Fresh Not Frozen

Have you ever wondered how some restaurants, particularly chain restaurants, cook and serve meals so quickly?

Here's a hint: they're frequently not cooking your food in the way you might think. They're probably using pre-cooked meats in their dishes, allowing those restaurants to quickly heat your food, serve it to you, and turn your table over to the next customer. There are even downloadable guides on how restaurants can improve their efficiency through the use of pre-cooked meats.

Jennifer Jarvis, owner of The Riverworks Restaurant and Tavern in downtown Newmarket, would probably use a guide like that for kindling in her fireplace. Everything at The Riverworks is made from scratch, Jarvis says. And my customers can taste the difference.

Located in the iconic brick building at 164 Main Street in Newmarket, the building has been home to many businesses throughout the years and home to The Riverworks for the past 31 years. Its cozy ambience and rustic charm has earned it the moniker of Newmarket's Living Room."

When Jarvis bought The Riverworks in 2002, she wanted to expand on its reputation as an old New England-style watering hole. I'm passionate about good food, and one of the first things I wanted to do was to expand the menu. That effort can now be considered mission accomplished, as the menu now boasts dishes such as lobster arancini, cranberry walnut salad, haddock amadine, and Kobe burgers, complementing old favorites like mussels, clam chowder, and beer-battered fish sandwiches.

Jarvis credits much of the success of the new menu to her kitchen staff, including head chef Jeffrey Fuller, who started two years ago as the restaurant's sous chef. He's since worked up the ranks. Fuller and two other cooks with him have really added a new energy to the kitchen, and we feed off that every day, says Jarvis. Everyone adds their own creativity to what we're doing as a group, and that creativity and versatility have allowed us to offer daily lunch and dinner specials that have been really well-received by our customers.

As an example, she points out a recent weekday saw a dinner special of seafood paella including mahi mahi, mussels, sausage, peppers, and onions in a tomato-based sauce, with a lunch special of French dip deluxe, with eight-ounces of prime rib topped with barbecue sauce, carmelized onions, and swiss cheese. 

But patrons shouldn't assume these delicacies are in a pub environment. One of the restaurant's best-kept secrets is its inviting, spacious upstairs dining and function room, which is open daily at 5 p.m., and available for business lunches, baby showers, rehearsal dinners, and other gatherings of up to 50 people.

Moreover, the dining room serves as a surprisingly romantic spot for a couples wanting top-notch food without the costs or hassle of big city dining.

We've got enough variety to satisfy just about anyone, Jarvis says, noting their vegetarian dishes, including goat cheese ravioli, sundried tomatoes, and spinach.

And Jarvis takes her responsibility to the community and the environment seriously. She's instituted a comprehensive composting and recycling program (even the straws and carry-out containers are compostable); the restaurant recycles all waste oil, which is turned into biodiesel for vehicles; and she's installed motion sensors and programmable thermostats to control light, heat, and cooling. 

The Riverworks has recently joined the Green Alliance, which connects of over 90 green businesses across New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts with the region's burgeoning eco-conscious communities. Green Alliance members get discounts at these green businesses, including 10% off all of The Riverworks' dishes. As soon as I learned about the Green Alliance, I wanted to join; their members struck me as the type who enjoy good food made right on the premises, Jarvis recalls.   

For more information: Riverworks Restaurant and Tavern: www.theriverworks.com; Green Alliance: www.greenalliance.biz.