MILFORD – The River House Cafe, known for its scenic view of the Souhegan River and bar stools graced by the backsides of presidential candidates, has new owners.

By the end of the month, it will also have a new look, including bright white counters and walls painted the color of egg yolks blended with cream.

“The inside will look like an egg,” said town resident John Goldberg, who with his wife, Kristin DeRosa, purchased the restaurant July 7 from Pam Kennedy and Michael Burke.

The former owners ran the diner for several decades, specializing in typical diner fare and gaining a reputation for hosting politicians whose names are still hand-printed under the bar stools where they sat.

Goldberg and DeRosa plan to continue those traditions, but with a twist: Almost everything they serve will be locally produced.

The burgers, for example, will be made from beef raised on the nearby Trombly Farm. The coffee will come from A&E Roastery in Amherst. And, instead of Coke or Pepsi, the diner will serve only New Hampshire-made sodas produced by Squamscot Old Fashioned Beverages in Newfields.

The menu will include diner standbys like bacon and eggs and pancakes, but it will also offer variations on the traditional, including dishes with funky names like “New Hampshire-style Green Eggs and Ham.”

“This is not your average diner,” Goldberg tells passers-by who linger on his doorstep, curious to know why the seats have been removed from the bar stools and the floor is littered with rags and tools. “Our mantra is serving wholesome comfort food. If we won’t feed it to our kids, you won’t find it on our menu, and those two things are really what we’re all about.”

Goldberg worked in the food service industry for 25 years, starting as pot scrubber in a Newton, Mass., bakery when he was 14. He has held jobs in family-run and corporate chain restaurants, serving as kitchen manager, chef and general manager.

His wife, Kristin, was an elementary school teacher before the couple’s two children, Luca, 6, and Maximus, 3, were born, and she became a stay-at-home mom.

Goldberg said it was the birth of their first child that started the couple thinking about ways food influences health, particularly in young children.

“Kristin is an educator, and the more research she did, the more she learned,” he says. “For me, getting on board was listening to her all the time. When I saw ‘Food Inc.,’ that was the big thing for me.”

During the planning stages, the couple considered serving only organically raised foods, but they quickly realized it would cost too much.

To stay within their budget, they have had to pick and choose, finding local suppliers for food and purchasing construction materials and cleaning products made by companies committed to protecting the environment and human health.

They’ve eliminated processed foods and ordered take-out cartons made from the unused part of sugar cane, which is compostable. They have also purchased paint with a low toxicity (volatile organic compounds) and formica produced by a company that is “certified green.”

“Our thinking about food is that it really comes from the environment, and we’ve been getting more concerned about the environment,” Goldberg says.

When the diner opens for business, Goldberg said, his wife will take center stage while he backs her up and assumes more of the home duties.

But in the weeks leading up to the opening, Goldberg has been working 10 to 12 hours, seven days a week.

“I gutted the kitchen. I hired a chef, Robert Davis of Milford. I have six or seven servers, kitchen prep cooks,” he said.

In the storefront windows that face the street and a grassy park, two banners printed in blue letters announce the reopening of the diner and welcome future guests.

Inside, Goldberg dusts off a formica countertop and attaches a padded seat to a disassembled bar stool.

When the diner opens in several weeks, he said, breakfast and lunch will be served six days a week, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

Later, the restaurateurs plan to open for weekend dinners, including a special Southern Italian family menu on Sundays.

“We’ll focus on locally produced. Nothing processed or pre-made,” Goldberg says. “No cans. Ninety-five percent made from scratch.”

Hattie Bernstein can be reached at 673-3100, ext. 24, or hbernstein@cabinet.com.