ridaily - August 2010
2010-08-30Posted!Did anyone notice three of our fabulous local restaurants in the Washington Post yesterday? Farmstead, Cook & Brown, and Persimmon all captured the heart of food critic Tom Sietsema when he was in town recently. He particularly gushes over the Mario Batali-beloved sandwiches at Farmstead, "the most amazing soup of my life" at Persimmon, and one Hannah Kirschner, bar manager and "secret ingredient" at Cook & Brown, but the entire jam-packed article is quite euphoric. Read it here and make a note on where to take the next food critic from a major city who visits you. Or to find Sietsema's one essential for opening a smashingly good Rhody restaurant of your own. (Hint: He or she is wearing your ring.) Posted at 12:30 PM in ridaily Eating Out | Permalink | Comments |
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2010-08-27A Box Wine WinnerSo my boxed wine adventures have been continuing, and I'm here today to tell you that I recently had the best one yet. Steered by a staff member at Bottles - I wish I had got his name, but I have to give a shout-out to all the staff there, the service and attitude is really exceptionally pleasant - I bought a box of Pepperwood Grove Big Green Box cab. It was less than $20 for the equivalent of four bottles. Half of it is still in my liquor cabinet, but it won't be for much longer. This was by far the nicest red I've had in a box - I was really surprised at its drinkability. Oh, and if you haven't checked out Bottles yet - it's the new liquor store next to East Side Market in Providence - you'll be amazed at the inventory. Next task: locating an equally good white. Fear not, dear... |
2010-08-25Who Wouldn't Love Butter Soup?I've been dying to go to Menton, Boston restaurateur extraordinaire Barbara Lynch's newest venture. She's the super talented James Beard Award-winning chef who owns No. 9 Park, B&G Oysters, the Butcher Shop, Drink -- you get the picture. Menton is Lynch's ode to fine dining (think No. 9 on steroids), located in the Fort Point neighborhood. The menu has only two options: a four-course prix-fixe or a seven-course tasting. In the go-big-or-go-home spirit, we opted for the latter, and some ten courses later (but who's counting?) we had no regrets.The meal was really quite incredible, but there was one course in particular that I can't stop thinking about -- the butter soup. Just the very idea practically makes your heart stop. In a good way. A petite bowl arrives with a gorgeous chunk... |
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2010-08-23Afternoon At The ZooFabulous late-summer weather blessed a staff outing to the zoo last Friday, a treat we enjoyed thanks to our boss John Palumbo's longstanding connection to the zoo (he recently retired as chair of the board, and a new veterinary clinic is in the works that'll be named after him). We met a ferret and a lizard, had lunch under a lovely big tent, then wandered around in the golden sunlight, meeting the new baby Masai giraffe (aw! born 6 feet tall and 125 pounds, he's named JP, again after out boss). I loved seeing a snow leopard sunning itself on a rock, two rescued bald eagles calmly surveying the crowd, a shambling anteater, and most of all the ultra-cool combination of zebras and wildebeests hanging out in a sunbaked field. Not everyone could make it, but those of us who did, had a... |
2010-08-19A Celebrity (Guide) in Our MidstThere's an extra special reason to attend Gallery Night Providence tonight: our very own associate editor, Pippa Jack, will be leading the artisan, folk and craft gallery tour tonight. In fact, she's keeping company with some pretty big names on the state scene who have been brought in regularly as "Celebrity Guides": the Philharmonic's conductor Francisco Noya and sculptor Kenn Speiser, just to name a few. Pippa's tour leaves at 6:30 from One Regency Plaza and will be stopping at Gallery Belleau, Copacetic and the Peaceable Kingdom. She'll be talking about her favorite pieces in each shop and picking the owners' brains about various works and how they go about selecting them. Plus -- added bonus -- there will be refreshments at each stop along the tour. If you were thinking... |
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2010-08-18Flower PowerCrazy busy day at the mag, but wanted to give a quick shout out to Four Town Farm's pick-your-own flowers. Seriously, this is one of the best deals going. Right now, the field across from the farm stand is covered in the most gorgeous blooms from zinnias and black-eyed susans to snapdragons and dahlias. All you have to do is grab a pair of scissors and snip to your heart's content. At $6.95/pound, there's no reason not to pick enough flowers to build a bouquet for every room in the house.Four Town Farm, 90 George St., Seekonk, Mass, (508) 336-5587, web. |
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2010-08-17The lobster vs. Mary KateI've been feeling kind of low about the death of our yellow lobster. I have! It's so poetically sad -- this one-in-30-million creature whisked from the ocean and photographed, filmed and handled to death. It's like E.T., only without the medical tent and suction cups. (Or Splash, actually.) The public is outraged at everyone from the fisherman who put it on display to the media and tourists who went to see it: See what happens when we're all out for our fifteen minutes! Or something. I can't say exactly why I feel bad; it just seemed touching that a lobster received global attention at all, so much so, that in all the excitement people got a little Lennie-from-Of-Mice-and-Men about it. (Remember the tragic giant who pet his beloved mice to death? We didn't attack him. We just... |
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2010-08-16RI Ranks First for DebtHope you had a good weekend, because it sure is a gloomy Monday: rainy skies, talk of a double-dip recession, and now a dubious accolade for our intractable state budget. According to the number crunchers at the Daily Beast, Rhode Island is the state with the highest debt to GDP ratio in all the country. The state spends more than it produces by a hefty 21.54 percent. And although our actual debt - estimated at just over $10 billion for 2010 - is piddling compared to second runner up Massachusetts, which owes $79 billion, we're spending it faster than we can make it almost 1 percent faster than our neighbors. That's because, with a gross domestic product in 2009 of only $46.5 billion, we just don't produce enough to sustain our government spending.There's a lot of pain for New England... |
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2010-08-13Weekend FunAS220’s Foo Fest means it's fiesta-in-the-streets time in Providence again as the energetic urban arts collective puts on its annual block party. Kid-friendly fun rules the afternoon, while more adult themes emerge after 6 p.m. Look for art installations and creative activities, continuous live music on indoor and outdoor stages, and bubbles and superheroes in the streets, all extra festive in honor of the fact that AS220 is celebrating its 25th anniversary.August 14. Admission $5. For more information visit www.as220.org/foofest_2010.And to stay current on what's happening each weekend, click here to sign up for the Weekly Roundup, our carefully curated list of five things to enjoy. There are other great enewsletters to, and best of all, we promise NEVER EVER to spam you. |
2010-08-12Behind the (Dangerous) ScenesOh dear. Rhode Island Monthly photographers are certainly suffering for their art lately. This week, Pat O'Connor was taking some pics at Water Wizz in Westerly for next year's summer guide when a renegade adult came down the chute with such a splash that it soaked (and ruined) his $4000 camera. I suppose when you're stationed at the bottom of a slide with wet bodies flying toward you, things could have gone worse, but to a photographer, I'm sure nothing is more painful than a destroyed camera.Here is Pat, before The Adult:Then we have Dana Smith, who was photographing Spartina author John Casey for an upcoming feature in our October issue. In his effort to get the perfect shot of Casey, who was rowing a boat, Dana leapt into the water and got stung by a jellyfish. I arrived on the... |
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