Three new restaurants prepare to open in North Andover

Oct. 19—If life is like a box of chocolates, then The Candy Dish must be heaven.

Not only do they serve chocolate lobsters, peanut butter cups, and pumpkin spice caramels at this new shop in North Andover, but they pair these treats with full-bodied wines, taking indulgence to the next level.

"If you come in and sit at the bar and you want to watch what Shauna is dipping that day, I can give you a pairing of a red wine," said co-owner Melissa DiMinico.

Co-owner Shauna Semenza dips caramel and other delicious things into dark or milk chocolate that flows from two tempering machines on a counter behind the bar.

"Tempering is a process of bringing the chocolate to the right temperature so you can work with it," she said. "The chocolate has to be melted in a very specific way so that it sets up properly, and you get that nice shine and that nice snap."

The Candy Dish opened last week at 1820 Turnpike St., after operating for six years as a home-based wholesaler, then opening last November in a retail location at MarketStreet in Lynnfield.

"It was only supposed to be a November-December pop-up, and then they asked us to stay," DiMinico said.

But they chose to move to North Andover after closing up at MarketStreet in June, and they weren't alone. Two other restaurants applied this summer for licenses to operate in North Andover, at 550 Turnpike St. and in North Andover Mall at 350 Winthrop Ave., in a strong sign of renewed life for local business.

"I would say it's more than signs of life," said Chris Nobile, of the North Andover Select Board. "It's the continued blooming of the efforts that have helped our businesses survive over the past three years, and things we've done to try to fortify that."

These included "shop local" days, during the gas crisis in 2018 and later during the early stages of the pandemic, when state funds were used to help pay for purchases made at local businesses.

"They helped a number of businesses stay above water, and I think it sent a great message to these entrepreneurs that this is a welcoming community to these sorts of businesses," Nobile said.

He likes the fact that the three new restaurants are run by creative local and regional business people, rather than national corporations whose decisions are driven by the bottom line. Nobile is also impressed that the new restaurants are opening in different parts of town.

"I think that also says something about how geographically wide and diverse we are," he said. "It's not all just downtown or Old Center."

Thordori Londi, of Londi's Famous Roast Beef and Pizza, told the select board in August that there was a waiting list for new kitchen equipment, and he expected to open at the North Andover Mall in December.

But The Friendly Toast, an all-day breakfast restaurant with a bar, will be opening soon in the previous location of a Fuddruckers on Route 114.

"We are starting training this week coming up, and it's usually about a two week process," said Scott Pulver, co-owner of the chain. That would set their opening date at around November 1, he added.

There were two Friendly Toasts when Pulver and his business partner bought them in 2013, and there will be seven locations in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, when North Andover's restaurant opens.

"We just try to provide yummy, delicious food," Pulver said.

For DiMinico and Semenza, the move to North Andover was made easier by the fact that they would be occupying a former a liquor store that was already zoned for a liquor license, which was hard to get in Lynnfield.

They got enthusiastic responses when they started doing wine pairings at tasting events, and wanted to make these a feature of their business.

"We said that would be a dream one day, and then when this was a liquor store, we lucked out," DiMinico said.

In addition to selling around 20 types of wine, which they uncork at times when Semenza is dipping candies, they also have a spirits case with several brands of bourbon, to complement a bourbon caramel that they offer.

Semenza, who graduated from Cambridge School of Culinary Arts in 2008 and worked at another candy shop for seven years, has also created a wine-flavored chocolate.

"We do a merlot caramel now," she said. "It's a candy with wine. It took a lot of testing, because wine makes caramel act a little bit differently, so it was a few stages. But there's red wine in it. There's a red wine reduction, then we do a merlot sea salt on top."

Along with a liquor license, the previous owner of The Candy Dish's space had plans to serve food, and installed a new kitchen where Semenza and an assistant can cook the candy.

"We love caramel, so we knew that whatever we were going to do had to have caramel, and it was Melissa who came up with the idea for the lobster," Semenza said. "She said we really need to dome something Boston and local."

The chocolate lobsters are their version of a cashew turtle, which Semenza said is a type of candy that also has New England roots, specifically in Rhode Island.

"We love how the cashews look like little claws," Semenza said. "But it's the same ingredients, caramel, chocolate and nuts."

They sell locally made gifts at The Candy Dish, and have also hired an event planner to organize special events, such as the class on making Thanksgiving centerpieces that is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 21.

DiMinico said her favorite is a candy bar that starts with a pretzel, which is then dipped in caramel, rolled in peanuts and dipped in peanut butter, then covered with chocolate.

"I've polished off a few of those," she said.