PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — There’s something special about a restaurant that has a very clear point of view. That’s the Puddle Dock, where the menu has dishes associated with early New England and British-American cooking. Think: pies, puddings, chowders, braises, roast meats, and root vegetables. Now, think of them being executed in a contemporary restaurant’s kitchen.
This is the kind of meal I want to have on a cold October or November night, and one I can find with chef Derek Clough at the expo station, finishing off every single dish with a garnish and ensuring the presentation is perfect before it heads to a hungry diner.
Clough’s journey in kitchens started in the 1980s when he was in high school, working at former New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu’s family’s Waterville Valley Resort (on the day Puddle Dock opened, in July 2021, Sununu was there to celebrate). After he graduated in 1991, he spent some time working in country clubs in Florida and then in Deer Isle, Maine, in the summers for chef Rob Evans (who later opened Hugo’s and Duck Fat). In 1999, he did a yearlong stint at Bouchon Bistro, a California restaurant from the legendary chef Thomas Keller.
“It was by far the hardest job I’ve ever had,” said Clough. “But there was no other place, at that time, that as a cook where you were allowed to have this desire to just cook. Like, really cook.”
He later worked for a winery, starting right before harvest season. And then he ran a 400-seat restaurant in downtown Palo Alto, Calif. He later returned to New England, and by the early 2010s, he was cooking in Somerville’s Davis Square, churning renditions of old-school fare like steak and kidney pie and bubble and squeak at Saloon and Foundry on Elm.
The background: Although the restaurant first opened in 2021, the Puddle Dock is steeped in history — and isn’t afraid to tell you about it.
Located at the Strawbery Banke Museum, the restaurant is an homage to this area of Portsmouth known as the puddle dock, which didn’t always have the posh waterfront reputation it does now. In Colonial days, this tidal inlet was bustling with shipbuilders and merchants. But in its decline, throughout the 19th century, the shipping and shipbuilding industries declined, and the tidal basin became a muddy nuisance. It was economically challenged, and a working-class enclave. In the early 20th century, it evolved into a dense community home to Black, Irish, Polish, Russian, and Italian families. It had boarding houses, bars, and prostitution along the water. By the 1960s, it was known to be a slum with junkyards and tenements. After years of investment, it’s now one of the most sought-after coastal cities in New England for tourists.
The restaurant itself is in the Dunaway building, which may look like it’s authentically Colonial: It was constructed to portray a typical New England country store for the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. The wood for the building came from the beams in an old barn in Dover, N.H. And the building was moved to Strawbery Banke in 1967, and was first used as the Dunaway Store.
What to eat: Think of Puddle Dock as an old New England tavern, but with a modern American edge. They aren’t literally recreating 18th-century food, but are taking recognizable and historical dishes and making them feel new again.
A few items on their menu this year they’ve had since it opened, which include the et-tu Caesar with gem hearts, soused anchovy, lace crostini, and an anchovy-Parmesan dressing. The Harvard beets are soaked in honey-cider glaze, topped with micro-greens, walnuts, and fresh goat milk cheese. Their chowder is brimming with seafood: cod, shellfish, bacon, fingerling potatoes, chives, and house-made crackers. If you’re with a party, snag the camp fire mussels, which come pipping hot and sizzling in the cast iron pan they are roasted in, with mustard-garlic butter, lemon wedges, and thick toast.
How many places can you really get baked beans that don’t feel like you’re in your great aunt’s suburban dining room? Here, order the cider-glazed pork belly that goes along with these sides for a much more composed dish, finished with roasted apples and cider molasses. The pan-roasted duck breast this fall comes with a quince, honeynut squash, and Brussels sprouts. And if you’re itching to have seafood, try the Portuguese salted cod with chouriço (Portuguese smoked sausage), parsnip purée, pickled peppers, and navy beans.
Don’t forget desert:
On one August night this past summer, I ordered the “s’more grownup” with my dining partner, and at least two couples at the bar stopped us mid-bite to ask what it was, and then proceeded to order their own. This house-made marshmallow is a show-stopper, topped with hot fudge, torched Italian meringue, and Biscoff crumbs. Pair it with some Italian amaro, served neat. If that doesn’t tickle your fancy to end the night, grab the PB & J cheesecake, which is a goat cheesecake tart with a peanut crust, peanut sauce, and seedless Concord grapes and jam.
Puddle Dock, 66 Marcy St. Portsmouth, N.H., 603-373-8192, thepuddledock.com. Soups and salads $17-$18; appetizers start at $19; seafood $43-$51; meats $32-$73; desserts $13.
Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.