(This story was co-reported by NHPR Audience Engagement Producers Elena Eberwein and Gia Orsino. Video production by Elena Eberwein.)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Hennessey’s win adds momentum to New Hampshire\u2019s growing food scene. In recent years, several other chefs have been named James Beard semifinalists: Nicole Nocella of Stalk<\/a>, Lee Frank of Otis<\/a>, Chris Viaud of The Lake Estate<\/a>, and Kristina Zontini of Super Secret Ice Cream<\/a> \u2014 which itself was a 2026 nominee for Outstanding Bakery.<\/p>\n In May, Dover was dubbed<\/a> New England\u2019s \u201cmost underrated dining destination\u201d by Travel & Leisure, in no small part thanks to Hennessey himself.<\/p>\n After growing up in Dover, Hennessey left New Hampshire to pursue cooking, working his way from washing dishes in Newark to working at Michelin-starred restaurants in Boston, Chicago, and New York. But when it was time to open a restaurant of his own, he decided to bring his talents home.<\/p>\n \u201cThis community and the school system and the people that are here\u2026 have given a lot to me to grow me, to raise me,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen it was my chance and choice to do something professionally, I wanted to do it in the town, in the area that I grew up in, so that I had a chance to give back.\u201d<\/p>\n Plus, he added, \u201cI can’t be away from the mountains for too long.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2012, Hennessey opened Stages<\/a>, an intimate, chef\u2019s table-style venue where he prepares custom tasting menus while diners look on. He followed it up this spring with Mediterranean restaurant Topolino<\/a> a quarter-mile away. But his food\u2019s connection to New Hampshire is much deeper than its physical location.<\/p>\n Henessey\u2019s specialty is \u201cprogressive New England\u201d cuisine, which he describes as working with the region\u2019s wealth of local ingredients to be \u201cconstantly evolving, constantly learning and moving with the landscape, with the farms, with the ocean,\u201d and the weather.<\/p>\n That sensibility is on full display at Stages, where his six- or nine-course tasting menus are deeply influenced by the local food systems. The dishes change on a dime in front of guests\u2019 eyes, depending on what his suppliers bring in.<\/p>\n \u201cThey literally walk in the door with a bucket \u2026 we have no idea what they’re going to bring,\u201d he said. For him and his staff, it\u2019s \u201clike a kid in the candy store.\u201d<\/p>\n Two of Evan Hennessey’s favorite New Hampshire ingredients: seaweed and wild mushrooms. \u201cThose two ingredients, almost alone to me, is what really tell the flavor story of a place because they literally change with the weather,\u201d he said. \u201cNothing changes food more than the weather.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the menu\u2019s most foundational flavors comes from a red algae known as a \u201csea truffle,\u201d which he discovered by foraging on the Seacoast<\/a>. It\u2019s been added to broths, sauces, even paired with chocolate. \u201cIt brings that beautiful oceanic salinity to our dishes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He hopes his James Beard award can also spread the word to other chefs about New England\u2019s food systems.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m really hoping that it opens the door even more, so people want to come to this area,\u201d Hennessey said. \u201cNot just so they see that like, yes, you can be a successful restaurant in this market, but you can really tap into our incredible food sources.\u201d<\/p>\n For now, the Granite State is already well on its way, according to Hennessey, with a crop of talented but often under-appreciated local chefs. He also credits a growing public interest in fine dining and food thanks to social media and TV. (Hennessey himself is also a three-time \u201cChopped\u201d champion<\/a>.)<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we’re seeing is this great emergence of, like, more want from the public, more want from the restaurants,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I think you put those two things together and you create a new food scene.\u201d<\/p>\n But no matter how big the spotlight on New Hampshire gets, Hennessey has long known the value of being from a small town.<\/p>\n \u201cHuge shoutout to the entire community of Dover, New Hampshire,\u201d he said in his acceptance speech. \u201cI hope you are watching right now. We may be 34,000 people, but damn, we are big.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ask any New Englander where the region\u2019s best food is, and they\u2019ll point you to Boston, Portland, maybe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":747051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216],"class_list":["post-747050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=747050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/747051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=747050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=747050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=747050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Stacked](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783366750_393_.jpeg\"\/)
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