Exeter, N.H. chef and restaurant manager Denis Boucher is getting fired up about Northern Essex Community College’s new Haverhill Heights complex. Tapped by the school to lead the culinary and hospitality programs on Merrimack Street, Boucher isn’t just keeping an eye on the kitchen: He’s also overseeing construction as Northern Essex’s two floors take shape.
Part of developer Salvatore N. Lupoli’s 10-story Heights mixed-use complex that includes luxury apartments and a Salvatore’s restaurant, the Northern Essex satellite location will include classrooms, laboratories and a teaching kitchen. College President Lane Glenn is confident Boucher—who directed a similar project through Tompkins Cortland Community College in Ithaca, N.Y. called Coltivare—is the right fit for the job.
“Denis’s background makes him uniquely qualified for this position. I’ve been to Coltivare and I was so impressed. I can’t wait to see what he can do in downtown Haverhill,” Glenn said.
Born and raised in Maine, Boucher holds an associate degree from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., and a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management from Florida International University in Miami. His 20-year career in the restaurant business has taken him to work in kitchens in Atlanta, Colorado, Miami and Antarctica, where he was the chef at the South Pole and Palmer scientific research stations.