BEYOND THE PLATE WITH CAROL

He helps run a Facebook community of 212,000 people who love food in New Hampshire. He is a truck driver by day. He organized the food trucks at Granite State Comic-Con. He flew to New Zealand in 2024 for a budget endurance car race -- and got sent to the penalty box. Jason Hopkins is one of the admins and moderators of New Hampshire Eats, one of the largest food communities in the state. Carol sa...

Carol brought At the Plate all the way to Greece for this one -- recorded on the back of a 52-ft sailing yacht named Baron, at the end of a 7-day charter through the Greek islands with Yachtsailing.com. In this episode, Carol sits down with the two people who made the whole trip unforgettable: Chef Dimitri, who left traditional restaurant kitchens behind for life cooking on the water, and Captain...

He played 8,000 shows in Las Vegas. Won 27 Emmys. Built a kindness empire. And now he's in the burger business -- and he's only 6 months in. In Episode 57 of Beyond the Plate with Carol, Carol Erickson sits down with Justin Spencer -- founder of Recycled Percussion, creator of the Emmy Award-winning Chaos & Kindness TV series, and co-owner of the fast-growing NH smash burger concept BAD BRGR....

She moderates a 188,000-member food community. She runs the financials for a nonprofit fighting hunger in New Hampshire. She's a CPA who spent years baking custom cakes out of her London apartment and learning everything from YouTube. And she does all of it as a volunteer -- because she loves New Hampshire and the people in it. In Episode 58, Carol Erickson sits down with Michaela Herrholz -- mode...

She started Manchester Craft Market with 17 cents in her pocket -- literally. Today, Jessica Moores runs a marketplace for 307 local makers inside the Mall of New Hampshire, and on this episode of Beyond the Plate with Carol, she's telling Carol Erickson the whole story. From picking things up off the side of the road to pay for her kids' clothes, to a strict anti-AI policy protecting local artist...

They quit their jobs -- one of them literally two days before we sat down together -- to run a BBQ food truck full time. Nick and Ben of Sigs Kitchen BBQ out of Fremont, New Hampshire are two brothers who turned a pandemic cooking hobby, a gaming username, and a leap of faith taken in memory of their mom into one of the most talked-about food trucks in New Hampshire right now. In this episode, we...

When Phil Meyer first got online during the COVID lockdowns, he found people trashing New Hampshire food. His response? Prove them wrong. That mission -- plus a conversation that happened right here at Cask and Vine in Derry -- turned into New Hampshire Eats, a Facebook group now 200,000 members strong. Carol sits down with Phil at Cask and Vine for one of our At the Plate episodes -- out of the s...

He built three of Manchester's most talked-about spots from scratch -- and now he's opening a fourth. Dan Haggerty, co-owner of Industry East, Stashbox, and Moka Pot, sits down with Carol Erickson to talk about how a dishwasher at 14 ended up building one of the most creative small business empires in downtown Manchester. In this episode: • The traveling mixology business that became Industry East...

Jakob Norris built Wicked Tasty from a single food truck into a multi-divisional hospitality company -- food truck, corporate café, full-service catering, a licensed bar program called Wicked Thirsty, and a seasonal mountain kitchen at Dartmouth Skiway. He did it in four years. And he did it with almost ten years clean and sober. This is one of the most honest conversations we've had on Beyond the...

She produced an Emmy-nominated food show, visited hundreds of restaurants across New England, and then -- at 65 -- did something nobody saw coming. Helen Ryba is the founder of Green Envy Wellness on Elm Street in Manchester, NH -- part art shop, part craft classroom, part community gathering space. Carol sat down with her right inside the shop for one of the most fun, warm, and surprising convers...

New Hampshire's hospitality industry sends $340 million to state coffers every year -- and most legislators still don't give it enough credit. Mike Somers has spent 17 years making sure that changes. In this episode of Beyond the Plate with Carol, Carol Erickson sits down with Mike Somers, President & CEO of the New Hampshire Lodging & Restaurant Association (NHLRA) -- the 106-year-old org...

Tom Boucher turned down a full scholarship to Villanova to wait tables. He never looked back. In this episode, Carol Erickson sits down with Tom Boucher -- CEO and majority owner of Great NH Restaurants, the family behind T-BONES, Copper Door, and Cactus Jack's. Forty years. Nine restaurants. Over $1.5 million donated back to New Hampshire communities through FEEDNH.org. And on this episode -- a b...

He took over a neighborhood dive bar on Wilson Street in Manchester just a few months ago -- and he's running the whole thing solo. One man, one kitchen, and food that's stopping people in their tracks. Mike Ivas grew up in Salem, NH, learned to cook from his grandfather who handed him a chef's knife before first grade, and spent seven years in the kitchen at the Cheesecake Factory in San Diego be...

She grew up along the Mexican border, learned to cook by watching her mom, and has been feeding her New Hampshire community for over 30 years. In this special Cinco de Mayo episode, Carol invites her friend of 15+ years, Silvia Boissonneault, into her personal kitchen to cook together -- and the result is one of the most real, warm, and delicious episodes of Beyond the Plate yet. Silvia walks Caro...

Sue Pappalardo came back -- and she came back with a lot to say. Sue is the owner of Aunty's Italian Kitchen, an Italian food truck based in Salem, NH, and she was first on Beyond the Plate back in Episode 19. A year later she's got a full season under her belt, a bigger event calendar, new menu items, and an idea so good Carol was ready to place an order on the spot -- a jar of her dad's slow-sim...

She spent 25 years as a Director of Engineering in tech. Then chronic illness nearly took her out -- and a plant-based diet changed everything. Kelley-Sue LeBlanc didn't just get better. She built The Sleazy Vegan, one of New Hampshire's most recognized food businesses, four years running. In this episode, Carol sits down with KSL -- as she's known -- to talk about the real origin story behind The...

For 35 years, Ray Duhaime has been quietly helping New Hampshire restaurants stop advertising for other people's brands -- and start owning their own. As founder of Private Label Specialties in Goffstown, NH, Ray created the Arrow Root Beer you order at the Red Arrow Diner, the Moe Java mug sitting on your counter, and the T-shirt with the dictionary definition of "diner" on the back. Most people...

Rick Broussard spent nearly 30 years as the editor of New Hampshire Magazine. Ask him how he wants to be introduced these days and he'll tell you: Grandfather of Eight. In this episode, Carol sits down with one of the most quietly influential people in New Hampshire media and culture. They cover the night a teenage Taylor Swift played the Best of NH Party because Rick said yes (her guitar was bigg...

He was Episode 6. Now he's back for Episode 41 -- and a lot has changed. Dante Marino, owner of DeadProof Pizza, was one of the very first guests on Beyond the Plate -- back when he was running pop-ups, grinding it out at Torch, and dreaming of a permanent spot. Since then: Best Pizza in New Hampshire from WUR, Best Food Truck and Pop-Up from NH Magazine, and a Restaurant of the Year win at the NH...

Episode 40 of Beyond the Plate with Carol is a little different -- we took the podcast to lunch. 🎙️ Carol Erickson sits down at Firefly Bistro in Manchester, NH with Pamela Provencher, owner of Granite State Escape, and Michelle Chretien from Milestone Mortgage for an afternoon of great food and even better conversation. Go-go bread that will ruin you for bread forever, sourdough French onion gril...

Sir Michael Petrigno has built one of the most loyal followings in New England food content — nearly 100,000 people on Instagram and 98,000 on Facebook — but here's the thing: he didn't start doing videos until 2023. Before that? Just pictures and captions. When he finally hit record, everything changed. He went from 6,000 followers to nearly 200,000 combined. In this episode, filmed LIVE at Red A...

Bob Singer's dad started with 38 used cars after his chicken plant burned down. 60 years later, they sold Merchants Fleet as the 4th largest fleet management company in America — 70,000 vehicles on lease. Now at 74, Bob says he's "in his embryonic stages." He just opened Bravo restaurant, bought the New Hampshire Union Leader, and is being honored as the 2026 Greater Manchester Chamber Citizen of...

50+ years in broadcasting. 700 newspaper columns. Three published books. And he literally wrote the book on the Red Arrow Diner. Carol sits down with Mike Morin — radio legend, Nashua Telegraph columnist, and author of "If These Walls Could Talk." They talk about his wild career journey from Detroit to New Hampshire, the famous Tall Ships prank that got national coverage, being buried alive THREE...

George Kokkinos has been feeding Manchester for over 15 years – but Margie's Dream Diner has been a neighborhood staple since 1975. That's 50 years of breakfast, lunch, and community packed into a tiny diner with just 8 booths and 5 counter seats. In this episode, Carol sits down with her longtime friend George to talk about taking over Margie's after being a regular customer for nearly 20 years,...