Thursday night's 'Taste of the Common Man

The Common Man restaurants in New Hampshire are hosting the second annual “Taste of the Common Man” featuring all 14 Common Man locations for an evening of food sampling, wine tasting, live music and more to benefit The Circle Program. The event will be held at The Common Man Inn & Spa in Plymouth on Thursday, April 30 from 6 - 9 p.m. and will include an Iron Chef competition featuring three Common Man chefs, sampling of food from all Common Man family restaurants, wine tasting and the launch of a “Live @ LAGO” CD featuring live performances from local singer/songwriters.

Tickets are $10 each, $5 for Plymouth State University students, faculty and staff with valid university ID. Taste of the Common Man tickets can be purchased at The Common Man Inn & Spa, Italian Farmhouse and Foster’s Boiler Room in Plymouth or The Common Man restaurant, Company Store, corporate office or Common Man Express in Ashland, as well as at the office of The Circle Program in Plymouth. For more information, visit www.thecman.com.

Scott Whitley of The Pat Whitley Show on WRKO-AM 680 in Boston and www.nedine.com will serve as co-emcee of the event with Common Man CEO Jason Lyon. Whitley, Lyon and Barbara Lauterbach, a contributor to “New Hampshire Magazine”, “Cooking Light” and author of four of her own cookbooks, including “Potato Salad - 50 Favorite Recipes” will serve as judges for the Iron Chef competition.

Students from Plymouth State University will be dishing up their own ice cream creations, designed for their Common Man Apprentice spring competition. Attendees can cast votes for the “People’s Choice” award.

The Common Man Company Store in Ashland will showcase unique New Hampshire-made products and Common Man gear carried in the store, and a special preview of The Common Man Inn and Restaurant currently under construction in Claremont will be on display. Representatives from The Common Man Inn & Spa in Plymouth will be on hand to give tours of the Inn and mini-treatments from the Spa. Guests wishing to stay overnight at The Common Man Inn after the event will receive 50 percent off the nightly rate for Thursday night. Reservations can be made by calling the Inn at 603-536-2200.

Common Man restaurants sampling food will include Common Man Ashland representing all five Common Man-themed restaurants in the family, Foster’s Boiler Room in Plymouth, Italian Farmhouse in Plymouth, Common Man Express in Ashland, LAGO, Lakehouse Grille, Camp and Town Docks in Meredith; Tilt’n Diner in Tilton and Airport Diner in Manchester. The Martignetti Companies of New Hampshire will be sampling Common Man wines, Smuttynose Brewing Company will offer tastes of their Common Man Ale brewed for the restaurants and Café Monte Alto of Plymouth will share its special coffee blends which are carried at many Common Man family restaurants.

Attendees can take part in a silent auction featuring packages designed by each Common Man family chef, as well as prizes from local businesses. Packages include a summer lobster bake for 10 people on the rooftop deck at Foster’s at The Common Man Inn & Spa Plymouth, a catered summer barbeque for 12 from Tilt’n Diner and Airport Diner; free Sunday brunch for four people for an entire month at Lakehouse Grille in Meredith, four tickets to LAGO’s Bianco Wine Dinner in August, and more.