When Mis Zill, the owner of Big Train Farm in Cranston, arrives at Aspire, the newly opened restaurant at Hotel Providence, with a bundle of arugula and other greens there’s usually still dirt under her fingernails from harvesting the vegetables.
“She brings to our back door whatever she has available,” explained Executive Chef Jennis Heal. “And it’s just so fresh.”
With foodstuff from Zill and other local suppliers, the restaurant – which held its grand opening on June 5 after a few trial weeks without publicity – is hoping to cater to the theater and downtown crowds with affordable cuisine that’s seasonal and based on local tastes, he said. Both Italian and Portuguese influences have made their way onto the menu and the Johnny Cake mix comes from Kenyon Corn Meal Co. in Usquepaugh, in South Kingstown.
“In New England, we don’t really need to travel too far outside our area to find great products – whether it’s produce or seafood, oysters or clams,” he said. “It makes my job – to serve quality food that doesn’t come from too far away – very simple.”
About 75 percent of the menu is “local-driven,” he said. There are New Bedford mussels and the ravioli comes from Venda Ravioli, on Federal Hill. When oysters arrive from Plum Point Oysters in the afternoon, they were plucked from Rhode Island’s waters that morning.
Going local is a national trend in the restaurant industry, said Frank Terranova, host of “Cooking With Class” on WJAR NBC 10 and an associate instructor at Johnson & Wales University. In Rhode Island, well-known restaurants like The Mooring and The White Horse Tavern have used local suppliers for years. This month, downtown’s Local 121, another restaurant that emphasizes local food, celebrates its first anniversary.
Terranova spoke over the phone from Scottsdale, Ariz., where he was visiting the executive chef of the restaurant at The Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort and Spa. There, he said, much of the surrounding desert land has been converted into fields for growing local produce. That’s a move away from California suppliers, he said.
In Rhode Island, though, there are constraints on how much local food can be used. The biggest is weather.
“Unfortunately we’re not in Napa Valley, where they can walk out their back door and get the best-of-the-best 365 days a year,” he said. Some New England companies, however, have found ways around that – like Backyard Beauties, which during 2004 built a 24-acre, environmentally friendly greenhouse to grow tomatoes in Maine, he said.
For Aspire and other Rhode Island restaurants, using local suppliers doesn’t necessarily save money, Heal said. Green vegetables from California or Mexico cost about $3 to $4 per pound, while local suppliers can run about $7 per pound.
“Anytime you’re paying these small local farmers or fishermen, you’re paying a premium,” said Heal, who previously worked at Hemenway’s Seafood Grill & Oyster Bar in Providence. “But it’s worth every dime.”
Those extra costs are absorbed by the restaurant and don’t make it onto the menu, he said. “The question is: do we want to offer a bargain to our guests?” said Aspire General Manager Michael McBride. “And since in this day and age, we’re all talking about gas and it’s always on our minds, it’s harder to go out to dinner.”
There are other reasons for restaurants to do all they can to attract locals, R.I. Tourism Division Director David C. DePetrillo said last week. Many restaurants will be attempting to gain local attention this summer, when it’s predicted that vacationers might only travel up to 100 miles from their homes – or maybe not leave home at all.
While some restaurants are going local – like Aspire – others are growing their menus to create a wider range of prices, DePetrillo said.
“Just because they’ll be staying home, doesn’t mean they’ll be coming through your [restaurant’s] doors,” he said. “So whatever added values or attractions they can offer to visitors will help them.” •
