Now – Good Cheese in Barrington!

So here at Rhode Island Monthly we’re just thrilled for our coworker Lisa, who not only runs Persimmon Restaurant in Bristol with her husband Champe, but now has another business venture under her belt – Persimmon Provisions in Barrington.
Provisions is really Champe’s baby, Lisa says – he never forgot his ten years spent working as a butcher, even as he got his culinary degree, worked at Gracie’s and went on to wow the East Bay with his lovely dishes at Persimmon.
After months of planning, the pair put his butchering knowledge to use and opened Provisions this month, just in time for Thanksgiving. It’s a full-service butcher’s shop featuring responsibly raised, often local meats that can be cut to order, as well as good cheese, salamis and other charcuteries, and yummy edibles of all kinds, including items from Persimmon – Champe’s sauces and Bolognese sauce among them.
Lisa says she’s thrilled with the welcome from her East Bay community – people have been stopping by to buy stuff and just tell them how happy they are that they’re open. No surprise to those of us who know Champe and Lisa, and have dined at Persimmon – this a couple who know food, who like people, and are filling a bit of a gastronomic gap in the East Bay, where Shaw’s and Stop and Shop offer the only grocery options, leaving foodie/health-nut types to drive to Providence for their cheeses and organic pestos.
So, happy Thanksgiving to all, good luck with your Cyber Monday shopping, and remember – next time you need an organic tenderloin, no need to feel that Whole Foods is your only option. Try Provisions instead, where the staff will remember your name and dispense recipe advice along with the effort-free appetizers, housemade sausages and Bordelaise sauce. Yum! Looks like holiday dining is shaping up better than ever over there in the East Bay! (Next up: watching what happens as competition shapes up for the single liquor store license that the town just voted to allow. Could get cut-throat!)