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Contents
Photography by (L) Brad Smith, (R) Stacey Doyle
APRIl 2015
WRIU's DJ Nook
14
This Month 14 That Sick Beat Surprise! The best hip-hop in the state comes from Kingston
19 Kids, Incorporated
37
Sushi Yama comes to Westminster
27 City Style RISD grads open an artful boutique in the Arcade 27 At Home 29 The Look 30 Get Fit 32 Shopping 35 Beauty
37 Feast Gourmet sushi on Westminster Street 38 Review 41 In the Kitchen 43 On the Menu 44 In the Drink 46 Rhody Bites
How to turn your own little brat pack into future awesome adults
49 Get Out What's so funny about Friday night? 50 Calendar 53 Music 54 Theatre 57 Art
Every Month
58 Savor Providence The first bite of spring
4 Editor’s Note 5 Online Exclusives
7 Providence Pulse A West Side gallery with a community philosophy 8 City 11 Scene in PVD
On the Cover: Sonny and Danny Corbo rock
out with instruments provided by Empire Guitar. Photography by Stacey Doyle.
April 2015 | Providence Monthly
3
Editor’s Note Child’s Play We know, we know. Your kids are overscheduled, and because of that, so are you. Their birthday parties, science projects and strange need to crawl on things already rule your weekends. But all those weird quirks they have – like drumming on everything, or somehow managing to understand scientific principles way beyond your comprehension – and think for a minute: what could happen if you encouraged them, instead of just patiently putting up with them? Take our cover models, for example. Danny and Sonny Corbo live in Cranston, but somehow managed to fit starring roles in American Hustle into their otherwise mostly normal early childhoods. Our second Urban Parent’s Guide is all about taking little talents and turning them into
serious passions. Not in a JonBenet way, creeps. In an “it’s increasingly possible to find a career you love, not just tolerate” way. Read on to find out how to raise a little rock star, a little explorer or any one of a host of other things your kids are already on the road to becoming.
PROVIDENCE MONTHLY
Publishers Barry Fain Richard Fleischer John Howell
Publishing Director Jeanette St. Pierre @JeanetteSTP
Creative Director Julie Tremaine @JulieTremaine
Digital Editor Tony Pacitti @TonyPacitti
Managing Editor Grace Lentini @Gracie_NomNom
Editor Elyena de Goguel
Art Director Meghan H. Follett
Advertising Design Director Layheang Meas
Assistant Art Director Veatsna Sok
Graphic Designer Caitlin Musso
Account Managers Louann DiMuccio-Darwich: Louann@ProvidenceOnline.com Ann Gallagher: Ann@ProvidenceOnline.com Kristine Mangan: Kristine@ProvidenceOnline.com Dan Schwartz: DanS@ProvidenceOnline.com Elizabeth Riel: Liz@ProvidenceOnline.com Kimberly Tingle: Kim@ProvidenceOnline.com Shelley Cavoli: Shelley@ProvidenceOnline.com Stephanie Oster Wilmarth: Stephanie@ProvidenceOnline.com Contributing Photographers Amy Amerantes Stacey Doyle Ian Travis Barnard Grace Lentini Mike Braca Force 4 Photography Brian DeMello Brad Smith Contributing Illustrators Alison Blackwell Kendrah Smith
Contributor John Taraborelli
Contributing Writers Keith Andrade @AndradeK
Cristy Raposo @foxywhite03
Erin Balsa
Rebecca Remillard
Michael Clark
Bill Rodriguez
David Dadekian @dadekian
Johnette Rodriguez Jenn Salcido
Emily Dietsch
Jen Senecal @JenSenecal
Writer
Claire Flanagan
A former staffer at Providence Monthly, John
Stephanie Obodda @StephanieDoes
Molly Lederer
Taraborelli left the company to work on Jorge Elorza’s successful campaign for Mayor of Provi-
Interns Charlotte Abotsi Courtney Danforth Emily Davey Eyram Fiakpui
dence. He’s now a marketing and communications consultant for the Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism, and Project Undercover, a local non-profit that provides kids in need with socks,
John Taraborelli @JohnnyTabs
Jordan LaRose Ashlyn Mooney Morgan Pekera Nicolas Staab
Members Of:
underwear and diapers. Though he graduated from RIC, he spent his freshman year at URI, where
Audited by:
he was able to get a closer listen to WRIU and their surprisingly good hip-hop programming. “I spent
PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER. PAPER CONTAINS 20-25% POST-CONSUMER CONTENT
my high school years tuning in to WRIU’s hip-hop shows every weekday and taping songs off the ra-
Providence Monthly 1070 Main Street, Suite 302 Pawtucket RI 02860 • Fax: 401-305-3392 www.providenceonline.com providencemonthly@providenceonline.com @pvdmonthly For advertising rates call: 401-305-3391
dio,” he recalls. “The signal was weak all the way up in North Providence, but the impression it made on me was strong.”
We welcome all contributions, but we assume no responsibility for unsolicited material. No portion of this publication can be reproduced in whole or in part without prior written permission.
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Providence Monthly | April 2015
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Copyright ©2015 by Providence Monthly, All rights reserved. Printed by Gannett Offset. Distributed by Special Delivery.
w h a t ’s h a p p e n i n g o n
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April 2015 | Providence Monthly
5
historic
speCTrum-india
district
Retail, Nightlife, Restaurants & More
squires saLon
pLeasanT surprise
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297 Thayer Street | 273-1202 pleasant-surprise.com
Attractively priced dorm furnishings, eclectic fashions, exotic gifts, ready-toeat Indian entrees and more... also henna tattoos, henna parties, tarot and astrological readings all by appointment.
Squires Salon has temporarily relocated to the Moderne Salon, at Center Place, 50 Park Row West, Providence 02903. We will soon be returning to our new location at 172 E. Cushing Street across from the Nelson Fitness Center.
Pleasant Surprise has you covered for all your birthday essentials for people 1-100 years old from funny candles, tiaras , cards, candles, gifts and more... Pleasant Surprise has it!
at ThayerStreetDMA ThayerStreetDistrict.com
What’s happening
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Thayer Street saVe 365 Days-a-Year with our thayer Bicycle Benefits program
pie in The sky
kaBoB and Curry
FLaTBread Company
225 Thayer Street | 861-3954 Find us on Facebook
261 Thayer Street | 273-8844 indianrestaurantsri.com
161 Cushing Street | 273-2737 flatbreadcompany.com
Spring can’t come soon enough for most of us this year. A little Pop of Color can’t hurt. Fetching Bucket hats and scarves are in!
“Arguably the best Indian food in Rhode Island.” – Providence Journal, Live. Come in and see why this award-winning restaurant continues its tradition of excellence that started on Thayer 27 years ago.
Rock. Wood. Fire. Clay. Ash. Crisp. Stoke. Care. Friends. Thirst. Flavor. Smoke. Organic. Passion. Sweet. Sourcing. Maple. Friendly. To Bake and Serve. Real. Providence. Wood-fired Love.
For full details visit thayerstreetdistrict.com
Bring in your Bicycle helmet and get your FRee Bicycle Benefits helmet sticker today at: Pie in the Sky • Now Yoga and Fitness (2nd floor above Kartabar) • 257 Thayer Leasing Office (2nd floor above Kartabar)
save at these participating thayer street District Businesses and Restaurants year round:
FaCing Thayer BeauTy spa & BouTique 297 Thayer Street | 331-4777 facingthayer.com Offering luxurious facials, waxing, nail, & eyelash services and selling 25 different beauty lines, this is one spot you shouldn’t miss! Voted Best Day Spa.
eF Bishop group 217 Angell Street | 421-3210 efbishop.com Providing insurance & real estate solutions since 1965. Your Independent Agents representing your needs with many different companies to choose from. Real estate sales and rentals throughout RI.
BeTTer Burger Company 215-217 Thayer Street | 228-7373 bbcfoodusa.com Organic grass-fed burgers, gluten-free options, homemade sauces and fries cooked in olive oil. Breakfast served until 3pm daily. Real fruit sodas. Vegan and vegetarian options also available.
Kabob and Curry • SpectrumIndia • Kartabar • Now Yoga and Fitness • Froyoworld • City Sports • Pie in the Sky • Blue State Coffee • Antonio’s Pizza • Allegra Print & Imaging • Ben & Jerry’s • Flat Bread Company • Paragon Viva • Berk’s Shoes & Clothing • Byblos • East Side Pockets • Squires Salon & Day Spa
•••
Berks shoes & CLoThing
andrea’s
272 Thayer Street | 831-0174 Find us on Facebook
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It’s time to think Spring with a new pair of Sperry’s or Eric Michael shoes! All brands of stylish footwear for men and women, plus clothing and accessories. On Thayer for over 40 years!
Providence’s original Greek restaurant, serving authentic, homestyle recipes on Thayer Street for over 35 years. Try the chicken and lamb kabobs, lemon oregano lamb chops and souvlaki!
2nd Time around 294 Thayer Street | 455-2050 secondtimearound.net New and like-new designer consignment. From Tory Burch & Michael Kors to Chanel & Louis Vuitton, shop the best designer labels without the designer price tag!
Providence Pulse
Photography by Brad Smith
CITY / MALCONTENT / SCENE IN PVD
Locally Sourced Neighborhood Art Jori Ketten curates the 186 Carpenter creative space
Not every neighborhood has a friendly corner art space, but Jori Ketten thinks they should. Residing on a quiet corner between Broadway
and Westminster, 186 Carpenter is a space for local artists of all disciplines. Read on to see what makes this gallery so unique to Providence.
April 2015 | Providence Monthly
7
Available for Weddings & Special Events
Pulse |
City
From Page 7
Down on the Corner
186 Carpenter delivers honest art without an agenda Tucked into the quiet
Follow us on
Since 1919
corner of Battey Street and Carpenter Street sits a bright red storefront with tall windows and no identifying signage. It’s called 186 Carpenter and at first glance, it looks like a gallery – lots of floor space, soft lighting and art on the walls. But a closer peek reveals it’s more than that. Jori Ketten founded 186 Carpenter in 2011 with a friend while on the hunt for a new co-working space. Upon seeing the building Jori was smitten. The interior, which formerly housed a deli, had been completely gutted due to a fire. But something about the space called out to her. “I’m not always able to see past the way something looks to see the [final] vision,” she says. “For whatever reason in this space, it just clicked.” At first, 186 Carpenter was primarily a co-working office that held an occasional gallery show. Slowly, it grew. “We didn’t quite know what we were doing,” Jori says. “But we fell into a pattern of curating shows.” Jori now solely runs the space and curates all the shows. Currently, local artist Beth Brandon’s February: A Hex is on display. It’s an interactive installment in which attendees can watch a horror movie while working out on a NordicTrack, build
a small hut or eat a tablecloth made out of a giant pancake, depending on the day. But art shows aren’t the only form of programming here. It’s also home to Girls Rock Rhode Island and the Frequency Writing Workshop – nonprofits that hold classes, performances and readings. In addition, Rhode Island’s Resources for Human Development, an organization that provides artistic resources to developmentally disabled adults regularly stops by, using the front room as both a studio and gallery. Jori also hosts musical performances and film screenings, poetry readings, a Tuesday night chess club and a CSA pick-up May through December. Jori doesn’t take a salary, and doesn’t plan on it. That’s important to her, and central to 186 Carpenter’s mission. She says it was never about the money and was simply meant to be a welcoming space to engage the community, free of any alternative agenda. “It would be so cool if every corner had one of these spaces and they weren’t part of some master business plan.” So, stop in. See art. Play chess. Grab some fresh vegetables. And maybe eat a pancake tablecloth. 186 Carpenter St. 186carpenter.tumblr.com. –Jake Goldman
THE WHOLE MONTH OF
APRIL SALE f 173 WICKENDEN PROVIDENCE 401 421-5157 M-F 7:30-6PM SAT 8-5PM www.adlersri.com
8
Providence Monthly | April 2015
186 Carpenter’s creative space
Photography by Brad Smith
DECORATIVE HARDWARE | PAINT | WINDOW TREATMENTS & FABRICS
Pulse |
City
Vinyl Forever
Experience. Integrity. Results.
High Fidelity Holiday
Local independent shops participate in annual Record Store Day There’s always been
something undeniably cool about vinyl. I mean when was the last time someone who wasn’t a 14-year-old wearing JNCOs in 1998 bragged about their CD collection? Exactly. On Saturday, April 18 Olympic Records (580 Wickenden St.), Armageddon Shop (436 Broadway), Analog Underground (504 Broadway) and What Cheer Records & Vintage (180 Angell St.) will be participating in Record Store Day. Like a chill Black Friday for audiophiles, Record Store Day is proof that vinyl never died, it just went underground for a generation like a brood of analog cicadas, reemerging after its natural predators, the rugged cassette and the cocky Compact Disc, were proven to be no better than the 8-tracks and MiniDiscs that failed before them. Each year, major and independent labels release a slew of limited edition RSD exclusives and vinyl rereleases. Many participating shops will have a marked down selection
Party like it’s 1979 at Olympic Records
of used stock, as well as host special in-store events. Record Store Day’s goal is getting people out to local shops, not just for the business, but to engage as a community of music lovers. The people
who have worked hard to survive the decline of physical music sales aren’t just clerks, they’re curators of culture. Best Buy might carry vinyl, but can it help you get into Captain Beefheart? recordstoreday.com. –Tony Pacitti
New to You
Spring into a New Wardrobe The Wheeler School Clothing Sale returns for its 67th year With the spring months upon us, it’s time for some post-spring cleaning shopping to freshen up your life. And what better place to do so than the annual Wheeler School Clothing & More Sale? Offering everything from gentlyused, nearly-new and brand new clothing and accessories, books, toys, sporting goods and more at awesome prices, the school’s annual sale has been supporting education and giving back to the New England community for over 65 years. Net proceeds from the sale go to support financial aid for students and Breakthrough Providence,
a program for low-income, academically motivated middle school students in Providence public schools. Items remaining at the sale’s close are donated to local charities. The sale will take place in the Wheeler Madden Gym, and runs this year from April 16 through 18. Don’t miss out on an opportunity to not only get some great shopping in, but to give back to your local community. Thursday April 16, 10am-8pm; Friday April 17, 12pm-8pm; Saturday April 18, 10am4pm. The Wheeler School, 407 Brook Street, Providence. wheelerschool.org/ clothingsale. –Claire Flanagan
Call Gerri Schiffman (401) 474-3733 #1 Agent at Residential Properties Ltd. Since 1996
(401) 474-3733 gerri@residentialproperties.com
gerrischiffman.com residentialproperties.com Wheeler Clothing Sale
April 2015 | Providence Monthly
9
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Now Offering: cadillac, chair, and small Barrels: Beginner & intermediate teacher training Workshop April 11-12, April 18-19, April 25-26 visit our MindBody online event page for details
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Pulse |
ruary 27 for Can’t Buy Me Love: A single mingle and char-
A Flea in Her Ear
ity date auction to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma
Georges Feydeau
Scene in PVD
People hoping to get lucky in love headed to Vanity on Feb-
Society. The night also included a silent auction and psychic readings by Pat Olson. Photography by Mike Braca.
a hilarious farce by
March 26 – april 26 season sponsors
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April 2015 | Providence Monthly
11
SUMMER CAMPS Go to ProvidenceOnline.com for our camp directory
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Sponsored by the Brown University Department of Athletics and Brown University School of Professional Studies. BROWN UNIVERSITY SPORTS CAMPS ARE OPEN TO ANY AND ALL ENTRANTS.
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With convenient locations across the state, and camp programs based on the YMCA values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility, YMCA camps are where kids can discover what summer should be! Visit us online to learn more about all of the different programs offered at each of our 7 branches. From archery to horseback riding, day camp to overnight camp, sports to theater - there is something for just about everyone at the Y!
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EAL AP ADIO
URI’s idyllic campus remains the unlikely epicenter of hip-hop culture in Rhode Island By John Taraborelli • Photography by Brad Smith
B eing a hip-hop fan
“
Outside of purchasing tapes at the store (if they had anything in stock), college radio was the main source OF hip-hop music for me. – Sage Francis
WRIU’s DJ Nook
”
in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s required active effort. Unlike today, the music was scarcely a blip on the pop culture radar: barely played on the radio (unless it was a big crossover hit like MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This” or Young MC’s “Bust a Move”), hard to find in record stores and relegated to a couple of late night hours on TV in the form of Yo! MTV Raps. The internet wasn’t even a thing yet. If you wanted to hear the latest sounds from emerging artists like Public Enemy, Brand Nubian and A Tribe Called Quest, you had to go looking for them. So imagine my surprise one day when I was scanning through the radio dial and stumbled upon a faint, scratchy signal that caught my ear. I fiddled with the antenna, even relocated the radio itself, until the signal got a little stronger. Through the static I could make out the unmistakable sounds of the New York underground. It was 90.3 WRIU, URI’s FM station, which almost inexplicably featured three hours of real hip-hop every weekday from 3-6pm. From that day on, I stayed glued to my radio every day from after school until dinnertime, keeping a blank cassette in the tape deck so that I could hit record whenever something new and exciting came on. What I didn’t know at the time was that I wasn’t just picking up a radio signal, I was tapping into a community of hiphop fans, DJs, rappers, graffiti artists, breakdancers, club promoters and more who all gravitated around this epicenter of the local hip-hop scene, which was improbably found in idyllic Kingston. And I wasn’t alone. “In the early ‘90s, I discovered Curty Cut on WRIU. The signal was very weak where I lived, but I still have static-heavy recordings of that era,” remembers Sage Francis, a nationally known hip-hop artist and indie label owner who grew up in Woonsocket. “Outside of purchasing tapes at the
store (if they had anything in stock), college radio was the main source of hip-hop music for me.” Jim Brows, one of the current hosts of Tuesday’s “Real Rap Radio” show, discovered WRIU even earlier. “I think one of my older cousins turned me on to it,” he recalls. “I remember the first time I heard about 90.3 was at the first Fresh Fest,” the initial hip-hop tour to play major arenas with artists like Run DMC and Kurtis Blow back in the ‘80s. Indeed, the hallowed halls of URI’s Student Union, where WRIU’s studios occupy a couple of rundown rooms on the third floor, have been a haven for generations of hip-hop artists and audiences in Rhode Island. “This is a torch that has been passed since people like Curty Cut way back in the day,” says DJ Nook, the station’s current hip-hop program director and co-host of “Real Rap Radio,” of the five precious threehour time slots that make up WRIU’s hip-hop roster. Many alumni of ‘90s and early aughts shows have gone on to make careers in hip-hop. Big Stress, who co-hosted a show with Sage Francis, now occupies weeknights on Hot 106, Rhode Island’s premier “rhythmic contemporary” (more radio programmer talk) station. DJ Mekalek moved to LA and found work as a DJ and producer for artists like Wu-Tang Clan, Masta Ace (a URI grad), and his own group, Time Machine. DJ Buck is now the Program Director for Connecticut’s Hot 93.7. (As existing commercial stations like our own Kix 106 began playing more hip-hop and R&B in the ‘90s, they started adopting the “Hot” moniker, following the lead of New York City’s Hot 97, the dominant hip-hop station at the time.) DJ Nook, who started around 2003 on Wednesday’s “Sterbyrock Radio” (the station’s longest-running hiphop show at roughly 15 years), makes his full-time living as a club DJ. For people like Sage Francis, WRIU was more than just an opportunity to
get on the radio – it was a vital lifeline to music and culture that were still very much below the surface at the time, and reassurance that there was a community out there. “It introduced me to a lot of underground music that I most likely would not have heard. There was no other place to get that kind of material,” he says. “It also showed me that there were people in RI who were rapping, DJing, producing, etc. That was huge for me.” Even though WRIU is located on a college campus in South County, its primary audience and influence has always been found well north of the Tower. “Local people pay more attention to 90.3 than the students do,” notes DJ Nook. “People in the streets listen to this. People in jail depend on this, listening to it on their headphones.” He points out with pride that when publications like Motif and (until recently) the Phoenix hand out local music awards, WRIU’s roster of DJs is almost always well represented. That disconnect between the student body and its on-campus station is even more pronounced now, in the era of Internet radio, streaming music services and smart phones. “Now you have your phone, you have YouTube, you have Spotify,” explains DJ Nook. “If you want to hear a song you can just play it.” However, for many older listeners, college radio in general and WRIU specifically remain vital connection points. “It’s still kind of a lifeline for a lot of folks, particularly those who don’t really know how to traverse the internet,” says DJ Nook, who is 34. Beyond keeping people connected to hip-hop, college radio also remains a crucial platform for discovering new music and artists. “If I wasn’t with the station, I don’t know if I’d still be looking for this music,” Jim Brows, who is 40, speculates. “We’ll be the first to play a lot of records commercial radio hasn’t caught up to yet.” For instance, he points out that WRIU was the first station to play current hip-hop star Kendrick Lamar’s records to a Rhode Island audience. Indeed, everyone involved with WRIU remains bullish on the prospects for college radio in an age of
diminishing audiences for commercial stations. Bardwell, 35, who co-hosts “Real Rap Radio” with DJ Nook and Jim Brows, notes that college stations always have been and remain the antidote to the slick homogeneity of commercial radio formats. “College radio is its own genre. You’re expecting something artsy and eclectic,” he says. “You can listen to all these ideas and music, and it challenges you to appreciate it on some level.” Even smart phones, streaming music services and file sharing, which have proven a threat to commercial radio, have actually strengthened the audience for college radio. People who grew up on WRIU’s hip-hop shows and have since left the state continue to stream it on their computers. Listeners who can’t tune in live are able to download sets after the shows air. People around the world who continue to seek out real hip-hop find refuge in WRIU’s programming, and the connectivity of the internet allows them access to a community that previously only stretched as far as the limits of the station’s signal (which, on a good day, hits the tip of Long Island). “We’ve gotten shout-outs all the way from Australia to Nigeria to Sweden,” Jim Brows boasts. “People in New York look at 90.3 as a bigger deal than people right down the hall,” adds DJ Nook. As long as there’s an audience somewhere in the world, both WRIU (which is listener funded) and real hip-hop will continue to connect. And Bardwell believes there will always be another generation ready to discover them: “There are those who already know, and those who will find out. Hip-hop is here to stay, and the next generation is going to need to go find out where it is. As long as kids feel like they have a medium, they’ll be here.” Both my 34-year-old and 13-year-old selves couldn’t agree more. Want to support WRIU? Listen and contribute during the next Radiothon from March 22-29. www.wriu.org
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[The|Urban|Parent’s|Guide] to Raising Little Superstars Whether your kid has a flair for the dramatic, an artistic streak, a need to rock the house or the uncanny ability to literally climb the walls, encourage their talents and put that energy to good use. Here’s how. by Julie Tremaine • Illustrations by Alison Blackwell
Raising a Little Rock Star Let them rock the house…
Little Star,” you’re going to lose it. Leave the early musical education to rock a Baby, which teaches kids the basics of sound: with puppets named Melody, Rhythm and Harmony, no less. Each week, Rock a Baby’s class explores a new musical theme with toddlers and pre-schoolers, through dance and live and recorded music. Sessions happen throughout MA and RI – locally, at the Jewish Community Center on the East Side. The curriculum was designed by Marc Trachtenberg, an NYU-taught music educator, and gives little ones the fundamentals in hand and body movement, rhythm and improvisation with kid-friendly instruments. 401 Elmgrove Avenue. rock-a-baby.net
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Shred it Like SLaSh When we were kids, the only options for learning a musical instrument were boring after-school lessons in the auditorium (I still shudder at the memory of dragging a sax that weighed as much as I did back and forth on the bus) or learning the basics from a dusty old lady on an even dustier piano. Imagine what stars we all could have been if School of rock had been around back then. The superawesome music school offers rock and rolloriented lessons in vocals, guitar, drums, bass and piano/keyboard, and instead of recitals, they host full-on concerts, like the recent Prince vs. Michael Jackson show at Fête. 1295 Fall River Avenue, Seekonk. 508-557-0213, seekonk.schoolofrock.com GirLS ruLe, BoyS drooL We all remember saying this as kids (or saying this yesterday to other adults… whatever, don’t judge). But getting the message across to little ladies that they’re smart, creative and can do anything they put their minds to is easier said than done. That’s where Girls Rock RI comes in. Their mission is to empower girls through music and positive messaging. Their Girls rock Camp is a week in the summer for girls age 11-16 that not only is an intensive week of music lessons culminating in a showcase performance, but also offers workshops on important topics like Image & Identity, Performance Anxiety & Body Confidence, Songwriting and The History of Ladies Who Rock. Throughout the year, they offer a Girls Get Loud after school program on the West Side, and weekly music lessons. 186 Carpenter Street. girlsrockri.org
thiS iS BaCh, and it roCkS Anyone who’s seen a performance by the rhode island Philharmonic knows that there are many different ways to rock out – and many different centuries of music to rock out to. The RI Philharmonic Music School is a place where classically-minded kids go in, and little virtuosos come out. They offer private lessons in virtually any instrument starting at age six and Suzuki-method training at age four, but their classes, like Soundplay: Exploring Your Child’s Musical World, are for newborns and toddlers, too. 667 Waterman Avenue, East Providence. 248-7001, ri-philharmonic.org twiSt and Shout Sure, your kids love lullabies, but if you have to squeak out one more tone-deaf rendition of “Twinkle, Twinkle
SinG their heartS out There’s singing into a hairbrush, and then there are Lady Gaga-level living room performances, complete with costume changes. If your kid is more Beyonce than Tom Brady, let them sing their hearts out at the rhode island Children’s Chorus. The audition-only singing group welcomes kids ages 7-17, and performs choral music all over the state. In May, they’re performing Carmina Burana with the Providence Singers and the RI Philharmonic Orchestra - like, that kind of serious musical chops. There are six different choirs that practice in different areas of RI: the Training Chorus, Lyric Chorus and Principal Chorus all meet in East Providence. richildrenschorus.org
RI Philharmonic Music School
April 2015 | Providence Monthly
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Providence Monthly | April 2015
FOOD CONVERSATION MEDITATION
exaMine LittLe BrainS Kids’ brains are little wonders. Why exactly do they learn what they learn when they learn it? And how does your toddler know more about using an iPad than you do? kid think at Providence College is a long-term study in the inner workings of children’s brains. What they do is work with local families, bringing them in for sessions during which researchers play pretend games and read stories with kids. It all sounds very scientific (read: too smart for most of us) but kids find it really fun, and parents can feel like they’re adding to the future understanding of children… because, hey, someone should. 1 Cunningham Square. 865-2342, facebook.com/kidthink
Make SCienCe Fun Not since Mr. Wizard has learning about science been this fun. the young Scientists Club, based in Jamestown, makes mail-order learning kits about different scientific topics. There’s a Young Scientists Series for ages 5-12, a Magic School Bus series, a Clifford the Big Red Dog series, an adventure series and a nature series. With lessons ranging from “Volcanoes” to “Magic Science,” there’s definitely something to spark any kid’s interest. Remember, kids love getting stuff in the mail – you’ll love that they’re getting stuff in the mail that makes learning fun. theyoungscientistsclub.com
FeeL Like a kid aGain The Providence Children’s Museum is a fun place to foster a new love of science, as long as you call it something other than “science.” Their new exhibit, Water Ways, is a water play environment that allows kids to send items into vortexes, transform water into mist, sculpt ice and form fountains. Underland is an imaginative exhibit of critters and their underground passageways. In nicer weather, the Children’s Garden allows kids to have lunch outdoors and learn about native plant species. And the Iway exhibit allows future city planners to imagine a new highway plan for Providence - ostensibly in the hopes that, unlike what’s happening with the Planning Commission, someone will actually figure it out. 100 South Street. 273-5437, childrenmuseum.org
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Raising a Little Genius Because the next Einstein obviously lives
Make the MuSeuM CoMe to you Don’t travel to Boston to visit a science museum – make the museum come to you. the rhode island Museum of Science and art is a traveling museum that pops up all over the state, taking their mobile exhibits from schools to big public events like WaterFire. RIMOSA’s installations offer “open ended” experiences that encourage kids to think creatively about science, art and the world around them – like the Zoetrope where they can make moving pictures, or the Rainbow Drums where they can make sweet music from different sized tubes. rimosa.org
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teaCh theM to aPPreCiate the Finer thinGS Spot ads: 2.125" x 2.875" Fine art appreciation is a learned skill, and one you don’t February 25, 2015 necessarily associate with early education. The riSd Museum makes it easy to start your kids on the path to cultural March 3, 2015 Providence Monthly, April Issue enlightenment early, with their family programming. The museum offers a Young Explorer’s Guide to engage kids March 6, 2015 Bay Magazine, April issue with art, and tips for parents on how to talk to little ones March 10, 2015 Island, April Issue Learn SO The 3Rhode Major Tricks about learning to express their artistic opinions. Tours for Played On Injured Workers! Tots are interactive themed tours for families with kids age three and up, including story time and gallery activities. Art enrichment classes like See and Sketch and Open Studio are offered for slightly older kids. Admission is free on Sundays. 20 North Main Street. 454-6500, risdmuseum.org
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Providence Monthly | April 2015
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The literary history is in the air: literally, there are statues of famous writers looking down from the second floor balcony. The Sayles Gorham Children’s Library inside the Athenaeum is the perfect place for little minds to get lost in the magic of books. Events include regular story hours, Nature Days with the Zoo, where Roger Williams critters take over the library, and Family Movie Nights. The multitasking Ms. Z’s Story and Craft Hour, on Wednesdays after school, gets all of the creativity flowing at once. 251 Benefit Street. 4216970, providenceathenauem.org Get Sew into it So maybe you’re not a Martha Stewart-level goddess of the home. That’s ok, even Martha Herself has a team helping her be the paragon of domestic perfection that she is. If your little ones want to learn to sew but you’re out of your depth, leave it to the crafty ladies at kreatelier, the Hope Street textile gift shop and interior design firm. Line and Pernilla offer Sewing Workshops on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Simply choose your project, from simple one-hour stuffed animals to two-hour weekend tote bags, schedule a time and voila. Little domestic gods and goddesses in the making. 804 Hope Street. 432-7995, kreatelier.com heLP theM Find their inner PiCaSSo... ...But maybe without that moody “blue period.” Tucked away on a side street in Mount Hope is a colorful center for creativity: the east Side art Center. An educational resource that promises “studio – not academic – learning,” the Center works in semesters and offers visual art instruction for adults and kids. The spring semester starts this month, and offers kids’ instruction in age groups ranging from 5-6 years old for the kidstART introduction to Drawing and Painting for Kids age 11-15. 26 Rochambeau Avenue. 331-2021, eastsideartcenter.com Get draMatiC Think of it this way: if you encourage them to get it all out at the artists’ exchange, they might be too tired to throw tantrumy meltdowns over literally nothing at home. The Cranston haven for once and future artists brings together art, music and theatre. Current class offerings include Upcycled Art for Kids, Fantasy Art, Little Picasso’s Reading and Art, Stop Motion Animation and Music Together. The attached Cafe 82 cafe, where you can sit with a coffee and enjoy a blissful hour of you-time during their lessons, is just a bonus. 50 Rolfe Square, Cranston. 490-9475, artists-exchange.org Stir thinGS uP Face it, somebody in your house needs to learn how to cook a decent dinner – and if it isn’t you yet, it probably never will be. Let Petite Chef teach your kids the fundamentals of healthy cooking and eating, so that you’ll be able to survive if your pizza delivery guy up and quits. The Warwick kitchen also offers birthday parties and events surrounding holidays, like their Sweets for Your Sweeties class at Valentine’s Day. 160 Greenwich Avenue, Warwick. 884-2426, petitechef.net
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Raising a Little Athlete Break them away from the video games and teach them to love being active
eMPowerMent throuGh exerCiSe The discipline that it takes to participate in serious sports teaches a lot more to a kid than how to kick a ball. Girls on the run, though, takes it one step further. (See what I did there?) The group, for girls in third through eighth grade, focuses on lessons about health, happiness, empowerment and self-awareness through running games and conversation-based lessons. Sessions last ten weeks, and there’s an all-ages Girls on the Run 5k/10k on May 31 in downtown Providence. gotrri.org Let theM run Free There are kids who are into sports, and then there are hardcore fitness fanatics who have dreams of being professional athletes. If your kids put your exercise regiment to shame, sign them up for unleashed, an indoor obstacle fitness and training center in Warwick. Unleashed Kids lets them swing from ropes, hang from monkey bars, dodge tire obstacles and literally climb the walls. When they get home, they might even be too tired to force you outside to throw a ball around. 5 Soule Street, Warwick. 732-0010, unleashedusa.com Get theM MovinG Some kids don’t need to be convinced that physical fitness is fun. Some, well, need some encouragement. The yMCa offers tons of fun activities that are healthy, too – like Family Swim, dance classes for preschool through teen, karate and basketball leagues. The Join for Me: Healthy Weight for Kids and Teens helps teach them how to maintain a healthy lifestyle and make better choices about food and activity levels. ymcagreaterprovidence.org
tee theM oFF Soccer, baseball, basketball, dance… it’s easy to find an outlet for the most kid-friendly athletics. Golf, though, is increasingly becoming less of an adults-only game. Button hole Golf offers programs, clinics and classes for the littlest putters, starting at age five. They learn the history of the game, as well as skills, etiquette and how to shave three strokes off their game through sheer exaggeration. 1 Buttonhole Drive. 421-1664, buttonhole.org Find SoMe inner PeaCe If your house has less of a “peace and quiet” vibe than a “screaming and running around” one, you won’t get any judgment here. But if you’re looking to cultivate a little zen at home, you might want to head to Meditation for Kids and Families at the atisha kadampa Buddhist Center. Every Sunday morning from 9:30-10:30, Angela Stewart leads a family meditation session that’s as fun as it is enlightening, teaching kids how to develop “harmony, confidence and methods to calm their minds and be happy.” Classes include discussion about everyday experiences relevant to little ones, guided meditation and fun activities. Remember, winning is 90% mental and 10% physical. 339 Ives Street. 400-1657, meditationinrhodeisland.com
Raising a Little Explorer Have them take a closer look at the natural world around them
exPLore the CoSMoS If you’ve never been to Providence’s Museum of natural history and Planetarium in Roger Williams Park, your kid is not on the path to being the next Neil deGrasse Tyson. Change that with just one visit. The museum itself is a treasure trove of natural wonders and historic scientific artifacts. Current exhibits include Seismic Shifts: Earth Through Time and Secrets from the Vaults: Ancient Objects and Hidden Treasures. Planetarium shows happen every Saturday and Sunday at 2pm. 1000 Elmwood Avenue. 785-9457, providenceri.com/museum Gaze at the StarS If you weren’t at least a little fascinated with constellations when you were a kid, there’s probably something wrong with you. Teach your kids how to see the sky in a different way at Brown university’s Ladd observatory. The East Side observatory has been used for research and observation by the school’s Physics department since 1891. Tuesday evenings from 7-9pm, it’s open to the public for
observation. If your kids see aliens, though, Brown also has a psychology department. 210 Doyle Avenue. 863-2323, brown.edu/Departments/Physics/Ladd traverSe the troPiCS Ok, fine. Some kids aren’t going to be super excited about visiting the roger williams Park Botanical Center. But little botanists in training will be fascinated by the hundreds of native and tropical plant species, many of which you can’t see anywhere else locally. The biggest botanical garden in New England also offers scavenger hunts for kids who might otherwise be bored enough to stick their fingers in the Venus Fly Trap. 1000 Elmwood Avenue. 785-9450, providenceri.com/ botanical-center dive riGht in Save the Bay has been teaching kids and adults about the ecology and preservation of Narragansett Bay for 30 years. Connect your future Jacques Cousteau to local marine life through the offerings at their Save the Bay Center in Providence (there’s also an Exploration Center on First Beach in Newport). Seal Watch and Lighthouse tours leave from Providence, especially during April Vacation week, and the center has Bay Exploration summer camps. 100 Save The Bay Drive. 272-3540, savebay.org a new kind oF aMuSeMent Park Your kids will never know the joy of Rocky Point as an amusement park… or the terror of riding those poorly maintained rides. (Seriously, if you didn’t get hurt on The Scrambler, you were doing it wrong.) But they can know the joy of the rocky Point open area, which is part walking path and part nature preserve. Part of the park has been open for a couple of years, but the Rocky Point Foundation is predicting that the entire area will be open this fall, hopefully including ferry service to Colt State Park in Bristol. 130 Rocky Point Avenue, Warwick. rockypointfoundation.org
Parkside Rotisserie and Bar | 76 South Main Street | Providence, RI 02903 | (401) 331-0003
www.parksideprovidence.com
April 2015 | Providence Monthly
25
THE HIT NEW YORK COMEDY COMES TO PROVIDENCE, RI & ARLINGTON, MA! From the Producers of MY MOTHER’S ITALIAN, MY FATHER’S JEWISH & I’M IN THERAPY! & MY SON THE WAITER, A JEWISH TRAGEDY!
Philip Roger Roy and Dana Matthow present
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By Daniel Okrent & Peter Gethers Like rye bread, kosher pickles and bagels, this show is for everyone! You’ll laugh ‘til you plotz. ADULT HUMOR - RECOMMENDED FOR 17+
Opens April 15th in Both Cities! “Hilarious! ... Magnificent, Enduring Rhythm of Jewish Humor!”
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City Style
AT HOME / SHOP TALK / THE LOOK / BEAUTY / GET FIT About the Homeowners Reg and Vicki Gohh both work at Rhode Island Hospital. They live on the East Side of Providence in a turn of the century home.
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Photography by Grace Lentini
All About Architecture 1. In the late ‘50s, this basement was cut up into a dental office with tiny exam rooms. Red House Custom Building designed a space that we could use as a home gym and media room, and during the demolition process they uncovered an original, structural arch. We didn’t know we would find these architectural details. 2. They also uncovered a wonderful brick foundation that highlighted the home’s original detailing and substantial structure. Both the arch and brick wall were reincorporated into the new design. 3. The arched window was stripped and restored to original working order and really provides enough natural light for the space. 4. The fireplace is one
of four original to the home. We use all the other fireplaces in the house, so it’s nice to have and adds to the ambiance of the room. 5. Original owner, Harold T. Merriman, had sketched a plan of the home’s surrounding property in 1899. It’s interesting to see what he had planned to do with the house. 6. The high paneled wainscot that Red House incorporated wasn’t part of the original architecture, but it perfectly mimics the late 1800’s battered paneling found under several wall layers during demo. 7. The LED accent lighting was installed behind the top cap of the wainscot. I think it certainly adds to the ambience of the room and gives it a warm glow.
April 2015 | Providence Monthly
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Unique City living with historic charm
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Providence Monthly | April 2015
Black & White, Sepia, Color, on Paper or Canvas
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City Style |
The Look
Ruth Clark Artist
by Jeanette St. Pierre
Featuring New with Tags Clothing & Accessories
Describe your personal style. I tend to wear whatever I feel most like myself in – whatever sings to my body and feels most comfortable and beautiful. When I’m shopping for clothes, I try to tune in and decide if it feels like me. It seems simple, but there’s nothing worse than impulse buying a garment and wearing it once, only to discover you feel awful in it! You can usually find me in flowy tops, lots of skirts, big scarves and gold jewelry, with messy wild hair. A lot of my stuff is thrifted, too, which I love. I feel like my personal style is always growing and shifting. You juggle many artistic projects and a day job. Tell me more. I run an Etsy shop called Wilderness Design, where I sell hand-lettered products and take custom orders for tattoo design, business branding and more. I write at ruthpclark.com where I have a lifestyle blog. I also do some photography, mainly shooting babies and family portraits in documentary style. My full-time job is at Brown University, where I’m the Outreach and Program Coordinator for the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice. I really enjoy traveling, being out in nature, seeing live music and hanging out with my friends over cups of tea. My mission is to inspire love through honest words and heartfelt design, and to support others in knowing that we are never truly alone. How does your style enable you to wear so many hats, so to speak? My style really feels more like an intuitive thing. I base my choices on what feels most authentic and true to myself. And I think this carries over to all of my jobs and interests – I go with my gut and listen to my heart, doing my best to carve out a life that feels good to me. Tell me about your outfit. I love this outfit – simple, not very complicated and really comfortable. The boho blouse and high-waisted jeans are from Target and Gap – I get a lot of inexpensive staples there. The gray sweater I’ve had forever, and the black booties are my go-to shoes. And I’m in love with that gold necklace, thrifted from [recently closed] MINT.
Photography by Ian Travis Barnard
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I, too, am a fan of red lipstick. Do you wear it every day, or as your outfit or mood dictates? I definitely don’t wear it every day, especially in the winter when my lips tend to be drier. I do love it though, and wear it a couple of times a week for a pop of color. It’s just enough to give me a pop of energy and confidence, too.
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City Style |
Get Fit
By Jen Senecal
Grab Life By the Pole
Feel empowered while spicing up your fitness routine As a woman in
Mister Sister Erotica CelebraTing 6 YearS!
Get fit with pole dancing at JMK Entertainment
warmed our worries. And then we began. Starting with the basic hand holds (who knew there were so many ways to grab onto a pole), we worked our way through beginner moves. Each move tested our cores, leg grip ability and upper-body strength. As we swung around by the back of our knees and ankles, flailed our legs high into kicks, slinked to the ground and all around, and got the moves down, we incorporated a dance routine, as though we were performing on a stage that we hoped no one was watching. As I continued to face the challenges of the routine and the pole, I realized that with some time and work, this could easily move from clumsy and jagged to sensual and satisfying, all while giving you one hell of a workout. In the second half of class, Jennifer presented us with goodies – inverted moves. The ones that you needed to trust your partner to hold you up when you needed holding up and to let you fall when you needed to fall. You also needed to not bruise yourself in 32 places as you gracefully flung your legs over your head. We worked on a move called the elevator, which used a tight, close grip of the arms and a swift kick up of both legs, wrapping them around the pole while slowly slithering your body
down to the ground. Without breaking your head. As I watched Jennifer demonstrate her techniques, I was struck by how flexible, beautiful, graceful and strong she looked. I could see how much hard work she had put into her dance and pole career to portray such beauty. And I could see the light that shone out of her from fully immersing herself in an empowering and ass-kicking lifestyle she loves. Pole dancing is tough. And not so sexy the first time you try it. But I’m confident that with practice and persistence, you can easily become more fluid and with that fluidity and confidence, your whole inside will shine. Any fitness routine that combines sport, sexy, art and strength is one that I’ll gladly add into my week of carpool, homework, meetings and house chores. If there is one last thing I’ve learned in my late 30s, it’s that you should try everything at least once.
exercise safely during each trimester of pregnancy and after childbirth. ohbabyfitnessri.com
check out the 2nd annual F.I.T epic OCR Challenge on Diamond Hill State Park on April 11. A top notch 5K course boasts 30+ obstacles, challenging terrain and an amazing experience in this trending arena of fit racing. fitchallenge.org
JMK Entertainment 461 Main Street, A1 Pawtucket 305-3400 jmkennedyentertainment.com
More Toys than the Devil has Sinners
Mon 12pm-8pm, Tue-Thur 11-9 Fri-Sat 11-10, Sun 12-8
Order Online mistersistertoys.com 268 Wickenden Street Providence • 421- 6969
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Providence Monthly | April 2015
FIT NEWS Exercise for Motherhood One of those most physically challenging feats of life is bringing a child into this world. Join Oh Baby! Fitness RI on April 7 at Babies R Us in Warwick for a free educational workshop on how to
Epic OCR If obstacle course racing is your thing,
Photography by Amy Amerantes
Nominated Best Erotic Boutique in U.S., AVN Awards 2012
my late 30s, I’ve learned a thing or two when it comes to fitness and physical activity. Strength refers to mental fortitude just as much as it does to what size dumbbell you’re throwing around. Progress is measured by what you can do, or feats you have overcome, rather than what your abs look like. And, perhaps the most satisfying unveiling of them all is that there is boundless beauty, sexiness, sensuality and empowerment in taking care of your body and mind. Especially when you rock a workout that allows it not only to be acknowledged, but also embraced. The minute my girlfriends and I scheduled a private pole-dancing class with Jennifer Kennedy at JMK Entertainment, I began to count down the minutes. I also began to count the ways I would possibly injure myself by hanging from a pole with nothing more than the back of my knee and a prayer. Walking through the doors of the oversized loft space, tucked away in an unassuming Pawtucket corner, the 20 or so floor-to-ceiling shiny poles greeted us in a way that a person meets their partner on a blind date – you don’t really know much about each other, but you’re about to become very familiar within the next hour. Jennifer introduced herself to us and on her passion for movement. A native Englander finding her way to America in 1976 via the Caribbean, she has jived as a dance instructor for over 30 years, adding pole dancing to her repertoire nine years ago. At almost 60 (and looking decades younger with a rock solid body that rivals the fittest of the fit), Jennifer has found her fountain of youth in the art of dance – especially dance that lands you directly in front of (and on top of) a pole in her studio. Apprehensively, we all took our places. Taking us through a stretching routine, Jennifer loosened our limbs and
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April 2015 | Providence Monthly
31
City Style |
Shop Talk
By Claire Flanagan
Art Wear
RISD grads open up a boutique
The Flea rcturns In June JUNE 7 - SEPTEMBER 15
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream Friday March 27th 10:00 am Friday March 27th 7:30 pm Saturday March 28th 1:30 pm
Roberts Auditorium Rhode Island College
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401. 334. 2560 www. stateballet. com Sponsored in part by:
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Providence Monthly | April 2015
The Lore Collection in the Arcade is chock full of new and emerging artists’ wares
Nestled in a corner of the Arcade is a brand new treasure trove of delightful art pieces, Lore Collection. Artists Marge Hinge and Jayna Aronovitch formed the collection in order to create a space where local artists could display and sell their work. The warm and cozy space is filled with eye-catching pieces, from colorful prints and photos to jewelry and hand-knitted sweaters and scarves. The space is tight, but perfectly packed with goodies and even has a little dressing room so you can try things on. “We sell everything from fine artwork to artisan textiles, jewelry design and furniture design as well,” explains Jayna, “[It’s] really high-end handmade quality.” Currently, the space features wares from 27 emerging local artists and designers. The room and everything in it have an awesome earthy feel – with all handcrafted furniture for sale and used to display other pieces, cute canvas bags, refurbished antique cameras, handcarved rock jewelry and intriguing prints of trees and flowers. “We started mostly with our friends,” says Marge on the artists featured in the collection. “We know so many creative people who aren’t putting themselves out there really, so we wanted to make a space where we can feature and focus on them.” The idea for the collection came to Marge and Jayna about a year ago and resulted in a ten-day holiday pop up shop in the retail space of the Columbus Theatre this past December. They curated the space based on the works and styles of different artists that really spoke to them and their tastes – similar to what the store looks like today, but with a touch more of a holiday theme – “a modernist aesthetic,” suggests Jayna
of the feel of the space. The reception of the pop up shop was so good that Marge and Jayna decided to showcase the collection in the Arcade. The emphasis is on pieces that are fresh and exciting – “stuff that’s accessible, but still pushing the envelope,” as Jayna says, pointing out a gorgeous necklace with a pendant made from cast cactus skeleton with an embedded raw sapphire, “Much more creative things than you’d see in your general jewelry shop. We’re trying to bring more of a higher end gallery-type work to the general public,” Marge adds. The store certainly does have an art gallery feel to it – well lit and lined with beautiful prints and pieces that you could wander around and admire for great lengths of time. And what’s more, if you find something you love, you can take it home with you! I was particularly drawn to Marge’s work that’s featured in the store – necklaces, rings and earrings made from hand-carved semi-precious stones. The necklaces are simple yet funky – a silver chain with a different, colorful jagged rock pendant. Check out the collection’s website for more information and profiles on the featured artists and designers whose work you can find at Lore. Or swing by the Lore space and maybe you’ll find something amazing to add a little fun edge to your wardrobe or home.
Lore Collection 65 Weybosset Street, Unit 114 315-725-5270 lorecollection.com
Photography by Amy Amerantes
EVERY SUNDAY
19 SANDERSON RD SMITHFIELD RI 02917 (401) 949.4849
ARCADE PROVIDENCE 65 WEYBOSSET ST #112 PROVIDENCE RI 02903 (401) 749.4849
April 2015 | Providence Monthly
33
l
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We
to RISD A P PA R E L DESIGN R U N WAY SHOW
Saturday May 9 2 pm 7 pm
COL LEC TION 15 Providence Performing Arts Center
ia Triv s t en res esday p s ia n ent Triv Wed s e e r p ery bon ent 1am ale pm ev m h n -W e-8 rtai - 8pm e y t a g n t E sd h lla am e Nig dne he Vi e e r t e W @T s ok nc und s Kara e o d S i ' ov i.com ay illage r d n P V Su The er ch t, g e a e l tr evil for Brun S y d h on • t Sunda ner m & 2 ich -722 aturday nch/Din Friday R S Lu 8 3 ay37 1-22 am-3pm 0pm for esd n d 40 pen 10 3pm-1 0pm We inner O 1 /D am- Lunch 1 1 n for Ope
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Providence Monthly | April 2015
get tickets ppacri.org
risdapparel.com
Beauty
by Julie Tremaine
Back to Basics
A lesson in hair care at Suite Tart
The Real Estate Collaborative Buying or Selling? Plan for success and contact us today! Our Team Works We Help You Sell Your House. We Help You Buy A Home. We Love What We Do.
David Hasslinger 401.465.8625
Illustration by Kendrah Smith
The thing is,
we think we know how to take care of our hair. Wash it, brush it, style it, repeat… right? But it turns out there’s a lot more to hair care at home than that – and of all the haircuts in all the gin joints in all the world that I’ve had, not one stylist has ever given me a home care lesson. Not until I went to Lulu Locks’s Hair Care 101 at her West Side salon, Suite Tart. Her motto is “be a bombshell” – and just like you can’t wear red lipstick well on dry lips, you can’t have bombshell hair if it’s not healthy. I was lucky that the snow stopped everyone else from joining the class, so I got a solo lesson for the first in the Tart’s new series of hair classes. The next one is Better Blowdries ($20) on April 2. (For the record, that’s the beginning and end of my list of good things about the snow this winter.) I’m a regular at Suite Tart to get my curly hair blown straight, so I know the drill – except this time, Lulu sat me down in her chair instead of the sink. “We’re going to brush your hair,” she said, explaining that frequent, gentle brushing is the key to a healthy (flake free) scalp. “That 100 brush strokes a day thing is for a reason. Your curls stop scalp oil, the best natural moisturizer, from distributing evenly to the ends of your hair. So you’ll look like Diana Ross for a minute, and then you’ll see the difference.” And I have to say, I did. She dry brushed my curls out with a boar bristle brush, which is best for detangling, and frequent sprays of Alfaparf’s Cristalli spray, which smooths and moisturizes. Did I say dry brushed? I meant painlessly dry brushed, which any curly girl knows is a miracle worthy of sainthood. Then, during my wash as Lulu repaired my dry winter damage with Alfaparf
Semi di Lino Frizz Control shampoo and butter mask, she asked me, “see how there aren’t any tangles to wash out? A pre-brush is good for your scalp, but it’s also great for your wash, too.” As she blew out my hair using Semi di Lino Frizz Control cream, Lulu went over the basics of choosing brushes. It turns out, there are different ones for different kinds of brushing. (For the record, I own precisely one and I hate it. Every time I buy a new one, I hate it for a different reason.) She explained that while boar brushes are great for detangling and smoothing, they’re best for dry hair. The ceramic vent brush by KareCo that she was using to blow out my hair is a better choice for wet hair, and doesn’t have any of those embellishments on the handle that snag your hair. Lulu finished my hair with more of the moisturizing Cristalli spray, explaining that lots of moisture, both natural and from a bottle, is the best way to prevent styling damage. I especially needed that at the end of this near-endless winter. I finished my lesson with a promise to dry brush once a week, and with a pop of color from a retro-fabulous headband from Blvck Market on Block Island. It was exactly the pick me up I needed.
Suite Tart 150 Broadway 272-8278 suitetart.com
Rebecca Mayer 401.447.8040
Beth Mazor
508.878.3929
Check Out Our Reviews on Zillow
THE PRE-THEATER D E S T I N AT I O N S I N C E 2 0 0 9
SPECIAL THREE COURSE THEATER MENU
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City Style |
Pressed for time? Come back after the show & enjoy your dessert course
Complimentary Valet Parking
April 1 Lulu’s Birthday at the Dean Hotel A fundraiser for Gloria Gemma April 2 Better Blowouts Class
311 Westminster St, PVD
401•521•3333
a s p i re re s e a s o n a l k i tc h e n .co m
April 2015 | Providence Monthly
35
Alumni RECEPTION Ceramics March 27, 5 – Exhibition 9pm at ArtProv Gallery
March 10 – April 3 Functional and sculptural work by 19 Maine College of Art alumni as well as the work of faculty members Mark Johnson, Lucy Breslin, Marian Baker and Kari Radasch ’97 Juried by: Susan Dewsnap
RECEPTION
March 27, 5 – 9pm and Ceramic Inspirations
March 10 – May 22 Featuring: Suzanne Hill, Linda Huey and Jan Jacque
150 Chestnut Street 3rd Floor Providence, RI 02903 For hours, please visit ArtProvidence.com or call 401-641-5182.
A TUCKED AWAY RETREAT
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Providence Monthly | April 2015
Feast
Photography by Stacey Doyle
IN THE KITCHEN / oN THE mENu / rEvIEw / IN THE drINK
East Meets Westminster Chirashi plate at Sushi Yama
Losing New Japan in 2008 was a blow to Providence's dining scene, but chef Yukio Hiyama has returned. Small, simple and cozy, Sushi Yama delivers on the reputation Chef Hiyama was known for. Better brush up on your chopstick technique.
April 2015 | Providence Monthly
37
Feast |
review
By Stephanie Obodda
Raw Talent
A beloved chef returns with Sushi Yama in mourning the closing of New Japan when its building on Washington Street was demolished in 2008. New Japan had been a fixture for decades and an unpretentious, steady favorite. Now, seven years later, sushi chef Yukio Hiyama has returned with Sushi Yama. Sushi Yama occupies the old Flan Y Ajo location on Westminster Street. Though the renovations seem minimal, it has a calmness and simplicity, and is now entirely seated. Our dinner was off to a great start with the Miso Soup ($3.50). Most Japanese restaurants serve a cookiecutter miso soup, so this creative version made its mark. Along with the seaweed, we discovered transparent icicle-shaped daikon and three types of locally grown mushrooms, probably pioppino, enoki and sliced shittake. The miso soup wasn’t the only personalized touch that set Sushi Yama apart. We immediately noticed the coat rack, a grove of real trees. Then the symmetrical chopsticks, smooth and tapered on both ends. After we
settled in, the soundtrack of jazz standards. With our miso soup, we enjoyed a can of Orion Premium Draft, a rice lager from Okinawa ($4.50). The restaurant’s beverage menu includes a variety of beer, wine and sake. BYOB beer and wine is allowed, but corkage fees are fairly high and the selection is good, so you might as well stick to the menu. The Three Salad Tasting Plate ($6) offered an opportunity to experience a variety of flavors and textures. The eponymous ingredient in Wakame Salad is the translucent, emeraldgreen seaweed found in most miso soups. Our Sweet and Sour Pickles were long, slim, tangy spears of radish and carrot. Hijiki seaweed is dried and almost black with a deep, earthy taste complemented by the sprinkle of lemon zest. The three salads can also be ordered a la carte ($3-$5). Don’t skip the Small Plates; we had two. The Rhode Island Lobster ($9) was loosely mixed with chunks of ripe avocado and dressed with a wasabi-
Sea urchin nigiri
soy sauce. This sweet lobster was sourced from Narragansett Bay lobsters out of Point Judith. The Gyoza ($6) are available in a vegetarian and a pork version. We ordered the latter,
Gyoza
made with pork from Pat’s Pastured. For such a small spot, Sushi Yama has a good selection of sake on the menu. We started with the Nanbu Bijin “Special” Tokubetsu Junmai ($19.50/10oz), which had a wonderfully fresh flavor. With this, my husband ordered the Sashimi Maki Combo ($20). This combo had six pieces of sashimi (that’s sliced raw fish, for the uninitiated) and two spicy or vegetable sushi rolls. The sashimi included two each of yellowtail, tuna and salmon, and he chose spicy salmon and spicy tuna for his rolls. Instead of the usual monochrome spicy rolls, these were bright with avocado, asparagus and tobiko. I had the Chirashi ($18), a feast of sashimi over rice. My sashimi included salmon, tuna, yellowtail, shrimp and uni (sea urchin), with a garnish of salmon roe, a favorite. All of our fish was very fresh and well prepared. My only complaint surfaced at this point in our meal – the counter height added in the renovation prevents diners at the bar from seeing the chef’s operation. I always enjoyed watching the cooking behind that same counter
ONE MORE BITE: A sake-informed staff member explained that Tokubetsu Junmai is an indication of the extensive milling of the rice and the lack of added alcohol. The more the rice is milled, the finer and purer the sake. 38
Providence Monthly | April 2015
Photography by Stacey Doyle
We were not alone
Upscale Mexican Cuisine on Historic Federal Hill
3 Course Dinner Monday thru Thursday
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talulah.cooper a jewelry boutique
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The Best Noodle Soup in Town
50 Ann Mary Street, Pawtucket
Photography by Stacey Doyle
Spicy rolls
when it was Flan Y Ajo, and seeing an expert sushi chef at work is a special treat. But this is a small complaint for a great meal. Not ready to end the night, we ordered two Tobiko Nigiri with Quail Egg ($4.50 each). I attempted to buy Chef Hiyama a sake for his hard work, but he coyly suggested that he was too young and recommended one for us instead: the Kiku-Masamune “Chrysanthemum” Futsushu ($6/6oz). This comes in a drink-ready glass (complete with pull-off top for emergency sake imbibing) and is usually a single portion, but was a good size to split when you’re winding down. The tobiko would have been a satisfying ending, but we were easily talked into an ice cream dish ($5) with small
scoops of lychee, peach, green tea and sesame (the last was my favorite). New Japan always impressed, so I was expecting the quality of the fish and the chef’s work. I was, however, astonished by how well the small space worked for its new tenant. The size was chic rather than cramped, and made our meal feel like a special secret. This is the perfect venue for Chef Hiyama to tiptoe out of retirement and quietly delight his dedicated fans.
Sushi Yama 225a Westminster Street Providence 932-2450 sushiyamaprovidence.com
(off N. Main) In former Shaw’s Plaza 365-6278 • phohorns.com
Mon-Thur 11am-10pm Fri-Sat 11am-11pm Sun 11am-9pm
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Celebrating more than 25 years of door-slamming hilarity, this comic gem will leave you in stitches. For tickets, call 401.921.6800 or visit OceanStateTheatre.org
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April 2015 | Providence Monthly
39
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40
Providence Monthly | April 2015
| 117 Parade Street, Providence, Ri
Feast |
In the Kitchen
By Grace Lentini
A New Brew
NYC transplants add to third wave coffee shops in Pvd
Rhode Island Hospital Pulmonary Research Program Conducting a Clinical Trial of an Investigational Drug for
Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) Qualified participants will receive, at no cost: • Study medication • Study related assessments and tests • Consultation with an IPF physician
What’s your philosophy when it comes to where you source from? John Paul: If we don’t do local, we’ll do something organic or sustainable. We truly do the best we can with each ingredient.
The Shop 460 Wickenden Street 684-1140 theshopfoxpoint.com
(Compensation for time and travel will be provided)
May 2
June 13
Photography by Mike Braca
Is there anything exciting that we can look forward to this spring? John Paul: We’re going to be putting an iced tea and honey drink on the menu. It’s a blend of our loose leaf fermented Chinese black tea, loose leaf lavender mint tea and organic honey that is turned into a syrup.
401-444-2733
May 5
Say what now? What is a third wave coffee shop? John Paul: So, a first wave coffee shop is like a gas station or diner. It’s uniform and consistently the same, but not necessarily good. A second wave coffee shop would be something like Starbucks – that is the pinnacle. There’s a focus on the recognition of where coffee is grown and where it comes from – but not all it’s nuances. A third wave coffee shop knows the entire supply chain in the entire process from the growers, importers, supply chain, coffee roasters to baristas. The idea is that everyone is paying attention to the variables and there is a recognition of the impact back down the supply chain. Other third wave coffee shops in PVD include Bolt in the Dean Hotel, New Harvest coffee in the arcade and Dave’s Coffee on South Water Street.
And the pastries and bread? Diana: We use Humble Pie Company (HPC), Foremost Baking Company (FBC) and Illuminated Oven (IO). With HPC and IO, it’s really the people. We are very similar in our approaches to the ingredients we use. John Paul: They are philosophically likeminded. IO is known for executing difficult items that are vegan and gluten-free. And FBC was a no-brainer. They are so committed to bread.
If you have IPF and want to find out if you qualify, call:
April 19
I have to ask, why open a coffee shop on a street already known for great coffee shops? Diana: We recognized that we had been spoiled with some great shops in NYC that had the whole package: coffee, food, community. And we knew we had the skills to bring that to PVD. And PVD really doesn’t have that many coffee shops, especially third wave coffee shops.
You seem very committed to having the best small batch purveyors in your shop. How did you go about choosing Stumptown Coffee Roasters for your coffee? John Paul: Consistency of quality throughout the course of the year and flavor profile. They are also great people to work for.
June 6
Diana and John Paul Murton met in NYC while working together in the West Village. It was during this time that they became passionate about where food came from and the dirt in which it grew. Diane, originally from Warwick, and John Paul, from Pittsburgh, PA, decided to make the haul to Li’l Rhody, where they recently opened The Shop in Fox Point.
THE VETS
John Paul and diana murton
(401) 421.ARTS (2787) TheVetsRI.com
April 2015 | Providence Monthly
41
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Providence Monthly | April 2015
Nobody Beats Cardi’s ... Nobody!
Feast |
on the menu
By Alastair Cairns
Good Eats
Photography by Stacey Doyle
Eat drink rI Festival returns to showcase the best of rI’s culinary scene Eat Drink RI – David Dadekian’s passion project and information hub for RI food – has been charging forward over the last few years, bringing awareness of RI’s vibrant food scene right along with it. With last year’s $300,000 innovation grant award, he was able to forge ahead with plans on the Eat Drink RI Central Market, a much-needed culinary hub in Providence proper. Commensurate with their increasing ambitions, they recently hired on Katie Kleyla full time, as Director of Development For the last four years though, Eat Drink RI has hung their hat on throwing the definitive celebration of RI food with their Eat Drink RI Festival. Luckily for us, from April 30 to May 3, it’s that time again. Eat Drink RI has a full schedule of events over the course of four days, each one mixing together Rhode Island’s great food, great chefs and great causes. We begin on Thursday with Dinner by Dames. Dinner by Dames is an ongoing series of collaborative chef-driven feasts, showcasing the considerable talents of some of Rhode Island’s best female chefs. When organizing the kickoff meal, Eat Drink RI found by happy accident that it fell on the annual nationwide fundraiser Dining Out For Life, and got on board, with dinner proceeds benefitting AIDS Project RI. Friday evening brings us the truck stop. No, this isn’t a down and dirty themed pop-up swinger party, but I like where your head’s at. Instead, it’s a bunch of food trucks rolling onto the Alex and Ani City Center in Kennedy Plaza. Last year the Festival’s Truck stop raised over $106,000 for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, and they are hoping to build on that success this year. Katie Kleyla said that trucks end up serving up 500-600 portions each, on largely volunteered time, with Eat Drink RI reimbursing their costs and giving a minimal stipend. The generous folks circling the wagons this year on the rink include Tallulah’s Taqueria, Like No Udder, Mijos Tacos, Rocket Fine Street Food and others. Have you never said the words “that’s a little much?” Perhaps Saturday is more your style. It’s twice the grandeur, with a Grand Ballroom at the
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Biltmore for a Grand Tasting. The list of participants reads like a who’s who of Rhode Island food, and will include stand after stand of food businesses both little and large showing off. In addition, there are cooking demonstrations of the not so secret formula to culinary excellence: top local chefs paired with top local farms. Eat Drink RI isn’t neglecting your perishing thirst either, bringing in samplings of locally produced beer, wine and spirits, from Bully Boy Distillers. On Sunday, things are wrapped up with a Grand Brunch to benefit The Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra Music School; Katie indicated that this is a personal cause for Eat Drink RI president David Dadekian, who along with his kids is frequently at the Vets, as well as rehearsals. The Grand Brunch means some pastry chefs get in on the action a little more, as well as a cocktail bar by Little Bitte Artisanal Cocktails and a coffee bar by New Harvest Coffee Roasters. If you’ve made it through the whole long weekend, you’re going to need one or both. eatdrinkri.com Chapel Grille’s Townie Deals With only the 401 to claim our own, we can’t have hors d’oeuvres in different area codes in little Rhody. When our restaurants rep the hood, it must
be done by town. Accordingly, Chapel Grille is launching their Hometown Advantage Campaign. Stretching through the year, for 33 weeks, if you go to the Chapel Grille the week your town is featured, your valid driver’s license gets you 25% off your food bill. Every town gets a week, so check their website to plan your visit. 3000 Chapel View Boulevard, Cranston. 944-4900, chapelgrilleri.com North Bakery is Slinging Sandwiches North Bakery makes me one of those annoying customers hated by both the service industry and other customers alike. Paralyzed by the inability to choose between even the basics, like sweet or savory, a dan dan hand pie or a lemon tart, I become temporarily ignorant of the cultural practice of exchanging money for goods. The situation hasn’t improved for me, or the patient folks on the other side of the glass. North is now making sandwiches, and as you’d expect, they are making them well. The sandwich menu changes frequently, but highlights include in-house smoked meats and bread baked fresh daily. Pointing vaguely and grunting I get there in the end, but I’ll let you ahead of me in line. 70 Battey St, Providence. 421-4062, northbakery.com Send all food, beverage, restaurant and chef news to alastairjcairns@gmail.com
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April 2015 | Providence Monthly
43
Feast |
In the drink
By Emily Dietsch
Liquid Sunshine
Strawberry-Lemon Mojito Serves 1 Bartender Jarred LaPlante uses Bacardi rum to make his version at the restaurant. It’s a classic, reliable rum, but feel free to tinker with other brands, too. Try something molasses-based for a smoother drink, or sugarcanebased to go drier. • • • • • •
2 oz Bacardi rum 4 sprigs fresh mint 2 strawberries, sliced 1 lemon wheel ½ oz fresh lemon juice ½ oz agave nectar
Muddle fresh mint, strawberries, lemon wheel, lemon juice and agave nectar. Add Bacardi, shake and serve over ice.
44
Providence Monthly | April 2015
The changing of seasonal cocktail menus in spring is a thing of beauty. It’s a beacon of hope, really, promising that the Great Thaw is on. Darker, moodier drinks go out of rotation, and out comes the sun in liquid form. It’s a necessary breath of fresh air, even if frost is still nipping – and good, sweet heaven, do we deserve that this year. At Waterman Grille, something fittingly, supremely optimistic has appeared in mojito form. Strawberry-lemon mojito form, to be exact, which sips like spring to the nth power. (Snow was still thick on the ground during recipe development, but clearly the bar team’s collective mind was somewhere balmy.) Al fresco consumption is strongly suggested, weather permitting.
Waterman Grille 4 Richmond Square 521-9229 watermangrille.com
Photography by Force 4 Photography
The waterman Grille shakes up the classic mojito
New Spring Menu Monday - Thursday Buck-a-Shuck
Monday
Half Price Apps
Tuesday & Wednesday
New Prix Fixe Menu
Thursday
Ladies Night
Greenwich Bay Oyster Bar
240 Main Street, East Greenwich | (401) 398-2462 greenwichbayoysterbar.com
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Adding a new treatment may help. Butler Hospital is investigating the use of low-dose testosterone cream (applied to skin daily as an “add on” treatment) when a woman’s depression medications have not produced full relief. Women ages 21-65 in generally good physical health may be eligible. For more information, visit butler.org/tdep or call 401-455-6537.
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April 2015 | Providence Monthly
45
RHODY BITES A Sponsored Statewide Dining Guide
view our full restaurant Profiles on RhodyBites.com
Café Paragon/VIVA For two decades, Café Paragon/ VIVA has combined eclectic food in a stylish yet comfortable atmosphere with a sizzling bar and lounge scene on famed Thayer Street. A staple of the College Hill dining scene since 1994, Paragon offers European bistro/ cafe style dining, while the sophisticated lounge next door at VIVA features Mediterranean mezes and creative cocktails. On weekend nights it comes alive with music and a nightclub vibe. The menu at Café Paragon/VIVA is extensive, featuring a wide range of
appetizers, salads, burgers, grilled pizzas, pastas and meat and seafood entrees. An eclectic range of influences – including Italian, Mediterranean, Asian and Californian – informs the cuisine. Don’t miss the Gourmet Brunch Buffet every Sunday, featuring carving, omelet and pasta stations, along with entrees like eggs Benedict, cinnamon French toast and sole Francaise. Paragon also offers free delivery seven days a week until 11:30pm, providing a more refined and delicious alternative to your typical delivery options.
Can’t-miss dish: Peppercorn Ahi Tuna: Pan-seared rare, peppercorn encrusted yellowfin tuna, finished with a wasabi aioli and julienne vegetables.
10 Prime Steak & Sushi Gourmet steaks and sushi. 55 Pine St, Providence, 453-2333. LD $$$ 2 Pauls’ City Grille Comfort food with a family feel. 315 Waterman Ave, East Providence, 228-7285. BrLD $-$$ Andreas Authentic Greek food since 1966. 268 Thayer St, Providence, 3317879. BrLD $-$$ Aspire Seasonal Kitchen Contemporary New England fare. 311 Westminster St, Providence, 521-3333. BBrLD $$-$$$ Besos Kitchen & Cocktails Tapas and eclectic cuisine and cocktails. 378 Main St, East Greenwich, 398-8855. BrLD $$$ Black Bass Grille Classic seafood, historic waterfront setting. 3 Water St, South Dartmouth, 508-999-6975. LD $$ Breachway Grill Classic New England fare, plus NY-style pizza. 1 Charlestown Beach Rd, Charlestown,
213-6615. LD $$ CAV Eclectic cuisine and art in a historic setting. 14 Imperial Place, Providence, 751-9164. BrLD $$-$$$ Centro Restaurant & Lounge Contemporary cuisine and cocktails. 1 W Exchange St, Providence, 228-6802. BLD $$$ Chapel Grille Gourmet food overlooking the Providence skyline. 100 Chapel View Blvd, Cranston, 9444900. BrLD $$$ Clean Plate Delicious comfort food in a casual setting. 345 S. Water Street, Providence, 621-8888. BBrLD $$ DeWolf Tavern Gourmet American/ Indian fusion. 259 Thames St, Bristol, 254-2005. BLD $$-$$$
Café Paragon
cuisine. 733 Kingstown Rd, Wakefield, 789-2308. LD $-$$
chic setting. 284 Thayer St, Providence, 331-8111. LD $-$$
Eleven Forty Nine City sophistication in the suburbs. 1149 Division St, Warwick, 884-1149. LD $$$
KitchenBar Contemporary comfort cuisine. 771 Hope Street, Providence. 331-4100. BrLD $$
Enn Japanese Creative sushi and Japanese food. 600 George Washington Hgwy, Lincoln, 333-0366. LD $$
Lim’s Restaurant Upscale Thai and fresh sushi. 18 South Angell St, Providence, 383-8830. LD $$
Fieldstones Relaxed family setting, something for everyone. 980 E Main Rd, Portsmouth, 293-5200. LD $$
Lobster Pot Serving traditional New England classics and seafood. 119 Hope St, Bristol, 253-9100 BrLD $$$$$
Flatbread Company Artisanal pizza, local ingredients. 161 Cushing St, Providence, 273-2737. LD $-$$ Iggy’s Doughboys & Chowder House Classic clam shack fare, plus famous doughboys. 889 Oakland Beach Ave, Warwick, 737-9459; 1157 Point Judith Rd, Narragansett, 783-5608. LD $
Luxe Burger Bar Build your own creative burger. 5 Memorial Blvd, Providence, 621-5893. LD $ Mariner Grille Creative seafood, pub atmosphere. 140 Point Judith Rd, Narragansett, 284, 3282. LD $$
DiMare Seafood Fresh seafood restaurant and market. 2706 South County Trail, East Greenwich, 8858100. LD $$-$$$
Julian’s A must taste Providence staple celebrating 20 years. 318 Broadway, Providence, 861-1770. BBrLD $$
McBlarney’s County Tap Modern, upscale pub with daily specials. 632 Metacom Ave, Warren 401-2890887. LD $$
Dragon Palace Fresh sushi and Asian
Kartabar Mediterranean-style cuisine,
McBride’s Pub Traditional Irish pub
Key: B breakfast Br brunch L lunch d dinner $ under 10 $$ 10–20 $$$ 20+ 46
Providence Monthly | April 2015
Photography by Dan Schwartz
234 Thayer Street, Providence • 401-331-6200
fare in Wayland Square. 161 Wayland Ave, Providence, 751-3000. LD $$ Meeting Street Cafe Huge sandwiches and cookies. 220 Meeting St, Providence, 273-0166. BLD $ Mews Tavern Family dining, with a whiskey bar. 456 Main St, Wakefield, 783-9370. LD $-$$ Mia’s Prime Time Café Upscale café cuisine by the Pawcatuck River. 1 West Broad Street, Pawcatuck, CT, 860-599-3840. BLD $$ Mile & a Quarter Eclectic cuisine and wine bar. 334 South Water St, Providence, 331-1500. LD $-$$ Mill’s Tavern Historic setting for New American gourmet. 101 N Main St, Providence, 272-3331. D $$$ Nonni’s Italian Restaurant Traditional Italian eatery and pasta shop. 1154 Stafford Rd, Tiverton, 624-3087. LD $$ Oceanside at the Pier New England fare overlooking the Atlantic. 1 Beach St, Narragansett, 792-3999. BrLD $$ Paragon & Viva Contemporary dining and nightlife. 234 Thayer St, Providence, 331-6200. BrLD $-$$ Parkside Rotisserie & Bar American bistro specializing in rotisserie meats. 76 South Main St, Providence, 331-0003. LD $-$$ Pavilion Steakhouse & Banquets Grand, banquet-hall style dining. 15A Frontier Rd, Hopkinton, 377-9900. BrLD $$$
Phil’s Main Street Grille Classic comfort food; great rooftop patio. 323 Main St, Wakefield. 783-4073 BBrLD $ PJ’s Pub Mediterranean-influenced pub food. 135 Boone St, Narragansett. 401-789-3200. LD $-$$ Portsmouth Publick House Gourmet pub food with a variety of spirit flights. 1 King Charles Dr, Portsmouth. 682-2600. BrLD $-$$ Public Kitchen & Bar American food with changing daily inspirations. 120 Francis St, Providence, 919-5050. BrLD $-$$ Rasa Authentic and contemporary Indian. 149 Main St, East Greenwich, 398-2822. LD $$ Rasoi Vegetarian-friendly Indian cuisine. 727 East Ave, Pawtucket, 7285500. LD $$ Red Stripe Casual French-American bistro. 465 Angell St, Providence, 437-6950. BrLD $$ Rick’s Roadhouse House-smoked barbecue. 370 Richmond St, Providence, 272-7675. LD $-$$ Rue De L’Espoir American cooking with French soul. 99 Hope St, Providence, 751-8890. BBrLD $$
Siena Impeccable Italian cuisine. Locations in Providence, East Greenwich, Smithfield. sienari.com D $$$$$ Simone’s Gourmet brunch followed by upscale Mediterranean cuisine. 275 Child St. Warren, 247-1200. BBrLD $$-$$$ T’s Restaurant Plentiful breakfast and lunch. Locations in Cranston, East Greenwich, Narragansett, 9465900. BL $ Tara’s Tipperary Tavern Oceanside Irish-American pub fare. 907 Matunuck Beach Rd, Matunuck, 284-1901. BLD $ Tavern by the Sea Waterfront European/American bistro. 16 W Main St, Wickford, 294-5771. LD $$ The Coast Guard House Modern New England Fare with Bay views. 40 Ocean Rd, Narragansett. 401-7890700. LD $$-$$$ The Dorrance Fine dining with exquisite cocktails. 60 Dorrance St, Providence, 521-6000. D $$$ The Malted Barley Gourmet pretzels and craft brews. 42 High St, Westerly, 315-2184. $
The Twisted Vine Romantic wine bar with tapas and full meals. 3 Canal St, Westerly, 596-4600. D $$ The Village Casual dining and live entertainment. 373 Richmond Street, Providence, 228-7222. BrLD $$ Trinity Brewhouse Rhode Island’s original brewpub. 186 Fountain St, Providence, 453-2337 LD $-$$ UMelt Fun twists on grilled cheese. Providence and Kingston, 383-6732. LD $ Vetrano’s Ristorante & Pizzeria Italian cooking like grandma made. 130 Granite St, Westerly, 348-5050. LD $$ Vittoria’s NY Pizza Best pizza north of Manhattan. 224 Post Rd, Westerly, 322-1901. LD $-$$ Waterman Grille Riverfront New American dining. 4 Richmond Sq, Providence, 521-9229. BLD $$$ Wes’ Rib House Missouri-style BBQ, open late. 38 Dike St, Providence, 421-9090. LD $$ Whiskey Republic Delicious dockside pub fare. 515 South Water St, Providence, 588-5158. LD $-$$
Scampi Seafood and Italian cuisine with expansive water views. 657 Park Ave, Portsmouth, 293-5844. LD $$
The Restaurant at Weekapaug Inn Quintessential New England fare. 25 Spray Rock Rd, Westerly, 322-0301. BLD $$$
XO Cafe Creative cocktails and New American fare. 125 N Main St, Providence, 273-9090. BrD $$
Seasons Fine dining at the Ocean House. 1 Bluff Ave, Westerly, 5847000. BLD $$$
The Sea Goose Seafood with New England and Southern flair. 265 Post Rd, Westerly, 315-0788. LD $$-$$$
Zooma Trattoria Fresh Italian cuisine using house-made pasta. 245 Atwells Ave, Providence, 383-2002. LD $$
Worth The Drive:
Phil’s Main Street Grille Phil’s is a local favorite in the heart of historic Wakefield and features a downstairs diner-style space, a loft dining room and a rooftop lounge perfect for fairer weather. Of course, real estate aside, you’re here
for the food. Phil’s offers hearty portions of all your favorite comfort foods at fair prices. Whether you’re looking for a big plate of prime rib (served with a huge popover) or healthy vegan options, Phil’s will make it fresh and to your liking.
Insider Tip: Wednesday is Wing Night – get .50¢ wings.
Phil’s main Street Grille
For full restaurant profiles, go to RhodyBites.com
323 Main Street, Wakefield 401-783-4073 @RhodyBites
facebook.com/RhodyBites
April 2015 | Providence Monthly
47
Get Out
EVENTS / ART / MUSIC / THEATRE
Friday Night Live is a blend of improv, music and dance
Laugh into April 1.
April 3-24: New York may have Saturday Night Live but Providence has its own hilarious sketch comedy group. Every Friday evening it’s Friday Night Live at Everett Company Stage School. Veteran performers act along side young up-and-comers to improvise on songs, dances and skits that are appropriate for all ages. Bring the family and prepare to laugh, cry, snort and wet your pants. It’ll keep you laughing all weekend long and be perfect water cooler fodder for Monday morning. $5. 7pm. 9 Duncan Avenue. 831-9479, everettri.org.
2.
April 25: Who doesn’t like grabbing a beer with your favorite gal pals? Girls Pint Out is a nationwide community of women who love craft beer. The RI Chapter invites you to Beer and Paint Night, an opportunity to slug back a few pints while getting to know some like-minded ladies. Go online for details. 5-6pm. girlspintout.org.
3.
April 12: Slater Mill presents the next installment in its Aurea: the Alchemy of Music and Words series with Britten Illuminations, Part II, featuring classical music; improvisations of Chris Turner; readings from Thomas Mann, T.S. Eliot and more. $8-$30. 7:30pm. 67 Roosevelt Avenue, Pawtucket. 725-8638, slatermill.org.
4.
April 22: The Art Connection of Rhode Island invites you to its 4th Anniversary Celebration at the Artist’s Exchange. Enjoy entertainment, refreshments and an art exhibit. Proceeds benefit the program’s mission of placing artwork at non-profits. $25 advance; $30 door. 5:30-8pm. 82 Rolfe Square, Cranston. artconnectionri.org.
5.
April 18: Check out the family-friendly Project Ballet Coffee Hour to get an inside look at how a ballet is created. Enjoy music, a lecture and a visual performance along with cheese, crackers, coffee and dessert. Reservations required. Free. 52 Sherman Avenue, Lincoln. 334-2560, stateballet.com.
April 2015 | Providence Monthly
49
Get Out |
Calendar
By Erin Balsa
This Month
April 2-30: Why drink at home when you can drink for free in the company of others? Each Thursday stop into Bin 312 for a free Wine Tasting. The shop is full of eclectic, exclusive and interesting wines. Find your new favorite… and be sure to share. 312 South Main Street. 5-8pm. 714-0040, bin312.com. April 2-4, 8-11, 21-25 & 28-30: Painters of all skill levels: whether you prefer a brush or your finger, you are invited to get your best Picasso on while sipping on some fine wine with Paint and Vino. Make it an artistic date or an unwinding night out with friends. Recreate famous paintings from Starry Night to Bridge Blossoms while staying refreshed with your choice of wine, beer, soda or water. $35. 150 Main Street, Pawtucket. 6800856. paintandvino.com. April 3-24: Get your java fix at the weekly Coffee Tasting at New Harvest Coffee Roasters’ Hope Artiste Village location. Each Friday, coffee lovers can sample and learn about delicious coffees from around the world. Free. 3-4pm. 1005 Main Street #108, Pawtucket. newharvestcoffee.com. April 3-24: Heat up a cold Friday winter night with an incredibly hot Tango Class. The weekly class is geared toward beginners and is followed by free practice time… Perhaps you’ll meet a sexy stranger to show off your new moves to! Free. 7:30-8:30pm. 172 Exchange Street, Pawtucket. 2881170, providencetango.com. April 3-25: Swing by technology-savvy Bottles Fine Wine for a weekly beer or wine tasting where you might get the opportunity to Skype with a faraway winemaker as you sip his wares here in
Providence! Free. Friday beer tasting 3:30-7:30pm; Saturday wine tasting 3-7pm. 141 Pitman Street. 372-2030, bottlesfinewine.com. April 4-25: Since 1992, Improv Jones has been gathering together the area’s best improvisational comedy performers for a weekly Comedy Show at the 95 Empire Black Box. Each Saturday you’ll enjoy a fantastically funny world that’s different every week. $5. 10pm. 95 Empire Street. 831-9327, improvjones.com. April 5: On the first Sunday of each month, from now ‘til forever, head downtown to AS220 for its Empire Revue, a night of sketch comedy, improv, live music, burlesque, magic, special guests and general devilment. The show is hosted by Keith Munslow. $10. 8-11:30pm. 115 Empire Street. 831-9327, as220.org. April 5-26: Were you the child who dreamed of tutus and sugarplum fairies? Well, it’s never too late to become a ballerina. Every Sunday hop into your leotard for a drop-in Beginner Ballet class with Stephanie Albanese at AS220. $13. 10:3011:30am beginner; 12-1:30pm intermediate. 95 Empire Street. 831-9327, as220.org. April 6: The talented Muir String Quartet will perform “Dvorak’s Cypresses, B. 152;” “Smetana’s Quartet No. 1 in E Minor;” and “Barber’s Dover Beach, Op. 3” at Rhode Island College’s Sapinsley Hall featuring guest vocalist James Demler. Reserve your tickets online. $35. 600 Mount Pleasant Avenue. 456-8000, ric.edu. April 7-28: Aurora provides a classy experience for piano aficionados each and every Tuesday evening. Stop by and check out its Baby Grand Piano Lounge featuring a rotating roster of local musicians. On select Tuesdays the tunes continue with Vinyl Lounge. 7-10pm. 276 Westminster Street. auroraprovidence.com.
Rapture, Blister, Burn rehearsal featuring David Rabinow and Jackie Davis
April 2-4: The Wilbury Group presents Rapture, Blister, Burn, a comedy by Gina Gionfriddo. The story centers around three generations of women who each take a different approach to navigating work, love and family. $15. 7:30pm. 393 Broad Street 400-7100, thewilburygroup.org.
April 7-28: Indulge your curiosity by taking a look at the night sky every Tuesday evening at the Ladd’s weekly Telescope Observing Night. The telescope is available for public use year round so long as the weather is permitting. Free. 9-11pm. 210 Doyle Avenue. 863-2323, brown. edu/Departments/Physics/Ladd/. April 7-28: Love beer? Love cheap wings? Love rubbing the fact that you’re brilliant in other people’s faces? Head to Trinity Brewhouse every Tuesday night for Stump! Trivia. Winning teams go home with prizes so be sure to bring your smartest friends. 8pm. 186 Fountain Street. 453-2337, stumptrivia.com. April 10-12: The Angell Blackfriars Theatre at Providence College presents Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward, a farce that focuses around the paranormal experience of Charles Condomine, a British novelist and socialite who hires an eccentric medium for research purposes. $5-$13. 2pm & 8pm show times. 865-2218, providence.edu. April 10-25: EPIC Theatre Company invites you to see its production of Three Sisters, a play by Russian
playwright Anton Chekhov that’s rumored to have been inspired by the Bronte sisters. $10-$15. 8pm Fridays & Saturdays; 2pm Sunday April 19. Theatre 82, 82 Rolfe Square, Cranston. 490-9475, artists-exchange.org. April 10-26: Be sure to buy your tickets for The Community Players’ production of the Tony Award-winning Guys and Dolls, a musical that inspired a film adaptation of the same name starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra. $15$20. 2pm & 7pm. Jenks Auditorium, Division Street, Pawtucket. 726-6860, thecommunityplayers.org. April 16: The popular Drag Bingo features surprise guests, musical interludes, witty jokes and over $2,000 in cash and prizes. The fun goes down the third Thursday of each month. Arrive early – it fills up quickly. $20. 6pm doors; 7pm start. 1612 Elmwood Avenue, Cranston. 521-3603, aidscareos.org. April 16: It’s the third Thursday of the month, which means it’s Gallery Night Providence. Hop aboard the art bus and visit 28 urban galleries. You never know which artists will be present for a chat. Tours begin at 5:20 and leave every 20 minutes
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE For an up-to-date statewide calendar and to submit your own listings visit providenceonline.com 50
Providence Monthly | April 2015
Photo: Nile Hawver
April 1-30: Hope Artiste Village opens its doors every Saturday to host the Wintertime Farmers’ Market, selling everything from local eggs to oysters to flowers for the dining room table. Saturday 9am-1pm. 1005 Main Street, Pawtucket. farmfresh.org.
Get Out |
Calendar
By Erin Balsa
Licensed Psychotherapist
be your
BEST SELF ending at 7pm. 5-9pm. One Regency Plaza. gallerynight.info. April 17-18: If you’re female and enjoy being around inspirational women, then don’t miss the PVD Lady Project Summit. Hear from a variety of smart ladies and engage in workshops ranging in topics from lifestyle to business practices to financial management and more. Non-members $150. Members $100. 1 Ave of the Arts. ladyprojectsummit.com April 19: The Vets hosts the wildly popular Brit Floyd: Space and Time World Tour, billed as the world’s greatest Pink Floyd show. Celebrate five decades of the classic rock band with a performance that’s sonically perfect and visually awesome. $38-$48. 7:30pm. 1 Avenue of the Arts. 221-1467, vmari.com. April 23: If jah wanna get irie, head to Fete where reggae-influenced alt band Iration will perform in the ballroom as part of its 2015 Tales From the Sea Tour. Stick Figure and Hours Eastly will open the show. $18 advance; $20 day of. 6:30pm. 103 Dike Street. 383-1112, fetemusic.com.
April 24-25: Join over 750 social entrepreneurs, practitioners, business leaders, and others at the SEEED Social Enterprise Conference, a two-day national gathering focused on building effective social enterprise ecosystems that drive economic development. $30$200. Multiple locations within Brown University. seeed.org. April 25: Stone Soup Coffeehouse at Slater Mill welcomes Mustard’s Retreat to its stage for an evening of uplifting folk music. The duo met in 1974 while working as short order cooks and went on to become full-time musicians with a 40-year career. $18. 8-10:30pm. 67 Roosevelt Avenue, Pawtucket. 2484692, stonesoupcoffeehouse.org. April 25: Soak in the sun at the Providence G rooftop lounge while partying for a great cause at the United Way Young Leaders Spring Fundraiser. Make sure to buy your tickets soon as the event is likely to sell out. Proceeds benefit the Hasbro Summer Learning Initiative. $30 until April 25, $35 on April 25, $40 at the door. 8pm. 100 Dorrance Street. 444-0622, uwri.org.
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THE NIGHT IS YOUNG
SPONSORED BY
Join United Way of Rhode Island’s Young Leaders Circle
Saturday, April 25, 2015 / 8 pm / The Arcade 65 Weybosset Street, Providence, Rhode Island Tickets on sale March 10, starting at $30 Visit www.uwriweb.org/YLCNightIsYoung
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52
Providence Monthly | April 2015
3/4/15 11:37 AM
Get Out |
Music
By Tony Pacitti
Final Flight
Brown Bird’s last album will be released this month
Photo: Mikael Kennedy
Brown Bird
I never had the privilege of meeting Dave Lamb before his death last year after a valiant battle with Leukemia. Brown Bird was always this pseudomythical force, spoken of with a certain gravity that never suggested, but insisted upon a greater importance. No one ever name-dropped them in conversation with a wishy-washy “this band called Brown Bird.” It was always just confidently “Brown Bird,” and as a non-native resident to Providence I took that to mean that they were more than just “this band,” but indeed something greater. On April 28, their latest and final album, Axis Mundi, will be released just over a year after his untimely death, a fact that makes it hard not to project more potent meaning on its content. “Dave was clearly influenced by his experience,” says MorganEve Swain, Dave’s wife and partner in Brown Bird. “He did a lot of reading and writing about spirituality, facing his mortality and the struggle of waiting for his body to heal.” Roughly a third of what ended up on Axis Mundi was written before Dave’s diagnosis in May of 2013. “Dave would write and record parts. Then we’d discuss it and the songs would morph into their final states.” Dave would record his parts over and over again, inching them closer to some kind of perfection. At the time, MorganEve realized that for Dave this was all therapy. “It may sound cheesy,” she explains, “but music really did keep him going.” The plan was to get to a bigger, more rock-inspired sound. The signs had always been pointing towards this, but after his diagnosis the idea of getting back to their rock influences took on a new
significance. “We didn’t want to make an album that was about his illness, or how hard the year was,” MorganEve says. “We wanted to come back with a bang. We received so much love and support from fans and friends and family. This was meant to be a victory record, and it still is.” Those demos are Dave’s contribution to the record, which MorganEve set out to finish after touring with Joe Fletcher and The Devil Makes Three – her therapy, she says – in the wake of Dave’s death. She describes moments where she’d fight through takes, only to have tears soaking her instruments, but also moments on certain songs that could only make her smile. “Throughout it, I had the profound sense that I was doing something of utmost importance. This record would keep him alive.” “Axis Mundi is a phrase I found written in Dave’s lyric notebook,” she explained in a post on Brown Bird’s website. “Upon looking it up, I learned that the ‘axis mundi’ represents the place where heaven connects with the Earth.” The title is only too fitting. Axis Mundi will be the last time any of us hear Dave sing something new for the first time. It will at once be both a bitter farewell and a reminder that no one who has ever left an impression on us ever truly leaves us behind.
Mayors' Job Fair Join Mayor Jorge O. Elorza and Mayor Allan Fung, along with Workforce Solutions of Providence/ Cranston and the Department of Labor and Training for a job fair with a focus on Hospitality and Tourism.
Wednesday April 1, 2015 1:00pm - 3:00pm Roger Williams Park Casino 1000 Elmwood Avenue, Providence
Free of Charge ALL ARE WELCOME View weekly updates on participating employers at www.dlt.ri.gov
Brown Bird Axis Mundi will be released on April 28 on Supply & Demand Music brownbird.net April 2015 | Providence Monthly
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Providence Monthly | April 2015
By Jenn Salcido
Trans-Continental Theatrics Strange Attractor rethinks drama One dreary afternoon in early March, Rebecca Noon sits next to her husband, Jed Hancock-Brainerd, on a comfortable couch in a loft above Trinity Repertory Company, where she works as the Community Engagement Coordinator. Both tall and lithe, they sort of fold up like origami, leaning into one another but not quite, their heavy winter boots nearly touching. Jed, who has joined us following a shift at the RISD Museum, where he works as an on-call security guard and visitor services representative, melts into the couch. It’s a rare moment of repose for the pair. In addition to their own work, sometimes aligning pursuits in the larger theater community (you can see Jed on stage at the Gamm starting this month in Marie Antoinette, which Rebecca is assistant directing) they make up half of the four-member Strange Attractor Theatre Company. For them, the line between the life they’ve made and the art they make can be razor-thin, or non-existent at times. Luckily, though, it seems to work; they seem superbly calibrated for one another, and say that some of their most fond memories come from times when they’ve been somewhat attached at the hip – commuting to work together, coming home together, making theater together. And admittedly, it makes the proposition of both being full-time artists with fulltime day jobs more sustainable. “I’ve noticed it gets trickier when one of us is working on something and the other is not. We totally support each other,” Jed told me. Then, to Rebecca, his already soft voice crinkling at the edges, like crows feet around smiling eyes: “I do miss you when I don’t get to spend time with you.” Since meeting at the London International School of Performing Arts, where they both studied Lecoq-based actor created theater, the two have been collaborators as well as companions. “I was always really drawn to Jed as an artist, because he was such a puzzle to me,” says Rebecca. “The teachers would always point to him as an example of what would be great about the work. But he would never volunteer, he wasn’t running up onstage to show everyone what he could do. He approaches the work from total boldness and also humility.”
Jed Hancock-Brainerd and Rebecca Noon of Strange Attractor Theatre Company
The couple began dating later that first year, and by the second, they were choosing to work together consistently. They met their two other company members, Aram Alan Aghazarian and Roblin Gray Davis, in school as well, although their relationship with Strange Attractor wasn’t formalized until the group collaborated on a production of Eurydice together in Alaska. The company is distinguished from other smaller, fringe theaters in the state in many ways – its size, its method of making work (they devise the work physically, in the moment, often without a playwright or director), the pace of its project-based orientation (five full-length shows in five years) among them. But here’s the thing: only Jed and Rebecca live in the Ocean State. Aram and Roblin are based in Philadelphia and Juneau, respectively. Even in this age of instantaneous connection across time zones, that far-flung recipe presents some interesting obstacles for a group of working artists who inhabit a space not of data, of words, of the written, but rather of the spontaneous, the instantaneous. “For me, one of the things that is a challenge ultimately becomes a benefit,” says Jed. “When you get back into the room together, it’s almost like you have to meet each other again. Even though you know what it’s like to make work together, time and distance change people, too. Surprising things can happen. It makes for much richer, more layered pieces.” The group often develops and
performs a piece in one place, camping out together at the rambling Victorian belonging to Jed’s parents where the pair currently resides, for instance, and then moves it to one of the other towns in their repertoire – creating residencies, in effect. But it would be erroneous to say that they mount the same show in two cities, or take a production “on tour.” As the performers change with time and distance, the productions do, as well. “I remember when we were working on the show A Terrific Fire in Juneau, mountain climbing became a very important part of the play. Jed invented this very serious mountain climbing character, totally raw and real. When we moved on to Providence, mountain climbing got put into a picture window and became a sort of cartoon of mountain climbing. And the more we learn about each other’s homes and the audiences there, the more we can be intentional about making theater,” says Rebecca. Though they both confess to not having a professorial level of understanding about the mathematical concept from whence they get their name, it’s certainly fitting. Somewhere in all of this space and time, even with a continental divide thrown in for fun, they’ve managed to formulate a bond that is both steady and flexible.
Strange Attractor Theatre Company strangeattractor.org
Photography by Brad Smith
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April 2015 | Providence Monthly
Photography by Kelly Colucci
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Get Out |
Art
By Elizabeth Lee
Whale of Sound
Rachel Rosenkrantz makes musical (and nautical) art objects
still wanted to design instruments.” Today Rachel repairs, restores, designs and builds stringed instruments full time at her studio. When she’s not excavating the instruments of other local musicians, Rachel plays upright bass and guitar in her own bands, most recently with a harpist in a two-piece they’re tentatively calling Hyperprism. “It’s sort of a folk hybrid,” she says, “like obscure medieval central European – super spooky.” This past year, Rachel teamed up with local artists Jen Long and Will Schaff to create the Whale Guitar, a collaborative art project with the mission of raising awareness about the plight of whales. Basing her design on drawings and ideas from Will and Jen, Rachel sculpted the whale-shaped, Moby Dick-themed electric guitar out of mostly recycled materials. The guitar is now being exhibited and played at whale benefits, and will ultimately be auctioned off to raise money for whale conservation activism. In addition to this, Rachel teaches spatial dynamics at RISD, and even finds time for projects on the side, like custom making the dozen or so beer tap handles behind the bar at Faust, the Germanstyle beer hall at the Dean Hotel in Providence. Rachel’s work has been shown at exhibits like Carousel du Louvre in Paris France, the Hangaram Art Museum in Seoul, Korea and at the RISD Museum, amongst other places. And while Pawtucket might be a far cry from the boulevard in Paris where she used to watch Maurice work, Rachel says it absolutely feels like home to her.
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Snow is falling outside of Rachel Rosenkrantz’s studio, and there’s just enough pale winter light seeping in through the window to set aglow the neatly organized rows of tools that hang from her walls on magnetic strips. One such tool is something called a dozuki – a Japanese-style woodworking saw that cuts on the pull stroke, rather than the push. In the late 1990s, when Rachel was a sophomore studying design at ESAGPenninghen in her native Paris, she used to walk past the workshop of a guitar maker named Maurice Dupont, known for his gypsy-style jazz guitars. Trained in classical guitar herself, she became fascinated with the work being done at Maurice’s shop, stopping in every day to watch his progress, and eventually inquiring about an apprenticeship there. Although she was only 18 at the time, the feeling was that it wouldn’t make sense for a woman who’s already been accepted at a prestigious art school to take the seat of say, a 14-year-old boy who might not finish high school. So she left music and luthiery by the wayside and decided to focus instead on visual art. Flash forward 15 years, after a semester abroad at RISD, a successful career in product design and an apprenticeship at Shady Lea Guitars in North Kingstown, and Rachel is sitting at her drafting table making sketches for the soundboard of an acoustic guitar. At some point after moving to Providence, she picked up music again and eventually decided it was time for a career change. “I was lucky that with my different work experiences I got to learn about the design process from A to Z,” says Rachel. “But when I wasn’t working with my hands I really missed it. And when I started to play music again, that’s when I realized I
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Rachel Rosenkrantz at her Pawtucket studio
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April 2015 | Providence Monthly
57
Savor Providence
By Grace Lentini
Taste the PVD Rainbow
58
Technicolor Freshness
Single Serving Sweets
“I would be proud to bring this to any spring party,” was the reaction after both ogling and trying the large fruit tart from Pastiche. The fruit was spectacularly ripe, the ratio of custard was perfect and had a nice eggy and vanilla flavor profile. Needless to say we all wanted to (and some did) lick the plate. 92 Spruce Street. 861-5190, pastichefinedesserts.com
These delightfully decorated individual fruit tarts from Palmieri’s Bakery had a wonderful crust that was lined with white chocolate and reminded us of a butter cookie. The custard was sweet and delicious and was topped with super plump and juicy fresh fruit. 147 Ridge Street. 831-9145, palmierisbakery.com
Chocoloate Rain
Berry Good Indeed
The individual fruit tarts from Zaccagnini’s Pastry Shoppe tasted like a Portuguese twist on a fruit tart. The crust was more savory than sweet, and there was no skimping on the custard, which tasted like a Bavarian cream. The fruit was sweet and fresh and drizzled with chocolate, an unexpected surprise. 546 Smithfield Avenue, Pawtucket. 723-2699, zaccspastry.com
“I shall call this blueberry mountain,” exclaimed one of our staff members of the fruit tart from Whole Foods. It was absolutely loaded with fruit nestled on top of a thick layer of custard filling lying on a chewy and soft crust. If this is what transitioning into spring tastes like, sign us up. 601 N Main Street. 621-5990, wholefoodsmarket.com
Providence Monthly | April 2015
Photography by Veatsna Sok, Grace Lentini
Spring is in the air and with it comes a lot of things, including trying to eat better. So, that means if we are going to have dessert, putting fruit on it automatically makes it healthy… right? Sure. So, join us in our first attempt to eat healthier after committing carbicide all winter long.
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