The Ricochet
The R on the building could stand for REALLY great cocktails or for the revolving conveyor oven pumping out pizza perfection.
“We have a very interesting stone conveyor oven.”
It could represent the ROBUST flavors from farm fresh ingredients or Ross on the televisions.
“We do put sports on once in a while. But it's mostly Bob Ross.”
But if you’re in the know, you know it means all of that and more at The Ricochet.
Located at the end of a strip mall in Derry, New Hampshire, in a spot marked only with an R, The Ricochet is the dream turned reality of Joey and Lauren McCarren; two native New Englanders who spent some time in California before wildfires sent the couple “ricocheting” back to the east coast.
“I grew up in town. But we lived out on the west coast for a while. We lost our home out there and the wildfires, so we ricocheted back to the East Coast. And that's kind of where this all was born.”
And in coming back East, the couple noticed a lack of farm fresh comfort foods that make you feel good. So they started their own farm and apiary to supply some of the dishes they serve.
“Like us at the Ricochet every one of our offerings is the sum of the parts. So we developed this farm to not only source our restaurants, but also remind people that good food local year round as possible.”
And they created a space reflective of their warm, welcoming personalities.
“It's a vibe. We created this little living room situation so people could just feel comfortable. Bob Ross is usually on the televisions. We don't really play the games and stuff. And funnily enough when the games are playing, people will come in and they're like, Hey, can you put Bob back on?”
The appetizer section of the menu has all of the favorites you know and love…like their house made onion rings, served only in house so they’re perfect every time.
“They are made to order. The batter we use, it's super crispy, almost like a tempura. So when you bite it, it kind of gently crumbles in your mouth, but a lot of flavor.”
“Our wings are very similar to our onion rings in that they’re fresh made to order.
“People love every aspect of the crunch, the texture and the juiciness you can't beat them.”
And like the wings, the chicken tenders will truly wow you with their big size and even bigger flavor.
“Definitely not your average chicken tender. They're kind of pounded out to almost resemble cutlets. And one or two of them can last some somebody a couple of days.”
There’s the grande bread made on their house pizza dough and covered with rosemary garlic butter and mozzarella with marinara to dip…
And their piping hot housemade mozzarella sticks.
“The mozzarella sticks are a fan favorites. You first get that crunch and that saltiness from the batter and then the second you pull it away that stringy, gooey sweetness of the fresh mozzarella cheese inside. It's so good.”
When it comes to sandwiches, The Ricochet is all about the bread.
“The bread definitely makes the sandwich. So we wanted to source like the best possible bread we could if we can't make that in house. We went to the next best thing which was Tripoli.”
You can get that soft, squishy bread with their chicken parm, smothered in house marinara with provolone cheese….
Their outstanding burger- made with a wagyu blend and smothered with cheese and as part of their signature handheld, The Sando- a crispy chicken sandwich topped with lettuce, provolone, chipotle aioli and hot honey from Jo’s farm.
“It's got a little bit of heat to it using hot honey..from my bees at the farm. It's got this corn flaky kind of texture as on a fresh Tripoli ciabatta roll with our own chipotle aioli, topped with lettuce from my farm…melted Provolone on top three crunchy onion rings. Big bites all around.”
The pizzas at Ricochet are unique, made with hand stretched dough, topped with fresh ingredients, and then slid into this conveyer style oven.
“We make our dough ourselves...It's an 18 hour ferment and the way that it goes through our oven has taken months of time and effort and tweaking to get it right."
These’s The Rico- topped with shredded mozzarella, sliced house meatballs and dollops of fresh ricotta. And the colorful and tasty Veggie Pizza.
“All the colors from the different vegetables and all the different textures are what really set that pizza apart. There's a lot of different flavors going on and they combine to just make one killer pizza.”
But every table should order the Lenny Pep.
“The Lenny Pep is our star, everybody gets the Lenny Pep. The cups kind of crisp up. There's a piece of pepperoni on every bite and it's cooked to perfection.”
“We have a few variations of off the menu ordering that somebody can order the Lenny Pep Rick's way, where we melt Provolone over the top hot honey from my bees, and then a little chili pepper flakes and it's just become this unbelievable unspoken menu item.”
And whether you’re looking for comfort food or the chill mood, you’ll know that R marks the spot at Ricochet.
