Month: February 2013

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Hartley’s Pork Pies

Homemade meat pies from Hartley's

The beef and pork meat pies from Hartley’s

10:30 am is not too early to enjoy a housemade beef (stamped with a capital B) pie (the pork pie is unmarked). At Hartley’s Pork Pies in Lincoln, that actually may be the only time you’ll get one since they can sell out before 1pm. The hot pies fresh out of the oven have a thick homemade crust providing the perfect balance to your choice of meat. The ring of liquid on the top of the crust hints at the savory broth within.

Hartley’s Pork Pies
871 Smithfield Ave
Lincoln, RI 02865
(401) 726-1295

(open until 1pm or 2pm, whenever the pies run out)

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Lucky Garden: Yum Yum Dim Sum

Our dim sum spread on the lazy susan.

Our dim sum spread across the lazy susan.

We might have been inspired by the children’s book Yum Yum Dim Sum that we had borrowed from the library or perhaps from our lazy morning browsing photos from our Taipei trip–but suddenly we had the urge for dim sum.

Pan Fried Tofu Wraps, Steamed BBQ Pork Buns, and Pan Fried Turnip Cakes.

Pan Fried Tofu Wraps, Steamed BBQ Pork Buns, and Pan Fried Turnip Cakes.

We arrived at Lucky Garden midday Saturday to find bustling tables filled with both Chinese and American families sampling the dozens of dishes on their special dim sum menu. Our favorites included the crispy Pan Fried Tofu Wrap with chives, the Pan Fried Turnip Cake, Chicken Congee (a porridge-like soup with chicken), Scallion Pancake, Salt & Pepper Homemade Tofu, and Steamed Fried Dough Rice Rolls (basically a doughnut wrapped in a noodle–how can you not like this?). The desserts, also, were excellent–their egg tarts are made with a delicious buttery homemade dough, and although I tend to avoid the more gelatinous desserts, even I couldn’t resist their coconut pudding.

As usual, we ordered way too much, which is why the following weekend, we wisely decided to invite some friends along with us.

Lucky Garden
1852 Smith Street
North Providence, RI
www.luckygardenri.com

Also see their dim sum menu

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Festival Ballet: Little Red Riding Hood

Festival Ballet's most recent performance included an amended version of Little Red Riding Hood.

Festival Ballet’s most recent performance included an amended version of Little Red Riding Hood. Photo By Matt Francis. Design by Fatoumata Camara. In this Photo: FBP Company Apprentice Mady Issa.

“The seats are in the fourth row, is that all right?” the woman over the phone inquired when I bought my tickets for Festival Ballet’s production of Little Red Riding Hood. As it turns out, there are only four rows in the theater, and as such, there’s not a bad seat in the house. Located at their studio space (where they also offer classes for adults and children of all levels), this small theater offers a perfect venue for an intimate show where children especially can feel close enough to the action to remain engaged.

Mushroom Costume. Design by Brianne Benack. Photo by Matt Francis. In this photo: FBP Company Trainee Eugenia Zinovieva

Mushroom Costume. Design by Brianne Benack. Photo by Matt Francis. In this photo: FBP Company Trainee Eugenia Zinovieva

You won’t be wowed with fancy sets here, but you will be impressed by skillful performances by a dozen talented ballet dancers. For Little Red Riding Hood, the theater partnered with RISD’s Junior Cut & Sew Studio to produce some wonderfully intricate costumes. To make the show less fearsome, they amended the story–the hooded dancing wolf escapes from Central Park Zoo and wants to eat Little Red Riding Hood’s cookies, not the girl herself.

As if that’s not enough to convince you, the show concludes with milk and cookies from Seven Stars Bakery, along with a chance to meet and talk with the dancers.

Although the performances of Little Red Riding Hood are already sold out, the Festival Ballet line-up includes several other upcoming shows for both children and adults.

Festival Ballet
chatterBOXtheatre
825 Hope Street
Providence, RI