You can always tell a Newporter. There is a great sense of community in the City by the Sea. It is in fact a small town, especially when neighbors are called upon to help in time of trouble – and seldom do they need to be called upon. That said, the type of Newporter referenced here is quick to say how “things slow down around here after Columbus Day.”
Try telling that to the 40,000 drivers still traversing the Pell Bridge each day and spending quality time backed up in its construction traffic. Or the 1,000 motor coach tourists who arrive daily, hailing from Vermont to California. Then there are the tens of thousands of cruise ship passengers alighting from Labor Day through November.
For foodies, there are three food events covering a total of almost three weeks. The Bowens Wharf Seafood Festival is an annual takeover of the downtown Newport waterfront. This year the festival was held for two days in mid-October featuring oyster shuckers, chefs, fishermen, merchants and purveyors representing the state and the region.
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NEWPORT FLAVOR: Patrick Dougherty, foreground, and Tim Horan show what Blackstone Caterers has to offer during last year’s Taste of Newport. / COURTESY KIM FULLER PHOTOGRAPHY[/caption]
What many consider Newport’s signature food event, The Taste of Newport, is up next – it was the first, going back 34 years, well before the restaurant boom. The tasting of “savories, sweets and sips” to benefit the venerable Child & Family’s community programs, which serve vulnerable children and at-risk families throughout Rhode Island, will be held on Sunday, Oct. 29 at a new venue – the Atlantic Resort in Middletown. A guest list of more than 300 is expected to attend, and in fact Taste of Newport was voted “Best Fundraising Event” in Newport County by Newport Life Magazine in 2016.
This year there are more than 25 restaurants, caterers, and food and beverage purveyors participating in the tasting event. Some, such as Sardella’s, have been on hand since year one. Others are new entries, such as chef Stephen Kalble and the Colonial Dining Room. Kalble oversees a real hidden treasure among Newport’s restaurants. The Colonial Dining Room is located at Rogers High School. The staff consists of high school students from across Aquidneck Island who enroll as part of their curriculum and emerge with employment-ready skills. Many of Kalble’s students immediately are hired and are now working as line cooks and entry-level employees at local restaurants. For a recent October week, the menu theme was Oktoberfest, featuring pork schnitzel with spatzle, wild mushrooms and green beans; roulade of beef stuffed with bacon, onion and mustard; and baked stuffed trout with a stuffing of apples, more bacon and lentils.
Rounding out the fall foodie season in Newport is Newport Restaurant Week, which gets underway Nov. 3 and runs through Nov. 12 with 50 restaurants serving up three-course, prix fixe lunches for $16 and three-course, prix fixe dinners for $35.
Another big draw to Newport is the Volvo Ocean Race, which will stop over next May at Fort Adams. Last time the international oceangoing race was in town back in 2015, more than 100,000 came to cheer on local sailors, boatsmen and women from around the world. And none of them was convinced Newport rolls up the streets or the docks until Memorial Day.
Bruce Newbury’s Dining Out radio talk show is heard Saturdays at 11 a.m. on 1540 AM WADK and through the TuneIn mobile app. Email Bruce at Bruce@brucenewbury.com.
