Eating in Rhode Island

Two weeks ago we spent a lovely week in Rhode Island. We stayed in Charlestown, a picturesque beach town in southern Rhode Island, but we also spent some time in Westerly, Newport and Misquamicut. Although we spent most of our time at the beach, we also made time to discover new restaurants – and we were successful.

In Charlestown, we discovered a new small restaurant called the Breachway Grill. The restaurant is conveniently located on the way to beach and it offers a good variety of dining items – from fresh oysters and steamers, to quality brick oven pizzas, to ribs. If you love fresh seafood as much as I do, this is a great place to go in Charlestown. We tried blue point, malpeque, and umami oysters. We also had little necks and steamers. After a long day at the beach, the fresh seafood and a pint of beer hit the spot. We also tried one of their brick oven pizzas: the margherita pizza. It was crispy, toasty and the quality of cheese was evident. Did we like it? Let me just tell you that during our week in Rhode Island, we ate at this restaurant three times.

If you visit Rhode Island, do yourself a favor and visit Newport. Not only is it a beautiful town with many attractions like the mansions, but it has many wonderful restaurants. Since Nate and I are beer lovers, we visited Coastal Extreme Brewing Company where we tried several of their beers: Newport Storm Amber Ale, Newport Storm Summer Ale, Rhode Island Blueberry Ale, and a fourth beer that I cannot remember (memory loss is a side effect of beer sampling). My favorite was their blueberry beer – made with blueberries from a local farm – which had a crisp fruity flavor but not overly sweet. The brewery started making rum as well and we could not pass the opportunity to try it. Thomas Tew Rum, named after Newport’s most famous pirate, was smooth and sweet. I think Tew would have approved.

After an hour of beer sampling (no, we did not drink a case of beer, we just spent a lot of time talking to one of the company’s owners who enjoyed discussing the art of making beer) we decided to grab a bite to eat at our favorite pizza joint in Newport: Firehouse Pizza. Firehouse Pizza is one of the funkiest places I have ever visited. Housed in an old firehouse, the walls are “decorated” by endless graffiti that does not seem to have a cohesive theme; there are all sort of old dolls and stuffed animals on shelves and little clowns hanging from the ceiling. Every time we go we see at least one couple peaking in and immediately turning around. Big mistake. The Firehouse has the best pizza in Newport, and it’s BYOB. We always get the Firehouse special which has pepperoni, green peppers, onion, olives, and chorizo. Yes, chorizo. One slice of this deep-dish pizza and you’ll forever be grateful that you gave this funky place a chance. I would love to tell you more about the other items on the menu, but I’ve never had them. All I want to eat when I go there is their pizza.

We also took a “food tour” with Newport Gourmet Tours: the Broadway tour, where we visited several of the best restaurants in town. Our first stop was the White Horse Tavern, the oldest tavern in America. Housed in a beautiful old house, the building which is said to be haunted, houses one of the best restaurants in the island. The chef made for us a delicious tuna tartare taco with a creamy chipotle sauce. The taco was delicious – the tuna tasted very fresh and the spicy sauce complemented it beautifully. I was impressed by the fact that they made their own corn tortillas at the restaurant – and you could taste it.

During the tour we stopped at Donicks – an ice cream store where the owners concoct the strangest ice cream combinations. During our visit, we sampled candied bacon ice cream and banana ice cream. At this moment you may be wondering, how does bacon ice cream taste? Surprisingly good! The bacon bits in the ice cream are crispy, toasty, sweet and salty, which combines neatly with the sweetness of the ice cream base. We actually bought a quart of it!

We also visited a great restaurant called the Fifth Element where we had pan-roasted Cod with chickpeas, green olives, shaved fennel, radish and salsa verde. The dish was delicious and I wished I had eaten more of it. The best part of visiting this restaurant was the opportunity to talk to the chef who shared the secret of making delicious food: fresh seasonal ingredients. So basic, but so true.

Our last stop was my favorite: Perro Salado restaurant. After an hour and a half of walking around Newport, our last stop surprised us with a delicious blood-orange margarita and fresh guacamole with tostones on the side. Now, I am not a big fan of margaritas because restaurants rarely use fresh ingredients. Perro Salado does. Its chef used freshly squeezed blood-orange juice and quality tequila to make its margarita. The result was the best margarita I have ever had. The chef at perro salado also gave us freshly made guacamole and instead of chips, he used tostones –a flattened and fried plantain. I never had tostones with guacamole but I really liked it.

If you are ever planning a trip to New England, try to get to the smallest state in the country. Within its small borders, it has lots to do and, as you can see, tons of great restaurants. Oh yeah, beautiful beaches too.