GLASSES HALF FULL: The Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival will feature a micro-tasting tent where all seminar attendees will be able to taste unique world-class wines and spirits. COURTESY PRESERVATION SOCIETY OF NEWPORT COUNTY It is difficult to avoid prefacing stories about restaurant openings and reopenings or the return of
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GLASSES HALF FULL: The Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival will feature a micro-tasting tent where all seminar attendees will be able to taste unique world-class wines and spirits. COURTESY PRESERVATION SOCIETY OF NEWPORT COUNTY[/caption]
It is difficult to avoid prefacing stories about restaurant openings and reopenings or the return of festivals that includes food or drink or a business anniversary with phrases such as “for the first time since before the pandemic” or “as things get back to normal.” In a way, the sense of wonder is something to be savored as much as the experience of getting back what was missing in our lives for over two years. Here are a few examples.
Wright’s Farm Corp., the family-style dining destination in Burrillville, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The Galleshaw family, who started the giant eatery and event space, held an open house. It was an evening to recollect and see just how the legendary operation is run. The Galleshaws were on hand. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, they pivoted to takeout as long as they could. But now the family-style experience is back, just as you remember it and how many things in this world can that be said about?
The Preservation Society of Newport County says J.P. Morgan Wealth Management has agreed to be presenting sponsor for the 2022 Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival, scheduled for Sept. 16-18. Returning for its 17th year, the festival has taken its place as a world-class festival showcasing unique wines, spirits and culinary events over three days at the Bellevue Avenue mansion Rosecliff. This year’s festival will feature 24 unique wine and spirits seminars with an array of vintners, wineries, wine and culinary experts. Wine experts and luminaries will treat festival attendees to one-hour tasting journeys representing regions from all over the world. While there won’t be a grand tasting in a centralized location, the festival this year will feature a micro-tasting tent. All seminar attendees will have exclusive access to this tent to taste and learn from unique world-class wine, spirits and culinary vendors. Many of the personalities from the culinary and wine world who returned for last year’s intimate-style gathering will play to a larger crowd, but still not up to the capacities of years gone by. Unfortunately, a tasting dinner was scheduled for Nomi Park in The Wayfinder hotel, which sustained heavy damage during a fire in May. No announcement of an alternate venue has been made. Other special events will include a vintner dinner in the ballroom at Rosecliff on Sept. 16 and a “Newport After Dark” party at a venue to be announced. James Beard Foundation Award winner and celebrity chef Michael Solomonov will host the Sunday brunch.
The Marina Café and Pub on Goat Island in Newport has reopened. In January, it was announced that the cafe was going out of business after 13 years. A proposal to extend its lease had been rejected by the landlord, according to a social media post. But by May 11, things had been worked out and proprietor Richard Sardella said the popular harbor venue would reopen. Its first day back in business was May 25. Staffing has been an issue, as many cafe employees had found work elsewhere when it closed. The Marina’s food menu is somewhat limited. It does not seem to be keeping the crowds away.
These stories of success make one pause and reflect. If we look back at some aspects of the restaurant industry before the pandemic, such as sales and table occupancy, business was not as rosy as it might have seemed. The industry was trending downward as 2020 began, but now it’s on an upswing, even with stressors such as inflation. There is a pent-up demand that is real and reflected in booming restaurant reservations and an overall appreciation for something we had to find out we needed in our lives.
Bruce Newbury’s radio show and podcast, “Dining Out with Bruce Newbury,” is broadcast on WADK 1540 AM and several radio stations throughout New England. Email him at Bruce@BruceNewbury.com.