Hampton Beach Blink’s Fry Doe: Celebrating 50 sweet years with new owner

HAMPTON — It was the spring of 1974. The Atlanta Braves’ Hank Aaron had just blasted a historic home run, sending shock waves reverberating across the country. And right here on Hampton Beach, Bob “Blinky” Difeo hit his own culinary home run of sorts with the opening of Blink’s Fry Doe.

Featuring nearly the same 20 tantalizing flavors that can still be found today, including the famed sugar and butter, Difeo’s stand on the corner of C Street became an instant hit that inaugural spring 50 years ago.

Half a century later, new Blink’s owner Hyatt Hodges would appear to be the perfect fit to keep the oil bubbling and the powdered sugar flying at both Blink’s locations at the beach for the foreseeable future. After a high-paced career enhancing retail heritage brands with digital strategies, the Hampton Falls native seized the opportunity to lead Blink’s Fry Doe, a brand she considers the epitome of heritage on the Seacoast.

“I think I made the decision I wanted to buy it when I was 15,” said Hodges, who in 1988, at the age of 13, showed up on Difeo’s seaside stand and never left her post till the summer of her junior year in college. “Honestly, people I have met in my corporate life are always like I can’t believe that place you’re always talking about.”

Hodges' older sister, Caroline Tighe, didn’t last quite as long at Blink’s. However, she's been making the hour-plus commute from Dedham each weekend to help her kid sister get both locations up and running this spring.

“Honestly, I’ve never seen her happier,” said Tighe. “This is like her all-time dream. This was her favorite job ever, and she’s had some pretty fancy jobs. This is the one that always stayed with her.”

After shadowing longtime owner Teresa Everett last summer, the two closed on a sale at the end of the season. For Everett, who started working at Blink’s in 1991, it was bittersweet to turn the page. However, she's confident Hodges is the perfect person to entrust this unique gem.

“I am thrilled the future is in the hands of someone who spent their young adult years with Blink’s,” Everett said from Florida. “Hyatt is the perfect fit and brings a lot to the table. She is savvy, passionate, possesses a strong work ethic, is detail-oriented, and does not settle for second best. She is a visionary, and I am really excited to see what’s coming.”

Hampton Beach Country Fest 2024: Parmalee to headline free show

New owner of Blink’s: ‘If it ain’t broke …’

Hodges says she will embrace the tried and true, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mantra when it comes to calling the shots at this 50-year-old heirloom.

“I don’t plan on changing anything,” said Hodges, who noted that Blink’s has added just one flavor in the 35 years since she started — Turtle, which features the tasty trio of chocolate, walnut and caramel.

“The recipe is the same, everything is the same,” said Hodges, a mother of two. “Our dough cutter is even original to the store. The sizes and everything are the same.”

That’s not to say the new owner won’t give this Hampton Beach staple a gentle nudge into the 21st century. New this year, the cashiers at Blink’s will no longer have to rely only on soggy rolled-up wads of dollar bills from their bathing-suit-clad clientele as credit cards and mobile pay will be available for the first time.

“No more wet money,” Hodges added a smile.

To help celebrate its 50th year at the beach, Blink’s will be selling T-shirts and hats for the first time along with your favorite sugary selection and their wide array of shakes this season.

“We’re going to be doing some special events within the community, but Blink’s is Blink’s, and that’s one of the reasons Blink’s is so special to Hampton Beach," she said. "We do the same exact thing every year.”

Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom: Here's the lineup of acts for 2024

Why is it spelled 'Doe' and other burning questions

Hodges says invariably two questions continue to crop up from newcomers who saunter up to Blink’s for the first time: "Why is it 'doe' and not 'dough?' is certainly one. And regardless of the spelling, 'What’s the secret to that tasty batter?' is another. A third might center on Blink’s bold trim color.

According to Hodges, the first question can be traced directly back to one of Difeo’s first hires, an engineering student at UMass who he affectionately dubbed, John Doe, who helped perfect the original dough recipe.

“I think (Bob) also used the name because it looked old-timey and unique,” Hodges added.

As far as the secret to Blink’s delectable dough, Hodges says it’s simply a matter of focusing on one thing and perfecting it.

“We don’t make anything else,” she said. “There is nothing that touches our fryolators or our oil except plain dough,” said Hodges, who also credits the hand-stretching of the dough for its crave-ability. “We are a little OCD about our dough and the oil.”

Hodges also credits Everett for introducing the five-alarm, incandescent, orange trim at both beach locations that serve as a beacon for so many repeat customers from Canada to Florida and everywhere in between each summer.

“Originally, it was more of a brownish orange,” Hodges noted. “At the H Street store, we have the original signs on the porch, and you can see the difference in the colors.”

More: The Brook, Kowloon Restaurant to debut new dining and nightlife spot in Seabrook

The ideal workforce just up the road at Winnacunnet

Hodges has already enlisted several students from her alma mater at Winnacunnet High School (Class of 1992) as she tries to assemble a summer staff of 25 or more. She is hoping to foster an environment similar to the one she fondly recalls as a teenager working on the beach.

“I could walk down the beach when I was working there and tell you about friends who worked at every single storefront,” Hodges reminisced. “I would love to see that come back to the beach because I think it was such an incredible experience and one that gave me such an incredible career.”

Checking in behind the counter at the C Street shop last Sunday, April 7, that plan seemed to be in full swing. Winnacunnet juniors Danny Dumont and Cyrus Baillargeon were both completing their initial shifts under Hodges’ watchful eye. Baillargeon, who lives just up the street in Hampton, took his skateboard to work and seems to have found his niche running the fryolator, while Dumont was busy working all three stations.

“She’s taught me to do everything, so I'm ready to go wherever I’m needed,” said Dumont, who was clearly enjoying his backstage pass to a place he knows very well.

“I would come here a lot growing up, and my favorite was always the cinnamon powder sugar.”

For her part, Hodges may have to pinch herself every time she turns on the lights.

“Opening it up and turning on the electricity for the first time I was like, ‘Wow! The Slush Puppy machine is all mine,’” she recalled with a grin. “And then I drove up (on opening day) and there were actually people waiting outside. I was like, ‘This is why I’m here. This is so great.’”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Hampton Beach Blink’s Fry Doe: Celebrating 50 sweet years