The Broth Bros are lighting up Instagram feeds around New England with scintillating pictures of noodles, chowder, ramen and all things soup! I caught up with Stephanie Martineau, the creator and social media manager of the Broth Bros. She was on holiday in Thailand, but luckily for me she hit a solid wifi zone and I was able to catch her spiel on stews.
“Broth Bros was an idea that had been stirring in my mind over the past few years as the Instagram food scene was rising. Amidst all of the cheese pulls, salt baes and surprise desserts, I wanted to add our own spin to the mix with something I love doing the most: soup slurping! My brother-in-law, Nathan Loura, handles a great deal of production for our video content and has the opportunity to travel through work to showcase soups from around the world.
“He was already my slurping partner in crime as we hit all of the best local soup, stew and chowder spots around RI,” Martineau explained.
“Soup is a very versatile food. Every culture from the world has a specialty recipe that is dear to them. We were drawn to the many ways a smorgasbord of ingredients can come together flawlessly,” she continued.
“We think of soup as the ultimate comfort food that can and should be enjoyed year-round. Obviously, it is always cozy warming up with soup in cold winter months (RI has many of those) but it is actually very satisfying when things heat up in the summer. A New England clam chowder is the perfect accompaniment to a beach day or in my case, the perfect cheap eat when roaming the streets of Thailand. What we truly want to accomplish is spreading that comfort to our followers. I think everyone goes through a broke instant ramen phase that later gives them great nostalgia. We like to whip up everyone’s favorites with a little added oomph by adding ingredients and spices as well as scoping out the hard-to-find brands to recommend. Everyone likes to ball out on a budget!”
According to Martineau, RI has been a rich home for the Broth Bros. “The Rhode Island food scene is known for its great Italian, amazing selection of seafood and its hip downtown spots. The Broth Bros is an outlet for those nights when you’re craving something new and unique. We definitely hit the RI favorites, but there is such an array of amazing soups hidden in these local restaurants that we love to seek out. Whether it be an eight-hour beef broth, soup and sandwich combos, or a soup-inspired wrap, we know where to find them! We take a lot of pride in knowing our favorite soup spots in RI inside and out so we can recommend only the best to our friends and followers. So much so that our out-of-town mates come to us for the local comfort!”
Martineau says that the community has been very warm to the concept. “The response has been overwhelmingly positive. We didn’t expect so many people to be as excited as we are about soup. It’s great when someone can look at our pages and see something they didn’t expect and tell us how much they are craving our posts! Even better is when they take us up on a recommendation and we hear first-hand how much they enjoyed their soup. We’re so grateful to have the local community that PVD and RI offers.”
Follow the Broth Bros on Instagram @thebrothbros.
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