Author: Michele Meek, PhD.

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Radish: The New Truck on the Block

The new Radish truck on their first day on Thayer Street.

Roasted vegetable sandwich, homemade garlic aioli and a side of fries.

We had decided to get some dinner at Plouf Plouf, but they weren’t parked in their usual spot on Thayer that night. Not to worry, a new truck had appeared — Radish. It seems they perhaps overheard my complaint about the lack of great sandwiches in the area. Of course, I do love the down-to-earth offerings at Geoff’s Superlative Sandwiches on Benefit Street — their generous tuna sandwich and bucket of pickles come the closest to a New York deli that I’ve found in Providence. However, in contrast, Radish has arrived to offer a more gourmet variety of sandwiches, soups and other dishes inspired by local farms and their ingredients. The sandwich we tried featured layered roasted zucchini, red peppers and caramelized onions with a side of garlic aioli on ciabatta bread. Pair that with some fresh thick-cut french fries, and you’ve got quite a meal in your hands.

Between Plouf Plouf, Mama Kim’s, Rocket, and now Radish, it seems Thayer Street’s best food now arrives on wheels.

Radish Food Truck
http://whereisradish.com/
http://www.facebook.com/whereisradish
https://twitter.com/whereisradish

Geoff’s Superlative Sandwiches
163 Benefit Street
Providence, RI
http://geoffssandwiches.com 

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Hasbro’s Our Big Backyard at Roger Williams Park Zoo

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On a hot city day, there’s nothing quite like a mini water park. Now, in addition to a handful of others in Providence, we’ve got one at the zoo.

I’ve typically steered clear of the zoo in the summer, but the addition of Hasbro’s Our Big Backyard at Roger Williams Park Zoo has definitely changed that. Kids can cool off in a variety of sprinklers, ponds and other water play, making the zoo a much less oppressive experience.  

One tip — when you plan your visit, check the zoo hours. We didn’t and arrived only 40 minutes before the 4 pm closing. When you visit the zoo, it’s nice to have time to see some animals too.

Roger Williams Park Zoo
1000 Elmwood Avenue
Providence, RI
www.rwpzoo.org
(first Saturday of every month free to Providence residents)

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La Maison de Coco

It can’t quite rival the chocolate tarte at Bread & Roses in Paris. Of course, this one’s just a few towns away and pretty delicious too, so I guess I won’t complain…

Honestly, it’s about time that Newport had a charming little tea and chocolate shop, and on Bellevue Avenue no less. Last weekend, we stopped in to Maison de Coco and despite the fact that it was 80 degrees, I ordered a tea-infused dark chocolat chaud (hot chocolate) and a chocolate tarte. The chocolat chaud was perfection — not as thick as Burdick’s, but with an equally rich flavor.

The inside of La Maison de Coco.

Although the shop has a petit café where you can enjoy your treats, Geoff and I had to take turns since the kids were asleep in the car (more chocolate for us). On his trip, he selected a handful of chocolate truffles, also tea-infused and also delicious.

Between the beaches and surfing, Flo’s and Frosty Freez, I didn’t really need another reason to go to Newport. But now I have one.

La Maison de Coco
28 Bellevue Avenue
Newport, RI 02840
www.lamaisondecoco.com

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48 Hour Film Project Providence, RI

Write what you know. Use who you’ve got. A still from our new short Bubble Gum Ice Cream screening this week as part of the 48 Hour Film Project Providence.

You might think it’s insane to sign up to write, direct and edit a film in 48 hours when you’ve got a five-year-old and a one-year-old. We did too, but we did it anyway. The result is the short film Bubble Gum Ice Cream, which will screen this week in Lincoln, RI along with dozens of other films also made in and around Providence, RI this past weekend.

The 48 Hour Film Project began in 2001 and now (in 2012) will inspire thousands of filmmakers to produce nearly 4,000 films in 120 cities on 6 continents. This happens to be our third time participating in the project — the first time was in 2004 in New York City (that film has been forever archived), the second time in Boston in 2008 (which you can watch online), and now here in Providence in 2012. I wonder where we’ll be producing our next film in 2016?

Bubble Gum Ice Cream screens with Group B on Tuesday night at 9:30pm.

48 Hour Film Project, Providence 2012
Date: July 17, 18, 19
Time: 7pm & 9:30pm
Place: Cinema World, 622 George Washington Hwy #321 Lincoln, RI 02865
www.48hourfilm.com/en/providence/

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Ship Street Farmers’ Market

Food trucks at the Ship Street Farmers’ Market.

It’s just a few weeks after the official unveiling of Providence’s new Ship Street Square, and it’s already home to a weekly farmers’ market. At this point in the season, the food trucks outnumbered the produce stands, but we were fine with that.

At the produce stands today, we found arugula and apples.

We ordered a few sliders from Rocket Fine Street Food (the Rocket sauce is excellent), and Geoff got a taco from Mijos Tacos. For dessert, the kids chose the non-dairy gluten-free soft serve from the Like No Udder truck. In my opinion this tastes pretty much like you’d expect — in other words, it’s no Frosty Freez— but they didn’t seem to notice the difference. As for me, I opted for the rhubarb mint ice pop from Rocket — a little sweet and perfectly refreshing.

Ship Street Farmers Market
Ship St And Richmond St
Providence, RI
see listing at Farm Fresh RI

Like No Udder
www.like-no-udder.com

Mijos Tacos
https://twitter.com/#!/mijostacos

Rocket Fine Street Food
see related blog post

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East Bay Bike Path: A Family Ride

Getting ready for a ride on the trailer bike.

As you may have guessed from the ratio of blog posts on restaurants versus sports and recreation, we are not the most athletic of families. But inspired by a recent “bike to school” day, we decided to purchase a trailer bike, which enables our 5-year-old to feel like she’s riding a regular bike (and can even help peddle) but leaves the steering and the braking to the adult rider.

Early Sunday morning, we loaded the bikes on the car rack, ate some oatmeal while wearing our helmets (I’m not kidding, although our 18-month-old Lucy refused to wear hers), and then drove to Warren to park the car and get on our bikes. Of course, you can bike fairly easily to the path from Providence, but we wanted to make our first family ride low-stress by starting directly on the path itself.

There was just one small problem, and her name was Lucy. She screamed, kicked and swung her arms as Geoff attempted to get her into the baby seat on the back of his bike. I didn’t have any more luck than he when I tried, although as it turned out I had less sympathy. Determined to at least attempt a ride on the path, I wrestled her into the seat, got on Geoff’s bike, and rode around the parking lot — and incredibly, she quieted down. So we decided we would switch bikes for this ride — I’d ride Geoff’s and he’d ride mine. More screaming as we strapped on her helmet and locked down her feet,  but again once we started riding, there was complete silence.

After our ride on the East Bay Bike Path.

We kept our first attempt short, but it was nonetheless a peaceful and scenic ride along the water — we started in Warren and rode into Bristol and then headed back. It wasn’t until I was writing this that I learned that the East Bay Bike Path is just one of the paths in the East Coast Greenway’s plan to “create a contiguous bike path from Maine to Florida”. Well, we’re not quite ready for that yet, but you never know…

Greenways Alliance of RI
www.rigreenways.org

East Coast Greenway, RI
www.greenway.org/ri.aspx

East Bay Greenway map in RI
http://www.greenway.org/pdf/RI.pdf

East Providence Bicycle
414 Warren Ave.
East Providence, RI
http://eastprovidencecycle.com/

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Quickly: Chinese Fast Food in Downcity Providence

The egg puff at Quickly.

The popular California chain Quickly has opened in Downcity Providence to serve Chinese fast food and snacks. After our recent dinner, we walked over to Quickly for dessert — Thai milk bubble tea, mango slush and an egg puff to share. Popular street food in Hong Kong, the egg puff (Gai Dan Jai) reminded us of a homemade waffle still hot off the griddle. Not surprisingly, it was devoured by the family within minutes.

Quickly
Northeast corner of Dorrance & Westminster
Providence, RI
www.quicklyusa.com

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Providence Coal-Fired Pizza

Meatballs, ricotta, mozzarella and tomatoes top the coal-fired pizza.

Despite the fact that Providence made it to number three on Travel and Leisure’s Best Pizza in America list, I’ve remained largely disenchanted with my local slice options. For me, all pizza will always be compared to the thin-crusted tomato and fresh mozzarella pie at Mario’s on Arthur Avenue, where my grandmother has been eating for over half a century. As a result, Nice Slice, Fellini, and Caserta Pizzeria have left me unimpressed. Of course, the grilled pizza from Al Forno and Bacaro are well worth the trip, but both of these are more special occasion pizzas (Al Forno doesn’t do take out; and Bacaro makes a more  gourmet pizza). They simply don’t satisfy the urge for the casual, classic New York pizza I grew up on.

So yesterday, when Geoff walked by the new Providence Coal-House Pizza in Downcity, he called me and I came down immediately with the kids to sample it. Their custom ovens heat pizzas to approximately 900°F — much higher than traditional or wood fired ovens — which embed the pizza with a delicious smoky flavor. We tried both the margherita and meatball. My favorite was the meatball — the  combination of melted ricotta and homemade meatballs worked well; Geoff preferred the margherita. Although I typically abandon my crust, I ate it all — which says a lot. No, it’s not Mario’s, but I can honestly say this is now officially my go-to local pizza joint.

Providence Coal Fired Pizza
385 Westminster St
Providence, RI 02903
http://providencecoalfirepizza.com

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Lobster Rolls and Clam Cakes at Flo’s

The simply plain lobster roll at Flo’s.

‘Tis the season for the lobster roll — and I’ve started with my personal favorite from Flo’s Clam Shack in Middletown (across from Newport’s First Beach). It’s no frills — just chunks of plain lobster meat in a hot dog bun with iceberg lettuce. They serve the Hellmann’s on the side, which is perfect for those (like me) who’d rather go without.  And don’t forget to throw in a side of clam cakes — their fried cornmeal balls with clam mixed in.

Of course, this meal makes more sense when following hours of swimming or surfing, but I’ll leave that up to you.

Flo’s Clam Shack
4 Wave Avenue
Middletown, RI 02842

Park Avenue
Portsmouth, RI 02871

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Plouf Plouf Gastronomie: Fine French Dining in a Food Truck

Plouf Plouf Gastronomie parked on Thayer Street in Providence.

Roast chicken with mushrooms.

Here in Providence, we’ve come to expect the gourmet hot dog and cupcake from our food trucks, but fine French dining? That I didn’t see coming.

Chef Mario Molliere has worked at a three Michelin starred restaurant, and now he’s here in Rhode Island in his new digs — the Plouf Plouf Gastronomie truck. Dishes range from $5-15, more than most food trucks, but then again, you don’t normally get escargots,  duck confit, and crème brûlée from one.

They’ve been operating only a few weeks, but we’ve already been several times. As it turns out, fine French dining and a screaming, running eighteen-month-old normally don’t mix well — but Plouf Plouf Gastronomie has changed all that. On my last visit, I opted for the goat cheese and beet salad, followed by poulet rôti with mushrooms and a side of pomme frites, and finished off with the chocolate mousse. It doesn’t get much better than this.

I haven’t been down to Bristol yet to taste their homemade morning croissants, but clearly it’s on my list.

Beet and goat cheese salad.

Plouf Plouf Gastronomie
Follow them on Twitter to find out location
www.ploufploufgastronomie.com