Joel Harris thinks his brick-oven pizza recipe, already tested and loved by family and friends, and unique method of cooking will build a pie that’s better than the rest.
You can decide for yourself. You’ll just have to wait. Harris is a little behind, saying last summer that he expected to open New Hampshire Pizza Co., in August, perhaps in the fall, at the latest.
“We’re getting closer,” Harris said Wednesday by phone. “We had some construction issues.”
That first day on Jan. 12 would be a soft opening. Harris is looking to the annual Black Ice Hockey Championships, held mid-winter at White Park, with its traveling and local fanbase to help spread the word around.
It’s been a long time coming for Harris, who owns three Dos Amigos restaurants, including the one in Concord. He said it typically takes three or four months to reach the point where he finds himself now: nearing his opener.
“It’s been a longer process than we anticipated, but we’re living in weird times and things take longer,” Harris said. “But we’re excited to open our doors and share what we know with Concord.”
He knows restaurants, and he knows how to prepare for their openings. He traveled to popular burrito places in Boston, Maine and Amherst, Mass., to learn how to build a great bite to eat and a great food empire.
Concord’s Dos Amigos branch opened in 2007 and became one of the downtown’s most popular restaurants. Dover and Portsmouth have their own versions as well.
For this latest venture, Harris sent his chefs to Brooklyn and West Haven, Conn., to learn how to cook brick-oven pizza. Now, he believes he has the right stuff, enough for customers to consider bypassing pizza places with conventional ovens.
“I really don’t want to knock anyone else when I say this,” Harris said, “but I think that we use higher-end ingredients than other places and all from scratch. I think people will notice the difference.”
He said the pizza will be a thin crust. He called it a New York style. He’ll offer a full bar, open until 10 p.m. on weekend nights, “but we’re looking at this as more of a family-friendly restaurant,” Harris said.
Meanwhile, nothing moves forward until Harris ties up several loose ends. He declined to say specifically what was needed to fire up the ovens, saying “This was just a few hiccups, so we’re trying to correct those issues, and once we’re done, we’ll be ready to go.”
They originally considered opening in Manchester, but decided Concord with its quaint downtown was the right place. They chose space in a building that was bought and renovated by Bangor Savings Bank.
The storefront at 78 North Main Street has white posters covering the large, rectangular-shaped window that faces North Main. The brick ovens behind them are hungry, ready to cook with temperatures as high as 650 degrees.
Be patient, Harris says. He says his friends and family have raved about his pizza.
Ultimately, Concord’s pizza-loving community will decide Harris’s fate. He feels good about things, viewing the current 3½-month delay as merely a nuisance.
The proof, however, is in the pepperoni.
“My expectations of the food have been far surpassed,” Harris said. “I’m very happy with what the chefs have been putting out, and based on the buzz downtown and all the feedback I’ve gotten, I think we will be busy.”