What The Pho: Why Savannah Kitchen transformed into a noodle/tiki bar in Newmarket

NEWMARKET — Owner and chef of Savannah Kitchen Chris Caddy has traded Southern comfort for Vietnamese flavor with his newly rebranded restaurant, What The Pho.

Caddy announced the rebranding of the space at 55 Main Street on Facebook earlier this month. What The Pho features a noodle/tiki bar concept serving appetizers, Bahn Mi sandwiches, Pho and rice bowls, tiki-inspired cocktails and more.

“I was starting to look at Pho, and the more I looked at all the different cuisines – Korean, Japanese, Chinese – all the flavor profiles I really liked were mostly Vietnamese,” he said.

Caddy had already envisioned transforming the restaurant into a noodle bar, with recipes ready to go. But when he noticed a demand for tiki bars on the Seacoast Eats Facebook group, he decided to combine the two ideas.

“I thought it would be a natural fit, a noodle bar and a tiki bar,” he said. “People have been very positive about that concept.”

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What’s on the menu at What The Pho

The interior of the 58-seat restaurant remains mostly the same but with some subtle changes, such as Oriental bowls for the noodles, tiki-shaped mugs for drinks and music with a surfer vibe.

The menu includes five appetizers, like chili and garlic seared shrimp with pineapple and steamed pork dumplings over baby bok choy. Caddy said he tries to meet different diet needs when building a menu. Of the five appetizers, four are gluten-free, and two are vegetarian.

“What I want to do is not have these huge menus with a zillion ingredients,” said Caddy. “I was trying to break it down to really cool, interesting food with tons of flavors but realistic choices.”

The entrees are divided into three categories: Bahn Mi sandwiches (cucumbers, sweet onions, pickled carrots, pickled daikon, jalapenos, and cilantro served on a French baguette), Pho noodle soup bowls (traditional seven-spice Vietnamese Pho made daily), and rice and noodle bowls (vermicelli rice noodles or jasmine rice topped with cucumbers, sweet onions, pickled carrots, pickled daikon, cabbage, Thai basil, cilantro, scallions and sliced jalapenos).

“One of the things that always bothered me with Pho is a weak broth,” said Caddy. “One of the things I’m gonna make sure of is super strong, flavorful broth… made daily from the ground up, slow cooked and reduced for hours to concentrate the broth flavor.”

Each dish offers five different styles of proteins: slow-braised beef, slow-braised pork shoulder, chili and roasted chicken thighs, chili and garlic seared jumbo shrimp, and chili and garlic roasted sweet potatoes.

Caddy had a taste of tiki at Savannah Kitchen, with a corner dedicated to the tropical theme. At What The Pho, he expanded the tiki drink menu, featuring cocktails like Put Da Lime In Da Coconut (a mix of rum, lime, coconut, pineapple and mango) and Mezcal in Maui (a blend of mezcal, pineapple, passion fruit, orange and lemon).

“They’re gonna all be (served in) tiki mugs, bamboo straws, paper umbrellas, the whole deal,” he said.

Other specialty cocktails, according to Caddy, include Midnight in Manhattan (a mix of bourbon, three different amari, cherry bitters, and simple syrup) and Lamborghini (a blend of amaretto, bourbon, muddled orange, lemon, pineapple).

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Why Savannah Kitchen was rebranded into What The Pho

Savannah Kitchen opened in November 2020 with New Orleans, Cajun and Creole dishes. At the time, Caddy said he wanted to bring southern cuisine to Newmarket because “New England didn’t have much” of it.

However, after three years and glowing reviews, Caddy said it wasn’t financially viable to continue.

“There’s a lot of ingredients and a lot of very involved prep, and I just watched my food cost go up and up, my labor cost go up and up,” he said.

The location was another factor that influenced the rebrand, according to Caddy.

“ …I don’t buy cheap ingredients, but we’re also not in downtown Portsmouth so I can’t charge as much as I’d like to,” said Caddy. “We’re off the beaten track – we’re not in Portsmouth, we’re not on (Route) 101, we’re not on (Route) 16. We’re just not getting enough traffic, enough business for a higher-end restaurant.”

With nearly five decades of experience, Caddy said he’s been in the restaurant industry most of his life. A lover of all food and cuisines, Caddy graduated from The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College in 1983 before working in some of the most exclusive kitchens around the country, including under Jean-Marie Lacroix and John-Francois Taquet at the Four Seasons Hotel in Philadelphia.

Caddy said his vision for What The Pho is “all about having a fun place to go hang out and have cool food and cool drinks.”

“I just want a place that people come to because they really like the food, the atmosphere, the drink, and the people, and they keep coming, which is a win-win,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Savannah Kitchen becomes What The Pho, a noodle/tiki bar in Newmarket