Best Dining in New Hampshire | 2015 Editors’ Choice Awards

Hungry? The Granite State offers plenty of restaurant options for hungry residents and visitors alike. Here are our picks for the best food & dining in New Hampshire for 2015. Best Burger Tuckaway Tavern & Butchery, Raymond The burgers are crafted of Angus beef, ground fresh each day—but there’s no skimping on BBQ, pork, bacon, bison, or steak tips, either. Hearty fare is what you get—poutine, smashed potatoes, beer battered onion rings, baked beans—with alternatives such as roasted veggies drizzled with fontina. Burgers: from $9.50. Entrées: from $14. 58 Route 27. 603-244-2431; thetuckaway.com Best Thin-Crust Pizza Crush Pizza, Nashua A superhot wood-fired oven (900°) bakes these ultra-fresh custom pies in 90 seconds. Super-model-thin crust, fresh veggies from local sources, mouth-watering toppings like truffle cream, and ingredients from Italy yield soft (not cracker-like), oozy goodness and yummy char on the dough. Pizzas: from $8.95. 449 Amherst St. 603-521-7440; crushpizza.com Best Farm Café Hilltop Café, Wilton You can’t get more farm-to-table than at this café/farm tucked into a warm 1765 house, with its stunning hilltop setting, roaming chickens,and flaky croissants. Sidestep the modern rush with fresh yogurt and deliciously creative dishes, like Israeli eggs, plus friendly owners who keep the young, happy vibe alive. Breakfast/lunch: from $6.50. 195 Isaac Frye Highway. 603-654-2223; hilltopcafenh.com Best Gelato Morano Gelato, Hanover We’re in trouble. Or would be, if we lived within a 20-mile radius of such heavenly temptation. The freshly-made-each-morning Sicilian gelato here comes in bright flavors that are shockingly delicious: Florentine cream, hazelnut, pistachio, and dark chocolate, with sorbettos like raspberry and Concord grape that startle the tongue. Our professional opinion: Sample many and often. Small gelato (two f lavors): $3.25. 57 South Main St. 603-643-4233; moranogelatohanover.com Best Sunday Brunch The Restaurant at Burdick’s, Walpole Filmmaker Ken Burns calls this pretty village home, and the elegant restaurant here rivals any Brooklyn hotspot. With Burdick’s award-winning chocolate shop attached to this Parisian-style eatery, it’s perfect for lingering over the Sunday Times and a plate of charcuterie. Entrées: from $13. 47 Main St. 603-756-9058; burdickchocolate.com Best Old-World Dining Omni Mount Washington Resort, Bretton Woods With views of its namesake peak and the Presidential Range, you barely need to squint to re-imagine the days of Gilded Age splendor at this massive 1902 luxury resort. Much that’s served in its airy palazzo-style main dining room is locally sourced, but it’s also worth a trip down under to The Cave —a Prohibition-era speakeasy that doubles as a sports bar. Entrées: from $32. 310 Mount Washington Road. 603-278-1000; omnihotels.com Best New Brew Schilling Beer Company, Littleton “Bready,” “toffee”—just a few notes that have beer nerds toasting this cozy, urbane brewery overhanging the Ammonoosuc River. The converted mill building is strung with lights, bright umbrellas dot the balcony like mixed-drink decorations, and the wood-burning oven releases a happy procession of Neapolitan f latbread pizzas. But it’s the artisanal brews smoked-wheat beer or Foy IPA—that keep the fans hoppy. Pizzas: from $8. 18 Mill St. 603-444-4800; schillingbeer.com Best New Chocolatier Vicuna Chocolate Factory & Café, Peterborough Food Network winner, chocolatier, and pastry chef Neely Cohen has traveled to Europe and the Amazon to study chocolate, and what she shares with us—handcrafted salt-, yellow chili–, and nibs flavored chocolate bars—is food of the cacao gods. The café setting is as delicious as the 70% organic Fair Trade bars, created from scratch in her on-view “factory” in the back. Bars: $10 each. 15 Main St. 603-924-2040; vicunachocolate.com Best Bistro Libby’s Bistro & Saalt Pub, Gorham The Gorham streets are alive with ATVs, but traffic slows around the pretty block that shelters this super-hip bistro. Chef/owner Liz Jackson was a 2012 James Beard semifinalist, but she just wants to “cook good food for people.” French mussels, Turkish eggplant, and Faroe Island salmon are a small, lively sample. Entrées: from $12 (pub), $25 (Libby’s, three courses). 111 Main St. 603-466-5330; libbysbistro.org

PRINT