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The Sons of Italy in Haverhill is hosting a masquerade ball to raise money for the Parkinson’s Foundation. The ball takes place Saturday, Oct. 8, starting at 6 p.m., at the Phoenician Restaurant, 12 Alpha St., Haverhill. All ages are welcome and tickets are $60 per person. A buffet dinner is being served and prizes are going to be given to the best male and female outfits.
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Haverhill’s new Roasted Coffee Bar, open every day for breakfast and lunch, already has a loyal and growing following—particularly for its unique coffee and fresh-baked biscuit sandwiches. Ben Graves and Mike Eras opened Roasted just this month in space formerly occupied by Cafe GRaffs at 181 Groveland St., in Haverhill. In an interview with WHAV, Eras said its perfectly roasted coffee and a few specialties sets it apart. “Everything we do here is made from scratch including our syrups. We make our biscuits fresh every day—giant biscuits.
The second annual CiderFeast New England is set for this Thursday in downtown Haverhill with more than a dozen of the top New England cider makers participating. CiderFeast New England is the brainchild of Jimmy Carbone, who grew up in Haverhill, started hosting Cider Week NY events at his New York City beer bar in 2011 and annually hosts CiderFeast events as part of Cider Week. He said Steve Wood of Farnum Hill Ciders, of Lebanon, N.H., and Eleanor Leger of Eden Ciders of Newport, Vt., encouraged him for 10 years to bring a similar June cider happening here. Carbone calls CiderFeast an “all-inclusive food and drink tasting event.”
Besides Farnum Hill and Eden Ciders, others coming to Haverhill are Spoke and Spy Ciderworks, Ragged Hill Cider Co., Artifact Cider Project, Urban Farm Fermentory, New Salem Cider, JMASH cider of Hilltop Orchards, Moonlight Meadery, Easthampton Cider Project, Far From The Tree Cider, Stormalong Cider and Bird Dog Cider. CiderFeast New England also brings light bites from Carbone’s Kitchen, Brewer’s Crackers, La Pizza di Forno, L’Arche Hummus, Tuckaway Farms, Gulf of Maine Conservas and River Street Café.
More than a dozen food establishments are participating in Methuen’s Restaurant Week, themed “Savor Methuen,” starting today. Mayor Neil Perry welcomed the return of the event, taking place through Friday, May 27, and featuring specials during the week. “After a long two-year absence, I am happy to report that Restaurant Week is back!” Perry said. “Our excellent food establishments have provided some great deals, which is welcome during a time when everything is costing us more,” he added. Participating establishments include Bada Bing/Bada Boom Pizza, 32 Hampshire St.; Borrelli’s Italian Deli.
With warmer weather on the way, the outdoor festival and event season is fast approaching and, with that, the Haverhill City Council approved a number of summer events at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. The first scheduled event is a cider and mead tasting and discussion Thursdays May 19 and June 9, from 5-8:30 p.m., at Whittier Birthplace, 305 Whittier Road. James Carbone, coordinator, said it will be a fun, low-key affair. “We’re just trying to create a slightly new vibe at the Whittier Birthplace, you know, respecting the historical character of the Whittier Birthplace. We’re really looking forward to it,” he told councilors.
Haverhill’s Whittier Birthplace is hosting a two-part, 21 plus Whittier Foodways talk and taste series during May and June. Whittier Birthplace Executive Director Kaleigh Pare Shaughnessy and new Trustee Jimmy Carbone, CiderFeast event producer, call Foodways “the intersection of food, drinks, culture and history.”
The history of honey is the subject of the first event, Thursday, May 19, from 5:30-8 p.m., at Whittier Birthplace, 305 Whittier Road, Haverhill. It is in concert with Ipswich-based 1634 Meadery and West Newbury’s Black Birch Farm Apiaries Tickets are $25 each and available online at whittierbirthplace.org. Admission includes Whittier’s “Telling the Bees;” light bites from Carbone’s Kitchen; sampling of three of different kinds of mead; taste of honey; mini-tour of the circa 1688 Whittier Homestead; and short talk and Q&A with beekeeper Bill Hamilton and mead-maker Dan Clapp. The second part is scheduled for Thursday, June 9, with a focus on Apples with hard cider.
Haverhill’s River Bards read in person monthly through June, beginning with The Diminished Prophets this Friday night. The River Bard works in collaboration with Creative Haverhill and meets at 7 p.m., at HC Media Studio 101, 2 Merrimack St, Haverhill. Friday, April 1, The Diminished Prophets is presenting “The Gallery,” a new program of melopoeia. Poets Rhina Espaillat and Alfred Nicol recite their own poems and those of Emily Dickinson, Sor Juana, David Berman and Charles Coe to the accompaniment of music written by Francisco Tarraga, Heitor Villa-lobos, Manuel Ponce and other composers, and performed by guitarist John Tavano and bassist/cellist Roger Kimball. There will be no open mic portion, but there will be a short time for questions and answers at the end of their performance and readings.
Haverhill’s newest Asian restaurant formally opened last week in Central Square, Bradford. Gourmet House Asian Cuisine, 115 S. Main St., was opened by owners Lucy Lu and Youjuan Lu. The restaurant is open every day, but Tuesdays, with dine in, takeout and delivery. The menu includes a number of “Three Delights” packages including chicken, beef and jumbo shrimp in garlic spicy Szechuan sauce and chef’s specials with crispy scallops, squid and wings. The Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce was on hand with the owners last Thursday to celebrate the grand opening with Mayor James J. Fiorentini, City Council President Melinda E. Barrett and representatives of Reps.
A local organization that rescues horses, donkeys and mules and looks to find them “forever homes” plans to share its mission and needs during an open house this Saturday. West Newbury’s New England Equine Rescue – North, known as NEER-North for short, has been on a mission since 2008 helping horses and horse owners, in crisis. Founder Mary Martin, who was a recent guest on WHAV’s morning program, gave listeners an overview of events Saturday. “We’ll have snacks and coffee and homemade cookies and we’ll have some of our NEER gear available for sale. We also have a local author, Ginger Lane, who wrote a little book for us, children’s book, “The Story of NEER North: Through The Eyes of Mable the Donkey.” Mable was our mascot who recently passed.