Photo by Morgan Karanasios
As I walk down Chestnut Street in Manchester, a bright orange awning beckons me toward an otherwise nondescript building holding down the corner of Chestnut and Appleton. If you’re not already in the know, it would be easy to walk right by this neighborhood treasure. That would be a mistake.
Although this spot led many lives during the last century, for the last 40 years it’s been Simply Angela’s (formal name Angela’s Pasta & Cheese Shop), a specialty grocery store that’s really much more.
It’s a store that “makes fresh food all day, every day,” new owner Steven Freeman tells me. As you might guess from the name, much of that fresh food is pasta — ravioli, noodles, pasta sheets, and dishes like their famous lasagna. They also pack in an impressive amount of grocery and kitchen items in a relatively small space, including a nice selection of wine, gift baskets (which they can ship to all 50 states), plus a deli counter with a cheese case, imported meats, fresh local bread, pastries and more.