During a recent trip to Vermont, the subject of “restaurant rows” came up – places where there are groupings of quality establishments. Two Burlington restaurateurs announced plans to open new locations in a growing retail area outside the city that was already on its way to becoming a dining destination with nearly a dozen eateries.
Increasingly a neighborhood full of eateries – not just one or two – is becoming the norm in many Vermont towns.
It’s been that way for decades in Rhode Island. There are restaurant rows in Providence and Newport, as well as in other communities such as Narragansett, Bristol and Warren. The local restaurant rows have been in the “Dining Out” spotlight for almost two decades, and my conversation in Vermont about restaurant rows brought back recollections of previous “visits” to those spots in my column.
In May 2008, “Dining Out” focused on Narragansett and how the clam shack was not necessarily the standard bearer of the town’s three restaurant rows – located along Ocean Road in the shadow of the Point Judith lighthouse, in Mariner Square on Route 108 and in the Narragansett Pier area adjacent to the town beach. Back then, restaurateur Joe Paglia of Arturo Joe’s was gearing up for a successful summer season, and with good reason. That summer was the first in two years that the casual Italian spot was open following a fire. Arturo Joe’s and the Mariner Square neighborhood are still going strong as a dining destination, although with some changes. Back then, a new location of Red Stripe nearby was getting a lot of attention, but it never really caught on. After a couple of iterations, that address is now home to a successful location of T’s Restaurant.
In March 2008, the restaurant row in the “Dining Out” spotlight was in Bristol, where in a stretch of about six blocks in the downtown area, food aficionados could find – and still can – “traditional New England seafood and adventuresome contemporary cuisine” as I wrote then. However, the German Oktoberfest celebrations that were there 12 years ago are no more. The restaurant that held them – Redlefsens – has been completely made over and is now serving casual pub fare as Portside Tavern.
Nearby is S.S. Dion Restaurant at 520 Thames St. In spring 2008, I recommended in my column that diners “sit as close to the round Scandinavian enamel fireplace as you can and order sea scallops, the freshest offering from the icy Atlantic this time of year.” Steve Dion and his wife, Sue, opened S.S. Dion in 1983.
And there is DeWolf Tavern. When “Dining Out” highlighted Bristol’s restaurant row in 2008, chef-proprietor Sai Viswanath had just been spotlighted in Food & Wine Magazine. Viswanath “is as likely to cook with foie gras as with tamarind and other India accents,” the magazine said.
There was a crystal-ball moment in that column when I visited with Champe Spiedel at Persimmon, when it was still in Bristol. The Spiedels had taken over the space three years before the article. Spiedel said in a prescient moment that the idea of a restaurant row being better for business was a myth. “Everyone thinks more is better but we’re all competing for seats. As someone in the business once told me, ‘We’re in a game of musical chairs. When the music stops, you hope someone is sitting in your chair.’ ”
Eight years later, Persimmon moved to a location on Hope Street in Providence where the Rue de L’Espoir used to be.
While restaurant rows are just becoming the norm in many places in Vermont, clusters of exceptional dining experiences have been in existence in Rhode Island for decades. As the saying goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
ARTURO JOE’S
140 Point Judith Road, Narragansett
Cuisine: Bistro Italian Ω pasta, antipasti, seafood, steaks and wood-grilled pizzas
Entrée price range: $17-$25
Reservations: Accepted
FAVORITE BITES Local Point Judith calamari lightly breaded in several styles: Arturo calamari ($12) sautéed with hot peppers and olives; calamari Giovanni ($12) sautéed with mushroom scallions and fire-roasted red peppers; and buffalo calamari ($12) tossed in spicy buffalo sauce and finished with crumbled Gorgonzola cheese and crispy celery.
BEST TIME TO COME Early in the week and September to May.
Bruce Newbury’s “Dining Out” radio talk show is heard Saturdays at 11 a.m. on 1540 AM WADK, on radio throughout New England, through various mobile applications and his podcast. Email Bruce at Bruce@brucenewbury.com.