covering food, restaurants, and hospitality all across New England. Every episode, Carol sits down with the chefs, entrepreneurs, content creators, and everyday people with an interesting New England story to tell -- from family-owned restaurants and food trucks to second-generation operators like Tyler Isabelle. It's not just about the food -- it's about the journeys, the community, and what drives people to go beyond.This episode is sponsored by Belmont Hall & Restaurant.Manchester, NH -- family-owned for over 90 years.belmonthall.net | Instagram: @belmonthallandcatering | Facebook: @belmonthallandcatering🔔 New episodes drop every Tuesday -- hit SUBSCRIBE and turn on notifications so you never miss one!Find Beyond the Plate everywhere: linktr.ee/BeyondtheplateNH0:00 - Intro0:23 - Carol's very first guest1:06 - Where Carol finds new places1:47 - Born into the Red Arrow2:32 - Maine, Amanda, and Hap's3:16 - Who Hap's was named after4:32 - The year he changed nothing5:02 - The 1986 slicer5:47 - Pink and rare, never gray6:19 - Inside the beefer world7:34 - Every job at the diner7:54 - Diner doodles become Hap's doodles9:01 - You have to see this bathroom 😂11:12 - Its own scent and its own playlist 😂12:07 - Invest in your bathroom13:23 - Becoming a dad14:52 - Why Hap's is closing15:54 - Sauces and spice packets17:22 - Finding the right successor18:46 - Tostimo's takes Portsmouth19:38 - You have to start somewhere20:21 - Carol's first radio show22:06 - Closing

Deb McCluskey bought one small cafe in Kittery, Maine in 2021. Five years later, she and her son Michael McCluskey run seven restaurants across Maine and New Hampshire -- and she signed the lease on the seventh one without telling him.Carol Erickson sat down with Deb inside Salty Spirits, the 500-square-foot oyster and cocktail bar in Kittery Foreside with just 14 seats at the bar, to walk through all seven concepts one by one: Lil's Cafe and its famous crullers in Kittery, the Islander Cafe on the water in New Castle, New Hampshire, Stella's Cafe in Dover, June's Cafe in Newmarket, Henry's Bagel and Deli on Route 1, Salty Spirits, and Dudley Street Pizza.Deb talks about frying donuts alongside her grandmother, washing dishes at 14, the fifteen years she spent working for Michael Landgarten before buying Lil's from him in the middle of COVID, why Henry's has no espresso machine, how an entire raw bar menu gets made in one toaster oven, and the year her son got seriously ill while three brand new restaurants were opening. Carol brings nearly 40 years of her own diner experience to the table, and the two of them land somewhere real about what regulars actually mean to a family-owned restaurant.📍 Salty Spirits -- 76 Wallingford Square, Kittery, ME🔗 saltyspiritskittery.com | lilscafe.com | junescafenh.comLil's Cafe (Kittery, ME) | Henry's Bagel and Deli (Kittery, ME) | Dudley Street Pizza (Kittery, ME) | Islander Cafe (New Castle, NH) | Stella's Cafe (Dover, NH) | June's Cafe (Newmarket, NH)Carol Erickson has spent nearly 40 years in the hospitality industry as the longtime owner of the Red Arrow Diner and its four New Hampshire locations, open 24 hours a day. Alongside the diners, she hosts Beyond the Plate with Carol, a New Hampshire-based podcast covering food, restaurants, and hospitality all across New England. Every episode, Carol sits down with the chefs, entrepreneurs, content creators, and everyday people with an interesting New England story to tell -- from family-owned restaurants and food trucks to multi-concept operators like Deb McCluskey. It's not just about the food -- it's about the journeys, the community, and what drives people to go beyond.This episode is sponsored by Belmont Hall & Restaurant.Manchester, NH -- family-owned for over 90 years.belmonthall.net | Instagram: @belmonthallandcatering | Facebook: @belmonthallandcatering🔔 New episodes drop every Tuesday -- hit SUBSCRIBE and turn on notifications so you never miss one!Find Beyond the Plate everywhere: linktr.ee/BeyondtheplateNH0:00 - Intro0:12 - Live from Salty Spirits0:54 - Frying donuts with her grandmother1:21 - Dishwasher at 142:52 - The six months she regretted3:32 - Buying Lil's during COVID6:47 - How the Foreside grew up8:58 - The Islander Cafe in New Castle12:33 - The cruller recipe that never changed14:36 - Through the kitchen to the bathroom16:42 - A record store in a bank vault20:46 - Stella's Cafe and Lilian's middle name26:34 - June's and the 130-year-old building31:41 - Belmont Hall & Restaurant32:30 - Henry's Bagel and Deli37:37 - Michael's ten-year oyster bar dream42:28 - One toaster oven, whole menu43:34 - "No new businesses" 😂48:04 - Signing the lease in secret 😂50:29 - Andrew takes over at Lil's52:05 - Regulars who become family53:33 - "Do you know my name?" 😂54:54 - Lightning Round1:00:25 - The triple vegetable guy1:04:20 - Closing thoughts

Nick Carnes and Dan Haggerty have close to 40 years in restaurants between them, and they just opened a bar that will not pour you a single drop of alcohol. Without is Manchester, New Hampshire's first fully alcohol-free bar and restaurant, on the corner of Elm Street and Hanover Street across from City Hall -- and Carol Erickson recorded this entire episode of Beyond the Plate with Carol inside it, before the doors officially opened.Nick Carnes runs Shoppers Pub & Eatery in Manchester and co-owns the Moka Pot and City Club Golf. Dan Haggerty co-owns Industry East and Stashbox with Jeremy Hart, and co-owns the Moka Pot alongside Nick. Without is the first thing the two of them have built together from the ground up, in a small triangular room with one wall of windows -- and it started with a conversation over dinner about a corner spot that went up for sale ten minutes later.In this episode: why they are trying to retire the word "mocktail," the 99-page training guide behind an 11-drink menu, Hawaiian chef Josh's spam and pineapple arancini and scallion pancake tacos, the tuna poke bombs wrapped in tofu, the 780 tarot cards wallpapered across a five-by-five bathroom, what they say to the people online telling them it will never last, and why both of them believe hospitality is the only thing keeping restaurants alive right now.📍 Without -- corner of Elm Street and Hanover Street, Manchester, NH (across from City Hall)🕒 Opening hours: Wednesday and Thursday 5 to 10, Friday and Saturday 5 to 11🔗 Instagram: @without_nh🔔 New episodes drop every Tuesday -- hit SUBSCRIBE and turn on notifications so you never miss one!👇 Follow Beyond the Plate everywhere:YouTube: youtube.com/@beyondtheplatewithcarolInstagram: @beyondtheplatenhFacebook: Beyond the Plate NHTikTok: @nhbeyondtheplateSpotify: Search "Beyond the Plate with Carol"Carol Erickson spent nearly 40 years in the hospitality industry as the longtime owner of the Red Arrow Diner before turning her attention to Beyond the Plate with Carol, a New Hampshire-based podcast covering food, restaurants, and hospitality all across New England.This episode is sponsored by Belmont Hall & Restaurant.Manchester, NH -- family-owned for over 90 years.belmonthall.net | Instagram: @belmonthallandcatering | Facebook: @belmonthallandcateringABOUT BEYOND THE PLATE WITH CAROLCarol Erickson sits down with the people behind New Hampshire's food and hospitality scene. It's not just about the food -- it's about the journeys, the community, and what drives people to go beyond.Follow Beyond the Plate:Instagram: @beyondtheplatenhTikTok: @nhbeyondtheplateFacebook: Beyond the Plate NHYouTube: @beyondtheplatewithcarolLinktree: linktr.ee/BeyondtheplateNHFollow Carol:Instagram: @carolsew240:00 -- Intro0:11 -- Welcome inside Without0:59 -- Two guests, two past episodes1:39 -- Sitting inside the finished vision3:20 -- 27 seats, and Dan's Union Leader line 😂4:18 -- Where the concept came from4:49 -- Manchester's 1980s sober bar6:25 -- "You're insane for doing this"7:00 -- Answering the internet9:18 -- Not just juice10:51 -- 99 pages, 11 drinks12:43 -- Why they hate "mocktail"14:19 -- Nowhere to hide the flavor15:49 -- Running a liquid kitchen16:49 -- Minimalist vs. eccentric17:36 -- The food menu19:38 -- Spam and pineapple arancini20:44 -- Nobody asked about the food22:36 -- What you feel walking in24:45 -- Hospitality is what survives29:13 -- 780 tarot cards30:02 -- Carol's son Tyler and Hap's32:54 -- Shoppers gets a refresh35:27 -- Industry East and Stashbox40:37 -- How Nick and Dan met44:54 -- "It's for sale"47:06 -- Comedy, music, chess night51:19 -- Six restaurant guys, one photo57:15 -- Lightning Round58:59 -- Guilty pleasure meals 😂1:06:19 -- Hospitality stories1:11:31 -- The bathroom tour

Corey Fletcher started out washing dishes at a family-style restaurant in Milford, New Hampshire -- and almost 30 years later, he owns one of the busiest kitchens in downtown Concord. Revival Kitchen and Bar opened on Depot Street in 2016, taking over the space of the shuttered Sunny's Table, and it has been a farm-to-table anchor of the Concord, NH restaurant scene ever since.In this episode, Corey Fletcher tells Carol about the seared sea scallop dish that has been on the Revival Kitchen and Bar menu since day one, the lobster poutine he put on the menu with total confidence and then didn't taste for a month and a half, and the nine-year run of house-made French macarons that now go out 250 at a time in flavors like blueberry chamomile with Concord Bee Company honey. He also breaks down what black garlic actually is, how he sears a scallop, and why he refuses to charge $44 for swordfish over plain rice.They get into the hard parts too -- surviving COVID with a takeout deal and Burger and Beer Fridays that families ordered eight and ten at a time, keeping a kitchen team together for five-plus years, and building a beverage program around New England distillers like Tamworth Distilling. Plus Corey's life outside the kitchen: bird hunting, deer hunting, foraging for chanterelles and black trumpets, and an 11-year-old daughter who already helps him portion burgers and pipe macarons.📍 Revival Kitchen and Bar -- 11 Depot Street, Concord, NH🔗 revivalkitchennh.comCarol Erickson has spent nearly 40 years in the hospitality industry as the longtime owner of the Red Arrow Diner before turning her attention to Beyond the Plate with Carol, a New Hampshire-based podcast covering food, restaurants, and hospitality all across New England. Every episode, Carol sits down with the chefs, entrepreneurs, content creators, and everyday people with an interesting New England story to tell -- from family-owned restaurants and food trucks to chef-owners like Corey Fletcher. It's not just about the food -- it's about the journeys, the community, and what drives people to go beyond.This episode is sponsored by Belmont Hall & Restaurant.Manchester, NH -- family-owned for over 90 years.belmonthall.net | Instagram: @belmonthallandcatering | Facebook: @belmonthallandcatering🔔 New episodes drop every Tuesday -- hit SUBSCRIBE and turn on notifications so you never miss one!Find Beyond the Plate everywhere: linktr.ee/BeyondtheplateNH0:00 - Intro0:12 - Welcome to Corey Fletcher0:27 - Two dishwashers walk into a studio1:35 - Elijah's in Milford, NH1:54 - The culinary vacuum 😂2:18 - Baldwin's on Elm, Manchester2:47 - Nantucket, then Concord for good5:31 - How Revival Kitchen was born6:01 - Concord's Main Street comeback6:42 - Building a farm-to-table menu9:21 - Hunting, foraging, and mushrooms10:00 - Carol walks in with no reservation12:36 - Doing the rain dance 😂13:42 - The copper table problem14:36 - The scallop dish since day one16:01 - The lobster poutine confession 😂17:04 - Value on the plate18:29 - When COVID hit Revival19:26 - Burger and Beer Fridays20:45 - Picnic tables and DoorDash eggs 😂23:57 - Nine years of French macarons24:04 - It is not a macaroon 😂26:16 - Building the late summer menu30:15 - Black garlic, explained31:57 - Life outside the kitchen32:50 - Carol's archery adventure 😂35:51 - His daughter in the kitchen36:47 - How he met his wife37:04 - Private events at Revival38:16 - The beverage program41:24 - Lightning Round44:06 - Best New England classic47:23 - A hospitality story49:12 - Closing thoughts