Tom Boucher turned down a full scholarship to Villanova to wait tables. He never looked back.

In this episode, Carol Erickson sits down with Tom Boucher -- CEO and majority owner of Great NH Restaurants, the family behind T-BONES, Copper Door, and Cactus Jack's. Forty years. Nine restaurants. Over $1.5 million donated back to New Hampshire communities through FEEDNH.org. And on this episode -- a brand new concept he's never talked about publicly.

We get into:

• The Villanova scholarship he turned down to stay in restaurants

• How the Copper Door got its name -- drawn on a cocktail napkin at Shorties in Bedford

• March 13, 2020 -- the day Governor Sununu called and Tom furloughed 600 people

• Losing his business partner Mark Fenske after 40 years together

• FEEDNH.org -- $1.5 million given back to NH nonprofits and counting

• The I-95 Granite Counter bid and the Plump Tomato -- a concept revealed here first

CONNECT WITH TOM & GREAT NH RESTAURANTS

Website: GreatNHRestaurants.com

FEEDNH: feednh.org

Instagram: @tbonesnh | @copperdoornh | @cactusjacksnh

Tom personal: @tombouchernh

SUBSCRIBE & FOLLOW BEYOND THE PLATE

Subscribe on YouTube: youtube.com/@beyondtheplatewithcarol

Follow on Instagram: @beyondtheplatenh

Follow on Facebook: beyondtheplatenh

Find us everywhere: linktr.ee/BeyondtheplateNH

Follow Carol: @carolsew24

New episodes every Tuesday. Like, comment, share -- every one helps us keep bringing you conversations like this. 🔔

--- SPONSORED BY ---

This episode is sponsored by Red Arrow Diner.

4 NH locations: Manchester, Concord, Londonderry, and Nashua -- open 24/7.

redarrowdiner.com | Instagram: @redarrow24diner | Facebook: Red Arrow Diner

--- ABOUT BEYOND THE PLATE WITH CAROL ---

Carol Erickson, owner of Red Arrow Diner since 1987, sits down with the people behind New Hampshire's food and hospitality scene. It's not just about the food -- it's about the journeys, the community, and what drives people to go beyond.

Follow Beyond the Plate -- find us everywhere: linktr.ee/BeyondtheplateNH

Follow Carol: Instagram @carolsew24

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 - Intro

0:41 - "Did you say Boucher?" 😂

1:07 - Great NH Restaurants overview

1:31 - Turned down Villanova for restaurants

2:58 - Server to GM -- how fast it happened

4:05 - Getting bit by the hospitality bug

4:38 - "Everything is figureoutable"

4:58 - Been on Carol's old radio show -- why come back

6:38 - Buying out the founders New Year's Eve 2007

7:32 - Borrowed $3M, economy tanked in 2008

7:54 - The Copper Door concept is born

9:09 - New Hudson T-Bones up 75% year-over-year

9:33 - The formula: big restaurants on highway exits

11:32 - The cocktail napkin that became Copper Door

12:59 - "Pull with passion" and the original napkin

13:33 - Building Copper Door -- the design story

15:56 - Opening T-Bones Concord during COVID

16:04 - March 13, 2020 -- the call from the governor

17:45 - Testifying before the state legislature

19:10 - Building T-Bones Concord with the steel up

20:18 - Ribbon cutting with photoshopped politicians 😂

21:15 - Losing Mark Fenske

22:24 - Buy-sell agreements -- a lesson for small business owners

23:26 - Introducing FEEDNH.org

24:53 - $1.5 million given back to NH nonprofits

25:26 - How FEEDNH vets nonprofits

26:23 - What drives the commitment to give back

27:18 - Carol: proud as a fellow NH business owner

28:35 - Emma Fraser: hostess to running FEEDNH

29:22 - "Made from scratch" -- the people too

30:29 - Chef Nicole: made from scratch

30:53 - Inside the Great NH Restaurants home office

32:42 - How decisions flow across three different brands

33:17 - The three-legged stool (borrowed from Disney)

34:32 - Closing for holidays -- giving managers their lives back

37:23 - "I'm 61... your dad is 85 and ain't going nowhere" 😂

38:38 - The Granite Counter -- the I-95 bid reveal

40:06 - Copper Door Nashua: LOI in the pipeline

40:33 - Reinvesting in mature brands

41:48 - Lightning Round

42:17 - The CBC: $4.95 since 1986 😂

44:28 - Best advice: tell the harsh truth, not harshly

45:17 - At the Red Arrow -- what are you ordering?

45:36 - One word: made from scratch

47:44 - Unreasonable Hospitality book recommendation

48:00 - "The people of NH have trusted T-Bones for 40 years"

48:27 - Outro