Wildcraft Focaccia Company

06/18/2021

Well, things are really moving along now. This week we passed our final building inspection and obtained our certificate of occupancy. It's been a long road - looking for real estate, pausing for months during covid, and then bringing this old crazy building back from the dead! One more hurdle to go - the department of health - and then we cook. We'll announce an opening date soon. Thanks for following along with our progress!

Well, things are really moving along now. This week we passed our final building inspection and obtained our certificate of occupancy. It's been a long road - looking for real estate, pausing for months during covid, and then bringing this old crazy building back from the dead! One more hurdle to go - the department of health - and then we cook. We'll announce an opening date soon. Thanks for following along with our progress!

06/15/2021

Check out these cool restored window frames made by @reframe804

We're super excited to showcase these different views of Manchester in our space - the first image is of Benedictine cadets marching on our block in 1966 (image from @thevalentinerva) Our building was Brewster's Restaurant and it can be seen in the picture. Also, check out that Macy's sign.

The second is Manchester today and we dig the colors.

Thanks Cole, for these awesome frames!

06/14/2021

I was so excited to finally hang some of these beautiful paintings from @laurie_parfitt_art today! These will be available for purchase (one of these days!) Laurie was also in charge of all of our interior design decisions and we think she did a fantastic job!

05/28/2021

Check out our new window signs - painted by Ross Sure Hand Signs
Detail work is much more satisfying than plumbing trenches, electric gas valves, and fire separation ceilings!

05/27/2021

Check out these panels and wall mural that the talented @laurie_parfitt_art painted for us! These are based on our logo and branding created by @dch.design Laurie will have lots of paintings for sale in our restaurant ( when we finally do open,😄)

05/10/2021

Making bread for a photo shoot tomorrow and I just got off the phone with my contractor who promises to be ready for final inspection within a week. Fingers crossed, but not holding my breath 😆

04/20/2021

More furniture going into place today. These red oak booths were crafted by @robertstaropoli.

04/16/2021

It's still dusty but we've made some major progress this week. After some repeating setbacks we obtained our (second) plumbing permit and (finally) passed our plumbing inspection. AND - we had our red oak bar tops installed. Booths go in next week and there's lots of finish work happening now and in the coming weeks. Thanks to @dmwelding for hooking us up with our brackets and hardware and @robertstaropoli for the beautiful bar tops, tables, and booths.

03/30/2021

Red head bread head.

Red head bread head.

03/23/2021

Vegetarian Muffaletta test run. Sesame seed focaccia, roasted eggplant, roasted peppers, olive salad, provolone and pickled zucchini. Made with homemade giardiniera.

03/18/2021

Scenes from the construction zone.

03/08/2021

I'm thrilled to share that after months of red tape were finally able to move forward full speed with our build-out. And after months and months of thinking about nothing but construction - I'm having conversations with farmers like my friend Emilie (and her adorable son Oscar). Emilie - who is a talented farmer as well as an outstanding permaculture teacher - is going to supply our chickens and some of our seasonal local produce. I'm beyond excited to be able to use her superior products. Check out her farm @shirefolkfarm and get permaculture school @shenandoahpermaculture - also, take a look that beautiful hand-painted sign from Ross @surehandsigns

02/25/2021

Dessert R and D continues - though the base of this one is set. No changes necessary. Warm chocolate tart with candied Virginia peanuts and hazelnuts. Now - off to my 40 minutes of cardio😃
Also, I hear the city may be picking up the pace on permit reviews. Fingers crossed that they get to us soon.

Dessert R and D continues - though the base of this one is set. No changes necessary. Warm chocolate tart with candied Virginia peanuts and hazelnuts. Now - off to my 40 minutes of cardio😃
Also, I hear the city may be picking up the pace on permit reviews. Fingers crossed that they get to us soon.

02/24/2021

Still playing around with desserts this week. This one is a golden milk panna cotta tart. I used agar, instead of gelatin, to stabilize it so my vegetarians at home would eat it. Super tasty served with a touch of citrus curd.

Still playing around with desserts this week. This one is a golden milk panna cotta tart. I used agar, instead of gelatin, to stabilize it so my vegetarians at home would eat it. Super tasty served with a touch of citrus curd.

02/17/2021

This whole waiting on contractors thing has me antsy to bake, so I'm running through dessert options. This one is a poached pear and blueberry frangipane tart. This is probably my third favorite dessert - my first two favorites being ice cream and standard chocolate chip cookies if eaten as soon as they cool off. Our desserts will be heavily focused on simple classic pies - the kinds I'm actually excited about when I see them on a menu.

02/07/2021

Check out this beautiful boule baked by @murphy_the_k - I feel lucky to have a partner who is not only an excellent baker, but in his own words "does business" 😂 help me in wishing Kevin a Happy 50th birthday (slightly belated).

Check out this beautiful boule baked by @murphy_the_k - I feel lucky to have a partner who is not only an excellent baker, but in his own words "does business" 😂 help me in wishing Kevin a Happy 50th birthday (slightly belated).

02/05/2021

No toppings required. I just wanted to remind folks that we're still plugging away with our build-out. Looking like it's going to be a couple of months still, but we're working on it!

01/12/2021

We're still jumping hurdles with the buildout and will be for some time. In the meantime I've been working on some writing projects as well as building our website. Looking through pictures of our gardens for our corporate mission web page has me thinking about garden planning. Happy 2021! everyone - cheers to your health and prosperity!

01/01/2021

We had a decent sunchoke harvest this year despite the plants being knocked over in a windstorm. I canned 9 quarts of pickles and still have a bunch to roast and expand some plantings.

12/26/2020

Top 9 for 2020. We've run into some snags with the city during our build-out (surprise!) so we're a couple of months behind schedule. Hopefully next year's Top 9 will include our opening day - thanks for all your support this year! 💛🤗🎇

12/19/2020

This is my favorite sandwich bread (I know, it's not focaccia). 100% fresh milled Einkorn from @goodfoodsgrocery topped with pepita (also from Good Foods Grocery) and everything bagel spices.

12/14/2020

Do you call it Pork Roll or Taylor Ham? Or maybe you have your own name for it, like my daughter Eliza who calls it New Jersey Bacon. Whatever you call it - it's mighty tasty with good cheddar on fresh baked sourdough focaccia - no garnish required. We'll, maybe a little hot sauce.

12/12/2020

Toppings are delicious and decorations are lovely but mostly I love a simple sourdough focaccia with salt and olive oil.

12/11/2020

'tis the season for a cranberry curd tart!

12/09/2020

We've had some obstacles that are slowing down our progress and likely delaying our opening - but the all important ABC license is right on schedule!

(me {Tom} on the left, Mr. Kevin Eleven on the right) 🍾😉🤞

12/08/2020

Crackly, blistery bread is my favorite. Anyone else have a hard time letting it cool before digging in?

12/01/2020

People Care and Earth Care are two tenets that will help guide our decisions and operation plans.

Regarding Earth Care - to minimize our impact in the landfill, our packaging will be 100% recyclable and/or compostable. A local commercial composter will process everything for us - including meat, dairy, paper, and bioplastics. In fact, he suggested the exact takeout packaging we'll be using since he knows first hand how well it breaks down.

Our dining rooms will have compost and recycling bins, but won't have a can for landfill trash. We'll provide a small bucket for anything folks may bring into the cafe that can't go in our recycling or compost containers. Of course, our purveyors may bring us packaging that may end up in the landfill, but we'll try to minimize that as well.

11/29/2020

Sausage, potato, onion, egg, cheddar, and pecorino. Brunch menu planning!

11/28/2020

Just for fun - "The Snowman" flatbread. Colors are all natural - spices mostly.

11/22/2020

80 vegan pie crusts on my kitchen counter? Why not!?

11/20/2020

Pear/apple pie sweetened with maple syrup, seasoned with cardamom, and finished with a walnut crumb topping. This was a tasty experiment.

11/17/2020

Broccoli Rabe and Sausage

11/14/2020

I've haven't been baking as much recently - been a tad busy building out the bakery. So when my son let me know we needed some sourdough I obliged. I'm looking forward to getting past the building phase and getting into my beautiful new kitchen.

11/08/2020

Our menu will have several categories of focaccia - from a super simple toasted focaccia served with a choice of dipping sauces - like this thin and crispy sheet flavored with classic rosemary - to much more heavily topped versions like italian sausage, peppers, and pesto - as well as sandwiches like our focaccia version of a muffaletta.

11/07/2020

I haven't made one of these for a few months - a flower bouquet focaccia for someone visiting from Cape Cod. It's tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, garlic and herbs. 🌱🌷🌻