MANCHESTER, NH – You love hanging out with your friends, but when your crew includes a vegan, a vegetarian, a carnivore and someone who is gluten-free, it can be a struggle to find places to eat. Great news Manchester: Funktion will be able to accommodate you all.
“We want to be the spot that couples and groups with mixed dietary needs come to because we truly have something on the menu for everyone,” said Tracey Fitts, Executive Chef and General Manager at Funktion.
Located at 931 Elm Street, Funktion plans to open in early September. They are currently waiting for the liquor license to be finalized.
Funktion wants to fill a gap the team sees in downtown dining. According to Fitts, their mission is to offer a place for people to go that doesn’t have the loud sports bar crowd, or the formal, fine dining crowd, either. A place where folks can sip classic cocktails, listen to live music, eat good food and hang out with their friends.
Also — and this may be the biggest boon — the menu will cater to a variety of dietary needs, including vegan. Fitts previously worked as the executive chef at the Concord Food Co-Op and before that at Hampshire Hills. She brings this experience in healthful, dietary diverse cooking to Funktion.
The concept for Funktion started out as a high-end music pub serving great food and drinks downtown and quickly expanded to include lunch and Sunday brunch, said Fitts.
The menu evolved with the restaurant’s concept. Looking to take classic dishes and put a healthful spin on them, Fitts developed a menu she hopes the Queen City falls in love with.
Funktion’s lunch menu is a mix of salads and sandwiches, including the classic Cuban ($9), a sweet potato grilled cheese ($8), and Black & Blue, a flatbread topped with thinly sliced, grilled sirloin, mozzarella and topped with a bacon, bleu cheese and romaine salad ($10).
The dinner menu is an eclectic assortment of mix-and-match small plates that allows you to build your meal or create a tasting menu with friends. Look for garlic baked shrimp with a cauliflower steak ($11), Bleu cheese Hanger steak with roasted potato ($11), buffalo tofu ($8) and Asian chicken meatballs ($10).
Brunch includes a build-your-own Bloody Mary Bar ($8), and dishes ranging from traditional breakfast to lunch. Look for Brioche French toast ($8), and a bacon bowl ($8) and a selection of breakfast sandwiches alongside chopped salad ($10), pulled pork sandwich ($9), and crab cakes served over greens with an over-easy egg ($10).
Funktion is a joint effort between Jay Legendre and Todd Ireland and is the first restaurant for both of them. Fitts explained that the restaurant is a true labor of love. Fitts and the owners, and an extended network of skilled friends, spent three months renovating the space.
“The process, the whole tear down and build, was like nothing I’ve ever done before,” said Fitts, who spent three weeks ripping up the former red tile floor, when they thought it would take one day. “It truly takes a village, and we are very grateful for our village of friends,” she said.
The new space is a cool, urban mix of exposed brick walls, industrial high top tables and exposed wood beams.
“The vision came together better than we ever thought it would. There’s great energy here and we are excited to be part of the downtown food scene,” said Fitts.
Funktion
931 Elm Street, Manchester, NH
603-782-5365
Funktion Spirits and Spoonfuls on the web
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