Inside the brick castle-like Centennial Hotel on Pleasant Street in Concord, chef Ali Kalem has been working to reorganize and personalize the kitchen.
He runs Anatolia Mediterranean Restaurant in Somersworth. This fall, he will open a second location where the Granite Bar & Grill previously served guests in the hotel.
The Centennial, mere blocks from downtown Concord, sold to new owners last month. With his hand-rolled lavash bread and kebabs, Kalem will become a staple of the historic structure’s next chapter.
“It’s a new energy to [the] kitchen and a new energy to [the] hotel, ” he said. “We’re all working really hard to serve the community.”
Previous owner Sparta Properties sold the Centennial to Lord Hotels in July. Sparta had owned the hotel since 2012. Constructed in 1898, the Victorian property became a hotel 30 years ago, boasting 32 guest rooms.
Lord Hotels partner JJ Patel said his company was drawn to the hotel for its historic structure and proximity to the community. The company owns 16 hotels in Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
The Centennial’s previous owners made $1 million in renovations to the guest rooms, the restaurant space and other parts of the property through a capital expenditure program. Patel said the goal now is to lean into the boutique hotel atmosphere as much as possible.
As for food, he said Granite Restaurant & Bar had been in decline for several years. He hopes Kalem’s food will inject new life into the eatery.
“We want to make sure we give to the community [something that] was not there before. And Anatolia, I have been there personally a lot of times, and it has always created a benchmark for me,” Patel said.
The Somersworth restaurant opened in an old train station depot in 2021. Kalem previously owned the now-closed Mediterrano in Hillsborough before selling it to another Turkish family.
Food has been his passion for the majority of his life, he said. His earliest food inspirations stemmed from his mom, whose cooking led Kalem to start testing out his own recipes.
He graduated from culinary school in his home country of Turkey before moving to the U.S.
“So if you’re happy with what you’re doing, everything, no matter what obstacles, no matter what difficulties come in front of you, so you can overcome them by being positive and find the solutions,” he said.
He had dreamed of a second location after hitting the five-year mark in Somerwsorth but promised himself he’d wait for the right opportunity. The historic atmosphere of the Centennial mirrors that of the old train depot, so he already feels right at home.
He anticipates the Concord restaurant will open mid-October, if all goes according to plan. Anatolia will serve both hotel guests and members of the community.
“We’re hoping to create like a big Anatolia family as much as we did here,” Kalem said.
