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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

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New York Quick List

Bo Ssäm @ Momofuku

It was a busy weekend, but here’s the gastronomic sequence:

1. Petrossian. Coffee & Orange Brioche. Much fawning over caviar.

2. Roasting Plant Coffee. Espresso and own-made Ding Dong (michele only).

3. Kin Shop. Spicy Duck Laab, Duck Breast Roti, Grilled Trigger fish. Roasted bone marrow.

4. Fedora. Martinis and Manhattans

5. Bakehouse. Coffee and Short Rib Hash

6. Kava. Espresso.

7. Magnolia. Cupcake (michele only)

8. Red Farm. Not open 😦

9. Momofuku Ssam bar. Bo Ssam. Vieux Carre.

10. Think Coffee. Espresso.

11. Arthur’s Tavern. Beer.

12. Joe’s. Slice of pizza, eaten outside in Father Demo Square.

13. The Breslin – curried lentils and poached eggs. thrice-cooked chips,

14. Stumptown. Espresso.

15. Eataly. Fresh bread and mozzarella for the train ride, spicy salumi.

Espresso, in order of preference:

1) Kava

2) Stumptown

3) Think Coffee

4) Roasting Plant

5) Petrossian

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Monster Mini Golf

The final hole at Monster Mini Golf in Warwick.


Madeline loves Halloween so much that she decided she wanted to have a Halloween birthday party — in April. So, we decided to test out the Monster Mini Golf in Warwick as an appropriate place for a spooky (but not too spooky) costume birthday party.

The indoor course glows with neon colored monsters and clowns, and they have chairs set up outside the course so parents can sit and watch. It can get crowded (especially the skee ball and other games in the front), but it wasn’t too bad last Sunday afternoon. Geoff’s only complaint was that the golf course isn’t actually designed to make a hole-in-one physically possible. Of course, Madeline didn’t care. Most of the time, she swung a few times at the ball and finally wound up dragging it into the hole.

Monster Mini Golf
33 Lambert Lind Hwy (Rte. 5)
Warwick, RI
http://monsterminigolf.com

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Providence Children’s Film Festival

Madeline was the star of her own movie flipbook this morning at the RISD Auditorium.

It’s nice to see some things continue to flourish in Providence.

This weekend, we attended a few of the films as part of the 3rd Annual Providence Children’s Film Festival. The all-volunteer festival staff puts together an extraordinary event with a collection of children-friendly shorts and features from all over the world. Whether your kids watch too much TV or you’ve avoided TV altogether (or somewhere in between), this festival introduces children to the artof film — and in my opinion, nothing could be better than that.

Photo by Frank Mullin

The festival’s films, events and workshops continue through Tuesday, February 21 at venues throughout Providence. See their website for a complete schedule of events and to purchase advance tickets.

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Stanley’s Hamburgers: a step back in time

Stanley's burger comes topped with onions and pickles.

If you’d like to step back to an anachronistic time when Bobby Vinton songs played on the radio but trans fats were a thing of the past, then Stanley’s in Central Falls is the place for you.

The cheddar cheese fries -- although I personally liked them better plain.

I have to admit, I’ve had a better burger. Nonetheless, Stanley’s most certainly wins on character. The neon menu, metal ceiling fans, red and white vinyl booths, and Casey Kasem’s 1974 top 40 playing in the background (literally) form an ambiance that is not to be missed.

The burgers are topped with pickles and caramelized onions (unless requested otherwise), and they have a selection of fries like no other (dirty fries, chili cheese fries, Quebec-style fries, cheddar fries). We also tried their ham and bean soup — I think the secret ingredient, as Marge Simpson would say, is salt. And just so you know, a “small” means large and a “large” means obscene. To top it off, do what I did, and get a coffee shake with your meal.

Stanley’s
535 Dexter St.
Central Falls, RI
www.stanleyshamburgers.com