This past weekend, Jessica and I (along with our friends Trace and Jase) went to Newport, Rhode Island for the wedding of our friends Natalie and Jared. We made it a three-and-a-half day weekend trip, so it was a nice mini-vacation. Along the way, we found great food in all sorts of places and really had a wonderful time.
5:30 PM arrival in Boston - The group flew into Boston and then drove to Rhode Island, which offered the perfect chance to sample THE staple of New England eating... Dunkin Donuts. I polished off a Fall Harvest doughnut (glazed with orange icing and sprinkles on top) and we were on our way.
7:30 PM in Newport - After checking into the hotel, we all decided to check out a sports bar for the Penguins game as well as the Yankees-Tigers showdown. Across the street from where we stayed was Tickets (http://ticketsbarandgrill.com/), a solid spot offering 10% off our bill (which we may or may not have gotten, who knows) from our hotel.
Upon entering, everyone noticed how great the pizza looked but Jason and I decided to hold off until the hockey game for that... the table instead started with coconut shrimp and sweet potato fries. The shrimp were HUGE and extremely good; they were firm but tender and very fresh-tasting. The coconut flavor was minor, which I appreciated not being a huge fan, but the overall taste was great. The sweet potato fries were standard but also excellent, another great start to the meal.
The entrees were somewhat less successful, although mine was solid. Jessica and Jason tried the fish tacos, which lacked a sauce to pull together the flavors, while Trace had okay salmon. My fish and chips (made with tilapia) was tasty but had two problems. First, the batter wasn't fully crisp upon serving; I suspect steam from the cooking process caused the problem. Second, and more critically, the fish wasn't the best cut. I noticed a slight discoloration which isn't catastrophic but consistently produces an off flavor that I don't find appealing (I've never understood why restaurants don't cut this part out, except I know the exact reason is cost). Still, the fish and chips were solid as were the countless Crown and Cokes put down to this point.
 |
| Tickets Pizza |
1:30 AM in Newport - Bedtime
12 PM at Cafe Zelda - Those without wedding duties gathered at Jared's dad's restaurant, Cafe Zelda (http://www.cafezelda.com/) for lunch and too many drinks. This began the infamous "Storm's Brewing" running joke from Jason that really held for the whole trip and then some, celebrating what can best be described as a mediocre beer, Newport Storm. I, for my part, stuck with the standard Crown and Coke and had an amazing steak sandwich for lunch after great bread with gorgonzola dipping sauce.
The steak sandwich was medium rare hanger steak piled high on a roll and topped with cheese and caramelized onions. The beef was extremely tender, more so than I knew hanger steak could be, and also full of flavor. This was only heightened by the cheese and especially the sweet onions, which probably made the dish. As I watched others with their sandwiches and what not, I knew I had the best thing which is always a great feeling (Jared will argue the Savoyard is much better, but that's difficult to imagine for me). After too many hours of drinking and game-playing (some ring toss game that needs to be seen to understand as my word skills would make it sound far too confusing), it was off to the wedding.
4:30 PM in Newport - Wedding highlights (great bride and groom of course, but the random stuff...
- Best pita chips I've EVER had for appetizers plus great bruschetta
- Three (3!) types of clam chowder (Manhattan, Rhode Island, New England)
- New drinking game learned (simplest I've played)
- Rolls and beef were my dinner highlights (I will always contend I could live off of good bread and butter for the rest of my life)
- A dog trotting through the ceremony and everyone taking it in stride
- One of the best wedding dance efforts from the whole reception I've ever seen
10:30 AM in Newport - Brunch time the day after, and I went this time with the burger. Cleverly, I replaced the mushrooms with bacon and was the envied person at the table again. My knack for picking the best menu options at restaurants is really growing into one of my best life skills, which is both a compliment and an indictment on my lack of other skills. Our brunch ended with a tough effort from the waitress trying to split the check (20 minutes!) but hardly ruined anything for me.
 |
| Legal's Shrimp |
The bread was served with fresh olive oil and olives themselves; I enjoyed the bread and the fruity taste of the oil a lot. Jessica had their caprese salad which was served with amazing buffalo mozzarella, truly a step up from standard varieties. They seasoned it perfectly and made me wish they had it in fried form (of course they did not).
For dinner I had their shrimp in tomato cream sauce with fresh spaghetti; the dish was simple but excellent. Four large shrimp were perfectly cooked and tasted especially good covered in the sauce. The pasta was served al dente for an extra bite; it was more that way than I've ever had but I really enjoyed it. The fresh pasta was noticeable and really a pleasure to eat in the sauce, although I'm sure I did not do it properly for the all-Italian staff (who were amazingly attentive in a PACKED restaurant). Our whole meal was simple, fresh, and very "authentic", which is all we could ask.
After dinner, Jessica and I walked to Mike's Pastries (http://www.mikespastry.com/) a famous and ridiculously crowded bakery also in the North End. While I felt like we were part of a mob, we were able to get her order in and be whisked away in our cab in 20 minutes or so.
From the pizza at Tickets to our North End trip and everything in between, neither Jessica nor I could have asked for a better weekend of friends and food. The wedding was great, the group of friends even better, and the food a perfect combination of new and old, basic and elaborate. Hopefully we'll make another trip up!
