local food garners recognition

A local restaurant and food festival have recently received awards. Read on to find out what a television reporter thought of an Exeter health food market, and why some seafood is worth taking a road trip for.

Blue Moon Café

This health food market and restaurant on Clifford Street in Exeter recently received the “Gold Plate” rating from the “TV Diner” program on New England Cable News. Hosted by Billy Costa, the show includes cooking and restaurant reviews, restaurant features and segments with guest chefs from around New England. “We try to showcase a restaurant from a different state in New England each week,” said “TV Diner” producer Jennifer Johnson. “Then we also send an anonymous reviewer to a restaurant, and they’ll write a review for Billy of the experience.” A quick segment detailing the Blue Moon is posted on the “TV Diner” Web site, during which Costa, sounding like an excited Captain Kirk, notes that the vegetable soup had “just the right bite.” He also calls the sandwiches “delicious” and commends the staff for both their amiable natures and their ability to provide quality snickerdoodle cookies at a “phenomenal” price.

Peggy McCarthy, press representative and employee of the Blue Moon, said she appreciated NECN’s recognition. “They came to the store and checked it out and decided to give it the ‘Gold Plate award,’” McCarthy said. “I think they have a ‘Platinum Plate too (they do), but it’s probably for, like, really high-end foods. We’re a health food store, with mostly vegetarian choices.”

To augment the already healthy foods served in the café, the Blue Moon also offers cooking classes and hosts yoga, pilates and tai chi classes in the building above the restaurant. For more information on the café or the classes, visit www.bluemoonmarket.net.

Hampton Beach Seafood Festival

This annual food festival, situated right on the shores of Hampton Beach, has recently been named one of the American Bus Association’s “Top 100 Events in North America” for the season of 2008. Each spring, members of the ABA decide on the following year’s top 100 list, choosing from hundreds of celebrations, festivals, fairs and commemorative events that have been nominated by state tourism offices and local and regional convention and visitor bureaus. The latest ABA honor marks the fifth time that the seafood festival has been in the top 100, and festival staff and beach business owners are both proud and excited about the recognition. “This is our 18th year,” said festival administrator Ginni McNamara, “We’ve won (the top 100) a few years now and we definitely notice a lot of bus groups that have started coming.”

Every year, more than 50 local food vendors set up booths along Ocean Avenue, offering a whole host of seafood edibles. “There’s all kinds of seafood—lobster rolls, shrimp every way you could imagine it, chowders and some non-seafood items as well,” McNamara said. Besides food, the festival also has continuous entertainment on two stages, a fireworks show, Kiddie Land for the younger seafood enthusiasts, a sky diving show, culinary chef demonstrations and booths from local craft vendors. Past festivals have attracted a large number of guests, and McNamara estimates typical attendance at around 150,000 over the course of the two-and-a-half day event. This year’s show will be held from Sept. 7-9, with next year’s honored festival occurring the weekend after Labor Day, as well. Visit the festival’s Web site at www.hamptonbeachseafoodfestival.com for information on times, entertainment, participating restaurants and parking.