Newport Historical Society to highlight city’s culinary tradition

NEWPORT – The Newport Historical Society is launching a new initiative: Newport Eats.
The program features programs and exhibits that explore the role of food in Newport’s rich and diverse history.
“Rhode Island is a gastronomic state,” explained the society’s Executive Director Ruth Taylor, “and Newport has long been known as a center for fine dining and good food. We will be looking at the lived experience of the past through food, and using that information to think about the future as well.”
One of the inaugural initiatives of Newport Eats is to capture a 21st-century food moment. The organization is collecting and documenting current menus for restaurants and events to both add to its collection and to feature in an upcoming exhibit. A call for menus was put out to local restaurants, and Ben’s Chili Dogs, Fluke, Mission and Mamma Luisa Ristorante Italiano are a few of the many who have already responded.
Newport Eats also includes exploring menus and recipes of the past through a series of recreated culinary events, and putting all of these meals in historical context through lectures and other educational programs.
“Newport Eats will look toward the future, using the past to discuss ideas about healthy and sustainable eating in the 21st century,” Taylor said.
Since 1854, the Newport Historical Society has collected and preserved the artifacts, photographs, documents, publications and genealogical records that relate to the history of Newport County.
For more information, visit www.NewportHistory.org.

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