Month: October 2012

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La Crêperie

Digging into the second crêpe — butter and sugar.

We are a crêpe family. We usually have a stack of them in the refrigerator ready to be filled on request: egg and cheese, butter and sugar, banana and chocolate.

Inside La Crêperie, on a tiny street off Thayer.

But this morning the request came, and we couldn’t fill it, so we went to La Crêperie, which serves up traditional French crêpes–wheat or buckwheat–composed with your choice of savory or sweet fillings. They also have Belgian waffles, wraps, salads, and smoothies–none of which we’ve tried yet. Like I said, we’re a crêpe family, and judging by the stream of customers this morning, we’re not the only ones.

La Crêperie
82 Fones Alley
Providence, RI, 02906
http://creperieprov.com/

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Gold Stone: Chili Oil Fish

Chili Oil Fish from Gold Stone.

When I go to a new diner, I always order corned beef hash–I find it’s a leading indicator of general diner quality. Is the corned beef homemade? Is the hash crispy and flavorful?  When I first tried  Gold Stone, I came for the Mapo Tofu–my Szechuan corned-beef hash–and it was as satisfying as my standard, from Mary Chung.

When I returned to Gold Stone, I asked them for a specialty that I have been ordering more often than Mapo Tofu: Chili Oil Fish (pictured), which was rich with a thick slick of chili oil and perfectly cooked pieces of white fish (flounder?). It may become my new standard.

Gold Stone
840 Allens Ave
Providence, RI
(401) 781-8887
www.goldstoneprovidence.com

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Apple Picking and Brunch at Knight Farm

Enjoying an apple straight off the tree.


Each year we try to find a new farm for apple picking in addition to our old favorites. In past years, we’ve discovered Jaswell’s Farm, Hill Orchards, and Sweet Berry Farm. This year, we decided to try Knight Farm, founded in 1800.

Although many farms have stands or shops (Jaswell’s and Sweet Berry Farms are my favorites), few have restaurants. When we arrived this morning, it was clear this was a popular place for brunch and with good reason. It’s certainly nothing fancy, but they serve simple comfort food in a charming and rustic atmosphere. I ordered an egg sandwich, and I was not disappointed.

Knight’s apple orchards feel relatively compact to some of the others (they have about 40 acres versus Jaswell’s 100 acres), but really how many apple trees do you need? We had no trouble picking our own crisp, tasty apples. Of course, the real work came later — peeling apples, rendering lard (from Pat’s Pastured Pork), rolling the crust, and baking the pie. Not that I did any of that. But I did eat a piece of the resulting pie, and it was delicious.

Knight Farm and Restaurant
1 Snake Hill Road
North Scituate, RI
www.knightfarm.com

Also see Farm Fresh RI’s Pick Your Own Guide near Providence.