Paula Sullivan

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The Green Monkey

86 Pleasant Street Portsmouth, NH 03801 603.427.1010/fax: 603.427.1011 Hours Monday through Saturday 5 p.m. to close info@thegreenmonkey.net New American cuisine with an international flare. Full bar, wine list, signature martinis, and specialty beers. Recipes from The Green Monkey: Macadamia Encrusted Mahi with Papaya Buerre Blanc and Vanilla Bean Risotto      Moroccan Spiced Mussels

There is much to admire in the home of Phelps Dieck and Deb Weeks, owners of The Green Monkey, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, but for the time being the center of attention in their cozy kitchen is the simple silver pot that is sizzling on the stove. Wafting from the kettle is the aroma of marguez sausage, a garlicky, chili-infused Moroccan lamb and pork sausage that Phelps is browning in olive oil as the base for a Basque Shellfish Stew.

As Phelps cooks, she and Deb chat about their 19th century Colonial revival home, a duplex located in the heart of Portsmouth’s historic Strawbery Banke neighborhood, and about their busy lives as owners of a wildly successful restaurant. The women opened The Green Monkey, a 40-seat bistro style restaurant, in 2003, and it has been a hit from the very beginning. The eatery accommodates up to 120 guests nightly, particularly on weekends, and still packs in a standing-room-only bar crowd, even on normally sleepy weeknights. The decor is warm, casual and fun, contrasting deep shades of burgundy and olive green with such whimsical touches as a giant surfboard that hangs on the wall of the dining room, custom made for Deb and Phelps by a former employee.

Phelps’ journey to becoming a chef began in her hometown of Greeley, Colorado, where her German born father and Canadian mother encouraged Phelps and her siblings to have an open mind about food and ingredients. “My parents had adventurous palates and always wanted to try new tastes, and they encouraged me to try new foods,” says Phelps.

In particular Phelps remembers the yearly trips her family would take across the Atlantic to visit her German grandmother, and some of the seemingly strange dishes they would encounter there, like homemade pickled herring wrapped around little onions and dipped in aspic. Also, says Phelps, “My grandmother made her own head cheese, and I thought it was really horrific, the name, everything about it. It’s all the parts of the animal you wouldn’t want to eat.” But Phelps bravely tasted the pate-like mixture, found that it actually tasted pretty good, and says that to this day there is really no food she doesn’t like or won’t at least try.

Before committing fully to a career as a chef, Phelps briefly contemplated law school, partly at the urging of her parents who wanted her to pursue a career in international law, but her love of cooking and the dream of one day owning her own restaurant eventually eclipsed her desire to study law. She enrolled at the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, Vermont, where she fortified her natural culinary talents with a sturdy foundation of classical French training.

From there she landed a job in Newport, Rhode Island as the personal chef to Esmond Harmsworth, owner of the London Daily Mail. The job was demanding, requiring that Phelps be on call 24 hours a day for 5 days at a stretch, but there were perks, says Phelps, particularly for her dog Angel, whom Harmsworth doted on. “He’d come home in a $3,000 suit and roll around on the floor with my dog,” she says of the eccentric millionaire. Angel was even invited to have tea with the Ambassador to Bermuda, and while Phelps loved seeing her dog pampered, the grueling schedule eventually took its toll and she moved on, taking a job at the Cliff House Resort and Spa in Ogunquit, Maine.

Shortly after that she met Deb, a dental technician and lifelong Portsmouth resident who would become her partner in life and in business. From the beginning of the relationship Deb was enthusiastic to join Phelps in her dream to open a restaurant, though at first Deb might not have seemed like the ideal business partner for a serious chef and would-be restaurateur.

Unlike Phelps, Deb grew up in a meat-and-potatoes household and had a decidedly unadventurous palate. Deb cringes as Phelps describes the first meal Deb ever prepared for her. “She took an unheated iron frying pan, put a cold pork chop in it, poured barbeque sauce from a jar over it, and put it in the oven.” It was clear that if they were going to forge ahead with opening a restaurant, Deb’s role would be in the dining room. As it turned out, the role suited her perfectly.

While a large portion of the success of The Green Monkey can be attributed to the delicious food Phelps turns out—American cuisine with international and Asian influences—Deb’s constant presence in the front of the house, greeting every customer with a smile and often by name and with a big hug, has also helped to secure their place as a beloved neighborhood restaurant.

As the stories continue, Phelps tosses gigantic whole shrimp, sea scallops, and mussels into the kettle with the sausage, gives the pot a quick stir and, keeping the heat high, douses the concoction with a generous glug of Pernod liqueur. “I love to cook with this stuff,” says Phelps as the scent of anise permeates the room. Next she ladles in a long-simmered broth of caramelized fennel, tomato, saffron, garlic, coriander and white wine, and covers the pot, allowing the shellfish to steam. She lists fennel in just about any form as one of her favorite ingredients to work with, and says she has found herself experimenting lately with North African, Moroccan and Spanish influences.

The conversation turns to the house, which Phelps and Deb purchased in April of 2006 after years of commuting between Portsmouth and South Berwick, Maine. The women didn’t want to give up their South Berwick home, but they wanted to find a small place close to the restaurant so that they could walk to work.

The 1857 house had been on the market for over a year when they found it and Phelps says she recognized immediately that it had potential. A cozy 6 by 10 foot dining alcove previously housed the entire kitchen, but it didn’t take Phelps long to formulate her vision for the roomier and more well equipped cooking space, and since the women were lucky enough to be purchasing the house from cabinet maker and builder Mike Myers—co-owner of Jewitt Farms & Co., and Turner Associates builders—renovations began right away. Three and a half months later Phelps stood in her new kitchen, enjoying her new appliances including a 4-burner gas range, and a gleaming stainless steel Jenn Air refrigerator, as she prepared their first meal in the new home—a roast chicken with carrots, parsnips and onions.

Countertops in the new space are constructed of Santa Rita Brazilian Soapstone, which Phelps treats regularly with a buffing of mineral oil to bring out the deep black and jade hues and natural marble-like grain of the stone. “This is one of the most sanitary materials you can work on,” says Phelps, “even more so than granite or marble because it’s less porous.” She adds that the less-porous surface, and the fact that it stays cool, makes it an ideal counter on which to work with pie dough and other pastries.

But if you ask them what their favorite kitchen appliance is, both women light up and point to their built-in coffee and espresso maker, complete with milk frother for cappuccinos and lattes. You just toss in whole beans, says Deb, press a button, and seconds later you’re holding a steaming cup of your favorite caffeinated beverage.

Phelps checks on the pot and determines the stew is almost ready. To finish, she swirls in several generous dollops of whole butter and a handful of chopped cilantro, adjusts the seasoning, and ladles out bowls full of the savory stew as Deb pours wine. The meal they have created in their home is not unlike the experience they create every night at the restaurant: great food, an inviting atmosphere, and hosts that truly know how to make their guests feel welcome.

Paula Sullivan is freelance writer and chef. Her work has appeared in Kitchen & Cook (a publication of The Culinary Institute of America), and in The Wire, and The Portsmouth Herald. She is a graduate of Johnson and Wales College Culinary Arts program. She trained at Jasper’s in Boston and served as sous chef at Lindbergh’s Crossing and has worked in many other local establishments, including Cafe Brioche and One Fish Two Fish. She lives in Kittery, Maine.

A resident of New Hampshire for more than 25 years, long-time photographer Paul Avis has shot for many companies on locations worldwide. His recent passion has been renovating his 1927 condominium in Portsmouth with partner Jane Almeida. See more of Paul's work at www.avisstudio.com.