Don’t-Miss Dishes at Newport Restaurant Week
Thursday, October 27, 2011
We are lucky that in a state as small as ours that we have two dining capitals, Providence and Newport. Each city boasts many top-notch restaurants and chefs. This week we look forward to the Newport and Bristol County Restaurant Week. Put on by the Convention and Visitors Bureau, restaurant week features over fifty restaurants offering a three course lunch for $16 or a three course dinner for $30 from Thursday, November 4th through Sunday November 13th. Here are some typical main ingredients, along with some not-so-typical ways of serving them.
Chicken
A recent trip to Bristol garnered us a new favorite new date spot…The Hourglass Brasserie. We fell in love with its Parisian atmosphere and the tasty food of Chef Rizwan Ahmed. Clean, bright flavors are chef Ahmed’s calling card and he uses locally-sourced products to produce the flavors of France. For Restaurant Week he has put together a tasty chicken dish of sous vide supreme of free-range chicken, with caramelized fennel, plum compote and a flavorful broth called jus gras. The sous vide cooking method keeps the chicken nice and tender and all the other flavors meld together nicely. Whether we're talking food or accommodations, the grand dame of Newport is the Hotel Viking. The hotel houses the terrific One Bellevue Avenue restaurant, where Chef Kevin Thiele's cider glazed half chicken with pancetta whipped potatoes, sautéed spinach and wild mushrooms is making us welcome autumn with open arms. This half chicken is lovingly glazed with an apple cider pan reduction to keep it juicy and intensify the flavors of fall. The Hourglass Brasserie, 382 Thames St. Bristol, 396-9811, www.hourglassbrasserie.com ; The Hotel Viking, 1 Bellevue Ave. Newport, 847-3300, www.hotelviking.com
Pork
We feel like “the other white meat” is the perfect palette for the flavors of fall. Cider, pumpkin, sweet potato, they all lend themselves nicely to pork. Our “tour de pork” begins at Fluke Wine Bar and Kitchen, located on Bowen’s Wharf. Newport was abuzz in 2009 when Fluke hit the scene with a pair of talented chefs from New York City and Chefs Manacle and King haven't let us down. Fluke’s Restaurant Week offering is a mouthwatering grilled pork belly with a maple and mustard glaze, roasted apples, braised cabbage and Brussels sprouts with pecans. And really you can’t go wrong with a top-notch chef preparing pork belly.
The Safari Room at OceanCliff has been getting a lot of attention lately for its delicious cuisine and cocktails. Chef Michael Hervieux has put together some great local favorites for his Restaurant Week menu including a frenched Windmist Farms pork loin with bacon-spiked barley, tri-color swiss chard and a red berried elder reduction. It’s earthy, sweet, piquant…all the things we look for in a pork dish. We can't wait to try it. Fluke Wine, Bar and Kitchen, 41 Bowen’s Warf Newport, 849-7778, www.flukewinebar.com .The Safari Room at OceanCliff, 65 Ridge Rd. Newport, 849-4873, www.newportexperience.com
Beef
Tucked into a little strip on a burgeoning restaurant row on Broadway in Newport, Spark Restaurant and Catering has developed a loyal following of locals and travelers alike with thoughtful food with flare. Owner Susan Zinno has turned this little B.Y.O.B. into a destination restaurant. We grab a cool small-batch bottle from Maria at Newport Wine Cellar beforehand. For Restaurant Week Zinno is preparing a grilled filet mignon on a crispy potato cake with a dijon mustard-infused demi-glaze, roasted spaghetti squash and sautéed greens. The little bit of bite from the dijon adds just the right touch. The oldest watering hole in the country, The White Horse Tavern has been serving pilgrims and patriots alike since 1673. And chef Richard Silvia has taken this historic tavern into the 21st century with local, seasonal food in this classic setting. Fall and winter means short ribs to us and Chef Silvia entices with his dish of braised and pulled short rib ragu over papardelle pasta. The short ribs are slowly braised and hand pulled before it is made into a sauce over wide ribbon pasta with parmesan cheese. It is all kinds of warm and fuzzy! Spark Restaurant and Catering, 12 Broadway, Newport, 842-0023, www.sparkrestaurantandcatering.com,The White Horse Tavern, 26 Marlborough St. Newport, 849-3600, www.whitehorsetavern.us
Dessert
We went with two old-school desserts made classic by a couple of cool local restaurants.
First, when we are looking for a romantic date night in Newport, the place we love (but don’t tell friends about) is Restaurant Bouchard. Quiet, cozy, and warm are hardly ever bad things and in the able hands of Albert (say "Al-bear") Bouchard they come to life. Dessert doesn’t get more classic than the soufflé…light, airy and scary to make, we ALWAYS get the soufflé at Bouchard. And he was kind enough to include a chocolate soufflé on the Restaurant Week menu! This is classic Paris, full of romance and chocolate, good ‘til the final drops are lovingly scraped out of the bottom! One of the hip places to hang out and eat away from the water in Newport is The Fifth Element. Chef Chris Deperro uses a deft hand to create memorable food in a cool, eclectic location on Broadway in Newport. Chef Chris’s dessert of sticky toffee pudding with a crack-like sauce of warm toffee and freshly whipped cream is always a winner. Restaurant Bouchard, 505 Thames St. Newport, 846-0123, www.restaurantbouchard.com,The Fifth Element, 111 Broadway, Newport, 619-2663, www.thefifthri.com
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