“The welcome we get in Newport is second to none!” said restaurateur Michael T. Frawley, still as enthusiastic about his sister city as he was the first time he visited from his native Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland. This March, the City by the Sea celebrated its 40th annual Irish Heritage Month. The occasion was marked with a savory experience, as local restaurants welcomed guest chefs and restaurants from Kinsale, the “Gourmet Capital of Ireland.”
“We’re very excited and extremely grateful to have the restaurateurs from our sister city, Kinsale, able to make the long journey and join us in the 40th anniversary of the Newport Irish Heritage Association,” said Paul Shea, volunteer organizer. The idea was for the restaurateurs to bring to Newport their chefs’ recipes for signature dishes from select Kinsale restaurant menus for participating Newport restaurant chefs to re-create. As Frawley, the owner of Restaurant d’Antibes & The Bistro at The White House Kinsale, said, “[Chef Jonny Hartnett and I] wanted to give something ‘Irish but not Irish,’ as Kinsale is not known for so-called ‘traditional Irish food’ – not that there is a lot of traditional Irish food to begin with!” Mainsail at Newport Marriott executive chef Eric Steinhauer drew the White House assignment and was put through his paces. The chef and the proprietor from Kinsale decided on Guinness and whiskey-braised short ribs of beef served over colcannon mash – potatoes with bits of shredded cabbage throughout – a nod to tradition. The evening started out in a nontraditional direction with Atlantic Prawn Pil-Pil, which is a Basque-influenced dish – red shrimp sautéed in hot chili flakes, garlic puree and bacon lardons – with treacle bread, a cross between Irish soda bread and New England brown bread. Other participating restaurants included: La Forge Casino Restaurant, Malt on Broadway, Midtown Oyster Bar, The Fastnet Pub and caterers McGrath Clambakes and Kitchen Companion. Partner restaurants from Kinsale and the recipes they sent included: Actons Hotel, Sidney’s Bar & Brasserie and Fisher Street Restaurant (seafood chowder and beef, and Guinness stew with carrots); The Trident Hotel (Beechwood smoked duck, grilled fillet of North Atlantic Hake and chocolate and Bailey’s terrine); The Blue Haven (fish pie); and Man Friday (slow-cooked shoulder of lamb with salsa verde and grilled baby leeks).
Newport and Kinsale have been sister cities for over 15 years. Frawley was there at the beginning. As he tells it, the late Paul Crowley, state representative and one of Newport’s favorite restaurateurs, and then-Congressman Patrick Kennedy traveled to Kinsale in 1997. They sat with John Toomey and Frawley’s dad, Michael, in The White House restaurant to sow the seeds that led to the twinning of Kinsale and Newport in 1999.
Similar to Newport, there are plentiful local, sustainable resources from the ocean – local fishermen harvest from the Old Head of Kinsale instead of Narragansett Bay. There are numerous farms with a rich tradition of dairy in County Cork. Locally raised meats and vegetables are harvested and the local farmers have close relationships with restaurant owners and chefs.
“There is such a big Irish community here in Newport. The locals love celebrating their heritage. Kinsale will always do well out of it,” Frawley said. •
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