A Conversation with Kristen French: A Story of Food, Community, and Impact
Originally a brunch spot, now also open for dinner service, Gallivant’s menu is ambitious. Take the Blistered Shishitos, for example–fresh grilled peppers, pairing them with a tahini dipping sauce and just a hint of charred citrus. The Breakfast Bao features crispy pork belly, Japanese omelette ribbons, and wasabi pickles, elevated with Sriracha and Japanese mayo. The Tiramisu French Toast soaked in Allen’s Coffee Brandy custard and layered with mascarpone, dusted with cocoa powder. The Local Moco, a Hawaiian classic, a burger with savory mushroom gravy, a sunny-side-up egg, and tempura kimichi atop rice. The Chili Lime Tostones brings chili lime seasoning and a drizzle of salsa Rosada aioli to twice-fried green plantains.
Gallivant is not your typical Dover restaurant. The city’s dining scene leans heavily toward familiar foods, with at least eleven pizza shops, a strong presence of Thai and Asian options, and Mexican as another local favorite. Bars and pubs–particularly Irish and English styles–are common, as is traditional American fare. Dover’s approximately 180 restuarants also include a small but noteworthy representation of Mediterranean, Lebanese, and Indian.
In contrast, Portsmouth just down the road from Dover boasts a more diverse and expanisve culinary ecosystem. With a population of only around 22,000, Portsmouth offers approximately 36,000 restaurant seats, underscoring the town’s reputation as a foodie destination. The city’s eclectic dining scene includes everything from specialty grilled cheese shops to unique international options like Dubar Square Restaurant, a Nepalese eatery. Portsmouth’s vibrant and varied culinary culture sets a high standard.
Innovative concepts like Gallivant would seamlessly fit into Portsmouth and are typically more associated with larger, diverse urban areas such as Boston or Portland, Maine–cities renowned for their vibrant food cultures and demand for global and fusion cuisine.
While Dover has a strong foundation of familiar cuisines, Galivant owner Kristen French envisioned a new community space where residents could explore flavors from around the world without leaving thier hometown.
Yet, Kristen is candid about the challenges. Just as she prepared to launch in late fall of 2022, her first hurdle was an unexpected underground electrical fire, that not only caused explosions and power outages but also caused several manhole covers to pop all along Central Avenue.
While Gallivant fortunately escaped structural damage, Kristen and neighboring restuarant owners faced significant food losses and delays. “We’re kind of just in a holding pattern,” Kristen said at the time in an interview with Fosters, unsure how the damage might impact her renovations. Despite the uncertainty, Kristen worked alongside others on the block to recover, emphasizing the sense of community that continues to fuel her vision for Gallivant.
Today, despite glowing Google reviews and a growing base of repeat customers, Gallivant is still finding its footing as a new business. “We definitely have not generated a profit, and I am definitely not paying myself,” Kristen acknowledges, emphasizing the challenges of balancing ambition with the realities of running a restaurant in its early stages.
Kristen’s lack of a paycheck echoes that of many budding entreprenuers, and has been something we’ve written about before here on the Wicked Moxie blog. Heather Bartle, owner of The Printing Press in Dover for example, went more than two years without taking a paycheck while building her business from the ground up. Like Heather, Kristen sees this phase not as a setback, but as a necessary investment in creating something lasting and meaningful. (Read more about Heather’s journey here.)
Part of that financial reality stems from the cost of the space itself. “It’s a very, very expensive space–it came with a really hefty price tag per square foot,” she says.
She admits too that while Dover’s restaurant culture is growing, the foodie scene has not yet fully matured to support concepts like Gallivant in the way neighboring cities might. “If I were in Portsmouth—I think I’d be in great shape,” she adds, highlighting the contrast between Dover’s emerging dining scene and Portsmouth’s well-established reputation.
Kristen saw opening a restaurant in Dover, with its still-developing foodie culture, as an opportunity to create something meaningful for the community and her family. “I want my daughter to see that we can create something of worth, something that lasts,” she explains, underscoring her commitment to building not just a restaurant but a legacy.
And Kristen chose Dover because she wanted to contribute to its growth, even if that meant taking risks. “I really wanted to reinvest back into the community and create that gathering space,” she says, a vision that’s reflected not only in her menu but in the welcoming atmosphere of the restaurant itself. The décor—a blend of rustic industrial and bohemian influences—captures the idea of connecting people through warmth and authenticity.
Woven pendant lights in organic, bohemian shapes hang from the ceiling. The skylight brings in natural light, balancing the earthy tones with an open, airy feel. Behind the bar, sleek copper surfaces and neatly arranged glassware with hand-painted botanical designs on the bar front. Altogether, the space feels both intimate and worldly, reflecting Gallivant’s focus on creating a global culinary experience.
Kristen observes that “unless we all get the business we need, I don’t think a lot of us are going to last long enough to see the benefits of a vibrant restaurant scene in Dover.”
Recent closures of establishments like The Sassy Biscuit Co., Smuttlabs, and Blue Latitudes underscore the delicate balance required to sustain a restaurant in a town where the foodie culture is still emerging.
The Sassy Biscuit Co., which opened in 2018, brought an innovative brunch concept centred around scratch-made biscuits and black southern cuisine. The dining room featured a prominent monochromatic mural of a slave picking cotton, a piece of artwork that contrasted with the overall modern interior design, blending a sense of artistry and heritage into the space. Ultimately, the Sassy Biscuit closed its doors in 2022, unable to thrive despite its distinctive niche. The closure left many wondering whether innovative concepts could survive in Dover’s growing yet still inconsistent foodie culture.
Similiarly, Smuttlabs, an experimental brewery under the Smuttynose umbrella, ceased operations in the same year. Blue Latitudes, a beloved bar and grill with a 20-year legacy, shut down in 2024 despite its status as a local mainstay. Owner Jeff Roemer cited the difficulty of maintaining the business at the level it deserved and chose to focus on his newer ventures instead.
Dover’s restaurant scene has also faced deeper cultural and societal challenges. The Far Out Diner, for instance, closed in 2020 after a conflict over a Black Lives signage led to a break between its owners and landlord, highlighting the complexities of navigating both economic pressures and the social values as a small business in an interconnected community.
While Dover has seen its share of closures, it has also been a site of reinvention. The space formerly occupied by 2 Home Cooks has found new life as The Brunch Club. The Sassy Biscuit replaced by La Dolce Vita, an Italian dining destination led by Portsmouth restaurateurs Adel and Souhail Semmar, aiming to bring something fresh yet familiar to Dover, blending their Mediterranean expertise with Italian culinary traditions.
Kristen’s decision to focus on globally inspired cuisine stems directly from her extensive travel experiences and the cultural impact those journeys had on her. The concept for Gallivant began forming during the pandemic, a time when travel wasn’t possible, but the memories of her global adventures served as a source of inspiration. “We travel a lot, so while we were all kind of staying in one place… I thought of this idea,” Kristen explains.
Of all her travels, Kristen cites Thailand as her favorite destination, describing how it “stretched me the most culturally.” She elaborates on the ways Thailand pushed her out of her comfort zone: from the vibrant street food culture to the spiritual depth of Buddhist communities. “There is so much beauty in seeing buildings that have been there for a thousand years, people worshipping the way they have for thousands of years,” she says.
One of her most vivid memories from Thailand involved a journey to a remote floating hotel on the River Kwai. “We stayed on these grass huts that had no electricity or running water, just gas lamps and food brought in by long-tail boats. Elephants would come out of the jungle in the evenings.”
Gallivant embodies the essence of Kristen’s distant adventures: a place where people can come together, explore new flavors, and experience a slice of the world without leaving Dover. Just as the elephants emerged from the jungle on the River Kwai, Kristen’s vision for Gallivant emerges from her desire to create something authentic, grounded in experience yet profoundly connected to a broader world.
“It was time to show my daughter that we could create something for ourselves,” Kristen says—a sentiment that reflects not only her culinary ambition but also her determination to make Gallivant a meaningful part of Dover’s evolving food culture.
Galivant is located at 442 Central Ave, Dover, NH.
