‘Deep flavor’ – New restaurant in downtown Concord offers creative spin on comfort food and cocktails
Published: 06-28-2025 10:02 AM |
Cradling her newborn daughter in one arm, Kelly O’Connor walked around the bar of her new restaurant, 90 Low, as she prepared to open the doors in a few hours.
Freshly painted red walls contrast against the classic brick of the original building located off Eagle Square. O’Connor has embraced the space’s arched doorways and the penny floor in the bathroom while adding her own touch with metal signage and an original menu.
Her young daughter, Jade, stopped squirming after her eyes fixed upon the ball lights strung across the ceiling. O’Connor said her four children enjoy the space and the process of updating it.
“That’s definitely one of the draws about being an owner for me, as I’m able to juggle my personal life better…I’m really more in charge of my own destiny,” she said.
Named after its location in downtown Concord, 90 Low Street, opened on May 7, filling the space left vacant by the N’awlins Grille and the speakeasy Chuck’s Barbershop before that.
O’Connor plans to put the space back on the map through an ever-changing menu and by inviting musical guests to play on Open-Mic Thursdays and hosting varying musical acts on Fridays.
“I really do feel lucky to have this spot. I’m really looking forward to building on it and improving it and making it better and better as I go,” she said.
O’Connor originally acquired the space on April 21, when she was 36 weeks pregnant, and she opened two and a half weeks later.
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She prides herself on her fully homemade menu featuring Americana fusion comfort food, as well as modern cocktails.
“I really love cooking, and that’s my passion more than anything. I like to make ... food that has deep flavor,” she said.
A Penacook native, O’Connor, 35, has worked at an assortment of restaurants, while learning from talented chefs in the city’s strong cooking community. She said she has worked as a chef for ten years and worked for at least seven different places in the Concord area, including O’s Steaks & Seafood, The Common Man, Granite Restaurant and Bar, Dos Amigos and The Barley House Restaurant & Tavern.
Before opening 90 Low, she worked as a vendor at the Beaver Meadow Golf Course and managed Hermanos. Her current business venture is the first restaurant she can officially call her own. From crafting the food, the drinks and the vibe for the eatery, O’Connor calls the shots.
“It’s really nice to have your own kitchen where you can constantly be creative,” she said.
In her early 20s, she first became exposed to the food industry working for fast food restaurants in the Capital region, where she learned how to navigate a commercial kitchen.
Once she started to work in local restaurants, something clicked for her as she cooked with a fresh and diverse variety of food. She said this exposure made her passionate about the power of manipulating spices and herbs to elicit flavors from around the world.
“From having that efficiency bug in my brain from when I started to getting to be creative and learn how to cook food from scratch, it was so interesting to me,” she said.
While her love of food and the unlimited possibilities it provides motivates O’Connor’s passion in the kitchen, she also enjoys seeing people appreciate her recipes.
“It’s so fun for me. It’s so rewarding to feed people, to put a smile on someone’s face and to know they’re going to go home and be like ‘Oh my god, that was so good,”’ she said.
O’connor created a separate menu that partners with the New Hampshire National Alliance on Mental Illness or NAMI, which provides free support for people struggling with their mental health or affected by suicide. The menu features three items designed by O’Connor, including “NAMI-ste” Lavender Lemonade, “Phe-NAMI-nal” burger and New York Cheesecake.
When a customer buys from this menu, 25% of the proceeds go towards the nonprofit organization. In the first month open, the special menu has raised over $150.
“It’s such a good cause to support that I feel like I’m bringing back to the community that I live in,” she said.
With the help of her best friend, Caleb Dudley, she has been able to keep the restaurant open and take care of her newborn.
Dudley is now the general manager of 90 Low, but he remembers when he met O’Connor five years ago while working at The Common Man. “I knew that we were destined to do something great because we were just unstoppable. We were just a force to be reckoned with,” he said.
For years, they both waited for their time to shine and create their own place. After working under other chefs, this restaurant allows them to share all the experience they gained over the years with personal flair.
“We just have so much fun. It’s nothing but singing and dancing and being creative and socializing with the community and just feeling a lot of love. This is finally our chance to show a little more of our personality,” Dudley said.
As a single mom of four kids, O’Connor said running her own business on her terms also allows for more flexibility for her professional and personal responsibilities.
“Sometimes it feels like it is too much and it feels like it’s a lot, but why not me?” she said. “Even when it seems hard – it seems impossible – I think that is just a sign of improvement, a lot of the time. If you’re not struggling, you’re not getting better.”
Even though she just opened, she has plwnty of plans for the future of the restaurant. With an unfinished basement below and a neglected green space outside, O’Connor hopes to clean up those areas and make more room for another bar downstairs, as well as outdoor seating.
“I’m working out the kinks now, kind of working through it while we’re open,” she said.
From the beginning, O’Connor promised to always have a fun, diverse and changing menu based on her interests and what customers are looking for.
“I’m able to use that part of my brain where I can just be creative and come up with new stuff all the time,” she said. “It’s really like art.”
Kiera McLaughlin can be reached at kmclaughlin@cmonitor.com.