Local patrons enjoy lunch on opening day at the Square Biscuit, the newest restaurant to open on the Common. It’s home cooking with a southern flair. Photo by Rob Wills, The Northfield News On Depot Square, where Celebrations With Heidi once sold flowers, a new variety of food in the good old southern style of cooking can be found in a restaurant called The Square Biscuit. The restaurant concept was created by Lisa Calcaine, Jeannie Calcaine, Janessa Stallings and Meg Manning.

The Square Biscuit opened its doors on Mother’s Day to a crowd that Jeannie called “phenomenal, we were packed. People loved it.” Their grand opening was May 12.

Jeannie explained, “It was a joint adventure and we decided to bring a little bit of southern food to the north. Lisa is from the north, Janessa and I are from the south.” Jeannie said that Lisa has an extensive background in food and beverage and is mentioned in a few cookbooks and cooked down south for thirty years in some top restaurants. Lisa also helped many people prepare for the opening of restaurants, managed their kitchens and helped with menu planning. “It was time,” Jeannie said, “for her to have her own restaurant. Lisa and Janessa do most of the cooking”

Jeannie stated that she had been looking for a place to rent for some time in this area. “We like Northfield,” she said, “when the Red Kettle went out of business I felt there was a need for it back here. People liked that restaurant. We came up here in 2006 and we got to eat at The Red Kettle and loved it. When they changed, it was like something disappeared from this town, a good home cooked quality meal and good prices. We decided to give it a shot.”

In bringing a taste of southern cooking, Jeannie said, “There is nowhere to get good barbequed, good fried chicken, the type of food that southerners eat, okra, fried green tomatoes, grits, liver and onions, country fried steaks.”

The name The Square Biscuit came after an evening of name guessing. According to Jeannie, “The four of us did, in the middle of the night we just tossed some names around. Actually I have to attribute a lot of it to Meg Manning who actually said, The Suare Biscuit.” She said they felt the name was a nice fit since they make square biscuits and the restaurant is located on Depot Square.

Jeannie said they have received all positive feedback and that people said they haven’t had anything like it up here. “It’s all authentic southern cuisine,” she said, “We have had people lined up at the door. People have been raving about the food, we have been really pleased with the turn out. We also do takeout. We are going to start offering specials, daily. We will also have weekly specials so our food is not limited to our menu, we will be offering other things.”

Jeannie discussed some of their future including deliveries in the Northfield area to the elderly and disabled. She said, “We would like to also get involved with sporting events, sponsorships, things like that. That is why we are here. We want to be more than just a restaurant. We want to support the community and support the people here.”