In 2020 it was called “pivoting.” In 2021, it’s called “innovation.”
The first innovation in the food world this year is being undertaken by Newport Restaurant Group, which announced plans to build a specialty food market that will serve “restaurant food on demand.” The idea has been floating around for years as a solution to declining restaurant patronage by millennials. Some who fancied themselves on the cutting edge were ready to cater to those wishing to stay in their pajamas and have food brought to them.
Then came the coronavirus.
“We have considered the idea of an upscale prepared-foods market on Aquidneck Island in the past, but it was not until COVID hit, and it became clear to us that the food and beverage landscape was going to be permanently altered, that I became fully committed to the concept,” said Paul O’Reilly, CEO and president of Newport Restaurant Group. “We have owned the real estate where the market is being built for decades. Due to the pandemic, we were not in a position to invest the capital needed for the project. We decided for the first time in our company’s history to bring on an outside investor who has capitalized the majority of the project while allowing us to ensure it remains a 100% employee-owned business, which is our priority.”
Foodlove, to be located at 1037 Aquidneck Ave. in Middletown, will offer an extension of Newport Restaurant Group’s culinary philosophy. “Maintaining the integrity of our culinary program has been our guiding principle at our restaurants for decades, and Foodlove will be no different,” said Karsten Hart, the group’s director of restaurants. “The menu will feature a wide variety of offerings, from soups and sandwiches to satisfying meals to put on the family table at the end of a long day.” So far, the concept may sound like a so-called “ghost kitchen.” Foodlove, however, will reflect the personality of the restaurant group.
Offerings will include prepared meals featuring Newport Restaurant Group favorites such as Avvio Ristorante chicken parmesan; Trio Ristorante meatballs, Boat House Waterfront Dining shrimp scampi, and The Mooring’s famous clam chowder. Other local names will be prominent such as Kenyon’s Grist Mill corn meal polenta and Seven Stars Bakery breads. There will also be a sushi menu and poke and rice bowls.
The company does not have a sushi restaurant in its portfolio. But O’Reilly and Hart noted that there is an ample supply of creative chefs.
Wood-fired pizzas and sandwiches and cast-iron pan pizzas will incorporate the local flavors of Rhode Island and New England. A variety of groceries and local produce and a full cafe with local coffee and fresh baked goods will be available.
Could this concept have come about without the pandemic?
“In some ways, it is counterintuitive to be expanding and building a new business unit during a time when we’re cutting expenses and shrinking the company,” O’Reilly said. “Frankly, it was hard for us to take on an investor to do this project, as we have always been independent and self-sustaining, but the reality is that we could not capitalize what we felt was the smartest way to adapt to a rapidly changing market. The Foodlove concept was designed to shift our brand into an area of the food and beverage industry that was growing before the pandemic but is now actually thriving because of it. This is something that eventually would have come about and a change we would have made as a company.”
The 3,600-square-foot space, designed by McGeorge Architecture Interiors LLC in East Greenwich, is scheduled to open this summer.
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.
