ridaily - April 2009
2009-04-30Derby DressReading Lisa’s mint julep post yesterday got me thinking about my own desire to make it to Churchill Downs for the Run for the Roses just once in my lifetime. It’s definitely at the top of my bucket list. I really can’t think of a better way to spend a May day than attending one of the most revered sporting events in history, dressed in a fabulous dress and hat, surrounded by equally fabulously dressed people, all while sipping mint juleps, and maybe even winning a few bucks while I’m at it. Sadly, this won’t be my year. But I have been trolling Caroline Smith’s fashion blog on the official Derby website, just to get an idea of what other people might be wearing. It’s got some great tips, which I’ve culled together below (along with my own... |
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2009-04-29Drink Like You’re at Churchill DownsAt the Kentucky Derby (held this Saturday), horses and bourbon go together like love and marriage. The official drink of the race — the beloved mint julep — has been sating race watchers for the better part of a century. And for a genteel set, they know how to throw ‘em back — the Derby website boasts they go through more than 10,000 bottles of bourbon. Sox fans would be proud. Besides, at what other sporting event does your drink outlast the competition? If you can’t make it to Louisville, host your own party. Here’s a recipe for a mint julep by longtime Capital Grille bartender Bobby LaPointe:2 sugar cubes5 mint leavessplash water1.5 jiggers Blanton’s single barrel bourbonMuddle sugar, mint and water. Fill a 12-ounce glass with ice. Add... |
2009-04-28Rhode Islanders Away From Home; Today Show EditionThose of us who've ever tried on a pile of potential new duds in a store only to discover a) our underwear is disintegrating and b) the lighting makes us look like space aliens, will appreciate "You'd Be So Pretty If...," the new book about women's body image by Rhode Island Monthly contributor Dara Chadwick, published by Da Capo Lifelong Press.Dara, who gamely describes her encounter with a personal shopper in our latest issue, is scheduled to appear tomorrow on NBC's Today Show with her thirteen-year-old daughter, Faith, to promote "You'd Be So Pretty If..." and describe how we can teach our daughters how to love their bodies even when we don't love our own.So will the svelte Meredith Vieira be doing the interview, we asked? Dara wasn't sure, but we're keeping our... |
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2009-04-28Good Stuff from the SidelinesSo, the weather couldn’t have been nicer on Saturday for the Special Olympics Southern Area Games in Warwick. I only caught the track events, but here are some highlights:1) In the 100-meter dash, a kid about seven or eight years old, with Buddy Holly glasses and colt legs, stepped up to the start line and crouched low. You could tell he had it in the bag. But when the whistle blew, he took off so fast that he tripped over his feet and fell flat in the dirt. While the other athletes raced past and my heart sank for him, he fixed his glasses, scrambled to his feet and shot down the track like a rocket to win the gold medal. Nobody else looked surprised.2) In the teenage relay, a girl in the lead handed off her baton to her teammate, who accepted it carefully and then stared... |
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2009-04-27Hot weather, Southern foodConnect Providence, the same group that brought us the I HEART PROVIDENCE movie, is holding its April meeting at Mamie Ellen's Southern Vittles in South Providence on Wednesday, April 29, from 6-8 p.m. Mamie Ellen's, which opened last fall, is named after Elliott Butcher's North Carolina-raised mother. When he's not busy coaching the boys of Moses Brown to basketball championships (state champs two years straight), Chef Butcher is cooking up comfort food based on his mother's family recipes. This month he'll be serving up mac and cheese, fried chicken, collard greens, candied sweet potatoes, and more. A recent story about him by WPRI highlights how hard he's working in these tough economic times.Of course, you'll need something cold and wet to wash down that food. Fear not: The guys at... |
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2009-04-24Rhode Islanders Away From Home: Bivalve EditionIt probably won't surprise you that there are 33 different varieties of oysters on the menu at the glamorously retro Oyster Bar in the equally glamorous Grand Central Station in New York City.Our waiter advises us that they serve 5,000 of these babies every day and they hail from such exotic locations as Long Island, Virginia and Prince Edward Island (a shout out to our Canadian friends!). I'm happy to report that Rhode Island is well represented: the Beavertail, the Matunuck, the Moonstone and the Rome Point all put in an appearance and are on the pricier end; up to $2.75 per oyster. There's no recession in the raw bar business, apparently.My friend Robin isn't into raw shellfish so we share the number one app on the menu: 8 fried oysters (when does anything fried taste bad?). They are... |
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2009-04-23Rhode Island RunwayRhode Island often gets the short end of the stick with it comes to cultural reputation; neither our dining or shopping scenes get many props nationally, or even locally, especially when compared to powerhouses like New York and Los Angeles (although performing arts-wise, we are pretty awesome). So it might come as a surprise to some to discover that our little state churns out a lot of great fashion designers. Of course, we also have a little school called RISD to help us along in that area. The thought was certainly a new one to me until I picked up this month’s Providence Monthly and read their cover story on local designers making a name for themselves. There’s Isoude designer Katie Brierly, who uses eco-friendly fabrics and dyes to create utterly stunning pieces and... |
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2009-04-22Andrew Losowsky Breaks It to Us GentlyThe very engaging Andrew Losowsky is out and about promoting his new book* over the next few weeks, but he’ll be stopping by the Providence Athenaeum on Friday night to give “an over-excited presentation” about the future of books, libraries and storytelling. If you’ve ever been seduced by the Athenaeum—it’s easy to lose half an afternoon browsing inside that old, gorgeous building—my hunch is you should be there on Friday night either to celebrate or brace yourself for the conceivable end (or not?) of an era. Maybe someday we will be toting our Kindles and cell phone novels to the bath and beach, a few more hours of the day spent staring at a screen. Either way, it will be interesting to hear Andrew’s take on it all—the talk is free... |
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2009-04-21All This for Fifty CentsWell, it's not the dreamiest weather for Dunkin Donuts' 50-cent Iced Coffee Day, but don't let that stop you! A nickel of your purchase goes to a fantastic cause, Homes for Our Troops, plus it's fun to get stuff cheap. (As Courtney here says, there's something about a bargain that makes you feel like you're beating the system, really sticking it to the Man.) And it's nice to break away from the workday grind and bond with the other people in line: "Fifty cents, can't beat that!" "I don't even like iced coffee, but who cares?" "I've been waiting for this for weeks!" "This is Rhode Island. If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes!"Because these kinds of events bring out the most cheerfully awkward small-talk. So there you go: great... |
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2009-04-20New Store Alert!We’re always thrilled when a new store is about to fling open its doors. But lately we’ve had such a retail drought that this news makes us literally giddy with anticipation. The source of our excitement? Sue Casa on State Street in Bristol, a fabulous new home décor and furnishings shop run by the owners of Striper Moon. Slated to open any day now, the shop carries a Domino mag*-worthy mix of the modern and traditional. Unique neutral-toned sofas, chairs and ottomans share space with vibrant-hued linen throw pillows, garden stools and gyotaku fish prints (the latter custom-made by artist/owner Susan O’Donnell). Tabletop accessories — lamps, glassware, melamine plates — round out the inventory, with labels ranging from Oly Studio to Trina Turk... |
