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The Pepperoni Grill: New York Pizza in Pawtucket, Rhode Island

Note: Sadly, the Pepperoni Grill closed.

Thin crust, the right ratio of tomato to cheese -- it looks like a New York pizza.

Thin crust, the right ratio of tomato to cheese — it looks like a New York pizza.

When a friend who grew up in Long Island posted on Facebook that she discovered the “same pizza [she] ate as a little girl,” I knew where we’d be eating out next.

Of course, nothing can ever beat Mario’s Restaurant for me, but there are plenty of New York pizzas that I still love when I’m back in New York City — Lombardi’s, Patsy’s, and Joe’s, to name a few. But since we moved to Providence, I have searched to no avail for an authentic New York pizza. Well, finally, it has arrived.

Last night, at The Pepperoni Grill, we ordered two large pizzas — a pepperoni and a plain. I was impressed with its thin crust, its fresh tomato taste and ‘right’ amount of cheese — this is the New York pizza I remember. The restaurant itself is nothing fancy — but that’s exactly the appropriate ambiance for an authentic NY pizza, in my opinion.

The restaurant has opened so recently that they don’t yet have menus or a credit card processing machine, and they’re not even listed yet on Yelp. They expect to be have their full menu (with salads and pasta dishes) at the end of July. We met the owner, who is a New York transplant who has decided to make a go of it in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. He ships his tomatoes from Brooklyn–he says he can’t find anything comparable locally. And he said he plans on having several salads with fresh mozzarella. And as if it couldn’t get any better–they deliver within a three-mile radius, which just barely makes it to our house in Providence.

They also sell them by the slice.

They also sell them by the slice.

The Pepperoni Grill
287 Pawtucket Avenue
Pawtucket, RI
http://thepepperonigrillri.com/

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Roger Williams Duck Boat Tours

It starts out as a bus...

It starts out as a bus…

...and turns into a boat.

…and turns into a boat.

For a year, I lived directly across the street from one of the boarding locations for the Boston Duck Tours. I lost count of how many times tourists waved and quacked at me.

But that fact made me no less excited when we discovered one of the amphibious WWII vehicles boarding passengers at the Roger Williams Park Zoo.

The vehicle tours around the scenic drive of the park, then dives into Cunliff Lake for a boat ride. And they let both my daughters take turns driving the boat, which most certainly never happened in Boston.

Roger Williams Duck Boat Tours
https://www.providenceri.com/parks-and-rec/boating

 

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The Sweet Spot: Ice Cream by the Beach

Summer = ice cream

Summer = ice cream

It has long been no mystery to my friends that any day that includes both swimming and ice cream is a ’10’ in my assessment. Maybe that’s why The Sweet Spot in Narragansett remains one of my favorite ice cream shops in the state — I don’t think I have ever been there without having first spent the day swimming at the beach. Although I usually come from one of the many beaches within a short driving distance, Sweet Spot happens to be located directly on the water, in front of Salty Brine State Beach, so close that it may even be possible to be swimming while eating ice cream.

They have the usual flavors — vanilla, chocolate, strawberry — and all are homemade, but I usually go for their Black Raspberry Chip (yogurt or ice cream) or Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough or, my favorite, Coconut Chip.

The Sweet Spot
256 Great Island Rd.
Narragansett, RI

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Ken’s Ramen

Ken's Ramen will cheer you up.

Who says you can’t eat a steaming hot bowl of ramen in the summer?

Many of us think of ramen as something you buy in convenience stores and eat in large quantities as a college student. But you’ve got to figure that something that can be tasty under those circumstances has to be quite stellar when there’s actually some skill and fresh ingredients put into it.

It took us awhile to get to the recently opened and much anticipated Ken’s Ramen in Downcity. There was a long line, or we couldn’t find parking. One time, our three-year-old refused to stay because she thought the music was too loud. So finally, on a weeknight date night, Geoff and I made it over to Ken’s Ramen. I opted for the what they call “the soupless ramen” or Tan-Tan Mazmen, a spicy sesame purée mixed into their special ramen topped with bamboo shoots, kikurage mushrooms, nori and scallions. Geoff opted for the more traditional Paitan Ramen, a chicken broth simmered for over 30 hours, also featuring ramen, bamboo shoots, kikurage mushrooms, nori and scallions. Don’t forget to order some of their homemade pork buns (Cha-Siu Pork Belly).

And don’t let anyone convince you that ramen is not a summer food. In Singapore, everyone eats it all year long, so I don’t see why we can’t too…

Ken’s Ramen
69 Washington Street
Providence, RI
www.kenramenpvd.com

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Bucket Brewery: Tours, Tastings and Growler

Bucket Brewery's Thirteenth Original Maple Stout combines a complex malt base, a healthy dose of maple syrup and an unusual blend of hops.

Bucket Brewery’s Thirteenth Original Maple Stout combines a complex malt base, a healthy dose of maple syrup and an unusual blend of hops.

On our weekly trips to the Pawtucket Wintertime Farmers’ Market, we often stop by Bucket Brewery to pick up a “growler,” which is a 64-ounce sample of one of their beers. There’s no storefront, rather you walk right into their facility where they brew and bottle all their beers. If you show up on a Saturday between 11 am and 5 pm, you can do a tasting ($2) or take a tour ($10).

They also host Sound Check events on the first and third Fridays of the month with free admission and music, and an optional ‘generous’ tasting for $10. On Saturday April 19, Bucket Brewery will also be at the Pawtucket Farmers’ Market to introduce a special orange-cranberry beer made with local farm ingredients. And if you’re the athletic type (or want to become the athletic type), you can join them for Team Bucket, their running team for the Providence Craft Brew 5K.

And even when you’re not in Pawtucket, you can find their beers throughout Rhode Island at local bars (e.g. Aidan’s Pub, Ivy Tavern, Wild Colonial Tavern, etc.), restaurants (e.g. Chez Pascal, Farmstead, Figidini, Flatbread Company, Garden Grille), and liquor stores (e.g. Bottles).

Bucket Brewery
545 Pawtucket Ave.
Pawtucket, RI
 http://bucketbrewery.com

See a complete list of the bars, restaurants and liquor stores that offer Bucket beers at http://bucketbrewery.com/whos-serving-bucket-beer/pg/1/.

Also mentioned in this post:

Aidan’s Pub
5 John Street
Bristol RI http://aidanspub.com

Bottles
141 Pitman Street
Providence RI
www.bottlesfinewine.com

Ivy Tavern
758 Hope Street
Providence RI
www.ivytavernri.com

Wild Colonial Tavern
1250 Water Street
Providence RI
http://wildcolonial.com

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Pat’s Pastured To Go: From Farm to Food Truck

Chickens roam free and eat grass at Pat's...

Chickens roam free and eat grass at Pat’s Pastured on Briggs-Boesch Farm.

For the past several years, we have been purchasing Pat’s Pastured products at our local farmers’ markets. From their farm in East Greenwich, RI, they raise pigs, sheep, chickens and cows to produce grass-fed beef and lamb, free-range eggs, pastured-raised pork, and, of course, sausage and bacon.

They currently have a week left to raise money through a Kickstarter campaign (http://kck.st/1ieZOIZ) to bring the pasture to plate with a food truck and cart to sell hot breakfasts, lunches, and snacks this summer. We have already backed the project. We thought you might too…

Support their Kickstarter at http://kck.st/1ieZOIZ

Pat’s Pastured
Briggs-Boesch Farm
830 South Rd
East Greenwich, RI.
www.patspastured.com

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Brunch at Barstow Restaurant in Providence, RI

June 2014: Barstow is now closed. Their Facebook page says “The Barstow is now closed. Please look for a new concept and new menu at 800 Allens Avenue coming soon.”

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This Saturday, we had brunch at the Barstow Restaurant in Providence. We arrived about a half hour after they opened at 10 am, and there was no line. In fact, we were the first to arrive — which we decided was either extremely lucky or a bad sign. As it turns out, we were in luck.

I chose one of the specials — a house-made sea salt bagel with Serrano ham, spicy cream cheese, baby arugula and marinated red onion. Apparently, the chef doesn’t always arrive at 5:30 am to make bagels, but I’d certainly be hooked if he did.

The girls shared a mango and ginger steel cut oatmeal with a pomegranate molasses and a buttermilk French toast with grape jam, almonds, and candied ginger. Geoff had the Barstow Benedict — poached eggs, herb-brined pork loin, house bread, and smoked maple hollandaise.

They’ve even got a full bar. Among the brunch drinks, you’ll find a Bloody Mary, a Grapefruit Mimosa, or a Drink Your Cereal with toasted almond scotch, creme de cassis, and Bols yogurt liqueur.

Barstow Restaurant
800 Allens Ave
Providence, RI
www.thebarstowri.com

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Meeting Street Café: The café that’s really a diner

Spinach salad with apples, pecans, gorgonzola and balsamic dressing.

Spinach salad with apples, pecans, gorgonzola and balsamic dressing.

Sometimes I wish we had a diner on Thayer Street. In particular, I fantasize about the Waverly Restaurant moving in within walking distance to my house.

In the meantime, I can still count on Meeting Street Café for breakfast all day, enormous sandwiches (1/2 sandwich = 1 sandwich), homemade soups, fresh salads, and cookies. If you want meatloaf, your partner wants a salad, and the kids want pancakes, you’re in luck here. Meeting Street Café is one of those places that doctors who studied at Brown’s medical school and move elsewhere still talk about years later–a fact I know because my mother-in-law works as a nurse in Ohio.

On our visit today, I ordered their spinach salad with apples, pecans and gorgonzola and asked for a dollop of tuna on there. Geoff had poached eggs.

I still pine for the Waverly’s challah french toast, but, for now, I’ll have to hop the train to NYC or make it myself (with either Seven Stars Bakery challah or Silver Star Bakery Portuguese sweet bread, of course).

Meeting Street Café
220 Meeting Street
Providence, RI
www.meetingstreetcafe.com

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Flatbread Company in Providence

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We haven’t been as excited about a new neighborhood offering since Gourmet Heaven opened last year. A few weeks ago, Flatbread Company, which has restaurants in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, opened its first location in Providence on Cushing Street.

Flatbread offers a simple menu of organic salads and a variety of ‘flatbreads’ which, back in New York, we call pizzas. Theirs are made with their own organic tomato sauce (which you can actually see brewing in their giant cauldron) and cooked in their wood-fired clay oven.

Part of Flatbread’s mission is to integrate with the region’s farms and producers which begets great results, both in community-building and in the quality of the food. Plus, the restaurant space is enormous, which makes it ideal for families, parties, and events. They offer kids both crayons and paper (which turn into their menu covers), and they’ll even give them a bit of dough to work themselves. If anyone gets antsy, they can also head over to their library which now has several couches and shelves of books for all ages, or, of course, to their bar.

We’ve been here four times since they opened a few weeks ago, and nearly every time, we ran into friends (with kids in tow). And next Thursday February 6 from 5-9 pm, they’re hosting a fundraiser for the Providence Children’s Film Festival (see details). What’s not to love?

Flatbread Company
161 Cushing Street
Providence, RI
www.flatbreadcompany.com

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Bavarian Pretzels from Foremost Bakery Co. at White Electric

Foremost Bakery's pretzels can be found at the café at the Providence train station.

Foremost Bakery pretzels can be found at cafés throughout Providence.

Foremost Bakery received a write-up in Edible Rhody, and I was surprised to discover we’d already been enjoying their breads at places like Garden Grille, Small Point Café and Loie Fuller. And I was even more surprised that you can get them with your tea or coffee at cafés like White Electric and Coffee Exchange.

Foremost’s version of the Bavarian pretzel is a bit more bread-like than my ideal (which I found located in Ulm, Germany). Basically, it has the texture of challah bread with an unmistakeable pretzel flavor. Today at White Electric, I asked for one with more rock salt than the others — a common request, a White Electric employee informed me. Apparently, I’m not the only one on a special high salt diet.

Foremost Bakery
Providence, RI
on Facebook

White Electric
711 Westminster Street
Providence, RI
http://whiteelectriccoffee.com/

Coffee Exchange
207 Wickenden Street
Providence, RI
www.facebook.com/TheCoffeeExchangeRI