Agape Cakes & Confections: Unconditional Bakery Love in New Hampshire

I made a recent visit to Epping, New Hampshire, and prior to reaching my ultimate destination, I decided to stop in Raymond, New Hampshire, to check out Agape Cakes & Confections, a bakery with Greek influences. Overall, based on my initial impressions, I was very pleased with their delicious offerings and will return again to check out more of their baked goods. 

The bakery, owned by Reni, had its origins in 2020, when the company was run out of her home. In April 2022, Reni opened a brick and mortar shop, at 59 NH-27 Unit 5, Raymond, across the street from The Tuckaway Tavern. The name, "Agape," is a Greek word that is often translated as "unconditional love." Their website mostly has information about their Cakes, but their Facebook page has plenty of information and photos about their other baked goods. And those photos certainly enticed me to check out the bakery. 

Reni's website states: "My expertise lies in crafting custom cakes and cupcakes, each boasting a range of exquisite flavors. Drawing inspiration from my Greek heritage, we also offer a wide range of authentic Greek pastries, with a particular standout being the beloved baklava."

They offer Muffins, Scones and their own Pop-Tarts (in flavors such as Brown Sugar, Pumpkin, Apple Pie and Raspberry).

They also make Turnovers, Danish and Cinnamon Rolls (said to be one of their top sellers).

I was excited to see their Greek pies, including Ham & Cheese, Feta, Spinach, and Spinach & Artichoke. I bought the Ham & Cheese and Feta pies, and they were both ample-sized, with many layers of flaky pastry and filled with plenty of tasty meat and cheese. A hearty and delicious breakfast or lunch treat and strongly recommended. 

Plenty of other baked goods, such as Lemon Squares, Eclairs, Baklava Cheesecake, Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie, and much more. I got the Galaktoboureko, a traditional Greek dessert featuring a custard baked in a crispy phyllo pastry crust, soaked with a sweet syrup. It was quite tasty, very flaky with sweet and creamy custard, and definitely was a fine example of this dessert which I have previously enjoyed at a few other places. They also sell Chocolate Whoopie Pies and Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, and I got a few of the small Chocolate Whoopie Pies. The cake was soft and chocolatey, with a very creamy inner frosting. A good choice.

They have a few Gluten-Friendly items, such as Flourless Chocolate Cake and Lemon Squares. They also non-Gluten Friendly items such as Chocolate Sundae Case Cake, Chocolate Banana Cookies, and Pumpkin Maple Doodles.  

I had to try the Chocolate Banana Cookies, which are "Soft banana bread cookies topped with a swirl of rich chocolate ganache and finished with banana chips." The cookie possessed a more subtle, but tasty, banana flavor and the rich and creamy chocolate was a delight. The crunchy bananas chips added a nice textural contrast to the rest of the cookie. This also earns my hearty recommendation. 

They also sell a variety of Cupcakes, other Gluten-Friendly options, and more. 

Agape offers a diverse selection of baked goods, some Greek-inspired, and based on what I've tasted, they are generally delicious and well-made. No matter what your preference, you'll probably find something that appeals to you, and I strongly recommend you check out their Greek-inspired pies and desserts. Give some love to Agape. 

Casa Lapão's Convent Sweets: Tasty, Local & Handmade

In Portugal, as opposed to France, it's more about sweets rather than pastries. In addition, Portuguese pastries tend to use more sugar and egg yolks than French pastries, and they also tend to use more almonds and oranges. During my visit to Portugal, I sampled and enjoyed a variety of Portuguese sweets, including the iconic Pastéis de Nata, a type of egg tart. In addition, I visited Casa Lapão, a stellar bakery in the city of Vila Real, where I not only sampled their convent sweets but also learned how to make one of them myself.

Our visit to Casa Lapão was led by Rosa Maria Cramez (pictured above), the 4th generation to own and operate this bakery. With an abundance of warmth and passion, Rosa told us the story of the bakery, explained how it currently operates, and taught us how to make Cristas de Galo, one of the convent sweets. Plus, we sampled a few of their pastries, paired with a glass of Port wine.

Above is a photo of Rosa's great-grandmother, who was from Galicia, working in the bakery.

The origins of Casa Lapão extend back almost 100 years, to Vicencia Augusta Cramez, a bread kneader, who had a daughter, Miquelina do Carmo Cramez. Miquelina eventually married Francisco Delfim, a painter in the construction industry, who was nicknamed Lapão because it was thought he resembled a native of Lapland. At some point, Francisco decided to open a bakery, using his nickname, and locating it on Rua da Misericórdia in Vila Real.

Miquelina and Francisco were frequently visited by Delfina, a seamstress who had a sister in the Santa Clara Convent. When girls entered the convent, they commonly gave a dowry of sugar, so the convent became well known for baking a variety of sweets and pastries. Delfina gave the recipes to these convent treats to Miquelina and Francisco, who started making them at their bakery, which proved quite popular.

The baking area at Casa Lapão.

Casa Lapão continues to make four varieties of convent sweets, as well as plenty of other items, and you can check out their list here. The bakery only has 5 employees, all women, and they make all of these items by hand, an impressive feat considering the volume of their output. It is also impressive that they primarily use local ingredients. For example, they use about 4,000 kilograms of pumpkin each year. As the region of Vila Real was a poorer region, pumpkins were popular as they were easily grown and cheap, thus their use in the local pastries was common.

Rosa still owns, and uses, her great-grandmother's rolling pin!

These are the Pitos de Saint Luzia, filled with pumpkin and cinnamon, which a young woman traditionally gifted to her suit on the feast of Saint Luzia (December 13), the patron saint of the visually impaired. There is a legend that this sweet was created by a novice who used to fold eye bandages into a square with the points inward, and decide to make a sweet in a similar manner. These sweets also were an example of a common theme I found during my visit to Portugal, an illustration of the concept of the sacred and profane.

Casa Lapão likes to play with the names of their sweets, and Pitos is a slang term for the female genitalia, as it is thought there is some resemblance. Despite the sacred origins of these sweets, there is a splash of the profane with such slang. This dichotomy arose at several points during my tour and it seems very natural to the Portuguese. In part, it may be a way to show the Portuguese have a fine sense of humor, and are well grounded.

As for their taste, they were quite delicious, with a fine flaky pastry shell and lots of sweet, creamy pumpkin filling with cinnamon hints. They weren't overly sweet and there was a good balance between the pastry and filling. It certainly is an excellent fall dessert and would be a great addition to a Thanksgiving dessert table.

The Cristas de Galo ("crest of the rooster") received its name as it is shaped like a rooster's cockscomb. The pastry, filled with an almond and egg yolk paste, is baked in the oven. Again, the flaky pastry shell was buttery and delicious, with a creamy, rich filling with the fine taste of almonds. Another excellent sweet, and we learned how to make these.

Rosa started our lesson, using her great-grandmother's rolling pin to roll out the dough for the Cristas de Galo.

She already had the filling prepared, which though you might think there is pumpkin in it due to the color, there isn't. There are almonds, egg yolks and sugar in this mixture.

Once Rosa showed us what to do, we all tried to emulate her, rolling out our own dough, placing in the filling, folding the dough and then cutting the dough to give it the correct shape. We had plenty of fun, and once the pastries were baked, we were able to eat our results.

I'll freely admit that I need much more practice making Cristas de Galo, as my attempt didn't look too good. It isn't that difficult to make, but in my defense, I do very little baking. I still enjoyed myself very much and would repeat it again if I had the chance.

We also got to try the Bola de Carne, a pastry filled with ground meat, and it might have been venison. The pastry was flaky and light, and the meat filling was savory and spiced just right. This would make for an excellent appetizer.

It was a pleasure to enjoy the sweets with a glass of Ruby Port Wine

Across the street from the bakery is their cafe, where you can buy their sweets and pastries, either for take-out or you can dine in, enjoying them with a cup of coffee.

It is a casual spot, with plenty of photos from their history on the walls. It was closed at the time of our visit but Rosa let us inside for a look.

This is the cafe Menu, and you can see that the convent sweets are inexpensive, only 1 or 2 Euros, while a coffee costs less than 1 Euro. For such sweets that are homemade, prepared from local ingredients, and so delicious, this is a great value. If a similar bakery were in the U.S., I suspect the prices would be much higher.

As the cafe was closed, the shelves were mostly empty.

Many thanks to Rosa for providing us a fascinating tour of her bakery. Casa Lapão is a worthy destination if you travel near the Vila Real region, especially if you love sweets. There is true passion at this bakery, as well as plenty of hard work, and I appreciate that they use local ingredients, helping their community. We need more places like this in the Boston area.

Chef Marisa Iocco Is Back At Spiga: Guazzetti To Bread Pudding

Famed Chef Marisa Iocco has returned to helm the kitchen at Spiga, an Italian restaurant located in Needham, and that is great news!

A native of Orsogna in Italy’s Abruzzo region, Marisa moved to the Boston area in 1990 and has spent the last nearly 30 years working in a variety of well lauded Italian restaurants. The first restaurant she opened was Galleria Italiana, which earned many raves. Since then, she has opened or assisted in restaurants including La Bettola, South End Galleria, Bricco, Umbria, Mare, Gennaro's Five North Square, and Scopa. Back in 2009, she helped to transform Spiga and that was the first time I experienced her stellar cuisine, including her sublime Bread Pudding. Last year, Marisa returned to Spiga, to become their Executive Chef, assist owner Carmelo Iriti, and transform their menu. For more insight into the mind of Chef Iocco, check out my prior Culinary Creativity Interview.

I recently dined twice at the new Spiga, once for dinner as a media guest and a second time for lunch on my own. Spiga is open for lunch Monday through Friday, 11:30am-2pm, and for dinner Monday through Saturday, 5pm-10pm. With the warm weather, Spiga has an outside patio and on the day I had lunch, the patio was quite busy due to the beautiful weather.

The restaurant is medium-sized with an intimate and cozy ambiance. The intriguing pictures on the walls all have a single word within them, and the pictures are composed of the images of pieces of fruit.

There is also a small bar at the back where you can sit, have some wine and enjoy some delicious Italian cuisine.

I like that there is an open kitchen area, with a wood-fired pizza oven. Chef Iocco was present on both of my visits, working in the kitchen, ensuring everything was up to her standards.

The Dinner Menu is divided into Guazzetti, single-serve pots of simmered stews of meat, fish or vegetables (6 options, in 2 sizes, for $15-$22), Cicchettis, Italian “tapas” meant for sampling and sharing (7 options for $14-$16); Insalate (3 options for $10-$14), Primi, pasta dishes (10 options for $19-$24), Secondi (9 options for $27-$32) and Contorni, sides (3 options for $8 each). The Lunch Menu is a bit smaller, with Guazzetti (6 options for $16 each), Cicchetti & Insalate (5 options for $11-$16), Paste & Secondi (6 options for $14-$23), Panini (4 options for $14 each), and Fame di Pizza (5 options for $14 each).

The menus have something for everyone, no matter what your preference, whether it is seafood or vegetarian, steak or pasta, chicken to lamb. Portion sizes are ample without being overwhelming. There are usually daily specials available which might entice you from ordering off the menu. A number of the recipes honor the Abruzzo region of Italy.

With dinner, we ordered a bottle of the 2016 Giacoso Fratelli Nebbioli D'Alba, a young and fruity Nebbiolo, easy drinking and excellent for pairing with a variety of dishes. The wine list has plenty of good choices for Italian wines, and they have numerous other wines from other regions too.

We began out dinner with one of the Dinner Specials, a Pizza with fig, ricotta and prosciutto. Chef Iocco states that her pizza is a cross between Roman and Neopolitan, with Abruzzo accents. It had a delightful crust, not too thick and slightly chewy, with plenty of toppings, a nice blend of sweet and salty flavors. It is a good-sized dish and easy to split with two or three people.

We then enjoyed a couple of the house specialties, the Guazzetti. Allegedly, the term derives from the archaic Italian guazzo, which literally means "a ford," as in a shallow place where you can cross a river. This is similar to the English term "wade" and it is said that the main ingredients in these Guazzetti stews "wade" in the juices. Spiga seems to be the only local Italian restaurant offering these Guazzetti and it is worth visiting Spiga just to try these delicious and intriguing stews.

The Cape Bay Mussels & Manila Clams Guazzetto is prepared with chickpeas, smoked Italian peppers and a spicy, cherry tomato broth. The broth contained a great depth of flavor, with a mild spiciness, and was excellent for dipping your bread. The shellfish was tender, the broth making for a tasty coating, and the chickpeas and peppers were tender too.

The Veal Shoulder Guazzetto was prepared with porcini mushrooms, smoky coffee dust and blueberries. Once again, the savory broth had an excellent depth of flavor and the veal was tender and flavorfu. The blueberries added an fascinating element to the dish, a touch of sweetness to the more earthy flavors of the broth and veal. The coffee dust was more subtle, with a touch of smokiness the most evident aspect. An impressive and unique dish.

The Cauliflower Cannoli is a visually stunning dish, looking more like dessert. The cannoli was fresh and crunchy, containing a creamy interior of cauliflower, almost a whipped blend. Even though I'm not a big cauliflower fan, this was tasty and interesting. If you love cauliflower, then this is going to please you immensely.

From the Primi section, I opted for the Timballo, made with crespelle (kind of an Italian crepe), meat ragú, and locally sourced dried mozzarella. What an amazing dish, such perfect comfort food! It reminded me in some respects to a lasagna, though the crespelle is softer. The ragú contained plenty of flavorful meat in a superb red sauce, and there was lots and lots of gooey cheese. It is a hearty dish so bring your appetite. Highly recommended!

I'll note that Spiga uses handmade pastas, made predominantly in-house, are there are gluten-free options. The Spaghetti All Carbonara is made with house-cured smoked salmon, poached egg, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and pancetta dust. The pasta was cooked perfectly al dente and the dish had a pleasing creamy taste, though no cream was used in its creation. The plentiful smoky salmon was an intriguing touch, especially with egg yolk flowing atop it. Another good choice.

For a Secondi, we chose the Lamb Arrosticini, grilled lamb skewers, wood oven-roasted rosemary potatoes and a chimichurri sauce. As their website states, most of the Secondi dishes are "kissed by the heat of la furnacella...what we call our charcoal pit where we burn aromatized wood to roast, grill and smoke our meat and fish." This is a popular dish in Abruzzo, where lamb is a common meat.   The lamb was delectable, tender and meaty with tasty blend of spice and seasonings, and the touch of smoke from the grill. The potatoes were excellent too, with a great crunchy exterior leading to a more fluffy interior.

On my lunch visit, I ordered the Timballo again, which had a different look from the one I previously had for dinner. It almost looks like the lunch version was turned on its side. It was equally as large and equally as scrumptious. So much flavor in a great comfort dish.

For lunch, I also selected a Potato Pizza, with tender, thin slices of potato covering nearly all of the soft and crisp crust. As you can see, the pizza is quite long and easily could feed two people.

For both dinner and lunch, I had to order dessert, because I yearned once again for Chef Iocco's famous Bread Pudding, topped by a salty caramel sauce. The Dessert Menu has 7 options (for $9-$12), such as Sicilian Cannoli and Torta Caprese, but for me, there was no real choice. It had to be the bread pudding. After dinner, the first spoonful of bread pudding was pure bliss and I have to admit that I might have let out a soft moan of pleasure. Every subsequent spoonful was absolutely delicious, a hedonistic treat which I cannot recommend enough. Great texture to the bread, a nice blend of sweet and salty in the sauce, and nice hints of vanilla. It was equally as good at lunch and I wouldn't judge you if you started your meal with the bread pudding.

And as a bonus, let me provide a copy of the recipe for Chef Marisa Iocco's Bread Pudding, which I've had since 2009. You're on your own for creating a sauce to top the bread pudding.

Ingredients
2 lbs. crusty, day-old Italian bread
1 quart heavy cream
1 quart whole milk
6 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

Directions:
--Remove the bread heels and cut bread into small cubes
--In a saucepan, combine cream, milk, sugar and vanilla bean, and bring to a slow boil. Remove the mixture from the heat and allow it to cool and steep for one hour.
--In a bowl, whisk the eggs, then pour in the vanilla-cream mixture and stir. Next, add the bread cubes and allow it to sit just long enough to soak up most of the liquid.
--Pour mixture into a rectagular cake pan at least 4” deep. Cover tightly with foil. Place that pan into a slightly larger pan, then add about two inches of water to the larger pan to create what’s called a “bain marie” or water bath. This provides moisture during baking.
--Bake at 375 degrees for two hours. Remove from oven; let pudding “set” briefly. Cut into squares. Serves 8 generously.

It's great that Chef Iocco is back at Spiga. The food is diverse, plentiful, creative and delicious. And that Bread Pudding! Service was generally excellent, with one small issue at lunch that was quickly and professionally handled. It is easily accessible off Route 95, via the Highland Avenue exit, and it is also only a couple minutes from the Bin Ends wine shop. So, you can go wine shopping at Bin Ends and then have lunch or dinner at Spiga. Or vice versa.

Rant: Halloween Candy Isn't For Children

Stop lying to yourself! You don't buy candy to pass out to children who go trick or treating on Halloween. You buy that candy so you can enjoy it yourself. It's a holiday where you can gorge yourself, without shame, on chocolates, licorice, and other candies. Just be honest about it.

I've heard many people say that the number of children who come trick or treating to their homes has been decreasing over recent years. However, I don't hear them saying that they buy less candy. They to continue to purchase those huge bags filled with dozens of tiny candy bars or other treats. And they specifically buy candy that they enjoy themselves, knowing they will get to eat most of that candy. Sure, they may pass out a small percentage to the children that show up, but most of the candy will never make it outside. It will be consumed by the purchaser and their family.

You'll probably end up eating too much candy, in too short of a time. And blame the fact on not enough children showing up at your house. Just stop lying to others and yourself. Just admit that most of the candy is for yourself. In the end, the honesty will make you feel better. And you won't have to gorge down all of that candy so quickly. Instead, you can take your time, enjoying just a little candy at a time.

Sure, there are some exceptions, people who buy candy they dislike so they won't eat them even if not enough children show up on Halloween. And there will be some people who have numerous children show up on Halloween so that they have little, if any, candy remaining at the end of the night. However, those are exceptions and the majority of people will eat lots of excess candy during the days after Halloween.

You also don't need the excuse of the Halloween holiday to buy and enjoy candy any time of the year.  Candy is delicious, and you can enjoy it in moderation year round. It's a bad habit to horde all of the candy for a single time of the year (or maybe two if you count Easter). Do you really need all of that sugar within a few days?  Nah, it is much better to spread out your candy love throughout the months and stop bingeing on Halloween candy.

Rant: The Problems of Autumn

Fall in New England is a beautiful time, with the multitude of colors found in the leaves. It is a time for apple picking and hay rides, for savoring the last warm days before the chilly weather strikes. However, the autumn also brings with it a few food and drink issues, some of which I want to address today.

First, Rosé wine is vanishing from the shelves of many wine stores and that's a problem. It still hasn't caught on sufficiently that Rosé is a wine that should be enjoyed year round. Besides being delicious, it is very food friendly and works with plenty of fall and winter dishes. I've ranted before about this issue and will continue to do so until wine stores wake up and start stocking Rosé 365 days a year. There are some wine stores who understand, who keep stocking  Rosé, and they deserve your support and kudos. Tell your local wine shop to carry Rosé even when the trees are bare and even when snow falls on the streets.

Second, apples are such a wonderful and versatile fruit but they can be the subject of a few issues. At many fall markets, carnivals, festivals and more, you'll find candy and caramel apples, which might be covered with coconut, nuts, colored jimmies or other items. Candy apples were invented first, around the turn of the century, though their exact origin is murky. Candy apples, with their distinctive red candy shell, are usually made with a flavored boiled sugar recipe. Caramel apples, made with melted caramel, were first developed by Kraft Foods in the 1950s. The popularity of each varies across the country, though I have been noticing, to my dismay, an increase in the ubiquity of caramel apples locally.

I love candy apples, especially covered with coconut. It is not always easy to take that first crunchy bit of a candy apple, breaking through the hard shell, but it is rewarding. With a fresh, crisp apple, the candy, coconut and fruit make for a very appealing treat. For me, the caramel apple fails. I love caramel, from a nice sweet sauce atop ice cream to a salted, gooey center of a dark chocolate. But I don't like its soft gooey texture on a caramel apple. It is too soft, and just doesn't seem complementary to the crisp apple.

So I am dismayed that red candy apples are much less available lately. Where have they gone? Why aren't they more popular now? Why have caramel apples become much more popular? I don't have answers to these questions. But I want them to bring back my red candy apples. I want that candy crunch rather than the gooey chew.

Third, with apples come Cider Donuts, one of the best foods that exists. I love, love cider donuts but I am also picky as to the type that I enjoy. There are two main types of cider donuts, the heavier, cakey ones and the lighter, softer ones. I prefer the lighter, softer donuts, such as those from Russell Orchards in Ipswich.  They capture the taste of the apple as well as the spices that are added. With the more cakey donuts, you feel full after having one. They also tend to be more dry than the lighter donuts. So why do more farms seem to make the cakey cider donuts?

What are some of your food & drink issues with the fall?

Thursday Sips & Nibbles

I am back again with a new edition of Thursday Sips & Nibbles, my regular column where I highlight some interesting, upcoming food & drink events.. **********************************************************
1) On Sunday, September 27, at 6:30pm, Osteria Nino will host its first “Sunday Supper” event to benefit the National MS Society’s Greater New England Chapter (Waltham) whose mission is to drive research for a cure and to address the challenges of everyone affected by MS. At this family-style dinner, Osteria Nino has enlisted help from their friends at The Farm School (Athol), a nonprofit organization and working farm that trains and educates people about the farm industry. One of Osteria Nino’s favorite farms in New England, the Farm School specializes in certified organic vegetables, 100% grass-fed beef, pastured pork and more.

The Farm School will provide farm-fresh products and Osteria Nino’s executive chef, Walace Benica, will prepare a true farm-to-fork menu celebrating the best tastes of the local bounty, which will be paired with Italian wines and local beers. The four-course menu will be served family-style and presented as follows:

ANTIPASTO
Farm School Lettuces (radishes, celery, shaved fennel)
Farm Tomatoes (shell beans, breadcrumbs, aioli)
PRIMO
Rigatoni Cacio e Pepe (black pepper, pecorino romano)
Cavatelli All'Amatriciana (tomato sauce, cured pork, pecorino romano)
SECONDO
Misty Knoll Spit Roasted Chicken (spicy greens, polenta, last of summer eggplant caponata)
DOLCE
Lemon & Raspberry Granitas (Shaw Farms cream)
Mint Tisana (biscotti)

COST: $75 per person (includes beverage pairings; tax & gratuity not included). A portion of the proceeds benefit National MS Society’s Greater New England Chapter and the Farm School. Reservations are required via EventBrite at: http://sundaysupperatnino.eventbrite.com.
This event is open to all ages. Patrons must show a valid 21+ ID to consume alcohol.

2) From September 9 to October 3, Bistro 5 will offer one of my favorite tasting menus, the Heirloom Tomato Tasting Menu. Chef Vittorio Ettore always prepares an amazing dinner and the variety of tomatoes he uses is both intriguing and delicious. I highly recommend you check out this dinner.

Heirloom Tomato Tasting Menu: (all tomatoes featured on our menu are from Kimball Fruit Farms in Pepperell)

Brandywine
Miso, tamarind marinated bufala mozzarella, coconut-basil sauce and sesame cracker
2014 Aragosta, Vermentino, Sardegna
Green Zebra
Balsamic spaghetti, lobster and lemon basil
2013 Powers, Chardonnay, Columbia Valley
Speckled Roman
Smoked crème brûlée with caviar and farm greens
2011 Michele Chiarlo, Barbera d'Asti
Constoluto Genovese
Venison, black olive soil, romesco and shishito pepper
Eighth Cuvée Shebang, Zinfandel Blend, CA
Persimmon
Baked ricotta, pistachio and persimmon marmellata
2006 Vittucio, Vin Santo

Cost: Tasting Menu, 3 Course $55, 5 Course $75
Wine Pairings, 3 Course $20, 5 Course $30

Please make Reservations by calling 781-395-7464

3) The sixth annual Raise Your Glass for Jimmy presented by the Jimmy Fund Council of Greater Boston will take place 6-9 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 2 at the Battery Wharf Hotel in Boston. All proceeds support adult and pediatric cancer care and research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Admission to the event includes a wide variety of beers and wines to taste from August West Wines, Blue Hills Brewery, Boston Bottle, Gordon's Fine Wines and Liquors, Mayflower Brewery, Medusa Brewery, M.S. Walker, Plymouth Bay Winery, and Wormtown Brewery. The event also includes hors d'oeuvres, live music, and a silent auction.

Tickets are $75 per person, and early bird pricing is available with two tickets for $125 if purchased before Sept. 21. The first 150 guests at the door will receive a $25 gift certificate from Tresca. For more information, visit www.jimmyfund.org/raise-your-glass.

4) Confectioner Lee Napoli, whose history in pastry and candy in this city spans three decades, has been quietly conducting chocolate-making classes in a kitchen on the corner of Dartmouth and Montgomery streets in the South End since closing her retail shop, Chocolee Chocolates, in 2014. Often sold out months in advance, the classes were a local secret spread strictly by word of mouth ... until now.

Beginning Saturday, September 26 and continuing every first and third Saturday of the month thereafter, Lee is bringing news of her classes out of the shadows and into the light. Chocolate class dates for 2015 are: September 26, October 3, October 17, November 7, November 21, December 5 and December 19.

Each two hour class, held from 2-4 PM, begins with classroom instruction, then shifts to a commercial stove where chocolate tempering, truffle-rolling, and nut bark-ing become a messy but engaging activity open to "students" age 18 and up. Cost is $75 per person, with space in the class reserved by major credit card.

When class concludes, each student goes home with a one pound box of artisanal candy (retail value $40-50) that they made with their own hands, plus recipes. Napoli notes that her classes are "great for corporate team building, bachelorette parties, father-daughter outings, or truly unique birthday gifts."

Pre-registration for 2015 chocolate classes begins this week. Go to www.chocoleechocolates.com or call 617-236-0606.

MEat Butcher Shop and Lil's Cafe: More Kittery Foreside Hotspots

After a fine lunch at Anju Noodle Bar, I made a couple quick stops to two other food businesses in the Foreside neightborhood. I really need to spend more time in this area, lingering at these two and the other food businesses. I suspect that this neighborhood will only continue to grow and prosper, adding other independent businesses and enhancing the appeal of the area.

The MEat Butcher Shop, which opened in 2014, is a local, whole animal butcher shop and they
source their animals only from farms within 100 miles of Kittery. In addition, they focus on humanely, naturally raised animals, with no use of hormones or antibiotics. Their beef may be pasture raised or grass fed, and some is organic as well.  Here is a list of some of the farms they use, and you can also find a blackboard at the shop which lists the current farms. Besides meat, they also sell fresh produce, wine, beer, some pre-packaged foods and more.

The meat looked very good, ranging from various cuts of beef to sausages, lamb to pork, chicken and ducks. If you desire a certain cut that you don't see, you just have to ask. And they also can provide recipes if you so desire.

Their deli has plenty of charcuterie and cheese, including homemade roast beef, kielbasa, and Italian truffled ricotta. They make about 30 sandwiches a day, the type changing day to day, and once they sell out, there are no more for the day.

I bought some Sirloin Tenders, which were sourced from PT Farm, in North Haverhill, NH, and marinated them in my own homemade Garlic Teriyaki sauce. I then grilled them and they came out quite well. The meat was tender and flavorful, lean and juicy. If this is an example of the quality of all of the meat at MEat, then it is well worth visiting this shop.

After visting MEat, we made a quick stop at Lil's Cafe, which serves breakfast and lunch every day. They also make all of their own pastries and bread on premises. In addition, they have a variety of coffees and teas, including fresh brewed iced tea. Dan Ford recommended that I try one of their Crullers ($2.35), which looked like a glazed and grooved cake donut.

However, I was pleasantly surprised when I really it was actually light and flaky, more like French Cruller. The exterior is sweet and crusty, almost like fried dough, while the interior is flaky (like a croissant) and eggy (like the interior of a popover). Despite being fairly full from lunch, I still was able to devour this cruller because it was so damn good.  This is an addictive treat and I understand why they are so popular. Next time I visit Lil's Cafe, I'll bring several home with me, as well as try some of their other baked goods, like their Cinnamon Rolls or Monkey Bread.

Get to Kittery and explore the Foreside neightborhood.