A few summers ago I went to North Conway on vacation with friends. They suggested — no demanded — that we eat dinner at The Flatbread Company. Not wanting to disappoint our traveling companions, we agreed. What started out as a simple vacation meal surprisingly morphed into a memorable evening, courtesy of the spectacular food, […]
At just over 5 feet, 9 inches tall, I currently hold the prestigious title of “Tallest Villari in Recorded History.” This, of course, is according to my father, Bobby Pastrami, who considers my half-foot advantage over him to be a definitive piece of evidence for his otherwise unsubstantiated claim. Another oft-cited “fact” being, “this is the […]
Has spring sprung yet? The bitch usually does with a sting, at least here in New England, where this idyllic season greets us with hearty slap in the face from sleet, freezing rain or a final snow. So aptly does this edition’s cocktail come named: Spring Stinger. The Stinger, a supposedly popular pre-prohibition drink, uses […]
There’s a reason my Irish friends want to be in the US for St. Paddy’s Day, and it’s not because we know how to keep it low-key. Parades and music, dancing and drinking; it’s an excuse to wear 50 shades of green and be fully intoxicated by 10am. And since St. Paddy’s “Day” was more […]
“Can you please go inside?” I begged toward the rooftop, where a soon-to-be 70-year-old man was slouched over in a defiant hunch, his Ryobi chainsaw revving. “No, get the lah-duh!” he hollered down, in that patois ubiquitous within the urban-core of RI – an accent that I have self-consciously conditioned myself to be aware of […]
Sometimes having fun is hard work. It is especially hard if you live in Rhode Island right now amid (or beneath) the snow that never stops. Just try to leave your house and get somewhere on time; I dare you. The swirling flakes will make you feel like you are in a spaceship, not a […]
Corned beef. Sounds a bit strange, doesn’t it? I am usually more of an eater than a maker, but with St. Paddy’s Day looming I wanted to be adventurous and take on making a corned beef dinner from curing to boiling. I enlisted the help of Eat Drink RI’s David Dadekian to enlighten me on […]
The instructions were simple – make six quarts of your choice of soup, pair with a six-pack of beer and then trade it with approximately 15 or so privileged, mostly super-Caucasian 30-somethings with nothing better to do on a chilly winter’s eve. This is a soup swap. As has been tradition for the past nine […]
At Ogie’s Trailer Park, the West Side’s newest bar / restaurant, you can relive the zoot suit glory days of the ’50s. First impression: I was pretty floored by the interior decoration. I’m really not a stickler for décor; bars with puke from the ’80s staining the walls usually do just fine for me. But […]
My husband and I recently took our boys to the Kingstown Bowl for a night of bowling, pizza and beer/lemonade. Culinary expectations were low, as the Kingstown Bowl’s pizza – though adequate – doesn’t really evoke excitement. As we pulled into the parking lot, I saw that Providence Coal-Fired Pizza just opened a sister restaurant […]