Word is catching on.
Providence’s access to Narragansett Bay and the Atlantic Ocean for fresh seafood, its rich blend of cultural heritages, and a premiere university that churns out top chefs and service providers continue to burnish the reputation of the city’s restaurant industry.
Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau executives and local restaurateurs see interest in that sector of the economy growing, and are actively promoting the city’s rich culinary fare. And whether as a prime attraction for potential convention business or through special offers to attract foodies, said Kristen Adamo, vice president of marketing and communication for the bureau, Providence’s stature in the United States’ food ecosystem is a major selling point.
Adamo says she’s seen the city hover around the top five in destinations for food in several polls over the seven years she’s been in her position. The convention bureau uses every chance it gets to remind the world about the unique fare the city has to offer.
“In fact, it’s key to wooing conventions here and one of the things we get asked most about,” she said.
In an online poll for Travel + Leisure magazine’s “America’s Favorite Cities” last month, Providence ranked No. 2 for food. And in the magazine’s September issue, the city took the No. 3 spot in the nation in the “America’s Best Cities for Foodies.”
The convention bureau also hosted Restaurant Weeks this past summer, during which diners could get three-course lunches and dinners at participating restaurants ranging from $12.95 to $29.95. The event was so successful, Adamo said that the CVB decided to have another in January.
This summer, the bureau posted participating restaurants’ menus on its website and quickly noticed something different.
“We noticed that people were clicking on the menus and generally staying on those pages longer than average,” Adamo said.
Aside from the showing in the polls, the city’s increasing popularity is evident by the top chefs who have made homes for their restaurants here, she said. As examples, Adamo pointed out Nemo Bolin of Cook & Brown, in the city’s College Hill neighborhood, and Matt Jennings, who owns Farmstead and La Laiterie, calling them Providence’s national food ambassadors.
Jennings and his wife Kate Jennings own Farmstead and La Laiterie, located in in the Wayland Square area of Providence. Farmstead is a neighborhood cheese shop with domestic and imported artisan cheeses, while La Laiterie, a “New England Bistro,” serves food mainly harvested locally.
Jennings’ love of all things food has taken him all over the country, and he knows the opportunities Providence has to offer as a food destination.
“Rhode Island is unique in the way it’s agriculturally positioned,” he said. “We have a longer growing season and of course the ocean at our doorstep.”
Jennings utilizes all of it in his shop and bistro. And he provides products to about 30 restaurants in the state.
“We have pretty strong commitment to the community, to our customer base,” he said. It’s a “duty that we feel we have of informing and educating our customers alongside getting them some great products in their bellies,” Jennings added. “I kind of see those two things going very much hand and hand.”
The chef’s perspective reaches beyond his immediate environs, however. “Providence is on the cusp of finally being recognized as a top food destination in the world,” Jennings exclaimed. “And we’re glad to be a part of it. I’m just not sure what it’s going to take, it could be one or two huge national articles before the walls fall down.”
Jennings said he often gets together with some of the city’s chefs and talks about when the recognition will finally come.
“These are the most passionate chefs I’ve ever known,” he said.
It is not a coincidence that Providence is ranked so highly in numerous rankings, Adamo believes, given the presence of Johnson & Wales University, which offers hospitality and culinary arts degree programs. Currently, there are about 2,400 students in the hospitality program and 2,800 in the culinary-arts degree program.
With that, Providence boasts more degreed chefs per capita than any other city in the United States, according to the convention bureau.
“So your server could be a hospitality major or want to be a chef, so these are kids who are dedicated to good service,” Adamo said.
Richard L. Brush, dean of the hospitality college, says the short school week is a calculated strategy to get the students out of the classrooms and into the restaurants on the busiest nights of the week.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt that we’re a part of” the growing momentum, Brush said.
And it’s not just on the food-preparation side, Brush said. Many of culinary arts students graduate the two-year degree program and go on to the three- and four-year hospitality program, after which they can become involved in both sides of the equation, as well as management.
Johnson & Wales’ reputation is well-earned, with alumni – including world-renowned Emerill Lagasse – who make news on a regular basis. In this fall’s season of television’s “Hell’s Kitchen,” 2007 graduate Paul Niedermann won. In the nationally televised show, chefs compete under the critical eye of food guru Gordan Ramsay. As his prize for winning, Niedermann earned the role of chef of New York City’s BLT Steak.
The final ingredient, according to Adamo, is the city’s diverse ethnic mix. Each of the groups are “culturally attuned to eating. It provides for a variety of succulent restaurants to put the city among the top food destinations,” she said.
When will this stew of ingredients move beyond a simmering point? Adamo says that answer is difficult to get, in no small measure by the fact that it is not easy for the bureau to track who may be coming to Providence for the food. She’s optimistic, though, that the momentum is building, given what she sees online.
“There is a buzz building out there,” she said. “I think we can turn this into a place where people can come and enjoy a long list of things built on the culinary theme.” Vacationers, for instance, could take cooking classes, visit the Culinary Arts Museum at Johnson & Wales, or go on a food tour.
But first, she said, “People just need to come here and taste for themselves,” Adamo said. •
