Foodies should plan to hit downtown Maplewood later this month, when Nosh The Neighborhood Bistro debuts there.
Chef and owner Paula Anderson is targeting the third week of June to open the restaurant at 7322 Manchester Road, former site of Maravelle Café. “Maravelle Catering will remain in the same building,” she told us. “They are such wonderful caterers and do such a great job that they do not have time to run a café.
“My 20-year-old daughter, Carlin Starr, who is a law student at Webster University, will be working side by side with me,” Anderson continued, “as well as my very good friend Angela Komis, who is an excellent chef, who is coming onboard with us. We were fortunate enough to study in France together when we were culinary students.”
Anderson plans to use “as much locally grown, free-range, grass-fed and organic ingredients as we can.” The seasonal menu will include various flatbreads, entrées and desserts. “We’ll have a whole line of noshes, as you can imagine – that’s our name,” she said.
One of Nosh’s dishes Anderson described with particular pride: its clams. “We actually cook them on the open grill, the fire, and then we drizzle them with a little olive oil, some pine nuts, some fresh tomato and a little bit of feta. They’re really great because they’re like their own utensil – you just pick them up and bite them. A little fennel in there, it’s just absolutely delicious and fresh, a little lemon squeezed on top.”
The bistro will seat roughly 40 people. It will have a full-service bar, and Anderson hopes also to feature live music for late-night customers.
Nosh’s hours will run from 11 a.m. to midnight Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. It will shortly launch a Web site and Facebook page, Anderson said.
This article appears in Jun 1-30, 2010.