Jay McSharry
Setting the Table for the Seacoast
Five years and four restaurants after he opened Portsmouth’s Jumpin’ Jay’s Fish Café, Jay McSharry, 39, is a major player in the hot Seacoast food scene, with restaurants that run from Mexican mod to Asian Fusion, local farm-to-table fare to creative Italian. Throw in a few hopping martini and hip music bars with Dover Soul and The Red Door and there’s not much McSharry hasn’t tried and made a success by building solid partnerships and growing great concepts. He gives back to the community, too. As one of the long time leaders of Seacoast Share Our Strength, he organizes other restaurateurs and chefs to help stop hunger all year long.
New Hampshire Magazine knows where “It” is at. Each November, we identify the state’s most happening people and publish their names and profiles in our annual “It List.”
So what defines an “It” Person?
How about buzz, panache, je ne sais quoi, currency, a person whose time has come, a person of tomorrow, a timeless person, noteworthy, below the radar, in the news, in the know, hot, cool, high impact, slippery, a mover and shaker, a humble saint, a behind-the-scenes operator, a scenery chewer, an unsung hero, a hero who knows how to sing.
It’s a quality that’s hard to define, but you know it when you see it.
Above is one member of the 2006 It List.
