Seacoast Stories
Story · Jun 15, 2026

BREAKING: Portsmouth Chef Julie Cutting-Kelley To Expand Restaurant Empire With Ambitious New Steakhouse Concept, ‘Char’

Here's what we know, as told exclusively to "Seacoast Stories."

PORTSMOUTH (N.H.) Cure Restaurant executive chef and owner Julie Cutting-Kelley has spent more than a decade building one of Portsmouth’s most beloved dining institutions. Now, after 12 years at the helm of Cure, she is preparing for what may be her boldest venture yet.

Later this summer, Cutting-Kelley plans to open Char, an upscale, sustainability-focused modern steakhouse concept in downtown Portsmouth — a sprawling, multi-level restaurant she describes as both a natural extension of her culinary career and a challenge unlike anything she has done before.

“Oh my goodness, so excited,” Cutting-Kelley told host Troy Farkas in an exclusive interview on Seacoast Stories, where she publicly revealed the full details for the first time, one week after posting this teaser video to Char’s new Instagram account.

The story continues on Substack.

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