Best in the Nest Series August 9, 2021

Waste Not, Want Not at Nosh Restaurant & Café

Chef Teri Skinner founded Nosh inspired by her grandmother, who always used every bit of ingredients. Nothing went to waste, and everything was a creative delight.

This post is part of Swallow Estates Group‘s Best in the Nest Series, which highlights the best local businesses in Springfield, Western Massachusetts, and the Greater Pioneer Valley region.

 

Nosh Restaurant & Café is a foodie haven in downtown Springfield. And they’re all about bringing everyone together—that’s why you’re bound to find something to satisfy your tastebuds, even if you have a dietary restriction. In particular, the menu is very vegan and vegetarian friendly. But if you’ve got your eyes on pulled pork, ham, or chicken, don’t fret—there are plenty of carnivorous options as well.

When Chef & Owner Teri Skinner set out to start a restaurant, she wanted to develop a concept that was centered around bringing a community together.

“When you walk in the door, you’re sharing a meal,” Skinner says. “Whether you’re eating by yourself, or you’re sharing a meal with someone else, it should feel like someone made that meal especially for you.”

She also pulled inspiration from her grandmother, who always used everything in reach to create a meal. “Nothing went to waste,” Skinner recalls. “At Nosh, you’ll see we have a lot of overlap in the menu, using products across menu items, so that nothing is getting wasted.”

So, on Black Friday in 2016, she finally opened Nosh Restaurant & Café, in its downtown spot in The Shops on Main Street, a growing retail district right in the heart of Springfield. 

Skinner didn’t just launch the shop without a proof of concept, though. The grand opening was preceded by multiple test runs, starting in summer 2016 at the Farmer’s Market, where she sold bread and cookies to start, then moved on to salads and sandwiches based on clientele feedback that they wanted more lunch options downtown. From there, she moved to a “small closet in The Shops,” as she describes it, but quickly outgrew the space and traded up to the spot the restaurant now occupies.

 

Nosh Springfield Massachusetts

Nosh offers a range of delicious desserts, sammies, paninis, and salads, and hosts a range of events including music acts. (Photos courtesy Nosh)

 

“From the start, I had delusions of grandeur, and my menu reflected it,” says Skinner. We would disagree… we would say visions of grandeur is more accurate, since her execution has proven fruitful!

The menu features a range of sammies, paninis, burgers, salads, and desserts. Nosh also makes homemade breads and cookies. The team excels at combining unexpected ingredients.  REALTOR® Erica Swallow is a fan of the Mango Tango, for example—it is a hot panini that features fresh mango, mozzarella, spinach, fig jam and spinach pesto.

Skinner has spent her entire career in the food industry. She started her catering company, TLS Foods, in 2007 and continues to run that alongside Nosh. In fact, Nosh business clients benefit from Skinner’s catering experience greatly, as she has a great budget-based catering option.

“If you can give me a budget, I can work with it,” she says. “Tell me how many people you’re feeding, and I’ll propose a menu that’s creative and meets your budget.”

Skinner’s waste-not-want-not model makes that catering option possible. She says she considers existing inventory when proposing a budget-based catering menu.

“When we use extra product in-house, it works for everyone,” she says. “It propels our catering business and helps our clients save money.”

 

Teri’s Local Recommendations

Nosh Team Springfield MA

Nosh Chef & Owner Teri Skinner (third from right), poses with early teammates. (Photo courtesy Nosh)


Skinner has lived just outside of Springfield her entire life and has fond memories of her childhood visiting downtown. 

“My mom would bring us to downtown Springfield as a kid,” she says. “We would go to Forest Park, or Johnson’s Bookstore, which used to be on that same block that I’m now on with Nosh. So, I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Springfield.”

She currently lives in Monson, but always finds time to continue exploring the city through its arts and entertainment. Some of her favorite finds include:

 

  • Fresh Paint Springfield is a community mural initiative that has transformed multiple blank-canvas downtown spaces into works of art. The Seuss mural under State Street & the Highway 91 underpass, for example, was produced by artist John Simposon in 2019. This year, more than 1,000 community members and artists designed and painted the 2021 installations using digital collaboration and paint-by-numbers. Skinner recommends taking a mural tour, whether booked or self-guided.
  • Springfield Jazz & Roots Festival takes place in August and brings together 10,000 jazz lovers and a line-up of artists from all around. This year, it takes place on August 14th from 1-10pm, so get your tickets now!
  • Springfield Thunderbirds Hockey at the MassMutual Center is an exhilarating way to spend an evening. The season runs from October to April. Nosh has partnered with the team for pre-game pump-ups, with face painting, games, and the Thunderbird mascot all available on the walkway outside of the restaurant.
  • Springfield Museums—one stop, five museums—is a crowd pleaser for the whole family. Whether you like art, history, science, or want to dig deep into the life of local children’s book legend Dr. Seuss, you’ll find what you’re looking for at the museum complex.

 

Definitely stop by Nosh when you’re downtown. We love all of the vegetarian and vegan options and can’t get enough of the fruit and jam-forward sammies and paninis! Give the Mango Tango panini a try, grab a White Lion beer on tap, and finish your meal off with a chocolate chip cookie!

 

Find Nosh online and on Facebook, Instagram, Yelp, and Google.