For $19.95, diners at Jo’s American Bistro in Newport can order a 50-year-old fish and chips recipe and experience a taste of the city as it was in the mid-20th century.
“Newport is fish and chips” and this recipe “has been handed down from generation to generation,” said Joann Carlson, owner of the 5-year-old eatery on Memorial Boulevard.
While she considers Jo’s American Bistro “well-known among the locals,” Carlson said her fish and chips recipe, a “family tradition,” continues to be reviewed by regional media; bringing in culinary tourists, many of whom ask for it specifically.
“It’s one of our biggest-selling dishes,” she added.
Likening the batter consistency to that of a crepe, Carlson said the frying process is unlike any other, as it “coats the fish and keeps it moist” without overpowering the fresh seafood.
Home to multiple award-winning restaurants, chefs and Johnson & Wales University’s nationally acclaimed culinary training programs, the state’s thriving culinary scene is a perennial tourist draw.
“Tourism is big for our food businesses,” said Sue AnderBois, R.I. Department of Environmental Management director of food policy. “Our amazing restaurants and culinary scene are a destination for not only out-of-state tourists, but also local travelers looking for great experiences close to home.”
And “memorable dishes,” recipes which have stood the test of the time, are part of that equation, she said.
Jo’s American Bistro also attracts culinary tourists with its hamburger, an all-natural beef patty served with a bacon-onion jam. The burger won the 2017 Discover Newport Burger Bender, a competition that judges hamburgers from restaurants across Rhode Island. The 2018 festival was held Feb. 16-25.
At Gracie’s in Providence there are three dishes that haven’t been dropped from the seasonally adjusted menu in two decades: the baby green salad, the crème brulee and the rigatoni Campanaro. Named after and inspired by sauce her maternal great-grandmother made for decades, owner Ellen Slattery called this prix fixe pasta the restaurant’s “saving grace.”
When Gracie’s was located on Federal Hill it was the only Italian-style dish on the menu, she said, and since the neighborhood is so well-known for its Italian heritage and cuisine, the rigatoni Campanaro kept patrons from leaving.
It “appeased people who were looking for something Italian,” she said.
Slattery’s great-grandmother passed away in 2001, three years after the restaurant’s launch, but Slattery said the dish remains for two reasons: sentimentality and it’s “something guests look forward to [ordering].”
While rigatoni Campanaro has never been marketed on its own, Slattery said its popularity has grown via word-of-mouth suggestions.
Similarly, the Tart for Two, a free-form fruit dessert served at Al Forno in Providence, is a perennial dish that spurs continual media coverage and patronage of the 38-year-old restaurant, said Chef David Reynoso.
While the restaurant does not market its Tart for Two, Reynoso said, “it’s one of the signature dishes and is [something] people come for and we are well-known for” throughout New England.
Tart flavors are dependent on seasonal availability and range from apple in the winter to summer berries in the warmer months. In January, there were four flavors on the menu: pear and walnut crisp, native apple crisp, butter-basted quince, and kumquat meringue, all of which cost $19.95. Large enough to feed two, tarts must be ordered at the same time as the entrée, so Reynoso and his colleagues have ample time to assemble and bake the dessert.
Reynoso, who has cooked at Al Forno for 12 years, said the recipe has been a diner favorite since the restaurant’s launch. It’s even included in the 1991 cookbook, “Cucina Simpatica: Robust Trattoria Cooking from Al Forno,” written by owners Johanne Killeen and George Germon.
Another dessert known regionally is the $11 pear upside-down cake from Chez Pascal. Served with blue cheese, candied walnuts and a caramel sauce, co-owner Matt Gennuso called it a “composed cheese plate on the sweet side.”
The “staple,” said Gennuso, has remained on the menu for the restaurant’s 15 years because it is so popular among diners.
‘People go to certain restaurants for particular dishes.’
MATT GENNUSO, Chez Pascal co-owner
“People have now come to expect it,” he said of the cake. “There’s no point in not offering it to our guests.”
Dishes including the age-old recipes at eateries such as Jo’s American Bistro, Gracie’s, Al Forno and Chez Pascal are helping to draw in new customers. Rhode Island’s restaurants benefit from the continued patronage, said Gennuso.
“People go to certain restaurants for particular dishes. Menus change regularly,” he said, but some items are perennial.
