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Kearsarge Magazine • Summer 2015 • kearsargemagazine.com72

2015 Dining Guide

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Tuohy IngenuityThe Salt hill Shanty Pub goes full circle by the rotary in Newbury, N.H.by Laura Halkenhauserphotography by Tom McNeill

rish eyes are always smiling at the Salt hill Pub. Especially now, at the base of Mount Sunapee in Newbury, N.H., just off the rotary, where the newest location was established in 2014. And this is where this story began in October 1969. Home away from home

Forty five years ago, Tom and Judy Tuohy moved their six young kids from Boston, Mass., to Sunapee, N.H. “In a nutshell, this was a better life for their family and they fell in

love with the area and the people,” says Joe Tuohy, the third oldest of the six Tuohy kids. “Mom liked the proximity to Boston as well!”

Tom had a background as a part owner of a tavern in the Boston area, so they blended what they knew with their Irish heritage and sought out a location to open their business. What other opportune place to open an eatery but at the seasonal crossroads of Mount Sunapee in Newbury. The structure was actually “a building

moved from Sunapee State Park, as we understand it,” says Matt Tuohy. Tom and Judy started a family-style Irish pub called The Shanty Chalet.

The Shanty was open seven days a week, so family and business were not mutually exclusive. The children — Lynne, the one and only daughter, P.J., Joe, Matt, Dan and Josh — were their parent’s spare hands. Their afterschool education was taught from the ground up, literally: the kids swept floors and bussed tables.

Newport and Newbury

Matt, Joe and Josh Tuohy pose in front of the Shanty, a location full of family history.

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Joe Tuohy pours a perfect pint.

The kitchen was mostly Judy’s domain, and Tom ran a pub in the lower level of the building. It didn’t hurt that they had a wonderful sense of humor and were incredibly ap-proachable, which made The Shanty more desirable as a central meeting place. From all accounts, this was the Kearsarge area’s “go-to” place for food and fun.

In 1987, Tom suffered a mas-sive heart attack and died in the bar where he spent so much of his time. He was 61 years old. Judy and her sons ran the restaurant for another six years after that. The Shanty’s last stand was in 1993. In 1995, Judy joined her husband.Second nature, second generation

Post Shanty, the Tuohy siblings worked at other establishments with-in the local community and beyond. “After a number of coast-to-coast discussions, a business plan was born for our first operation in Lebanon, N.H.,” says Matt. This new project was spearheaded by Joe and Josh in 2003. (P.J. is the only sibling not on the East Coast; Lynne and Dan pursued writing, but help in many ways; Matt is now part owner of the Newbury venture.)

Salt hill Pub is named for a neigh-borhood in Galway, Ireland, “the home of our grandparents,” according to the Salt hill Pub website. “Today, much of what we know about good food and good people comes from “Ma Tuohy.” Yes, it’s all about family for this clan. But note that the “hill” in Salt hill is not capitalized. Why, you ask? Because there was an old sign that they saw where the “h” was not capitalized, so Joe and Josh, the official owners, went with it.

Now 12 years old, the Lebanon location, just off the green, is a welcoming corner spot. An American flag and Irish flag wave outside the doorway to signify their Irish-American fare and flare. In the warm-er seasons, they put tables outside

on the plaza where they are located. Throughout the year the pub features different musical talent, attracting all age groups. As with pubs in Ireland, the atmosphere is family friendly.

With the success of Salt hill Lebanon, Joe and Josh opened a second location in Newport in the historic Eagle Block Building in 2007. This location, now eight years old, has a downstairs dining room and a wide staircase to the second floor bar. The third location, with a similar feel to Lebanon, was established in Hanover in 2010.

The opportunity to locate to a

fourth location, on the site of their parent’s restaurant, has been pull-ing at them for several years. The old Shanty building was torn down in 1999 and a new building was established soon thereafter. Over the years, several restaurants have come and gone. Last year, the building was purchased by Joe, Josh and Matt. Tom Behrens, owner of the Mountain Edge Resort, posted a sign outside the vacant restaurant — “The Boys Are Back in Town” — to tease passersby. New residents scratched their heads at the meaning, but longtime locals cheered, “Up Galway!”

2015 Dining Guide


2015 Dining Guide

potatoes), Irish Country Pie, and their signature Fish and Chips — hand cut, by the way.

Typical American favorites are also offered: New York sirloin steak grilled to perfection, salmon with a maple glaze, St. George’s Scallops made with a batter of Smithwick Ale, and the popular baked haddock with crumbled Ritz crackers on top.

Always taking into account the family friendly element, Josh was concerned about the kid’s menu. He presented it to a Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth nutritionist for review, and now it ensures that the menu is nutritionally sound as well as appeal-ing to kids. (See sidebar.)

There is live entertainment on the weekends. Sometimes it’s a band, sometimes a solo artist, sometimes it’s a televised championship game.

Tuohy (Judy) had a signature dish of deep-fried green peppers; the shape looked like a four-leaf clover.

The pub menus offer a nice cross-section of Irish and American dishes. If it’s Irish fare you crave, there are many homespun choices, some infused with Ireland’s fa-mous Guinness Stout. Then there’s Bangers and Mash (short for mashed

Honest food, perfect pintsEverything is homemade. Most

ingredients are sourced from New England vendors. When reading the menu you get a sense of the Tuohys sitting around defining the food and giving it names. For instance, the description for Stevie’s Pot Roast is “now you’re talking comfort — swimming in gravy atop homemade mashers and seasonal vegetables” or Soup of the Day (“Ask your server what’s in the kettle”), and Judy’s Hand Battered Rings (choose onion, green pepper or both) served with pub sauce. Ma

Joe and Matt Tuohy point themselves out in a family photo from earlier days.

Fish & Chips: Beer-battered haddock fillets and hand-cut fries

Ollie’s Classic Rueben features grilled corned beef, sauerkraut and Swiss on marble rye.


2015 Dining Guide

When I was a kid — oh, say, 36 years ago — going out to eat was a treat. We didn’t dine at restaurants very often. Today, as a mother of two, things are a bit different. I bring my kids to a restaurant two or three times a week. Convenient for me (no shopping, no planning, no dishes), but perhaps not so healthy for them.

“Much of the research and analysis we read and conducted confirmed that kid’s menus have at least two to three times the recom-mended daily amount of sodium (just in one meal). In addition, kid’s menus tend to have a much higher percentage of calories and fat compared to meals served at home,” says Kristen Coats, Upper Valley Health Eating Active Living Partnership (UV HEAL) coordi-nator. UV HEAL, housed at the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth (CHaD), is a community partner-ship that aims to build an Upper Valley community where the healthiest choice becomes the easi-est choice for children and adults.

My family is not the only one eating out; families tend to spend almost 50 percent of their food budget eating away from home. Fortunately, there are local res-taurants like Salt hill Pub — with four locations in New Hampshire — making a difference with their children’s menu.

“We look for quality and fun. We know not all of the choices are going to be healthy, but hey, we’re going out, and it’s an occasion — for our 5-year old, too,” says Josh Tuohy, co-owner of Salt hill Pub.

Salt hill’s children’s menu already leaned toward healthy options, but several informal conversations with Coats got Tuohy thinking about mak-ing the items a little lighter or with less sodium.

He invited Coats and Melanie Loschiavo — mother of three, regis-tered dietitian, owner of Upper Valley Nutrition Services in Newbury, Vt., and consultant with UV HEAL — to analyze the menu, ingredients, prepa-ration, and suggest some options. The result: the Easy Choices Kids Menu with an apple rating system rolled out in spring 2015.

The system is simple: the more apples a menu item has, the better it is for your child. If your daughter chooses “Owen’s fresh veggies with hummus” — which is rated three apples — you know that the selection meets five of the six criteria for that rating: two or more servings of veg-gies, no trans fat, 550 calories or less, less than 600 mg sodium, less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat, and at least 1 ounce whole grain or ½ cup beans.

eat Smart when eating outSalt hill Pub teams up with CHaD to create healthy menu options for kids, and a cool steering mechanism toward those options.

by Laura Jean Whitcomb

“There weren’t a lot of ‘new’ kids menu items added. Rather, we added valuable nutritional analysis, changed the wording, and highlighted some healthy sides to offer people better choices for their children,” says Tuohy. “We don’t bludgeon people with charts and graphs; there is more statisti-cal info that we offer to parents on request. I just tell people that my brothers and I all have young kids — and while hand-cut pub fries are awesome, sometimes it’s great to choose apple slices or carrots!”

“UV HEAL is pleased to see Salt hill provide a selection of kid’s entrees that meet the Easy Choices criteria (foods that sup-port good health: fruit, veggies, whole grains, and legumes) and supports the Dietary Guidelines from Americans,” says Coats. “Because most families eat outside of the home three times a week, the resulting menu is a step to-ward making the healthier choice the easier choice for children and parents.” KM KMKM


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Sunday night is Trivia night — all levels of players eat, imbibe and cheer together. There’s always an excuse to get out and meet up with friends or hang out with your local Tuohy.Giving back

As prolific an entity as Salt hill has become, they do their share to give back to the community. Salt hill can be seen as a supporter to a num-ber of local events: the Skip Mathews Run in Lebanon, Operation Warm, David’s House, and the annual Rollins Ride, to name a few.

Upon the death of Tom, Judy established a Tom Tuohy Scholarship to benefit a post-high school graduate from Sunapee or Newport pursuing a post high school education. Upon Judy’s death, the kids added her name to the scholarship. In the past it was run by the family, but in 2014 the scholarship became a nonprofit with a volunteer board “to ensure its ob-jectivity and promote its fiscal health and growth.”

Judy and Tom’s legacy lives on through their six kids. There is another generation on the horizon. When asked if their kids will work at the restaurants, there was a resound-ing “Maybe!” And as Joe and Josh go between four restaurants, you can bet their kids are in tow.

There is one thing to be sure — the future is based on a tried and true family recipe to offer “value meals in a friendly, casual atmosphere with family dedication to food and hospi-tality and a strong work ethic.” If you know this family, you know when they say, “Welcome to Salt hill”, they mean it! KM KMKM

Tom McNeill’s natural curiosity and upbeat personality makes photog-raphy a perfect way to express his unique view of the world through a lens. His work can be seen online at tommcneillphotography.com

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