North End
 

(Just to be clear...The North End = Italian food in Moultonboro, near the school, NOT The North Shore burger drive-in near Berry Pond.)

They're open for the season, and the sign says "new menu" which surprised me. What changed?

Anyone been this season? I drove past tonight and there were a fair number of cars there. Canoe has always been consistently good, and I was excited when the chef opened The North End. Unfortunately, it ended up being kinda variable last year in my opinion. Fantastic early on, kinda hit or miss as the summer wore on. I'm waiting for reports before I try it again.

I went 3-4 times last season and never was dissapointed ...EXCEPT...no bread or rolls offered before dinner. I did mention it and someone pointed out,in VERY SMALL LETTERS that rolls were available if you asked .I love hot rolls/bread before hand !!
other than that ,it was always quite good

M

Thumbs up to the improved North End
 

We went to the North End once or twice last year...I wasn't very impressed. Last year, I had high hopes, knowing that Canoe owned it. Whenever I go to an Italian restaurant for the first time, I always order eggplant parm if it's on the menu. To me, that's usually a good indicator. Last year, I couldn't even taste the eggplant. It just tasted bready and pastey...it didn't seem too crispy or fried. I was also extrememly disappointed with the garlic knots...they tasted like pretzles. I wanted garlic bread, not pretzels.

Well, we drove by this year and saw the sign for the New Menu. We thought we'd give it another try. And boy, are we glad we did. It is a huge improvement over last year. I don't know if they have a new chef or what, but the eggplant parm was much better. My husband ordered the Veal parm and thought it was very good too. They also had awesome garlic bread...some of the best I've tasted! Their salad with Balsamic dressing is also very good. We finished our meal with the Tiramisu. It too, was excellent!

If you tried it last year and weren't thrilled, try it again...I think you'll be pleased.

Thanks...I'll give it another try...

After hearing good comments recently about the North End we tried it last night, but were still somewhat skeptical after not very good experiences last summer. I thought the meals were a little pricey for pasta (without salad included or bread without asking), but everyone in my party thought that their meals were good and all our met our criteria of "would you order it again." I ordered the Italian Wedding soup and it was not the best that I have had, however, it certainly was not the worst. Would I order it again, good question?
The wait staff was friendly and attentive, always a plus. So we will probably go again this summer-- so overall a positive experience.

We went back a few nights ago for dinner, and I think it's back on the list again, but only in the 'once in a while' category. Food was good, but the waiter was not (pacing was very slow, forgot 2nd drink round...but charged for it, and forgot our take-home leftovers) Had Bruchetta (vy good!), salads, eggplant parm (vy good!) and Pasta Sicilia (simple, but tasty). Again, price was a bit more than I expected. Between the waiter and the price...once in a while.

It sounds like this waiter made a couple of huge mistakes. Just out of curiosity, what did you tip him?

Excellent meal!
 

We ate at North End tonight and I am pleased to report it was one of the best (Italian) dinners we've had in a long time! The service was amazing - Malcolm was our waiter - he was awesome. So friendly, so personable and really knew his stuff. He suggested a bunch of beers for my hubby and even brought over a bunch to sample. We had the North End calamari which was one of the best calamaris we have ever had (and we are big into calamari!). He had the ckn marsala and I had the ravioli special. Both were amazing and full of flavor. The only negative was they were out of canolli for dessert (Sunday night...we are thinking they sold out over the weekend...), but Malcolm offered us another dessert at the cannoli price. It was delicious! The ambiance of the restaurant is OK. Nothing special. They actually sat us in the bar area (high top tables), which wouldn't have been my 1st choice, but it was quieter than the dining area. All in all it was an excellent dinner. They said business has been really slow - they're thinking due to the economy and their location - nothing has ever really made it there. Hoping to help them get the word out for them that their food is worth traveling for! We are planning a trip back next weekend w/ extended family!

excellent
 

We ate at North End tonight and it was great!!!!!! Charlie from Canoe was our waiter and he is always great (fun and knowledgable). The seafood pasta was full of shrimp, scallops and a lobster claw. Got the chocolate cake for dessert and it was incredible. Next we will start with the cake and skip the salad. Definitely worth the drive. We WILL return again..:liplick::liplick:

Sooooo good!
 

Myself and a few of my friends went out to the northend last weekend and wow, it was amazing! We sat in the pub/bar area for a more casual feel. We all ordered something different and shared everything. a bit of this a bit of that...everything was excellent. I had to save room for dessert since I have a bit of a sweet tooth and my am I glad I did. I got the profiterole, with was an italian cream filled puff with a hazelnut chocolate overtop. WOW!so unique. another one of my friends got a special, some coconut frozen souflee, she ate the whole thing, and it was a good size too. Later our waitress told us that they have their own in house pastry chef so everything is homemade. So I have to agree, I will be sure to save room for dessert everytime.(but not too much room because the food is too good to pass up!)

so that's why your eyes are brown
 

Of course it would help all the readers of the forums to know that Coach0834 IS the house pastry chef at the North End, and also a former disgruntled employee of mine. Who is currently using recipies photocopied from my books (whatever, no big deal). Which would explain why she and her friend luvmypups (Jill) decided to try to trash me on my thread. I keep all of the orders that come in and none matched anything either one of them were claiming, just fyi.
Just thought everyone would like to know.

Are you The Pastry Chef?????
 

To Coach0834
Don't expect you will reply, but are you in fact the pastry chef?????, if so, in the future a small disclaimer might be a good idea.

I has just read an article about Tripadvisor and all the fake reviews being submitted by companies to either bolster their reputation or discredit a competitor. It's not surprising that it happens on this web site also.

I think anybody that posts that has any interest in a business should identify that interest in every post. If they don't and that interest (deception) surfaces it casts a very negative impression on the business.

I won't be trying the Northend if the prior post is factual.

What do you agree with?
 

You have to agree? Agree with what?

I'll 2nd the comment that you should add a disclaimer to your post if you are associated with the place. Just because a chef is "in house" does that mean it is "home made"? If it is made in the restaurant it is not made in the home (unless you live there).

Don't blame the restaurant
 

If this is the case, I would blame the poster, not the restaurant. I am sure Scott O will not be thrilled with his employee if they are pushing fake posts.

I'm always suspicious when someone goes over the top in posting a negative review. Many times they can be traced to a disgruntled former employee or even friend and family of a competitor. Often, a ligitimate complaint on this forum is an owner's first clue that there is a problem and that information can be helpful in solving it, but to trash someone because you have an agenda is pretty low.

This post without a conflict of interest disclaimer is inexcusable, sleazy and in poor form. I won't be trying the North End restaurant...

I think MARK has done a good job of flushing out the identity of COACH (match this with earlier posts and you will see). :laugh:

I’m sure Scott O. from North End checked and screened his pastry chef before hiring. If indeed the pastry chef is using dessert recipes from her prior job, then I would hope that Scott would prohibit her from doing so. (NOTE: I happen to know the pastry chef in question). I’m sure that Darcy from LoveBites has all her help sign a “non-disclose/non-compete” agreement. If so, then her former “disgruntled” employee is in clear violation, which could possibly implicate Scott as well. Both businesses have done a good job building their reputations, so it’s too bad they have to get caught up in the drama of a disgruntled employee and her friend.

I agree with SAMIAM. I would hope that readers are highly critical of bad reviews (i.e. trashing) because it is obvious that most are usually from competitors, or former disgruntled employees.

Whether Tripadvisor, this Forum, Chowhound, book reviews, etc. or any web-based forum, I throw out the most flattering and the least flattering and consider the majority in the middle. Not a perfect system but it seems to work.

And now, moving away from the drama and back to restaurant reviews...

We went back about a week ago and had a much better waiter (waitress actually) who was helpful and did a very nice job. When we lamented that the garlic knots were no longer on the menu, she explained that they had trouble keeping them fresh, so rather than serve stale knots, they discontinued it. (When they were fresh, they were great, but...we did get stale batches towards the end of last summer, so that matches with our experience.)

My wife is hooked on the eggplant parm, and said it was again very tasty. I had pasta with chicken and a bruchetta-like sauce (sorry, I forget the name), and that was very good to. Kids had chicken caesar salad and broccoli alfredo, both were reportedly good.

Still a shade on the pricey side, but...very tasty.

Come on now, the drama is much more interesting. I vote we keep beating on Coach for a while. Since I imagine that will be his/her last post under that name maybe we could make guesses as to what name he/she will go with next. Maybe LoveBitten, PhonyGourmet, NorthEnded, ScotTraitor???? What do you say GTO, Mee-n-Mac? Give us your best shot.

BTW, I like the North End. I never met Scott but I highly doubt he put old Coach up to it. No sense punishing the restaurant for a boneheaded move on the part of an employee, IMO.

I think it's worth exposing this if a local business is being double-teamed, and lied about on this forum by two posters working together. This goes beyond a bad review. These people (if true) are trying to ruin a local business. No joke in my book.

Wow!
 

Well I havent posted in a while but after reading this post I had to get on. I am the pastry chef at northend and the only true thing that was written was that I used to work at lovebites pastry shop. Unfortunately Darcy feels that I am coach0834. I dont know who that person is and im sorry that you are being accused of something that your not. and I dont know what gave you the idea that it was me cause I thought we left on decent terms. im sorry that they had bad feelings about your shop Darcy but i guess you have to take the good with the bad when you run a business. I wasnt even able to read any other posts after i read lovebitespastryshops post because I was so upset by the acusations. I hope that this won't affect anyones decisions on visiting the northend because it is a very nice restaurant and I would recommend it to anyone! Again i am sorry for the mix up, especially to coach0834.
In addition, I want to make clear that I would never try and hurt Darcys business, I put my heart and sole into the shop for 5 years. Unfortunately Coach0834 had a bad experience and that happens, you cant please everyone. Darcy you know you can bake so dont listen to people that have nothing nice to say. I really do wish nothing but the best for you.

well....
 

Well, seeing you asked my opinion......first of all, I think the North End is a great place to go. I went there for the first time last week. Although because I am a very picky eater, I got my usual 2 orders of chicken fingers and fries from the kids menu but everyone else in my party raved about the italian food they ordered. Meatballs the size of the balls at the Funspot lanes. The service was professional and quick, not only the waiter, but other workers that would always be there to refill your drinks.
As far as this pastry poster....mmmm. Now going under an alias (could it be Jniff101) or was it Mr Mustard in the library with a candle stick.
Curious to see if Scott O will chime in anytime real soon. He is such a respected businessman around town I hope he knows what is being talked about here.
One way or the other, I'll be going back. The ones that claim they will never go there again (if they ever went in the 1st place), good luck in the line at McDonalds.
Where's Nadia when a good eating establishment thread is going on?

confirmed eyes are brown
 

Isn't it curious how coach0834 and jniff101 both spell The North End the exact same way. Not one other person spelled it northend. WOW is right jniff.:confused: We have reached a whole new low !!!!!

Wow
 

Both jniff101 & coach0834 seem to like to use the word "wow".....just saying. Perhaps Darcy will come out here and tell us how she figured this situation out ?

This is getting out of hand
 

This is rediculous. Im not going to keep defending myself for something that is absolutely false.This just makes me wanna cry cause I am a good, caring and genuinly nice person just trying to make an honest living.
Darcy I know you know this person isnt me so if there's a problem just call me. Why did you feel the need to completely bash me publicly when I did so much for you. This isnt professional at all! BTW I was informed as to who coach was and i guess I do know this person, so i guess Im guilty by association, and i am embarassed about that but he wont be visiting this site anymore. So can we please move on. thank you

Comical to say the least
 

Darcy,
That is great that you figured out that I, JILL is,yes...luvmypups.I wasnt trying to hide it nor was I shouting it out to the world. You have made your own bed and if you think I am the only one with a bad taste in my mouth from you, than you are sorely mistaken. Everything I posted was 150% true. You should be happy that a lot more wasnt posted as you have been pretty nasty to quite a few people. You need to accept the fact that not everyone is going to like you, your business and/or your business practices....you need to take the good with the bad. I have no idea who the coach person is but I of course agreed with everything they said because I had good reason to. I'm sorry to break it to you but a lot of people do not care for the desserts as they did when Donna made them, oh well...not a big deal. Your former "disgruntled " employee is being wrongly accused here to. That girl taught you so much about the business, taught you recipes and in general everything she knew about being a pastry chef. Darcy, you picked her brain and canned her, now you are accusing her of stealing YOUR?? recipes. Didnt an earlier post say that many chefs get their recipes out of others cook books?? copywritten cookbooks?? If anyone is disgruntled it's you, now you are targeting Canoe?? Why because they dont get desserts from you anymore?? I think you are the only disgruntled one here. You cant handle any critisism at all. This is a place for opinions good or bad, I didnt bash your business I based my opinion on my experiences and what I know about your business dealings sorry but the truth hurts.
Come on people, does it really make sense that a pastry chef of 7 years would go to work with the NEW Love Bite's, work there for a year and then "steal" all of the recipes from Love Bite's at another business?? You cant accuse someone for stealing "your" recipes because they are using what is in their head. When people apply for a new job they usually list their qualifying experience to get the new job...right?? So this previous employee of yours is supposed to not use everything she learned before you even existed in the Love Bite's world to continue on as a professional pastry chef?? That makes no sense at all and Darcy, you make no sense. You are the only one doing the bashing and then having your friends come on here to do damage control. Good luck with that.

Not true at all, I dont know coach at all. There is no tag team people haha. I would never try to put someone out of business but I had a REALLY REALLY bad experience with Darcy for my little girl's first birthday cake and it had nothing to do with the cake. I was actually being a bigger person by not posting that experience up here but maybe I should now....hmm thinking about it.

And which order did I CLAIM to have made Darcy?? That's right, no order!! I never once even specified which cake I was talking about. Just proves that you lie, lie, lie. So yeah....keep checking those slips,you might want to check previous posts before you make up a lie like that. Nice try though!!

These posts have nothing to do with The North End!
 

We want to hear about the dining experience not bickering between "GROWN UPS?". I like the North End menu which is kid friendly, although the dining room accoustics still s**k. I eat there at least three times a month.

This post has something to do with the North End
 

First of all Jen, I don’t buy for a minute this little poor innocent me act, I know you better than that. Please do spare me this "after all I have done for you" nonsense, you had a job, that you got paid to do. Please try not to make it sound more grand than what it really was. However I would be delighted to speak with you over the phone and discuss this further. Just give me a call.

Jill It is obvious that you are working hard to try to hurt my business with malicious intent. As far as the cake is concerned, when you ordered it, you did so with Jen, Jen made it, and your boyfriend picked it up. As a business owner who takes full responsibility for everything that leaves her shop, I am concerned that I had not heard any word about your bad experience, until a year later on a computer. So I am curious, what part of your experience where you not happy with? Give me a call I’d be happy to discuss it with you. Further more Jen’s employment history is not open for public discussion and is of no business to anyone except myself and Jen, but I can assure you she didn’t get “canned” as you so eloquently put it.

That being said let’s get back on topic here:
Last night my wonderful husband and I decided to go to the North End for dinner, as we had not been yet this year. Our server was a darling young girl named Christie (?) who took very good care of us. We sat on the bar side by the window. We each had a couple of beverages, I got my wine in the little juice glass which I get a kick out of. We did get a basket of bread which is much better than the garlic knots in my opinion, those where too hard to eat. We ordered the North End Calamari, and it was really good, the sauce they put on is tangy with a kick and we just devoured it. We then shared the pear salad, which was nice and light, very crisp and fresh, delicious. For dinner we shared the TNE pasta and it was just delightful. Though I am glad we ordered one to share because there was more than enough food there for the both of us. We also ordered desserts (surprised?) I had the triple chocolate cake with the mascarpone chip filling, and my handsome date had the tiramisu. Let me just say this, Jen is a heck of a good pastry chef, the chocolate cake was wonderful, the tiramisu was ok. Our bill was very reasonable and the service was impeccable. It was a wonderful experience.

This is a bit condescending don't you think? No, I've never visited the North End, but the bickering and sleazy posts from folks that seem to have a connection with the restaurant turn me off. There's plenty of great places to dine at the Lake, no need for me to try the North End.

Stop this
 

SHUT UP. Take this somewhere else. This is a freaking soap opera. Loves Bites is good. North End is good... Don, can we pull this bashing stuff? It's so tiresome.

Wow
 

Ooops, theres that word again......

Is the North End's calamari appetizer the same or very similar to Canoe's? Just wonderin'...

OK so you say you're the pastry chef at TNE:

But a couple weeks ago you posted this in a different thread:

So maybe you and Coach are one in the same, but personally I don't think it matters because you both are dishonest shills. Scott would not be happy to hear this...

Anyways, I like TNE and I'll be back. Maybe next time I'll just pass on desert. :D

Hello everyone,

I agree Donna, lets move along, this forum is not a witch hunt forum, it is a place for people of the lakes region to post happenings around the lakes region. As I see it most people have an alias on the forum, some for a reason, that is why I post as Canoe, I want people to know who I am.
I agree the forum is not a place to advertise your own business and I have encouraged my employees who may post or if they even do, not to promote the restaurant you work in, as some others may have in the past at other establishments.
I would like to clear a few things up. Before I hired my chef the first words out of my mouth were are their going to be any conflicts with Love Bites and you working here, obviously we know the answer because Jen does work for me. I know Darcy and she does an amazing job on all of her work, (by the way thank you for your comments on dining with us last evening), in fact we still refer our wedding customers and catering jobs to her. If I for one moment felt that darcy did not provide a quality product i would not do a referal because it would reflect on me.
Second the only reason i stopped buying dessert was that 2 years ago i hired a pastry chef for my restaurants because of the amount of desserts we did use, again still refering customers to Love Bites for special occasions.

After that being said, this or all of this past posting really has nothing to do with me, lets move along. There is freedom of speech in this country and people are exercising that right, unfortunetly the wrong way sometimes. I cannot ask anyone not to write anything good or bad about happenings in the area, but again I do ask all my employees if they do post, not to post about their own establishment. If anyone has any questions what so ever about any of my restaurants or catering before they say "I will never go there" or 'I wont return' without getting the facts from the horses mouth, aka me, well then I am sorry. Please feel free to email me directly at Scott@magicfoodsnh.com I will be more than happy to answer anyones questions.
Have a great summer and please support all of the local lakes region businesses.

Scott Ouellette
Owner/Chef
Canoe
O Steaks & Seafood
North End Restaurant
Magic Food Productions Catering

Scott is a class act........we should all be pulling together.

Wow
 

You Da man!! You know we'll be back in. As far as desserts, never enough room after the meal.

How about The North End
 

K I dont care to talk about this ridiculous matter any further really, Darcy, Jen made an amazing cake for my daughter's 1st birthday it's what happened when the cake was picked up or ( in your mind what happened ) You really want me to post that?? I was being nice by not posting it because it's pretty bad. I can talk about my friend's employement all I want...who are you ?
Anyway ...KUDOS to The North End, Nothing but good things being said about the restaurant as a whole. GLADLY, moving on from this :)

Are you a heavy drinker ?
 

Luvmypups It was over. Scot did a nice job of wrapping this mess up and smoothing things over. So much so that I plan to visit there with the wife next week. Despite your endorsement. Every time you post one of your child like self serving rants you lose even more credibility. Time to let go.

ok...
 

so if I tell you (and I have connections to this lake)that lake Winnipesaukee has duck itch and milfoil, you won't go swimming there this summer? there's plenty of other great lakes in this region to go to.

Enough
 

As a casual observer, I would tell you that this is all very unseemly. This thread is turning folks off generally. I would suggest that everyone just stop and let this thread age out. It is really not serving anyone right now.

Jetskier:cool:

ok GTO, great argument... You win..

North End
 

I don't know why people have to be so mean and deceitful. Love Bites is a great pastry shop. If you used to work there, don't trash anyone! I know for sure that it's great. I live next to it and it smells so good I've gained 10 pounds from the air coming from the shop!!!:liplick::liplick:

Just quoting from the horse's mouth
 

Regarding the accusation that someone has stolen Love Bites recipes, please read the following statement of which I copied and pasted from this forum. It was created on the lovebitespastryshop thread on Jan. 5, 2008.

"When I took over this business, along with a great deal of other things, I received an entire bookcase filled with cook books, none authored by the previous owner, as well as a large binder filled with photocopies of recipes from various magazines, as well as recipes sent over e-mail by various people. So it would seem that just like myself, the former owners of Love Bites also used recipes that they did not create on their own. While there are some dessert ideas I have formulated myself most are a derivative of recipes someone else had created. A new menu item I just tried a few weeks ago comes to mind, our Peanutbutter cup cake, if you like Pb cups, you’ll love this cake. While I certainly was not the one to come up with the idea that chocolate and peanutbutter compliment each other nicely, it took a customers request, and some current recipes tweaked to work for this particular dessert, and viola I had put together a cake that will undeniably have a permanent place on my menu. I currently have on my clipboard two recipe cards from a customer that belonged to his grandmother. He has asked me to create these two desserts for him and I will do so proudly and hope that I can recreate the flavor this customer grew to love as a young child and into an adult. Dessert ideas can come from many different places, and the recipes for a particular dessert can be found in duplicate almost every where you look. Do you have any idea how many different ways you can make a simple vanilla cake? Google it some time, it’s mind boggling, however you’ll find that they are all just derivatives of the same base recipe. What it all comes down to is this, when I took over this business I also took over the right to lay claim on anything that leaves my kitchen, good, bad, or indifferent."

And then from this thread the quote from lovebitespastryshop, dated July 16, 2009
"Who is currently using recipies photocopied from my books (whatever, no big deal)".

:rolleye2:Enough said, I think you get the point.:rolleye2:

P.S. I have no connection with anyone on this fourm, just a summer visitor reading the threads.

no way
 

Liar! its COACH0834/Jniff101 again. Hang em! Look at the way they spelled cupcake....just like in their other posts.
Ok, just messin with ya

Enough already
 

Will the parties that are feuding here please just stop. You have all had the last word......more than once.

The North End is one of our favorites. I really don't care who makes the desserts. The Canoe sweet and sour calamari is out of this world.