A big part of the tradition of college commencement is the dinner celebration, usually at a “special occasion” restaurant carefully chosen and in many instances at a table reserved many months, and sometimes years in advance.
Literally the fortunes of restaurants have been made during graduation. One restaurateur used to tell me how she added a room to her Federal Hill restaurant to handle increased volume during Brown graduation time. Eventually she moved off The Hill to downtown Providence to be closer to campus during parents’ weekends in the spring and fall.
The term – graduation restaurants – is a bona fide category of dining establishment. An online search of “graduation restaurants” yields selections across the country, with a common thread being close proximity to campus. Not so much in Rhode Island.
For instance, the main campus of the University of Rhode Island is not exactly in the middle of Restaurant Row. Grads and parents can head for nearby Narragansett or, in many cases, Newport. Brown University, perched on College Hill, is within walking distance of some interesting and eclectic restaurants, but the main choices for what is referred to as the graduates’ “first meal as a grown-up” are on Federal Hill or downtown.
Stories on Restaurant Row are legendary. Sylvia Moubayed of Restaurant CAV tells of students, parents and alumni who made reservations for graduation night or weekend years in advance. She told me recently on the radio that she recalls instances during which she was the first call parents of newly minted students made after receiving their acceptance letters – to make dinner reservations for graduation night four years in the future. That is confidence.
At Al Forno, for many years one of the prompts on that famed restaurant’s reservation phone line was dedicated to “information or reservations for Commencement or Parents’ Weekend.”
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WELCOME TRADITION: Richard Sardella quietly opens his Newport Italian restaurant extra hours during Rogers High School graduation weekend, a tradition that is looked forward to by the graduating class and their parents each year, as well as the restaurant. / COURTESY SARDELLA’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT[/caption]
Rhode Island’s diminutive size allows graduates to look all over the state for graduation restaurants. Newport restaurants, for instance, receive double and triple benefit not only from island-based Salve Regina University and the Naval War College but as a go-to for many graduates and their parents who received diplomas from URI, Brown, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence College or Johnson & Wales University.
A popular spot in Newport is the restaurant that happens to be the longest continuously operating tavern in the nation, the White Horse Tavern, which has hosted many a diploma-centric party in its day. Front of House Manager Ryan Hydecavage says he has had a few guests make reservations 8-10 months in advance, and on a rare occasion he has booked guests a year out. He says most people book the day or week of for two or four, with larger parties months in advance.
He theorizes that the demands on our time these days make it difficult for people to even think months in advance, let alone plan.
Few are the eateries that do not experience some increase in business around commencement, whether the celebrants are from a world-class university or the local high school. Restaurant owners have Graduation Day circled on their calendars and their online reservation systems months, and in some cases years in advance. It would certainly be appropriate then on behalf of the restaurant community in the state to wish the very best to all graduates and as they go forth to keep in mind, “Don’t forget to try the house dressing!”
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
