Member Moment

This  column is devoted to learning more about our member businesses.  We ask the business five questions.  Questions will vary by month.

T his month we were very happy to speak with

Chef Martin Murphy of Ariana's Restaurant in Orford, New Hampshire. Ariana's is one of the region's premier restaurants offering delicious meals made from fresh, seasonal high quality ingredients. The setting is simultaneously casual and elegant and the menu offers a variety of foods to fit every palate.  In addition, Ariana's offers the extremely popular Cooking Classes with Chef Martin and the equally popular Wine Dinners with Chef Martin. Visit them at www.arianasrestaurant.com or call them at (603) 353-4405.

Q. Is your background in restaurants? How did you come to own a restaurant in Orford?

A. Well, I have over 30 years in the Food Service industry. I am basically self-taught but have worked for many great chefs and have attended programs including the School for American Chefs in California and being asked to present a dinner at the famous James Beard House in New York City. I actually studied Geology at the University of Southern Maine and originally wanted to get involved in alternative sources of energy. At that time, I was told that there were not a lot of opportunities and I could get a job with the Department of Defense or one of the oil companies which really didn't appeal to me. It was at that time that I started working as a line cook at the Black Point Inn in Maine.

From there, I traveled around the country, working in the industry as a sous chef. At that time, I worked in Florida, Wyoming, Montana and California. I then took a position on Cape Cod and met my wife there. I lived in Boston for a while and then on Cape Cod for a number of years, working in several fine dining restaurants as chef. Then, in the 1990's, during the recession, I moved to Florida for opportunities. I was a partner for a time in a gourmet food store similar to Dean & Deluca. I then ran a Culinary Center in Florida that was a partnership between Robb & Stucky and Kitchen Aid, teaching classes and hosting wine dinners and private events. We eventually decided to sell our house and return to New England. My wife's family had retired to this area and we loved the small town feel. We moved up here but I still had a job in Florida and commuted between Manchester, New Hampshire to Fort Myers, Florida for a time.

My biggest challenge here was that I was an unknown entity. I interviewed with a number of restaurants and finally hooked up with Stella's in Lyme, New Hampshire. I worked with the owners to develop the menu and open the restaurant. I then returned to Florida to run the Culinary Center for a final season. When I returned, I took a position as chef at the Canoe Club in Hanover. While there, we purchased cheese and butter from Bunten Farm. One day I happened to walk into this restaurant, which was then Bunten Farmhouse Kitchen, to pick up cheese. The owners at the time, Bruce and Chris, said we really need someone like you to take the place over. It was fate! We signed a lease on July 15, 2011 and opened on August 3, 2011.

Q. I have heard that the restaurant is named after your daughter. Does she work there? How about the rest of your family?

A. Ariana is my daughter and the restaurant is named after her. At the time, everyone said I should call it Chef Martin's. I went to Concord to apply for that DBA. I was told there was already a Chef Martin Catering in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire and the name was too similar. After that, I decided to call it Ariana's. The name has a certain appeal to it. Also, it is an old Celtic tradition to name things after your family for good luck.

Ariana is not working at the restaurant right now, although she did during high school. She is currently attending college in Washington, DC. My son, Ryan, does work here. Ryan is a writer and is very creative. He is also really great with customer relations at the restaurant. My wife, Nancy, was more support for the first few years. She worked at Rivendell Academy until the kids graduated. This year, she has joined us full time. My sous chef, Maggie, has been with me since day one. She also worked with me when we opened up Stella's. We also have had other great employees over the years as well as some students who have worked for us and come back in the summer and over vacations. We have been very lucky to have great employees. Owners sometimes don't understand how costly it is to get new employees and have a constant turnover. Customers are most important but employees are second.

Q. What is your favorite food to cook and/or eat?

A. To me, being a chef is such craftsmanship. There is an art form but we are mostly craftsmen. I really enjoy seafood because you can be very diverse. You can go so many ways and directions. Fresh fish is so much fun to work with and so beautiful. I also enjoy braising and slow cooking. I love when I create something, like transforming a piece of chuck into something different and delicious. Finally, I love making sauces. I never get bored making stocks and sauces. It is frustrating when I go out to eat because very few people put sauce on a plate!

Q. How important is local and sustainable food to your business?

A. I really care about local and sustainable food. Although we cannot be 100% local, especially this time of year, we are about 80-90% local in the summer months. I also make sure my proteins are sustainably raised. We have our own beautiful garden at the restaurant and pick some of our food from it. I love to show people the diversity of things that grow here. The soil here is some of the richest in New England.

Q. What surprises people about your restaurant?

A. When we read reviews on Yelp or Trip Advisor, we are sometimes referred to as a "diamond in the rough." Others have said it looks like a chicken coop from the outside, but they are pleasantly surprised when they come in. People also view us as being kind of in the middle of nowhere and don't always expect much. They sometimes come in with lower expectations and we exceed their expectations. The key is quality ingredients. Everything is fresh. We focus on balance.

Ask The Chamber

Q.   I would like to network with other member businesses.  What opportunities does the Chamber offer for me to do this?  Does the Chamber have "Business After Hours" or similar events?

A. Thanks for the question!  The Chamber does offer several events that are good options for networking.  The next event is our Annual Business Breakfast scheduled for May 11 at the Colatina Exit Restaurant in Bradford. This event is an excellent chance for members to network and get updated as to the current economic and business challenges and successes in our member towns.  Our Business workshops are also another chance to network with other member businesses and learn something at the same time.  We will be holding two Business Workshops this year, one in the Spring and one in the Fall.  Our Spring workshop will be on Cybersecurity and our Fall workshop will likely be on Succession Planning for Small Businesses.  In addition, our Annual Meeting is another opportunity, which we just held in January and will be held again on January 23, 2017.

As far as "Business After Hours" events, we did not hold any of these in 2015 for a variety of reasons.  However, we will be resurrecting these opportunities in 2016.  We have several businesses who have expressed interest in hosting these types of events.  Although, we are finalizing dates and details, we expect one to be held in the May/June time frame and one to be held in the September/October time frame.  There will likely be one or two additional ones but we are still working with the hosting businesses to finalize the details.  More details about these events will be announced soon and will be communicated via email, included in our newsletter and posted on our Facebook page.

Please note that we would love to have additional businesses host "Business After Hours" events so please let us know if you would be interested in hosting one by contacting Erik Volk at [email protected] or by phone at (802) 518-0030.

Interactive Regional Economic & Demographic Information

 

If you are interested in how your county or region is faring in contrast to the rest of the state or the country, two web sites offer an assortment of interactive tools to give you a clearer picture. These sites feature not only economic indicators but also demographic information such as population, employment data, household income, etc.

Vermont Futures Project

The Futures Project promotes the long-term economic health of Vermont. Through leadership, research and education, The Futures Project seeks to inform the conversation about Vermont's economic future and demonstrate how a health economy contributes to Vermont's vibrant communities and unique quality of life.

The Vermont Dashboard is a snapshot of the current economic health of Vermont that gives leaders important metrics to understand and measure progress in securing Vermont's future. The Vermont Dashboard's key indicators benchmark Vermont's economic growth to stimulate conversation and prompt action that will achieve measurable and positive outcomes.

Click the link below to access the dashboard.  Be sure to access the tabs at the top of the page for additional interactive charts and information.

http://www.vtfuturesproject.org/economic-dashbboard/

 

New Hampshire & Vermont Regional Economic Analysis Project

The New Hampshire and Vermont Regional Economic Analysis Projects are part of the Regional Economic Analysis Project (REAP), an organization of regional websites designed to foster and further sound regional economic research, analysis, education, outreach and decision-making.

REAP focuses on bringing regional economic analysis awareness, techniques, and methodologies to local and regional communities across the United States. Using data compiled by the Regional Income Division and Regional Product Division of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), their web site provides data tables and detailed analysis of the trends and composition of the major economic indicators.  Their interactive tools lets you segregate out specific counties and compare them to state statistics or the nation as a whole.

Click the links below to access these interactive data tools.

New Hampshire:

https://new-hampshire.reaproject.org/

Vermont:

https://vermont.reaproject.org

Cohase Passport Program Proposal

  

*PLEASE CONTACT US IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING*

We are excited at the prospect of introducing a new regional marketing program this Fall, which we are tentatively calling the "Cohase Passport Program."  Although we are still working out the final details, we wanted to check with our members to confirm if they would find such a program  valuable and if they would be willing to participate.

How would this program work?

The basics of the program would include the following:

• A "Cohase Passport" game card would be created which would include "squares" for the various participating member businesses. 
• Participants would bring the "passport" to participating businesses and get a unique "passport" stamp from each business they visit.  No purchase would be required.
• Completed passports would be entered into a drawing for cash prizes (tentatively $500 and $100) and a gift basket comprised of merchandise and/or gift certificates donated from area businesses.
• A minimum number of stamps will be required to be entered into the drawing.  However, the more businesses visited, the larger the number of entries.  (For example, if 40 businesses participate, the participant might receive one entry for every 10 stamps completed.)
• The program will likely run for the month of September.

• Bank of New Hampshire  was recently selected as a winner in the New Hampshire Business Review's 2016 BOB Awards, which honors the Best of Business in New Hampshire in over 90 categories.  Bank of New Hampshire was honored in the statewide readers' survey for the Best Local Bank for Small Business category.
• Old Church Theater in Bradford, VT is seeking feedback from community members.  Take their survey and win prizes from Hannaford, Farmway and more!  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/27DXPSL
• Vital Communities is hosting a Flavors of the Valley Expo on Sunday, April 10th at Hartford High School in White River Junction from 11 AM to 3 PM.  It features over 50 farm and food related vendors. $10 per person.  Children under 6 are FREE and there is a $30 maximum charge for families.  Visit www.vitalcommunities.org for more information.
• River Bend Career and Technical Center in Bradford, Vermont recently held an Alumni Dinner on March 8 for alumni and business and other community members who support the center.
• Always Fit Athletic Club  in Woodsville, NH has announced new hours.  They will now be open at 4:30 AM, Monday through Friday!  For a full list of their hours, visit their WEB site at  http://www.alwaysfitathletic.com/
• Nootka Lodge in Woodsville, NH would like to remind folks that they have a conference room/function space available for parties or gatherings.  The Family Suite has two queen trundle beds whcih fold up to convert to a large function space! Contact them at (603) 747-2418 for more information or visit their Facebook page to see photos!
• Court Street Arts at Alumni Hall in Haverhill, NH has announced a series of Spring musical events and classes.  Check out their exciting schedule at www.courtstreetarts.org