Town or City

The city or town in Rhode Island highlighted.

by

zipcar and Uber, or How to *Not* Buy a Car

A zipcar in Downcity

A zipcar in Downcity

When I moved to New York City in 2001, I sold my car and Michele put hers in storage in Connecticut. When we moved to Boston, hers came out of storage, but I remained car-free, and I’ve persisted that way in Providence too — thanks to zipcar and Uber (and the occasional taxi).

There’s a zipcar lot 100 feet from my driveway, and gas and insurance are included in the cost of the rental. With a zipcar account, you simply reserve and rent a car by the hour ($8.50/hour and up) online or via your phone, then head to the car, using your zipcar card as the ‘key’. And Providence has an impressive array of zipcar choices — pickup trucks, minivans, luxury cars and hybrids.

For times when I want a car and driver, I use Uber. With my phone, Uber can know where I am, and when I enter where I’m going, Uber responds with how long it will take a vetted driver to pick me up (usually a few minutes). Since you sign up for an account with a credit card in advance, there’s no haggling and no tipping.

With these referral codes, you get a deal when you sign up:

Uber
$20 referral bonus: https://uber.com/invite/ubermeek!

zipcar
$25 referral bonus for Zipcar: http://s.zip.cr/46fFU3G

by

The Old-Fashioned Coconut Cake from Pastiche Fine Desserts

The Old-Fashioned Coconut Cake from Pastiche Fine Desserts.

The Old-Fashioned Coconut Cake from Pastiche Fine Desserts.

It’s day four of the New Year, and I’m already tired of the media stories on how to lose weight and get in shape in 2014.

My personal favorite: the coconut cake.

The slice.

So for all of you who have made it their New Year’s resolution to eat more cake, here’s one of my personal favorites–a generous slice of the Old-Fashioned Coconut Cake from Pastiche Fine Desserts in Federal Hill. It’s made with coconut and almond flour and topped with light cream cheese frosting and shredded coconut.

Or select your personal favorite from their extensive menu. Enjoy.

Pastiche Fine Desserts
92 Spruce St
Providence, RI
pastichefinedesserts.com

by

10 Ways to Celebrate Christmas in Rhode Island (with the kids)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Geoff and I both grew up with the tradition of Christmas and have continued it with our girls despite the fact that we are not religious. Although our daughters know that Santa Claus isn’t real, we all love pretending during the holiday season. Here are some ways we’ve celebrated Christmas in Rhode Island…

1. Pick Your Own Christmas Tree

It’s the ultimate ‘paper versus plastic’ debate — we’ve chosen a real tree because ultimately it’s more sustainable (another tree can be grown) and so much more festive to have the smell of pine in the air. This year, we once again got our tree from Lockwood Tree Farm. Trees get collected after the holidays in Providence — don’t make the mistake of one over-eager dad who tried to burn his tree in the fireplace and nearly set his house on fire.

2. ‘Christmas’ Waterfire

Tonight (December 13), there will be a special (and as always, free) WaterFire lighting to enjoy. It really is much warmer by the glowing fires, although you’ll still need a coat, and a hat, and gloves, and a scarf.

3. ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

The Providence Ballet also will put on a performance tonight (December 13) at Rhode Island College of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.

4. Christmas at a Mansion

Somehow seeing someone else’s house decked out in holiday spirit can be as satisfying (and a lot easier) than your own. Christmas at The Newport Mansions continues through January 5. I personally love to visit Blithewold, a 45-room English style manor house adorned with holiday decorations. Don’t forget to stop in the Carriage House where the “Gingerbread Wonderland” features mini-gingerbread houses of all styles made by area children. And right in Providence, you can visit the John Brown House Museum‘s Home for the Holidays.

5. A Christmas Carol

The Trinity Repertory Theater has certainly perfected its performance of the classic Dickens tale. The show has moments that can be scarier for children, although of course we were brave (or stupid) enough to bring our two-year-old one year. Let’s just say, it was a good thing we packed plenty of lollipops. Anyway, the show kept all of us mesmerized. I also recently discovered there’s another production of A Christmas Carol featuring Big Nazo puppets, which is definitely on my list to check out.

6. The Nutcracker

Festival Ballet's Nutcracker

Festival Ballet’s Nutcracker

Festival Ballet puts on a stellar performance of The Nutcracker at the Providence Performing Arts Center. For next year, you might also consider the Island Moving Co.‘s performance at one of the Newport Mansions, Rosecliff.

7. Gingerbread Houses and Holiday Cookies

Of course, a great way to celebrate is to make your own or build a gingerbread house (or village as the girls did this year) at home. There are also several decorating events and contests (everything’s a contest apparently) throughout the state. Check out the Decorate Your Own Gingerbread Man event on December 21, 2013 at the Smith-Abbleby House Museum in Smithfield, RI. The Ocean House in Westerly also hosts a Gingerbread Village Competition and Reception on December 16, 2013.

8. Ski, Skate and Sled

There are plenty of indoor and outdoor skating options throughout the state, including the Kennedy Plaza rink in Providence. If we actually get enough snow, you’ll probably find us sledding on the East Side. We still haven’t been, but there’s kid-friendly skiing in Yawgoo Valley Ski and Sports Area in Exeter, RI.

9. Shop Local

Two years ago, I came up with a list of great places to shop locally for children’s gifts. There are also guides to Shop Downcity and the Shops at Hope Street, which includes stores like Kreatelier which has wonderful hand-made items for adults and children.

While you’re shopping, get into the spirit by donating gifts at any one of the local toy drives: Children’s Friend or Toys for Tots (Whisky Republic in Providence is accepting gift donations today December 13), for instance.

10. Holiday Pops

Last but not least, tonight the Boston Pops comes down to Providence Performing Arts Center for a special local performance. We went years ago without children when we were living in Boston. I think older children (especially aspiring musicians) certainly would appreciate the performance.

by

The Grange

The Grange's Po' Boy sandwich.

The Grange’s Po’ Boy sandwich on pretzel bread.

I used to believe a “vegetarian” restaurant was missing something, along the lines of the old joke “vegetables–it’s what food eats.” But the team behind Garden Grille and Wildflour Bakery made me a convert, and now their new vegetarian restaurant on the West Side, The Grange, has taken it a step further. As they state on their website, they are “all about elevating diners’ perceptions and experience of vegetables,” and that they most definitely accomplish.

I’ve now been to The Grange three times–twice for lunch and once for dinner–and I haven’t met a dish I didn’t like. The tofu in their Sesame Tofu Sandwich is crispy on the outside, but soft on the inside and accompanied by assorted pickles, sprouts, chili, and shiso aioli. Their Po’ Boy would be worth it for the fresh pretzel bread alone, but it’s even better with ‘chicken’ fried oyster mushrooms, cabbage slaw, pickles and remoulade. Both are served with fresh potato chips, although their homemade fries are worth getting too.

For dinner, we loved the roasted cauliflower with sweet chili sauce, green onion, peanuts and cilantro ginger aioli and the crispy pan-seared tempeh with braised collard greens, root vegetable mash and smoked maple mustard. One of our favorites of the evening was the ‘everything crust’ seeded tofu with a curry broth and beet relish.

Don’t forget to save room for dessert. To me, it doesn’t get much better than their chocolate brownie topped with peanut butter ice cream and caramel corn.

The Grange
166 Broadway
Providence, RI
(401) 831-0600
www.providencegrange.com

by

Providence, RI: A Day in the Life

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We’ve now lived in Providence for over four years, and it would be hard to fit in one blog post all my thoughts about that. So instead, I thought I’d describe an eventful, but fairly typical Saturday, which as it turns out, might be a perfect way to highlight our life in Providence.

8:28 am – We woke up “late” for us, which meant we had to rush to get the girls ready for gymnastics and ballet at Aim High Academy, where dozens of gymnasts were already hard at work.

10:00 am – We head to Allie’s Donuts–an institution for good reason. A donut cake (exactly what it sounds like) has been ordered for one of our daughter’s birthday this month.

11:15 am – We make our way to the Pawtucket Wintertime Farmers’ Market opening day. This year’s market has more than doubled, and it is every bit better. We all sit in the courtyard and have Tallulah’s Tacos for lunch. The girls make a basket at ACKpack Basket Studio. Michele buys a giant stalk of brussels sprouts, freshly dug potatoes, onions, and parsnips from the market, along with apples from Barden Family Orchard. Our daughter insists we buy more pickles from Harmony Hill Farm. We get dessert–an almond croissant and an apricot financier–from the French Tarte. On our way out, we discover a new store, Sassy Mama Cuisine, that has rows upon rows of hot sauces. I’m looking for one made with Bhut jolokia, and pick from more than a dozen.

2:00 pm – I nap.

3:30 pm – I take my six-year-old daughter to Cirque Éloize, one of the first shows in this year’s FirstWorks Festival at the Providence Performing Arts Center, while Michele takes our two-year old to the Providence Children’s Museum.

6:00 pm – At home,  I make the kids a pizza with dough from Olga’s and cheese from Narragansett Creamery.

7:30 pm – Michele and I walk downtown to the Brown University/Trinity Repertory Theatre, to see a production of Twelfth Night, or What You Will. Since we didn’t buy tickets in advance, we wait standby and luckily get seats from a few no-shows. Even after four years of shows, it’s my first time in the Pell Chafee Performance Center.

9:30 pm – We get drinks and appetizers at Gracie’s, which turned out to be a meal that would rival the best in recent memory: a sherry-roasted beet salad with Cloumage cheese, pistachio nougatine, wild rice crispies, sour apple, and Aquidneck honey; Hudson Valley foie gras with fennel dusted brioche donuts, roasted peach, pistachio, raspberry gelee; russet potato gnocchi with house cured ham, broccoli, cauliflower, cheddar, buttery herb crumb; and crispy veal sweetbreads with sunny side quail’s egg, parmesan spinach, potato fondue, pickled ramps (this one was a standout).

10:30 pm – Our babysitter needs to leave early tonight, so Michele grabs a cab home. I stay on, for a show at AS220.

12:00 am – The band Melt Banana plays in AS220’s tiny venue, where you can get up close and mingle with the bands.

1:00 am – I take an UberX ride home! Just 2 minutes after calling…

I’ve always thought that a perfect city is one that you can “use” to its fullest regularly. And with that as my definition, I’m in the right place for now…

For more information:

Aim High Academy
3355 S County Trail
East Greenwich, RI
http://www.aimhighacademy.com/

Allie’s Donuts
3661 Quaker Lane
North Kingstown, RI
https://www.facebook.com/AlliesDonuts

Pawtucket Wintertime Farmers’ Market (Saturdays 9 am-1pm and Wednesdays 4-7pm through May 17, 2014)
at Hope Artiste Village
1005 Main St.
Pawtucket, RI
http://www.farmfresh.org/winter

Tallulah on Thames
464 Thames Street
Newport, RI
http://www.tallulahonthames.com/

Sassy Mama Cuisine
at Hope Artiste Village
1005 Main St.
Pawtucket, RI

The French Tarte
at Hope Artiste Village
1005 Main St.
Pawtucket, RI
http://www.frenchtarte.com/

ACKpack Basket Studio
at Hope Artiste Village
1005 Main St.
Pawtucket, RI
https://www.facebook.com/pages/ACKpack-Basket-Studio/467747816608744

Barden Family Orchard
56 Elmdale Rd
North Scituate, RI
http://www.bardenfamilyorchard.com/

Harmony Hill Farm
Barrington, RI
http://harmonyhill-farm.com/

Providence Performing Arts Center
220 Weybosset Street
Providence, RI
http://www.ppacri.org/

FirstWorks
http://first-works.org/

Providence Children’s Museum
100 South Street
Providence, RI
www.childrenmuseum.org

Olga’s Cup & Saucer
103 Point Street
Providence, RI
www.olgascupandsaucer.com

Narragansett Creamery
www.richeeses.com

Brown University/Trinity Repertory Theatre
www.browntrinity.com

Gracie’s
194 Washington Street
Providence, RI
graciesprovidence.com

AS220
115 Empire Street
Providence, RI
www.as220.org

by

Food Truck Bash: New York, Boston and Providence

The Wafels and Dinges truck from New York parked in Providence for the Food Truck Bash.

The Wafels and Dinges truck from New York parked in Providence for the Food Truck Bash.

Empanadas from Nuchas.

Empanadas from Nuchas.

I only recall two kinds of food trucks from my childhood–the New York quick breakfast truck (for rushed commuters) and the ice cream truck (for us sweet-craving children).Things have certainly changed.

Last weekend, at the Food Truck Bash, nine trucks from Providence, Boston and New York gathered in the ice rink at Kennedy Plaza to present their offerings. There, we tasted empanadas with ground beef, onions, peppers, scallion, potatoes and olives in a white dough from New York’s Nuchas; a Portuguese thin pork sandwich from Providence’s Portu-Galo; and a dark hot chocolate and several liège wafels (chewy Belgian waffles that need no toppings, in my opinion) from New York’s Wafels & Dinges.

Liège wafel from Wafels and dinges.

Liège wafel from Wafels and dinges.

During our last trip to Belgium, we searched everywhere for a waffle as good as the one you can apparently get from a New York food truck. They even have Spekuloos ice cream, which I’ll be getting next time Wafels and Dinges comes to me or I go to them.

Learn more about the Food Truck Bash at http://foodtruckbash.com/. Wafels & Dinges won the “Best of Maker’s Mark Bourbon” category with their dish “De Bourbon Whip” – which was Maker’s Mark® Bourbon Spicy Salty Caramelized Walnuts, Bourbon-Infused Maple Syrup, and Bourbon-Infused Whipped Cream on a Liege Waffle.

Food trucks participating included:

Nuchas (New York)
http://www.nuchas.com/

Portu-Galo (Providence)
https://www.facebook.com/PortugueseTruck

Wafels & Dinges (New York)
http://www.wafelsanddinges.com/

Fugo (Providence)
http://www.fugofoodtruck.com/

Boston’s Baddest Burger (Boston)
http://www.bostonsbaddestburger.com/

Phil’s Steaks (New York)
http://www.philssteaks.com/

Radish (Providence)
see separate blog post about Radish http://whereisradish.com/

The Chubby Chickpea (Boston)
http://www.thechubbychickpea.com/

Big D’s (New York)
http://bigdsgrub.com/

by

Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular

A photo from the 2012 Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular.

A photo from the 2012 Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular.

There are only a handful of events that we have made annual traditions since we moved here four years ago, and one of those is the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular at Roger Williams Zoo. How can you not be impressed with 5,000 intricately carved and painted pumpkins lit from within nestled within the woodsy paths of the zoo?

This year, they’ve upgraded their snacks so now I can eat some Gerbs spicy pumpkin seeds and sip a Union Station pumpkin ale during my walk. And for the kids, there’s still plenty of cotton candy, soft pretzels and hot cider to be found.

The theme this year, Pumpkinville, USA showcases regions of the country–our older daughter’s favorite was a showcase of jack-o-lanterns staged around a Wild West façade that featured a general store, sheriff and county jail. I always love the finalé, which features hundreds of mini jack-o-lanterns strung on every tree and branch with Winx’s Don’t Laugh playing.

Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular
at Roger Williams Park Zoo
http://rwpzoo.org/178/jack-o-lantern-spectacular

October 3 – November 3, 6pm – 11pm, with the last admission at 10pm. On Saturdays, admission will be extended an hour, with the last admission at 11pm, and the trail closing at 12am.

Gerbs Gourmet Seeds
www.mygerbs.com

Union Station Brewery
36 Exchange Terrace
Providence, RI
=www.johnharvards.com/locations/providence-ri

See also write-up of the 2009 Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular.

by

Bakery Style Pizza (aka Rhode Island Pizza Strips) at Tomato City Pizza

Bakery Style Pizza from Tomato City Pizza.

Bakery Style Pizza from Tomato City Pizza.

After living in Providence for four years, we still didn’t understand what all the fuss was about ‘pizza strips.’ In our experience, it was a cold doughy cheeseless pizza with globs of tomato sauce that looked like this.

However, recently a veteran of the city introduced Geoff to the ‘bakery style pizza’ at Tomato City Pizza in Providence. And now we get it. Their version of the pizza strip is sprinkled with parmesan cheese and features a thinner, crispier crust cooked so well-done that the brown edges actually taste sweet. It’s delicious hot, warm or cold. I can’t promise this is the most ‘authentic’ pizza strip in Rhode Island, but it’s certainly the best we’ve tasted to date.

Tomato City Pizza
1041 Douglas Avenue
Providence, RI
by

Blount Clam Shack: Summer All Year Long

Blount Clam Shack's famous clam chowder.

Blount Clam Shack’s famous clam chowder.

In an effort to try and pretend that summer is not over, I’ve continued to make regular trips to Eskimo King for soft serve (yes, it’s worth the drive from Providence). It just doesn’t get much better than their medium (okay sometimes large) coffee soft serve cone with chocolate jimmies. Sadly, they closed for their season on October 14.

Blount's seafood dinner for two, a Friday special.

Blount’s seafood dinner for two, a Friday special.

I also finally made my way over to Blount Clam Shack in Providence, which is open year round. We ordered the Saturday special “Seafood Dinner for Two” which as it turned out was plenty for all of us (two adults and two kids) with two cups of chowder, clam cakes,
haddock, scallops, whole belly clams, shrimp, french fries, cole slaw and two drinks. The clam chowder was our favorite with just the right amount of creamy with good hunks of firm potatoes and tender clams, but I definitely prefer the clam cakes at Flo’s Clam Shack. The rest seemed more like your traditional seafood shack fare, although the whole belly clams were quite unique and tasty. Next time, I’ll try the lobster bisque and a lobster roll for a taste of summer decadence in the off-season.

Eskimo King
29 Market Street
Swansea, MA
www.eskimoking.com

Blount Clam Shack and Soup Bar
371 Richmond Street
Providence, RI
http://www.blountretail.com/providence/home
Also see their list of other locations in Warren, Fall River, MA and Crescent Park (Riverside, RI) at http://www.blountretail.com/providence/other_blount_locations

by

Sandra-Feinstein Gamm Theatre

A still from the play Far Away by Caryl Churchill at Gamm Theatre.

A still from the play Far Away by Caryl Churchill at Gamm Theatre.

At the recent prompting of a friend, we decided to buy season subscriptions to the Sandra-Feinstein Gamm Theatre. Last weekend we attended the first of five shows, and the theatre immediately reminded us of the Lyric Stage in Boston — an intimate space with modest, but cleverly designed sets.

The first show of the season features two short plays by Caryl Churchill, The Number and Far Away. I preferred the first, and Geoff the second, but honestly both presented an eerie story about the decreasing value of humanity and individuality in a post-modern world. Ok, that makes them sound a bit depressing, which was only partially true. They were also funny, and the actors handled the shift between tragedy and comedy seamlessly.

Although this show ends October 13, there are still four more in the season to attend  (and you can get a reduced-price subscription for just those four). The rest of their 29th season includes Good People by David Lindsay-Abaire (November 7-December 8, 2013); The Big Meal by Dan LeFranc (January 9-February 9, 2014); Macbeth by William Shakespeare (March 6-April 13, 2014); Blackbird by David Harrower (May 1-June 1, 2014).

The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre
172 Exchange St.
Pawtucket, RI
www.gammtheatre.org