Best of Rhode Island 2008 Editors' Picks

Since the closing of their patisserie cousin, Boulangerie, Newport's Asterisk has taken on a decidedly French accent and we couldn't be happier. Thick cappuccino compliments fresh croissants and eggs en cocotte in the a.m. but, if you want to live the way the French do, wander in for a glass of Burgundy and a brandy-laced tartare or a heaping bowl of mussels with pernod as you sit by the Seine--er, Narragansett Bay.