Farmboy Foodie

15/04/2026

It's mud season in the tourist areas of New Hampshire. The plants are just waking up from a long, cold, snowy winter's night and the tourist areas of the state are still mostly closed until May. It was in the 70's yesterday and if you're on a staycation like me, it's the perfect time to go out and try food spots!

Yesterday's visit came from scouting locations for the NH World Christmas Market 2026. I was in Laconia, NH, and dropped into Water Street Cafe, Laconia NH .

This spot is a bit off the main roads in Laconia and I think it's going for a facelift, so it wasn't quite obvious if it was the spot until getting up to the windows. The inside is smartly adorned in ski lift and mountain glory while keeping it simple. So what did I have?

*** Coffee
***** Reuben Bowl - I thought this was impressive. The sauerkraut was awesome, and the homemade corned beef hash was excellent. Topped with over easy eggs and 1000 Island dressing on a bed of home fries, this might be my favorite NH breakfast dish so far in 2026!

Be well, eat well, and thank a farmer!

13/04/2026

I had a memorial for a dear friend of mine in Portland, ME, and my wife wanted to make a foodie weekend out of it! So, we checked in on some foodie favorites throughout the city over the two days sharing bites at each stop!

First stop: Duckfat, Portland, ME

IYKYK. This is a legendary food stop for their duck fat fried french fries and their poutine. PoutineFest USA - Maine talks about them very often as well as pretty much everyone else nationally and regionally. The seating here is strange - bar seating, or facing a wall, and none the seats were comfortable. However, the service here is absolutely impeccable. What did we have?

***** Ceasar Salad - one of the best I've ever had with Smoked Duck slices on top, it was simple, unctuous and delicious!
**** Poutine - as a competition judge now for poutine, this is an excellent daily poutine! I was a little bewildered that they diced up the cheese as small as they did - in Quebec they keep them at curd size so you get the squeak! If this were competition level, here's how it scored:

Potato 9
Cheese 4
Gravy 8
Creativity 6

27/40 is excellent for daily poutine!

Shout out to Mics_eats_and_sweets for recommending the truffle ketchup! It augmented the poutine perfectly.

Second stop: Shaghf Cafe, Portland, ME

An international chain of cafes and coffee shops from the UAE, it brought a completely different vibe to the northern side of Portland. We were recommended here from Maine Eats for its comfy ability to spend time and savor a great cup of coffee or tea. The artistry in the display case said a lot. What did we have?

***** Cappuccino - one of the best we've had, comparable with the very best one we had in Italy.
**** Hadak Chai - a first for us, this type of chai is well spiced without being too bold. I personally like it spicier!
***** Dubai Chocolate Cake - we'll be talking about this dessert for months. Perfect crumb, awesome textural layers, and a spot on flavor profile as a signature dessert profile from the UAE.

Third Stop: The High Roller Lobster Co., Portland, ME

Metallica, Tool, Alice in Chains playing in a space that has the colors of a 50's diner with a disco ball mixed with a lobster shack. Like many spots in Portland, ME today, this place is intentionally different. That includes the choice to order at the counter or online - but no waitstaff. Lobster rolls, sure - but what sauce do you want on it? Three types of butter, 7 or 8 flavored mayos, and more. Gluten Free? No problem, they have you covered too. What did we have?

*** Lobster Cheese Crisp Taco with Mango Habanero Mayo - this was better than the ingredients would be separately and the flavored mayo was a welcome add of heat and sweet. Given this is gluten free and a vehicle is needed for the lobster, lettuce, and mayo, the cheese crisped up was helpful, but it did hurt the overall flavor with psyllium husk and cheddar not going well with the lobster. A lighter flavored cheese with more corn flour (naturally gluten free) could have worked better.
**** 2oz. Lobster Roll - with prices of lobster at $60/lb. on up, just getting a taste of a lobster roll was all we wanted and that's what we got here. Thankfully, "Lobster Butter" was an option for the "sauce" and that's what we got. We also removed the lettuce because that is not traditional. About four bites later, it was gone. It's not the best lobster roll we've had but it is excellent.

Fourth Stop: Gorgeous Gelato, Portland, ME
With the bikes out front, it felt like we might step into a bit of Italy in this store and it did give off that Italy tourist vibe. Whenever I see the gelato uncovered - which is common in the U.S., I expect to taste a freezer burned flavor from the oxidation. So what did we try?

** Affogato with Pistachio Gelato - We did get a freezer burned flavor with the gelato, but it wasn't strong and the gelato was delightfully creamy - I would go back for the gelato. What knocked this down was the extremely bitter (over extracted) shot of espresso also served in the affogato.

Fifth Stop: Two Fat Cats Bakery, Portland, ME
We couldn't exit Maine without a slice of blueberry pie, and Two Fat Cats bakery is known for it. The vibe is cozy and the reuse of old doors as tables gives it a bohemian charm.

**** Blueberry Pie - we love pies made in harder old-school crusts, and this was a scrumptious ending to the weekend trip. While it didn't have the layers of flavor of my favorite berry pies, I'd go back here to try this and other items on another visit!

Be well, eat well, and thank a farmer.

(Tags for attention by Nourish New England )

01/04/2026

I can smell this food truck LOL.

25/03/2026

Live well, eat well, and thank a farmer!

Living in New Hampshire and New England in general, agriculture isn’t something far away that only exists in the Midwest — it’s literally all around us, and honestly, it’s the backbone of so many of the places we love to visit, eat, and shop.

Every farm stand you stop at for sweet corn 🌽 Every sugar shack you visit for maple syrup 🍁 Every dairy farm that makes the ice cream we chase all summer 🍦Every orchard we wander through in the fall 🍎 Every local market, co-op, and small restaurant sourcing local ingredients. 🐮 🐷 🐔 It all starts with agriculture.

New Hampshire alone has over 4,000 farms, and many of them are family-run, multi-generation operations. These are people waking up before the sun, working in the snow, mud, heat, drought, and everything else New England throws at them — all so the rest of us can eat well and eat local.

Agriculture isn’t just big tractors and huge fields either. Around here it’s:
• Maple syrup producers
• Apple orchards
• Dairy farms
• Chicken and egg farms
• Small vegetable farms
• Beef and pork farms
• Honey producers
• Greenhouses and flower farms
• Farmers markets and farm stands

Supporting local agriculture doesn’t always mean doing something huge. It can be as simple as:
• Buying local meat from a market
• Stopping at a farm stand instead of a chain store
• Visiting a farmers market
• Going apple picking
• Buying local maple syrup instead of the fake stuff
• Supporting restaurants that source locally

Every dollar spent locally keeps farms alive, land undeveloped, and our New England landscape looking the way we all love. So today, if you know a farmer, thank them. If you pass a farm stand, stop. If you see local on a menu, order it. Because without agriculture, none of us are food reviewers… we’re just people looking at empty plates. And that’s a world none of us want. Support local farms. Support local food. Support local families. Tractor was purchased at Concord Tractor 🚜 HIGHLY recommend these folks, their quality service and sales, exceeds expectations regularly, it’s what they have built their local legacy on.

21/03/2026

Bella's vs? Londi's for North Shore Beef supremacy?

Rt. 125 in the Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts is well known as a haven for some of the North Shore Beefs that exist in the world. I have tried some of them, and many people keep telling me to try either Bella's Roast Beef or Londi's Roast Beef & Pizza, both in North Andover. I was starving yesterday and I said, why not try them both?

Many, many, many people have reviewed these places, so I'll spare you details. Both spots clean as a whistle, both spots inviting for coming in and serving food, both had awesome service too. So what did I have? Well that's obvious:

I am a tough scorer of these NSB's. Here's the NSB Criteria from 0-5:
Price of Beef (POB)
Time of Beef (TOB)
Freshness/Pink/Temp (FWP)
Flavor of Beef (FOB)
Nice Grilled Bun (NGB)
Sauce to Mayo (S2M)
Beef to Bun (B2B)
Cheese on the Bottom (CotB)

***** Super Beef Three Way, Bella's
POB = $16.80
TOB = 3:00 PM Friday
FWP = 95% pink
FOB = Loved the au jus flavor and it was complex.
NGB = too thin, flat bun griddled well with nice flavor to it.
S2M = Much more sauce than mayo, I wanted more mayo. I loved the added hots to the sauce.
B2B = 6:1 Beef to Bun, too much beef to bun
COTB = There was cheese, but it wasn't very noticeable in the flavor.

RATING: 8.7 - a lot of beef for a higher price, I enjoyed the extra flavors to it but wanted more a bit more mayo, more bun, and more cheese.

***** Super Beef Three Way, Londi's
POB = $13.00
TOB = 4:00 PM Friday
FWP = 98% pink
FOB = Loved the soft texture and simple prescense of the beef. It wasn't complex though
NGB = thicker bun griddled well with nice flavor to it.
S2M = Sauce was more traditional and balanced with the mayo.
B2B = 3:1 Beef to Bun, perfect
COTB = two slices and I could taste the cheese.

RATING: 9.1 - what a great beef, and the only real qualm is to see what can be done to elevate the beef flavor itself as in Bella's.

Be well, eat well, and thank a farmer.

05/03/2026

Fun fact: New Hampshire has the highest percentage of people with Irish descent per capita followed by most of New England

Where's your favorite Irish spot?

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/the-most-irish-states?fbclid=IwT01FWAQW80lleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR5ieh-RANhTRDmEMr9KSeDCBL2X3mk5ZdBq5mRnCBignvZnoeZI7MipPrRhGA_aem_DH76GHaAYnhGGc4yp3-S4g

25/02/2026

23/02/2026

The Italian Riviera was an amazing dayl. Awesome food & drink, flowers and color everywhere, and we even got to go to Palm Sunday mass! Be well, eat well, and thank a farmer.

23/02/2026

Cruise Day 3 – Genoa and Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy on Palm Sunday

In honor of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics 2026 closing, I decided to finally finish our epic journey from Italy, to a cruise, back to Italy that we took in April 2025. Cruise Day 3 gave us the option of seeing Milan, but as you'll see we found something even better.

This port was a challenge in logistics, but a lot of it was worth the challenge. We shoved ourselves off the boat to drenching rain and with a construction zone to walk around to get to the regional rail station. It was not easy to find it from our walking direction and we had to ask people where it was. Once we made it into the train station, we got our tickets and headed about 30-40 minutes east to Santa Margherita Ligure.

The Ligurian area has another name: The Italian Riviera. From the moment we arrived in Santa Margarita Ligure, we were awestruck by how beautiful it was even in the rain. It is that shiny and beautiful.

We arrived as businesses started opening up for the day and we found the very best gelato we’ve ever had and the best espresso drinks on this vacation at the same spot! At Vittoria Bistrot - Cafe & Restaurant at Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy, we had:

***** Pistachio and Stracciatella Gelato
***** Cappuccino
***** Latte

This was on Palm Sunday, and one of the highlights of our day was the Church of Santa Margherita. It just so happens we joined their Palm Sunday service and even got ourselves a small palm tree branch! It was incredible to see a church filled to the brim, full of kids and pets, flowers everywhere, and with barely standing room only.

We ate twice, and the second spot was more for the tourist crowds yet still executed a wonderful set of local specialty dishes for us paired with some local white wine. Anchovies, sea bream, and trofie pasta with pesto are all local to the Ligurian coast. At Il Caffè del Porto:

**** Cinque Terre Vendiamma 2023, a local varietal to the region. (one of the better white wines I've ever had)
**** Anchovies with Lemon appetizer
*** Sea Bream, Ligurian style
***** Trofie Al Pesto pasta with potatoes and green beans

Italian food Tips:
1. Alessio Pasini was correct: Gelato places who leave their product uncovered and show bright colors are NOT the good ones. I don’t care if they win “best of Italy” popularity contests 100 times. Go where they cover the gelato, and it is a pale color.
2. Research the specialties of each region or area and try them! Usually, the locals are very proud of their heritage and will do their best to make their local foods better than everything else.

The downside of Santa Margherita Ligure was the steep walk. Cate struggled mightily through the climb back to the train station, and thankfully we had some rest back to Genoa. Unfortunately, I messed up and we got off one stop too early. We had to wait 45 minutes for the next train to arrive to get to our destination and I walked Cate most of the way back to the cruise port.

I then used the Metro rail to go into downtown Genoa, see some sites (the large bronze fountain is not to be missed!) and get something that originated in the city – Pesto. Places like Pestobene are artisan pesto makers and they take their craft extremely seriously. I learned the freshest pesto has a very bright green color and has a much more complex flavor than what we get in the U.S. The best pesto also does not store for a long time - I bought a jar from them and they gave it to me in a refrigeration bag. We had to use it within a day of opening to enjoy the aromatic flavors of the specific basil, pine nut, and fresh olive oil flavors, it's incredible!

***** Pestobene fresh pesto

Be well, eat well, and thank a farmer.

23/02/2026

Tourism time in Florence, Italy! Be well, eat well, and thank a farmer.

23/02/2026

Cruise Day 2 – Florence (via Livorno), Italy

In honor of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics 2026 closing, I decided to finally finish our epic journey from Italy, to a cruise, back to Italy that we took in April 2025.

I believe the 24-hr. gym, Hollywood Pools, and Conservatory are the best parts of the Majestic Princess on Princess Cruises. Because I passed out early, I woke up super early and went to the gym, had free reign to the only hot tub in operation on the ship, relaxed in the Conservatory, grabbed a small breakfast, and was able to walk out and see the sunrise all on decks 16 and 17. That was an awesome morning followed up by an awesome day.

We took a free bus into Livorno, and then a “Get Your Guide” bus from downtown Livorno to Florence just for the transportation and Wifi – and it worked well. The Get Your Guide” bus took us back to the port directly, so we saw very little of Livorno.

Sneaky tips to save money:
1. Buy a 1.20 Euro espresso shot just to use the bathroom in the super-touristy coffee shop right by the bus stop.
2. Buy at least a dozen waters for the room before the cruise starts. This saves you a lot if you bring them along on the port day. Bring a portable drink container. In Italy especially, if a spigot says “Potable,” the water from the fountains is drinkable. I wouldn’t try it in the other countries we visited, especially since most of the fountains were marked not Potable there.
3. Make Coin Change in Euros. Many bathrooms have attendants, and you pay to enter many of them, and they may not have the change… thus you pay whatever you give them.
4. Put down the phone for a while. Regardless of what is sold by a cruise ship, no onboard Wi-Fi is going to be fast or worth it. Save the $30-55/day unless you are in the higher-level elite clubs where it’s cheaper. Save your shows to your devices beforehand if you want to watch them.

From the bus stop, to see what we saw in Florence was a long walk around the train station and into the city center. The Duomo, churches, and the museum in the Vecchio Palace and Tower were not horribly far apart once into the city center, but getting there is a hike there and back. The Tower was a pretty good climb and major highlight for me, especially with the Florentine art all around its Museum section. I would not recommend it for the otherwise abled as the climb is strenuous.

Officina Profumo - Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella is known as the oldest pharmacy in the world, but it is more famous for being one of the most exclusive and oldest perfume shops in the world. The place is built like a cathedral to perfume where they showcase their scents to tourists for extremely high prices to people like me who won’t spend more than $10 on myself. If you wish to know what smells you like and don’t, this is a great exercise for your sense of smell to help you identify fragrances. Of note, this isn’t like a Bed, Bath and Beyond where you’re overwhelmed by smells. They keep the fragrances in little cones so you can identify them individually. I felt like we walked into a museum of perfume and was so very impressed by the presentation and the amazing amount of high-class treatment they gave even unpaying customers. No wonder there is a line out the door almost every day they are open!

The Polish Café Paszkowski was a great rest stop with excellent espresso drinks, especially a unique twist to add Amaretto to espresso. Cate enjoyed this place immensely while I climbed the tower. What comes next is a food item that is something for the ages.

The Central Market in Florence hosts a stall several Youtubers pointed us to for something I’ve been wanting to try for 25 years. It’s Bistecca - you might know it better as Florentine Steak. The steak we got is a massive, 30 day aged beast of a T-bone at 2.75 pounds (1.25kg and yes, a significant part of this was the bone). This was 70 Euros (about $80) and cooked rare in the style of those from Florence. For steak lovers like us, there are not many steaks we’ve ever had that was better than this one, and it was cheaper than the other ones that compete with it.