R.I. may be home to ‘next big thing’

GOOD TASTE: Ocean State Sandwich Co. in Johnston makes many of its creations using goods from local food producers and purveyors. / COURTESY OCEAN STATE SANDWICH CO.
GOOD TASTE: Ocean State Sandwich Co. in Johnston makes many of its creations using goods from local food producers and purveyors. / COURTESY OCEAN STATE SANDWICH CO.

Investors, hedge-fund managers and stock analysts alike all seem to be on a never-ending search to cash in on “The Next Big Thing” in the food and restaurant world. Whether it is the next cupcake, sustainable menu or restaurant concept, the hype gets especially loud at this time of year because of the National Restaurant Association’s annual show convening in Chicago.
Two local businesses quietly may have found it.
Ocean State Sandwich Co. at 1345 Hartford Ave. in Johnston opened last year as an upscale sandwich shop and catering business. Two generations of a Rhode Island restaurant family are at the helm and in the kitchen.
Alan Handwerger opened The Left Bank on South Water Street back in 1975 and it is still fondly remembered by the city’s foodies as a restaurant and creperie. He met his wife, Lorrie, there. As he put it, “That was 38 years and four kids ago, so I’d have to say that Left Bank was a huge success for me in ways that go far beyond a well-mixed crepe batter.”
The Handwergers later owned and operated restaurants in Rhode Island, Florida and Vermont. One of those four offspring, Eric, followed in the family business. “There were no executive positions available for a 12-year-old,” noted Eric, “so they had me washing dishes, bussing tables, making salads – all that. I guess it gets into your blood because no matter what else I’ve tried my hand at since college, I keep coming back to food service.” He is well-known in Rhode Island restaurant circles from his time as manager at Ten Prime Steak & Sushi and Joe’s American Bar and Grill, as well as Iron Works Tavern in Warwick.
After the elder Handwerger sold his last restaurant, he promised his wife he was out of the business. But as his son wisely observed, the business often does not get out of the restaurateur. So the family compromised. Restaurant, yes, but no more nights. Said Eric, “We all love food; and we all love to cook. But I have a wife and two young daughters whom I’d like to get to know; and my folks have certainly paid their dues with regard to late-night hours.” Ocean State Sandwich is open in the daytime only. The shop is on the leading edge of restaurant concepts featuring local food producers and purveyors. The hot pastrami is on Rainbow Bakery rye. The grinder on the menu uses meats from Daniele in Burrillville and is served on a Buono’s Bakery sub roll.
Meanwhile, just as quietly, a Rhode Island pizzeria is well on the way to becoming a full-blown international food manufacturer with a worldwide customer base. The Pizza Gourmet started on Hope Street next to Tortilla Flats.
A grilled pizza crust or pizza “shell,” as it is known in the trade, that is the foundation for the shop’s signature pies has caught on far beyond the foodie neighborhood. Known as Top Shell, the pizza shell developed by proprietors Dave Goulart, Jack Parente and chef Josh Willey has just been added to the product line of a large supermarket chain in Michigan, as well as retailers throughout the Caribbean and in the Cayman Islands, bringing the number of supermarkets across the country selling the ready-to-cook shell to approximately 1,500. Top Shell is already well-known to Rhode Islanders who shop Dave’s Marketplace, Brigido’s, Shore’s, Ruggieri’s, Eastside Marketplace and Venda Ravioli, as well as other landmark retailers such as Stew Leonard’s in Connecticut. This is in addition to the company’s catering operation and neighborhood pizza shop on Hope Street.
We who dine out often can add Pizza Gourmet and Ocean State Sandwich Co. to the list of why we are ever more widely known as the “Culinary Capital.” •


Bruce Newbury’s “Dining Out” food and wine talk radio show can be heard Saturdays and Sundays on WPRV-AM 790 and on line and mobile app on iHeartRadio. He can be reached by email at bruce@brucenewbury.com.

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