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May 2016 | Providence Monthly 5
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26 47This Month26 A Theatrical EducationThe Gamm Theatre jumps off of the stage and into
the classroom
31 The City’s Big MomentOver the last year PVD has been raking in
national accolades. Are we about to be the
country’s next It City?
Every Month6 Editor’s Note 8 Online Exclusives
15 Providence PulseDiscover the green innovations coming
out of Riverzedge Arts
17 City 23 Scene in PVD
37 City StylePrepare for Thunderdome at Training for Warriors
37 At Home 39 The Look 40 Get Fit 43 Shop Around
44 Beauty
47 FeastGift coffee to anyone with this homebrewed app
48 Review 50 On The Menu 53 In The Kitchen
54 In The Drink 55 Rhody Bites
59 Get OutMeet the minds behind Frog and Toad’s quirky kitsch
60 Calendar 62 Music 64 Art 66 Theatre
68 Taste TestTacos for days, just in time for Cinco de Mayo
ContentsMAY 2016
On the Cover: Jackelyn Dacanay and Justin Fortin catch a ride through America's next It City with Sol Chariots. Photography by Stacey Doyle.
High school students get a taste of the stage with help from The Gamm Eat up classic Italian favorites at Pat's
6 Providence Monthly | May 2016
Editor’s Note
We’re Kind of a Big Deal
I have a theory: Providence is going to be America’s next It City. Call me biased – after all, it’s my job to be a cheerleader for all of the awesomeness con-tained in our 20 square miles – but I see something happening here. A new energy and enthusiasm. A new wave of people moving here, who are willing to risk a shaky job market for high quality of life, but who make the job market stronger by widen-ing the talent pool. A new group of developers will-ing to invest in the city’s potential. Providence has enjoyed lots of positive attention from the national media over the last couple of years, and people are finally getting the memo. In this month’s cover
story, we explore all of the pieces of the puzzle that are coming together to give Providence its national moment. Are we going to be the next Austin. I think so. I hope so. Because what could happen here means great things for all of us.
PROVIDENCEMONTHLY
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PublishersBarry FainRichard FleischerJohn Howell
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Account ManagersShelley Cavoli: [email protected] DiMuccio-Darwich: [email protected]
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Dan Schwartz: [email protected]
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Stephanie Oster Wilmarth: [email protected]
Contributing Writers
Keith Andrade@AndradeK
Erin Balsa
Alastair Cairns
David Dadekian@dadekian
Elyena “Nellie”de Goguel
Emily Dietsch
Claire Flanagan
Amanda Grosvenor
Molly Lederer
Ali McGowan
Stephanie Obodda@StephanieDoes
Cristy Raposo@foxywhite03
Jenn Salcido
Charlotte Seley
Jen Senecal@JenSenecal
Nicolas Staab
John Taraborelli@JohnnyTabs
Creative DirectorJulie Tremaine@JulieTremaine
Digital EditorTony Pacitti@TonyPacitti
Managing EditorGrace Lentini@Gracie_NomNom
EditorCourtney Denelle@CourtneyDenelle
Art DirectorMeghan H. Follett
Assistant Art DirectorVeatsna Sok
Advertising Design DirectorLayheang Meas
Graphic DesignerKatie Leclerc
Contributing PhotographersAmy AmerantesIan Travis BarnardMike BracaBrian DeMelloStacey Doyle
Terace GreeneTony PacittiForce 4 PhotographyJosé Navarro-Robles
Contributing IllustratorsLia Marcoux
InternsCameron BryceKendra GenereuxKatlynn Grenier
Mollie StackhouseSamantha SantosSamantha Westmoreland
Lia is one of our illustrators, contributing regularly to our Beauty column and “East of Elmgrove” over in East Side Monthly. A Rhode Island native, Lia cur-rently resides in Somerville, MA where she works as a freelance illustrator and part-time art educator.
“One of my favorite things about working for Prov-idence Monthly is that when an illustration involves a character my art director gives me a lot of control over what that character looks like – they guide me for content and composition, but I can explore draw-ing different faces, which I really enjoy. Another is that, since I grew up in Rhode Island and visit regu-larly, me or my family are often directly affected by the stories I’m illustrating.”
ContributorLia MarcouxIllustrator
This Issue By The Numbers
Number of articles, shout outs and na-tional accolades for PVD in 2015, including “Coolest City in America” (GQ), “America’s 10 Greatest Coffee Cities” (Thrillist) and “Top City Overall” (Travel + Leisure)
The temperature out-side during the photo shoot for our balmy May cover this month. Thanks climate change!
Things to do in PVD be-fore you die according to local writer Rebecca Keister (page 20)
17 10065
8 Providence Monthly | May 2016
RISD Students $30Brown Students $50
Sign up for a table here:tinyurl.com/risdstudentartsale16
spring studentart sale
May 7th from 12-4pm
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RHODE ISLANDSCHOOL OF DESIGN
Jazz BrunchEvery Sunday 10:30 am - 2:30 pm
Live Music featuring"The Travis Colby Trio"
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HEy rHODy!
Think fresh thoughts for your
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ing gorgeous RI homes, tips
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sis and the secret to a perfect
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MOrE ONLINE
Want to know more about the
Brown senior/rapper who was se-
lected to record at Abbey Road?
Check out our full Q&A with DAP at
ProvidenceOnline.com.
NEItHEr cOOLEr, NOr WarMEr. DIScUSS
The state’s new tourism slogan got run out of
town real quick. Head to ProvidenceOnline.com
to see some of our backup slogans.
May 2016 | Providence Monthly 9
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S EU M RMGo to ProvidenceOnline.com for our camp directory Go to ProvidenceOnline.com for our camp directory
XCHANGertists’ e
Baseball • Basketball • FencingField Hockey • Football • Ice Hockey
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3 Great Sessions At Southern New England's Top Instructional Basketball Camp For Boys & Girls
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BEST HOOPS Monday-Friday: 9am-3pm
July 18-22, July 25-29 & August 1-5Camp Levels & Ages: Grade School 8-10, Middle School 11-13, High School 14-18*
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Monday thru FridayJune 13 – Aug 19
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at www.gordonschool.org/camps
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East Side Monthly Camp Ad 3_16_Layout 1 3/7/16 10:17 AM Page 1
C MAS SEU M RM PGo to ProvidenceOnline.com for our camp directory
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May 2016 | Providence Monthly 15
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Providence PulseCITY / MALCONTENT / SCENE IN PVD
Seeing GreenAt the Riverzedge Arts Green Design Lab, lo-cal teens are rolling up their sleeves to help save their little piece of the planet. From brainstorming to installation, these kids are getting hands on with every stage of produc-tion to make Rhode Island a greener place.
Riverzedge members Chant Smith (left) and Cassaundra McDermott ready the beds for plants
16 Providence Monthly | May 2016
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May 2016 | Providence Monthly 17
Pulse | City
Did your first job involve saving the world? “I get to play the part of an environmental hero and [give] people another chance to help the Earth,” says Chant Smith, 17, about her job at the Green Design Lab (GDL) at Riverzedge Arts. Chant, along with her colleagues, saves the world every time they work, which is undeniably pretty cool.
Green Design Lab got its roots in 2009, as a gov-ernmentally funded program for at risk youth in Woonsocket. “We specifically developed environ-mental programs for this population to deploy the powerful healing effects of nature through outdoor learning, reversing the direction of our traditional lenses,” says Riverzedge Arts Executive Director, Re-bekah Greenwald. The program was so well-received by the community, that in 2012, it was integrated into Riverzedge Arts’ Studio Arts & Enterprise Project as the fifth studio, along with Graphic Design, Visual
Arts, Digital Media and Screen Printing.Teen members are team members at GDL. “They
do everything,” John Speck, Green Design Lab Direc-tor says, “from brainstorming, sketching and writing, to scale drawing or 3D models and then building in the wood shop or installing environmentally benefi-cial landscape improvements with good old manual labor.” Summer is the GDL’s most crucial season, due to the high volume of outdoor work, and they thrive on their youth colleagues’ innovation and participa-tion. “The teens are the creative talent, working and learning collaboratively with their Industry Mentor studio leads,” says Rebekah.
Teen involvement was always at the core of GDL’s development. John commented, “The youth in the program seemed to lack any connection to their sur-roundings. For them, nature was not something they could find in Woonsocket; it was something that they traveled elsewhere to experience.” GDL has success-fully transformed the way many in the area, from teens to adults, think about the environment. “Na-ture is more than a pretty flower you smell, or pick and give to a friend,” says GDL member, Cassaundra McDermott, 14.” “[It’s] something that gives life to another creature.”
The team of youth members have a heavy hand in making Woonsocket a greener place, installing rain gardens at Woonsocket High School and the Woon-socket Police Department headquarters, to name a few. In addition, they maintain on-site flower and vegetable gardens.
While many of the GDL’s future projects are top secret, they have a full month lined up for May, with rain garden designs for CH2M’s Woonsocket waste-
water treatment plant and an initiative to double their production of food growth on-site. “We hope to have a significant food-growing operation that pro-duces a meaningful quantity of fresh food during the summer and fall, John says, “If we reach our goals in the greenhouse, we should be able to sell or do-nate plants to the community.” Green Design Lab at Riverzedge Arts, 196 2nd Avenue, Woonsocket. 767-2100, RiverzedgeArts.org/Services/Green-Design –Charlotte Seley
Steve Brosnihan is inviting “anyone who has line of sight and the will to help a hospital-ized child” to participate in Good Night Lights. “It’s easy,” he says, “you flick a light on and off four times and you’ve done your job.” Steve has been volunteering as a cartoonist in the Healing Arts Department at Hasbro Children’s Hospital since the early ‘90s and six years ago created this initiative to bid goodnight to the patients every evening at 8:30pm.
“It’s already a great show,” he says, thanks to the
dedication from multiple community members, in-cluding the Hot Club, Providence Steamboat Com-pany, Tockwotton on the Waterfront, The Brown University Sciences Library and most recently, The East Providence Police Department. “A chief with a huge heart immediately agreed that he wanted his department to do what it could for this display,” which has culminated in a weekly Wednesday night ritual. The chief leads six cars to an overlook point-ed at the hospital to flash their red, white and blue lights, looking like “a fireworks display for the kids.”
Now, Steve hopes the Providence Skyline, which “looks like a bunch of big brothers to the hospital,” will get involved.
Steve recounts one seven-year-old patient witnessing the lights for the first time: “The kid went nuts! He couldn’t sit still because he was trying to [see] every signal.” This child’s reac-tion clearly articulates the potential of Good Night Lights. Steve concludes, “I think it’s more than a project. I hope it becomes a tradition.” –Samantha Westmoreland
Continued from Page 15
Night Night
Cultivating Environmentally Conscious Youth Riverzedge Arts and its youth members are making their community greener
Blink Four Times to Say Good Night Flashing city lights tuck Hasbro Childrens Hospital’s patients in
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Riverzedge members D’Zia Morales (front) and Dionisia Santiago, work to find green solutions in Woonsocket
18 Providence Monthly | May 2016
Angelo’s Civita Farnese Restaurant
Bob & Timmy's Pizza
Bombay Club • Caffe Dolce Vita
Camille's • Cassarino's
D'Amico & Burchfield
Don Jose Tequilas
Federal Hill Wine & Spirits
Federal Taphouse & Kitchen
Gallery Z • Harry's on the Hill
Las Margaritas • Nami
Napolitano's Brooklyn Pizza
Opa • Providence Oyster Bar
Pane e Vino • Pastiche
Professional School of Bartending
Providence Oyster Bar
Providence Prime • Roma
Rosebud Salon • Sicilia's Pizzeria
Tammany Hall •Tony's Colonial
Toro Restaurant
Trattoria Del Mare
Trattoria Zooma
Vanuatu Coffee Roasters
Venda Ravioli
So is
ProvidenceOnline.com
On the Hill?
Monthly
APRIl 2016 #234
PROVIDENCEShakespeare
arrives in PVDTalking aboutbig ideas at TedX
A taste of the Southon the West Side
Craft beer is havingits moment
Pretzels and beer at the new Malted Barley on Westminster Street
What’s Brewing in Providence
What’s Brewing in Providence
may 2016 #235
monthly
PROVIDEN
CE
Celebrating Cinco de
Mayo One Taco at a Time
The Gamm Takes Theatre
to the Classroom
A First Listen of Vudu
Sister’s New Album
and we’re about to be
America’s next
It City
PROVIDENCEHas aRRIVED
PROVIDEN
CE
Geek Out
Pulse |
Neo-Providence is About to E.X.P.L.O.D.E.Providence Anime brings niche nerdery to Brook Street
City
After Acme Video closed two years ago, Providence stared at the empty storefront wondering what would take its place. The wait is over, as 137 Brook Street is lively and once more filled with DVDs and Blu-Rays, albeit of a very specific fashion.
Providence Anime owner Adam Anderson opened the store after see-ing a gap in Providence’s market. A tried and true anime fan since the age of seven when he first started watch-ing Dragon Ball Z on Toonami, Adam
recognized that while there may be a couple discs of One Piece or Na-ruto shuffled into the stock of some stores there was no place truly ded-icated to his favorite sub-culture, even though almost every college in the state has a club dedicated to anime. This was Adam’s goal when he chose to fill the hole left behind by Acme Video – to make a place where people could walk to and find great anime.
Additionally he sells tabletop
games and cards, because, in his words, anime and gaming are both part of a “weird collective fam-ily.” The store is set up with sev-eral tables ready to use for any of the games available either to buy or rent in store, or you can bring in your own. Renting a table is just $5 per person. Feel free to bring take out and snacks, just leave the adult beverages at home. 137 Brook Street. 351-1200, Providence-Anime.com –Kendra Genereux
Sometimes jewelry isn’t just jewelry. Sometimes a necklace is a meaningful gift, or a ring is a family heirloom. Suzanne Ellis Wernevi, founder of Luna & Stella, knows that the things we wear often mean more than decoration. “I believe relationships – between parents, grandparents, children, partners, siblings and friends – are what life is all about,” she says. The jewelry she designs: rings, necklaces and charms in celestial shapes, and with birthstones of your own or your loved ones, represent connections between people. “My most prized possessions are two rings, one that was my grandmother’s, and one that my mother-in-law gave me on my wedding day, a ring that was her mother’s,” Suzanne says. “I never take them off.”
You might have seen Luna & Stella jewelry on kids’ fashion blogs. Katie Holmes and Suri Cruise, arbiters of mother/daughter fashion, which is really a thing, have been seen wearing the star necklaces with each others’ birthstones in them. “When I was a little girl, my mother
was always suggesting that we should get mother-daugh-ter outfits, to the point that it became a running joke,” Su-zanne says. “While I never wanted to dress like my mother, I always loved her jewelry collection, much of which she had inherited from her own mother. It got me thinking about the timelessness of jewelry, and the ability for it to hold meaning across generations.”
For the last year, she’s been working on Luna & Stella’s “mama + me” collection, which debuted this spring. The line includes girls sizes of heart and star stacking birthstone rings, and mama + me bracelets and necklaces using the brand’s signature moon and stars designs: a moon for mom, and a star for her girl. “Being a mom myself now, I can relate to the appeal of the idea of wearing something that connects you to your child,” Suzanne says. “Wearing jewelry that symbol-izes a connection is a much more subtle way of celebrating the mother-daughter relationship than wearing a matching outfit.” And way less embarrassing, too. LunaandStella.com –Julie Tremaine
Local Maker
Seeing the Moon and StarsCranston’s Luna & Stella makes fashionable, meaningful jewelry for moms and kids
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May 2016 | Providence Monthly 19
Arts & Crafts FestivalMay 28 & 29 / 10 am – 5 pm May 30 / 10 am – 4:30 pm
Narragansett Parkway, Warwick
Allan & Edna Brown 5K Road RaceSaturday, June 11 / 9:30 am
Broad Street, Cranston to Narragansett Parkway, Warwick and return
51st Annual Gaspee Days ParadeSaturday, June 11 / 10 am
Along Narragansett Parkway, Warwick into Broad Street, Cranston
gaspee days
May 4 – June 12, 2016
Celebrating our place in history.
For a complete calendar of events and more information, visit: www.gaspee.com
401.781.1772
Join us for the 51st annual celebration of
the burning of the HMS Gaspee.
Pulse | City
In the immortal words of Ron Burgundy, that escalated quickly. When Commerce RI unveiled the new state tourism campaign in a suspiciously timed 5pm press conference on March 28, the negative reaction was swift and unmerciful. The mistakes were many and well documented, and the out-rage voluminous, so we needn’t wade through the muck again. Nor do we have any desire to be another gun in the circular firing squad of discourse about this campaign. Let’s focus instead, on the lessons to be learned here:
1. Stop looking outside RI for a savior.The governor and Commerce RI must have thought they had a slam dunk when they landed Milton Glaser to design the new logo and slogan. After all, this was the guy who created perhaps the most successful tourism campaign of all time, “I Love New York.” Now he was going to work that same magic for Rhode Island. That’s one way to look at it; another is that they hired an octogenarian with no connection to Rhode Island whose most significant work was almost 40 years ago to do a job for which any number of locals were eminently qualified. We might as well have hired Neil Diamond to write a new state song. The decision had echoes of both the infamous Provi-dence rebrand of 2009, in which then-Mayor Cicilline hired a Tennessee firm to come up with an orange ‘P’, and the 38 Studios debacle, in which the EDC (now Commerce RI) sank a bunch of taxpayer money into a big name outsider. Design is one of our strengths in Rhode Island. The governor probably could have stum-bled over someone capable of a better logo while getting her morning coffee. Hell, it might have even been the person serving the coffee.
2. Don’t make things harder than they have to be. Rhode Island is pretty damn good at design and branding. Hospitality and tourism are also strengths for us. Tourism is already our second biggest industry, and we have eight regional tourism boards (six of whom had their budgets cut to help pay for this campaign) that manage to do a lot on limited resources. We also have a wide network of business
owners, creative professionals, media outlets (ahem ahem) and local boosters who know how to showcase the best this state has to offer. Investing $5 million in consolidating those efforts, and drawing upon that expertise for a statewide cam-paign, would have been money well spent.
3. If you want us to embrace something, make us feel like a part of it.Rhode Islanders are fiercely proud of their state and probably would have been ready to support a coordinated effort to showcase it – if only the leader-ship had made an effort to activate that pride. Had this campaign felt even the least bit organic and homegrown – and if the logo actually looked cool – you would have seen people sporting it on t-shirts within a week.
4. We crave a reason to be outraged.Sometimes I wonder if Rhode Islanders love complaining about government in-competence more than they actually hate government incompetence. This bungled campaign was a time for thoughtful criti-cism and holding our leaders account-able, not gleeful schadenfreude. This campaign was embarrassing enough, but we compound the humiliation by coming off like a mob of torch-waving villagers.
5. We still need a (good) statewide tourism campaign.Despite all that our state has to offer, we sorely lack the pretty, shiny packaging we need to properly sell it. The problem is that this effort was so poorly executed that we still need a good rebranding – and now there won’t be the political or popular will to do so. Any further effort at promoting the state is going to carry the 38 Studios-like stink of institutional incompetence, and taxpayers are going to instinctively recoil from the thought of spending another dollar.
6. We love our state.People really do love this place, and they’re eager to talk about it. Beneath the anger and know-it-all spitefulness, there was an undeniable sense that ev-erybody understands what’s wonderful about Rhode Island and knows how to express it – everybody except the people who worked on this campaign, of course. –John Taraborelli
Malcontent
Dumber and SmarterWhat can we learn from the tourism campaign meltdown?
20 Providence Monthly | May 2016
It’s easy to take our small city – and state – for granted. We’ve been there, done it all and are happy to settle into our regular PVD patterns. With the release of 100 Things To Do In Providence Be-fore You Die, author Rebecca Keister has given us all a practical guide to rediscovering what we love about the city and things to do with out of town guests besides just going to the Hot Club (Thing To Do #11 “Sip a Summer Cocktail” and #37 “Make Your Own Movie Tour.”)
Broken down into five categories – food and drink, music and entertainment, sports and recre-ation, culture and history, shopping and fashion –
the book definitely highlights PVD’s greatest hits, but also branches out beyond the city.
“There are things like take a beautiful day trip to Block Island,” Rebecca tells me over coffee at Seven Stars (#37 and #82 “Pass the Bread”) “Or other places where you could spend a day like Narragansett, Newport and Bristol.” True story: I’ve never been to Block Island (#60) but Rebecca hasn’t scored a perfect 100 either.
“I’ve never had a New York System hot wiener,” she concedes, promising to cross #10 off of list ASAP. “I was a vegan up until very recently.”
Whether you’re new to town and looking to
explore or you’re a lifer looking to rack up some bragging rights, we suggest keeping a copy of 100 Things To Do In Providence Before You Die in your glove box or next to your RIPTA pass. You haven’t experienced Providence until you’ve experienced it “all the way.” Check out our full Q&A with Re-becca at ProvidenceOnline.com. 100 Things To Do in Providence Before You Die is available online and at both Barrington Books locations, Books on the Square and Wakefield Books. Follow Rebecca on Twitter at @RebeccaKeister for more info about book signings at some of the locations mentioned throughout the book. –Tony Pacitti
Dolapo Akinkugbe was born in Nigeria, classically trained in piano and attended boarding school in England. Now he’s a senior at Brown, about to pass through those vaulted Van Wickle Gates. Law school may be in his future, but so might a career in music. Known on stage as DAP, Dolapo is a rapper who was selected by Converse Rubber Tracks last fall for an all-expenses paid recording session in an iconic studio with an influential producer. His experience was cap-tured in the online documentary released by Noisey in March called The Under-graduate, where he juggled familial expectations and school with the opportunity to record at Abbey Road (yes that Abbey Road) under the guidance of “Uptown Funk” producer Mark Ronson.
“Firstly I think it is important to mention that I have the most incredible parents, have never wanted for anything, and have always had full support in whatever I do,” explains DAP, who was set to take the LSATs just one week after a whirlwind trip to the legendary studio. “They realized that I really live and breathe music, simply in the decision to fly to London that weekend and
not let that opportunity slide.”Once there he couldn’t help but be in awe of the mythology of the place, but
at the same time he couldn’t let the memories that linger in its walls distract him. “I know better than to be overly intimidated by a space because of who has
been there before me and throw away such an opportunity,” he offers pragmati-cally. “I was very very inspired and from the moment I walked in I was already making music in my head, but what I found was that I was completely ready. Playing the piano for already almost two decades at age 22 made me more than ready to take full advantage of the opportunity.”
By the end of the documentary, things are still up in the air. He did well on his LSATs and is ready to settle into the waiting game that so many graduates and soon-to-graduates have to play. After a life of schooling it’s uncomfortable to exist in a state of academic ambiguity, but for DAP there is a powerful constant: music.
“I am ready, I always have been, and I was always meant to do this. It was never really up to me. Music is my purpose.” Watch The Undergraduate and read our complete interview with DAP at ProvidenceOnline.com –Tony Pacitti
The PVD Bucket ListAuthor Rebecca Keister has written the definitive Providence checklist
From Thayer Street to Abbey RoadA local musician gets the opportunity of a lifetime
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Pulse | City
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May 2016 | Providence Monthly 21
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For 60 years now the Providence Preservation Society has been work-ing to maintain the city’s architectural history. In honor of the occasion, PPS threw its annual anniversary bash on February 20 at The Steel Yard. This year’s theme was A Steampunk Soi-ree, which found partygoers and co-splayers decked out in Victorian Era sci-fi finery. And goggles. Lots and lots of goggles. PPSRI.org Photogra-phy by Mike Braca
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Pulse | Scene in PVD
24 Providence Monthly | May 2016
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March Madness was madder than most years here in PVD as we hosted the first two rounds of NCAA Men’s Division 1 basketball (not to men-tion that short-term lift on the open container ban downtown). Eager fans gathered at Rick’s Roadhouse on Sunday, March 13 to find out which teams we would see lacing up at the Dunk. Pho-tography by Mike Braca
Pulse | Scene in PVD
Frank Basile, Nicole Kitts, Don McKenvie, Paul Adams
Daniel Martinez, Chris Flor
Providence College cheerleadersKellie Condon, Mindy Tran, Taylor Dimond, Meghan Cadagan
March Madness was madder than most years here in PVD as we hosted the first two rounds of NCAA Men’s Division 1 basketball (not to men-tion that short-term lift on the open container ban downtown). Eager fans gathered at Rick’s Roadhouse on Sunday, March 13 to find out which teams we would see lacing up at the Dunk. Pho-tography by Mike Braca
Pulse | Scene in PVD
Frank Basile, Nicole Kitts, Don McKenvie, Paul Adams
Daniel Martinez, Chris Flor
Providence College cheerleadersKellie Condon, Mindy Tran, Taylor Dimond, Meghan Cadagan
26 Providence Monthly | May 2016
T he world has changed considerably since William Shakespeare’s time on
Earth, but adolescents and teenagers in modern America’s fast-paced digital cul-ture still find themselves grappling with the same types of urges, emotions, con-fusion and issues that Shakespeare cap-tured in his plays and sonnets – which is precisely what makes them timeless.
American youth, raised on instant grat-ification, might initially balk at the idea of delving into centuries-old British writing and performance, only to find themselves weeks or months later unexpectedly en-thralled by the chance to explore such rich themes in a visceral way, through the arts. One local theater is honoring the transformative power of language and performance by using a national grant to imbue the lives of local teens with a little hands-on Shakespeare immersion.
The GranTPawtucket’s Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre has held a strong presence in the Providence area theater and nonprofit scenes since 1998 (with origins dating back in various iterations to 1984). For its 31st season, The Gamm has brought to life a diverse spectrum of stage oeuvres spanning from classic to modern, includ-ing A Streetcar Named Desire, The Rant, Grizzly Mama and A Skull in Connemara.
The final play in the lineup – Shake-speare’s The Winter’s Tale – has
something that the other runs do not: it will be used as part of a special teach-ing workshop for students at ten dif-ferent high schools and middle schools in Central Falls, Pawtucket, Providence and Cranston.
Education Director Susie Schutt has worked at The Gamm for five years to-tal and in her current position for close to two. A sociology major in college, she also studied plays and directing concur-rently with her schooling, and directs other plays within the Providence com-munity as well.
“It’s so important for my department to have a positive impact on our community and to enact exchanges in a really proac-tive way; with my sociology background, that is of major interest,” says Suzie.
The Gamm’s community-driven Shakespeare workshops and classes are made possible through a $25,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Shakespeare in Ameri-can Communities grant is a well-known 13-year-old national award given to 40 nonprofit professional theater compa-nies in 26 states nationwide. The Gamm previously received the same grant two years ago, when the company ran Mac-beth as part of its 2014 season. The the-atre’s 2016’s instruction of The Winter’s Tale will be modeled after the previous grant application, with the advantage of some experience already under its belt.
The sTudenTsSome might wonder, “Why Shakespeare in particular?”
“Shakespeare’s work is absolutely worth studying because it gives you a chance to think about topics like your own humanity, the English language and its origins, self-expression, poetry and history,” explains Suzie, who herself stud-ied Shakespeare in high school and col-lege and participated in a Shakespearean summer camp in her youth. “The roles in his plays also give students the chance to explore and experience heightened emo-tions in a safe and interesting way. It gives them a unique opportunity to really tap into themselves.”
The content and tones of the individual plays themselves are also more impor-tant than readers may realize if they are not already well-acquainted with Shake-speare’s body of work. Whereas Mac-beth is one of the most familiar titles in the Western world and taught in schools across the country, The Winter’s Tale is far more obscure and rarely makes it into English class curriculums. Because of this, says Suzie, “It’s exciting for the stu-dents to get to have this particular work as something they’ve worked on going forward. We did the play last summer with The Gamm Theatre camp, and that’s kind of how I fell in love with it.”
“It’s such a beautiful play; it taps into a range of human emotion and
experience in a profound way. You get to look at the sources of jealousy, for-giveness and other big topics that our students are also experiencing deeply and personally in their own lives. The Winter’s Tale has forbidden love, over-protective parents and children rebel-ling; it has fight scenes and people going mad, and all of that intensity can really engage students in that age range,” explains Suzie. “Even though it’s a 400 year-old text, it’s still incred-ibly relevant at an emotional level, and it’s exciting to watch as the students realize that and then use it as a vehicle to channel and explore their feelings through the arts.”
Most of the changes between the
PROVIDENCE MONTHLY PRESENTS
BY AmAndA m. Grosvenor x PHOTOGRAPHY BY BrAd smITH
From THe sTAGe To THe ClAssroomTHe GAmm IS BRINGINGsHAKesPeAre TOPROVIDENCE sTUdenTs
ThE GrAnT,ThE sTUdenTs,ThE PlAy
It’s so important for my department to have a positive impact on our community and to enact exchanges in a really proactive way
– Suzie Schutt,Education Director of The Gamm
“
The Gamm’s Suzie Schutt
May 2016 | Providence Monthly 27
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2014 and 2016 programs will be ad-ministrative: the Cranston residency is new, for example, and some of the schools on the list will be different than before.
“Because the grant is extremely gener-ous, it becomes a big puzzle,” says Suzie. “It’s all about juggling the schedule and allocating resources.” Different schools have different numbers of classrooms participating: one has six, while another might have two. The ten-week classes have already begun and will continue through June, taught by two people in The Gamm’s education department, and two freelance teaching artists have been hired to help out.
Teaching Shakespeare in schools is very different than teaching his works at the summer camp, Suzie finds. The four-week, seven-hours-a-day camps are elective and have participants work-ing to stage and produce two plays con-currently. The school program works in partnership with the classroom teacher, which means a stronger focus on the study of the text and understanding its themes. Most students at the school are also not electing to be there; the pro-gram is a mandatory part of their Eng-lish class. Many of them initially question why they have to be there at all.
“What I’ve found teaching Shake-speare in public schools,” says Suzie, “is that during the week or so leading up to their performing the play, none of them have that question anymore. They all re-alize why they are there and why this is important. And that’s the moment when I feel the luckiest to be doing what I do.”
The playIn addition to studying the text, having students stage the play is a major part of the program. For some of them, it is their first exposure to acting or theater
production in any form. Another key element of the in-school workshops is when students travel to The Gamm to see the same play that they are working on staged by professional actors.
“We wouldn’t be doing this project if we weren’t performing Shakespeare on our own stage,” says Suzie. “We share this incredible work of art with our patrons, and all of our students come and see it and get to interact with the actors. Stu-dents playing roles get so excited to see professional actors portraying the same parts and then ask them questions after-wards; they become really engaged.”
She notes that the timing of the pro-fessional viewing has a big impact on the class overall, and it can be tough to find the right date: “Ideally, students come see the play when they’re almost ready to perform theirs and have almost every-thing in place. If they see the professional one first, then they just work on copying; if they view it too late, they’ve already disconnected from the material. We’re trying to talk all of the schools into that sweet spot.”
Schools participating in 2016 are JM Walsh Arts High School, Tolman High School, Blackstone Academy Char-ter School, Slater Junior High School, Nathan Bishop Middle School, Classi-cal High School, Roger Williams Ju-nior High School, Paul Cuffee Charter School, Central Falls High School and Cranston East High School. In addition to this program and the Gamm Sum-mer Intensive camp, the theatre has recently started partnering with local school districts and offering in-house after school programs taught by resi-dent actors and teaching artists to el-ementary and middle school students, as well starting a Gamm Summer In-tensive Jr. for middle school students in 2015. www.GammTheatre.org
High school students learn the basics of theatre
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if you’re from here, you’re familiar with Providence’s inferi-ority complex. We’re a small city,
and in fairness, we have our share of issues and loud opinions, especially on parking meters and, apparently, on state branding. But if you moved here from somewhere else, you probably have a lot more optimism about the city than anyone who lived through the worst of the Know-A-Guy years. In particular, people outside
of Rhode Island view Providence positively. So positively, in fact, that just last year we were America’s Fa-vorite City in Travel + Leisure, GQ’s Coolest City in America and one of The New York Times’ 52 Places to Visit in 2016, in the entire world. It’s the kind of talk that made Austin the country’s It City in the 2000s, and that has Portland, Oregon on the tip of everyone’s tongue right now.
People talk about visiting those cities
for the food, the culture, the music. They talk about living in those cities because of the quality of life, the walk-ability, the affordability. But we’ve got all of those things, too. Providence is unparalleled in its culinary scene, its historicity, its concentration of colleg-es and universities, its unique cultural character in things like WaterFire, Big Nazo and the RISD Museum. “We have everything we need to compete with any of these booming cities,” says May-or Jorge Elorza. “Most of the cities I’ve visited have nothing on Providence.”
As for the things we don’t have: jobs, housing, student retention… well, let’s just say there are improvements on the horizon. That’s why Providence is about to land on America’s radar in a big way.
Word is Spreading About UsThere’s hardly a week when Provi-dence isn’t on some new national list: for best coffee, pizza, burgers; as an affordable family vacation, or a gay-friendly city; as a must-see college town or a historic preservation leader. Those big three are huge, but there have been 65 others in just a year.
“The city sells itself,” says Kristen Ad-amo, Vice President of Marketing at the Providence Warwick Convention & Visi-tors Bureau (CVB). “The passion of the people who live here takes over. I don’t think you get that in bigger cities.” Part of the CVB’s work is to spread Provi-dence’s message across the country. When they host reporters (57 in 2015), they connect them to the right PVD people. “We have a lot of unique people with stories to tell,” Kristen says. “What reporter isn’t going to love [AS220’s] Bert Crenca?”
She also uses the city’s connectivity – our “one degree of separation” – as a selling tool. “I can get the mayor to come to something,” Kristen says. “You can’t do that in other big cities. You go up to Federal Hill, and those guys will come out of their stores to say hello. Writers from New York come here, and they’re a little jaded, and by the end they’re like I want to move here.”
on the way to
Why the biggest town in the smallest state is about to be America’s next It City
By Julie Tremaine • Photography by Stacey Doyle
“Providence is already on the
map, but with the work that
we’re doing, and celebrating
what we have, we’re going
to hit that next stride in the
years to come.” –Mayor Jorge Elorza
Kristin Adamo from the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau brings
visiting journalists to Venda Ravioli to introduce them to the city
May 2016 | Providence Monthly 31
Where food was once the leader in garnering national interest, fashion is our next big topic. All eyes are on Alex + Ani, our neighborhood billion dollar brand, amid whispers of an IPO. Last year, Forbes and Marie Claire did pieces on StyleWeek, and the CVB is doing a lot to promote our vintage scene, including digitizing the Guide to Providence Vin-tage that Christine Francis-Barta from Carmen and Ginger put together. Their work landed Ann Hood a feature in the upcoming summer issue of National Geographic Traveler about why she loves this city. The CVB’s next big push is his-toric preservation, in which Providence is a national leader; they brought Brent Runyon from The Providence Preserva-tion Society to New York for “desksides” with editors last month.
People are Moving HereChris and Angie Cunico were headed to Boston last fall, where Angie had gotten a job as in-house counsel for Santander Bank. They were headed to Boston, until they figured out that would mean a long commute to an outer suburb. “We were going to be living in a neighborhood we definitely didn’t want to live in,” Angie says. “Between the two of us, we’d lived in Houston, Austin, Charlotte, DC, Nashville, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New Jersey,” Chris says. “We had a feel for how much city we actually wanted, and Providence appeared to be that.” After just a few months, they knew they wanted to stay. “It was appealing because we could find something we liked, and be comfortable, and be in a nice neighborhood,” Angie says. “We have the kind of day to day life-style that we want to have, but long term, we can afford to buy a house here. There
aren’t many places on the East Coast right now where that’s the case.”
While they love it, the Cunicos are making real sacrifices to make Provi-dence happen. Angie works in Boston, while Chris is still working as in-house counsel in Newark. “It would be nice to work here,” he says. “It’s really a func-tion of the number of bigger companies there are. They’re very good, and they’re very big, but there aren’t many of them.”
“We’re doing some pretty interest-ing life gymnastics to make it possible to live here, but it’s worth it to us,” Angie adds. “We don’t like that he’s in New Jersey three days a week, but he spends the other four here. We have a great social life, we can go to res-taurants, he can park the car when he comes home on Thursday night and walk everywhere that we go.”
“The quality of life here is really good,” Chris adds. “People don’t get it unless they’ve visited. If you can get people to support a workforce that will come and stay, I think a lot of people would. Where else can you drive to the beach, or to another major city, and you have the easiest airport in the country?”
To be able to move to Providence, Rich Pezzillo and Michael DeGrandpre had to do something similar: telecommute from their jobs in Washington DC. Rich, a North Providence native, left in 2001. When he and then-fiance Michael were looking to relocate to New England, the search came down to Providence and Portland, in Michael’s home state. “When we were talking about our future,” Mi-chael says, “one of the things we had as a core value was the quality of life and the quality of people that you encounter in Rhode Island. This is a place that is unlike anywhere in the world.” Considering they
both travel extensively for work - Michael, until recently, for 30 weekends a year in different cities – they’re qualified to make that distinction.
“Would we have been able to move here without our jobs in DC? Prob-ably not,” Rich says. “I think that’s what people are going to need to do to make it work here, is to work remotely and establish themselves.” Though nei-ther he nor Michael immediately got a job in Rhode Island – Michael recently started working for a Providence-based marketing firm, after a year of telecom-muting, while Rich still works for the Hemophilia Association of America in DC – they didn’t see that as a bad thing. Because they were working in their living space, the two would leave for lunch every day, and got to know their neighbors through those interactions. “It was amazing to be able to work and live in the same space, to enjoy this un-believable neighborhood that we have around us,” Michael says.
The two were so taken by Providence, and by their neighborhood, that they dove into enhancing the community, helping to found the Downtown Neigh-borhood Association (DNA) in Octo-ber. In less than six months, they’ve es-tablished a Downtown Neighborhood Crime Watch, gotten
the decorative lights restored and graffiti cleaned up, set up rush tickets for Down-town residents at PPAC and started “so-cials” where residents meet up in groups at neighborhood restaurants on slow nights. The DNA is just one force aimed at making Downtown more resident-friendly. The Providence Foundation is working with the Downtown Improve-ment District and the Downtown Parks Conservancy to develop Downtown outdoor spaces, adding public art, and making them feel clean and safe. “What we’ve found nationally is that the qual-ity of public space is a necessity when you want to attract people and attract companies,” says The Providence Foun-dation’s Dan Baudouin. “The quality of public space is very important: parks, sidewalks, cafes on sidewalks – people want it to be clean, interactive and fun.”
“It’s such a great feeling of being in a city where things are still develop-ing, but there are so many supporters behind them,” Rich adds. “We’re firm believers that the biggest cheerleaders are those who move here and fall in love with it. Rhode Islanders are Providence’s worst critics.”
...But Those People Need HousesAs more young people move here – and as graduates from our schools are incen-tivized to stay, but more on that later – the talent pool is getting bigger. But what happens then? Some projections from Rhode Island Housing indicate a 20% surge in Providence households over the next decade, according to Exec-utive Director Barbara Fields. Our vacan-cy rate is chronically low, just over 4%, so it’s hard to find an affordable apartment or buy a house in the city.
Chris and Angie Cunico moved to Providence by way of Austin and Nashville
Recent transplants Michael DeGrandpre and Rich Pezzillo are helping make Downtown a
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“We see housing as an essential piece of the puzzle in trying to build the economic strength in Rhode Is-land,” Barbara says. “We create jobs when we invest in housing. We want people to stay here, and they need housing within their reach if we want them to spend within the local econ-omy.” To encourage that, RI Housing offers money to homebuyers: forgiv-able loans up to $7,000 for recent graduates; $20,000 grants for pur-chasing foreclosures; mortgages for first time homebuyers. “Last year, we put over $500 million dollars in the Rhode Island economy,” she says.
The incentives are appealing, but that doesn’t solve the problem of where these people are going to live. That’s Christine West’s job. “My sense is that people are ready to in-vest,” she says. “There’s value to be unlocked in Providence. The smart developers are doing it.” A principal and co-owner at KITE Architects, Christine and partner Albert Garcia led the team that designed the first approved construction on the I-195 Redevelopment Project, on Parcel 8. The building includes 80,000 square feet of new construction, with retail and office space on the lower levels and apartments above, and those LED lights that have peo-ple buzzing.
Other projects, like the mixed-use redevelopment at 32 Custom House Street with ground-floor retail space, are being announced by KITE in quick succession. “Our
firm is spectacularly busy,” she explains. “All of my architect friends are. When we get busy, in two years people start seeing things happen.” There are no cranes in the sky yet – just ask any of the mayor’s de-tractors – but there are about to be soon, and will be for a long time.
“We’re under capacity,” Christine continues. “We don’t have enough housing for all of the people who want to live here. It drives the econo-my, but it does mean that while we’re under supplied, prices are going up.” The rent increase between 2014 and 2015 was the biggest we’ve seen in a decade, according to RI Hous-ing, and tax increases are pointing to higher rents this year, too. Real-tors, especially on the East Side, are busier than they’ve been in years. But the concern,aside from schools, which is a conversation for another time, is attainable price points for all of this new development. Yes, it’s great that people are moving here, but eventually they could price us out of our own city. “The only way you can keep the rents approach-able is to make the units smaller,” Christine says. “There is a trend to-ward smaller housing, but you trade off space for proximity. That’s the nature of cities.” Given the perpetual waiting list for micro-lofts at The Ar-cade, it only reinforces the need for smaller space development, like the apartments going in at 95 Chest-nut Street, which are right-sized for more economical living.
...And Most Importantly, They Need JobsSo we’ve got pieces in place: the talent pool, the positive messaging about Providence and the places to house everyone. Then there’s the el-ephant in the room – there still aren’t enough jobs to go around.
“When you think of what we need in Providence to kickstart our economy and reverse the brain drain, we need something like Wexford Properties,” says Mayor Jorge Elorza of the science and technology development going into the 195 space. “That’s a game changer. They do shared workspace, but they do shared workspace supercharged,” he explains. “They also do programming to facilitate the ideas of one institution mixing with the ideas from another.” Wexford will develop the two largest parcels of 195 land in three phases.
The mayor also cites successes in workforce development, like the culinary program at Providence Career and Tech-nical Academy, which trains the next generation of restaurateurs, as an invest-ment in future jobs. And, there are large corporations investing in the city, like Deepwater Wind, which is building the nation’s first wind farm off Block Island and assembling the turbines in Provi-dence. “In assembling these massive wind turbines, they’ve put 300 people to work,” he explains. “This is the first time in the nation this Deepwater Wind project is happening. If this works, there’s potential for great growth for the state.”
Particularly exciting, especially for a foodie city, is the new Cromwell devel-opment in the Armory District: 40 resi-dential units, and the entire first floor as shared space for chefs to try out new concepts before launching their own restaurants. “They’re Brooklyn develop-ers,” the mayor explains. “This has been successful in Brooklyn, and they have big plans for Providence.”
Cromwell also plays to our strengths, which according to the Brookings Insti-tution study commissioned by Gover-nor Raimondo, are shellfish and design (among others). “We’re not a corporate town,” Christine West says. “Everyone I know has a really interesting job. There’s a correlation there. Providence is where people who want to do what they want get to do it.” She suggests the idea will become more of an asset as our nation-al star rises. “People can have creative and unique jobs, and it’s the kind of
culture that promotes that,” Chris-tine explains. “I know people who make money handcrafting jewel-ry, or in fashion or photography. To be neighbors with an oyster farmer? Come on. If that’s our strength, then the branding can be that you can choose your own destiny in Providence.”
To that end, the City has just rolled out the Providence Design Catalyst Program, intended specifically to pro-mote these creative, innovative jobs. A collaboration with RISD, the Social Enterprise Greenhouse, DesignxRI and the Community Development Block Grant, the program gives entrepre-neurs grants of up to $35,000, plus technical assistance and mentorship. The stipulation is that recipients have to live in and do business in Provi-dence. The program is just one thing in place to help alleviate brain drain from departing graduates. “I’ve met with all of the university presidents, and in our first conversations I told them that more than anything, I want their students to stay here. They’re willing to partner with us to help develop the local economy and make it a more re-ceptive, inviting place for graduates to stay.” Mayor Elorza also has a five year plan in the works to make Providence a hub for innovations in the technol-ogy surrounding aging, connecting Dementia and Alzheimer’s research at Brown with senior housing design development at RISD, with physical therapy innovation at URI, with food as medicine study at JWU, to make Providence the center for innovators in that industry.
Can PVD Be the Next Austin?One major piece of national visibility that we’re missing is a marquis festival, like Austin’s South by Southwest. This year’s PVD Fest on June 4, building on the resounding success of last year’s Providence International Arts Festival, is built with scalability. Austin’s music festival grew to a week of SXSW In-teractive conferences just beforehand. “There’s nothing stopping us from do-ing something similar,” Mayor Elorza says. “I came back thinking Austin is a great city, but in terms of raw materials, there’s nothing that they have that we don’t have that can help us develop a festival,” he says. The comparisons to Austin don’t end there.
“One of the things that’s so appeal-ing to me about living here is that it feels like Austin did in the ‘90s,” just be-fore its SXSW and tech booms, Angie Cunico says. “It’s the same kind of indie, artistic, higher education focused city. I see that growth for Providence.” But, she says, “As many things as we liked about Austin…” Chris continues: “We like being here more.”
Christine West of KITE Architects helped design the first building going up on the 195 land
“Providence has all of the
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36 Providence Monthly | May 2016
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Shades of GreyPatrick Adam works at High Output, an event lighting company. He lives in a 1925 Colonial – bought just six months ago – in Mt. Pleasant.
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City StyleAT HOME / SHOP TALK / THE LOOK / BEAUTY / GET FIT
I got this in an Indianapolis salvage yard. It was the P in a sign for an auto parts company. I was out there doing a Su-per Bowl for work three years ago, and shipped it back on one of our trucks.
I thought this chandelier was a cool cross between modern and industrial, the style I like. The house has really high ceilings so I was able to take ad-vantage of that.
It was surprising to find a house of that age that has a fairly open floor plan. That, and the grey color scheme throughout, really helped me bring in a modern aesthetic.
That’s an old film lighting fixture. It’s been rewired so it’s not as bright as it should be for a film set. Up close it’s really cool – it has all this chipped paint and goes along with my career and personal style.
The house has these gorgeous inlaid hardwood floors throughout. I was fortunate to buy the house with them like this. It’s been a fun project so far.
This gear is from a factory in Colorado. I just came across that in a shop. I love antique industrial decorations.
38 Providence Monthly | May 2016
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What’s the advantage of Pilates? Pilates is a great complement to other forms of exercise; it is a toning and total body condition-ing program that requires a mind/body connection to be performed correctly. It focuses on prop-er alignment, activation of core muscles, and proper movement technique to strengthen, lengthen and tone the body. The lessons of Pilates carry over to other move-ment /exercise/sport experiences.
Does Pilates burn fat?We like to focus on a healthy body and we want our clients to walk away feeling stronger and health-ier than when they arrived. That being said, Pilates will not neces-sarily show pounds lost, but it will help with inches lost and muscle tone. Muscle weighs more than fat, so you will be building muscle and changing the shape of your body. After one session, clients will report breathing better, and having better posture and body awareness.
What does your studio do differently? We are a fully equipped Pilates studio. All of my instructors have certified through a 600 hour train-ing program. Most of my instruc-tors are certified in Power Pilates. We also offer classes in Barre, Spin, Pilates Tower, Zumba, Bhangra and pre-natal mat Pilates.
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EXPERT ADVICECity Style | By Jeanette St. PierreThe Look
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JosephPhommasithFounder/Managing Director at JaiCGTell us more about your look here.It’s my don’t-have-a-meeting-today-but-just-in-case look. Staying relaxed, but ready. I do this with a Black Scale Ulai shirt from Sneaker Junkies on Thayer (much love to my fellow small-biz owner, Bilal), J. Crew jacket, Marc Allen pocket square, Benrus watch on my wrist and leather Nike Air Royals on my feet – also from Sneaker Junkies.
How would you describe your personal style?I’ve heard edgy, urban and even preppy. To me, it’s all about adaptability. Having versatility to present at an 8am board meeting, direct an on-site taping in the afternoon, write on the office sofa and hit the town that same night.
How does your work attire differ from your non-work? Out of college, it was suit and tie, M-F. My attitude’s evolved since starting JaiCG in 2012. Now, I strive to look “professional” but not stiff. It’s what you do and produce that matters – which is how we think at JaiCG. Taking what exists and challenging ourselves to make it our own, or do it better. It’s not being rebellious; it’s just refusing to blindly con-form. That’s how true authenticity happens.
What does Jai mean? Jai is a Laotian word for “heart.” Jai is also one of my three adorable nieces. JaiCG is short for Jai Communications Group. We’re selective of the or-ganizations we work with because having heart in what you do is possible only when you believe in it.
What’s your favorite season in Rhode Island? What do you look forward to wearing?A tie between summer and winter. I have a collec-tion of Kobe 9 sneakers in different colorways. For colder climates, I have multiple J. Crew coats and limited edition Timberlands that make me feel like an astronaut/arctic Alaskan.
Why Providence?Grow Smart RI‘s Scott Wolf often says, “RI has many strengths and untapped potential.” I 100% agree, and believe that JaiCG is helping to unleash that in our own special way. For a more visual re-sponse, check out our #ShareCommunity cam-paign for Grow Smart RI.
What do you like to do when you’re not working?Being in the creative space, work never really stops. A billboard in Boston or a musical score from a movie can spark inspiration. Good people make me happy. ESPN’s First Take is enlightening. Ther-apy comes from boxing, scratching on my turnta-bles (I DJ’ed from seventh grade through college), wings and potato chips.
40 Providence Monthly | May 2016
I don’t consider myself much of a warrior. So I approached TFW Providence with a bit of trepidation. TFW stands for Training for Warriors, a fitness regimen developed by strength trainer and javelin thrower Martin Rooney. TFW Providence is the third in Rhode Island. It was started by Mike Cronin, a National Strength and Conditioning Association-certified spe-cialist, grad student in kinesiology and former mixed martial arts fighter.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that TFW Providence is much more Average Joe’s than Globo-Gym. Currently, Mike runs his classes at Next Level Fitness in Johnston, as he works towards open-ing his own studio in Providence next fall. I arrived to meet the other “war-riors” I would be training with: one guy a little older than me and another a little younger, both recovering from injuries; two women I would estimate to be in their 60s, one of whom was overcoming Lyme disease; and a roughly 12-year-old kid. If we were going to be a team of warriors in some sort of post-apocalyp-tic thunderdome, I didn’t like our odds. Fortunately, these warriors were there to take on personal challenges, not motor-bike-riding berserkers.
Warriors lift heavy and sprintThe TFW approach is based on alternat-ing days of strength and speed training, with the added bonus of a “Hurricane,” which mixes sprints with bodyweight exercises in a kind of fast-paced interval training. (That’s the class I tried.) “Every-body wants to have the physique of an athlete – lean with muscle,” says Mike. “How do athletes get that physique? They lift weights two days a week and they sprint two days a week.”
The Hurricane was built around the latter half of this principle. There were three rounds of sprints, two 80-yarders and one 60. Each sprint was followed by two different strength exercises such as medicine ball figure eights, push-ups or reverse crunches.
Warriors don’t get injuredMike is diligent about protecting his war-riors. “Why do we warm up?” he asked the class during a set of jumping jacks at the beginning. “So we don’t get injured,” they responded in unison. He empha-sizes proper warm-ups and recovery to stave off the ravages that hard training can inflict. He also tailors the workout to each person’s individual abilities and fitness level. At every step, Mike encour-aged us to focus on our form – not just doing the exercise, but doing it right.
A warrior’s last set is the bestTFW preaches the gospel of finishing strong. Throughout the workout we were encouraged to be deliberate and focus on form during the early sets, rather than going top speed out of the gate. Once we had the form, we could max out our efforts on the final sets.
TFW Providence is a welcoming place where anyone can do their thing. And if you really want to train for the thunder-dome, Mike can probably tailor a work-out to you, too.
City Style |
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City Style |
A New ChapterBarrington Books opens anew Garden City location
By Claire Flanagan
Shopping
Barrington Books Retold’s man-ager Jennifer Massotti describes the vibe of the store, an offshoot of the orig-inal Barrington Books in Barrington, as “unexpected” – and it certainly is. While it appears to be an ordinary bookstore, the new location in Cranston’s Garden City Center is packed with unexpected and delightful finds. For example, upon entering the 5,000 square foot space, you’re immediately greeted by a vintage red and white French car. Yes, a real, full-sized car inside the store. The store carries over 20,000 titles of new books here, everything from adult fiction and nonfiction to children’s picture books and young adult reads.
As you walk farther in, you find your-self in a gorgeous gift section, which carries adorable finds of all kinds. Cute Rhode Island, New England and nau-tical themed gifts and goods are also scattered throughout. There’s every-thing you’d need for gift giving, like fun cards, wrapping paper, bows, ribbon and gift bags.
The entire back of the store is dedi-cated to the children’s section. Built around a fun tree sculpture that marks the reading area where a children’s story hour is held every Monday and Friday, and carpeted to look like a sandbox with grass in the middle, the whimsical kids’ section is packed with games, toys and essential children’s reads for every age. The cozy cushioned benches in the story section are all fitted with wheels, so they can be moved out of the way to accommodate a larger audience for big-ger author events that Barrington Books Retold frequently hosts.
Every detail of Barrington Books
Retold is beautifully thought out. “Each section of the store has a surprise to happen upon,” says Jennifer. The tables and shelves in the store were all carefully selected aesthetic pieces – like an an-tique rickshaw – or specifically made for the store. Jewelry displayed in the gift section is mounted on an eye-catching art installation made of vintage books – highlighting “that the soul of the store really is books,” Jennifer explains as she points out the piece. Around every cor-ner is something unexpected, making Barrington Books Retold a delightful place to wander and browse.
The original location has been open for almost 30 years, its interior space constantly growing and adapting physi-cally, but this new space, open since October, was really a blank canvas. It presented a unique opportunity to be able to build on the type of merchan-dise and style that had been created at Barrington Books. “It really is Barrington Books but reimagined for busy, young families,” says Jennifer on the new loca-tion. Barrington Books Retold definitely does offer the perfect one-stop visit for any kind of gift you’d need, with an in-credibly attentive and knowledgeable staff. Special events are always happen-ing at both Barrington Books locations, so check out the website to see what’s going on.
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44 Providence Monthly | May 2016
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So there I was, laying on a cozy table, with 20 needles sticking out of my feet, my knees, my hands, my face. And all I could think was one thing: this is so cool.
I had been curious about acupunc-ture, but I always found less stabby things to do with a spare hour. But since I completed All That Matters’ 40 Day Revolution in the fall, I’ve been more interested in mindfulness and natural health. So when I recent-ly met Hadley Clark of Zenkai Acu-puncture, the timing seemed right. That’s how I found myself with all of those tiny needles sticking out of me, simultaneously surprised that being a human pincushion didn’t cause me any pain at all and overtaken by a feeling of serenity.
Acupuncture treats almost any ail-ment you can think of, whether it’s emotional or physical: it alleviates pain, reduces stress, improves head-aches and arthritis, and countless other things. When I went for my first session, I wasn’t even really clear what I wanted to treat. After Hadley’s full battery of questions about my physi-cal and mental state, we identified some specific things to work on first: a red-alert stress level, a drained spirit from some tough personal things, and a persistently cranky knee, probably from way too many long days in heels. Hadley placed a needle in the cen-ter of my head first, then my hands and feet, explaining that we needed a base level of energy balance in my body before we could treat specifics.
Hadley comes from a Western medicine background. When she first heard of acupuncture, “I was
skeptical because it didn’t fit with my understanding of the world,” she says. But after seeing the benefits of acupuncture, she was intrigued. Now, she holds graduate degrees in Chinese and Japanese Acupuncture, and Chinese Herbal Medicine, as well as certifications in Reiki and Medical Qi Gong, and has been practicing for six years.
Once the needles were in place, she left me to rest for a while, then came back to add needles to my knee to get the energy flowing properly in there. As she explained, “Acupunc-ture grows momentum. The results get better after several sessions. It’s like getting in shape.” So during the first session, I was excited by the newness of the treatment, and felt relaxed afterwards, but I didn’t feel any major long term alleviation. But after my second session, I felt com-pletely different: relaxed and simul-taneously energized, and with mea-surable reduction in my knee pain. I’m looking forward to seeing how I feel after a third, which I will definite-ly be doing soon. “I love the science, the art and the holistic philosophy of Chinese medicine,” Hadley says. “Working with clients to overcome health issues that have been stop-ping them from living the life they want is incredibly rewarding.”
City Style |
Pins and NeedlesFinding inner balancethrough acupuncture
By Julie TremaineBeauty
Zenkai Acupuncture2 Richmond Square, #205
Providence318-8399
ZenkaiAcupuncture.com
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Feast IN THE KITCHEN / oN THE mENu / rEvIEw / IN THE drINK
Whet Your AppetiteProvidence, Johnston, Cranston. These are the state’s go-to cities for Italian cuisine. regardless of the excitement around new restaurants, the hungry faithful return time and time again to es-tablished favorites. Turn the page to read all about one of them: Pat’s Italian restaurant.
Pasta Miscuglio from Pat’s Italian Restaurant
48 Providence Monthly | May 2016
Our stomachs were grumbling as we pulled up to Pat’s, which is a good way to begin an evening of serious sampling. Pat’s strip-mall lo-cation may be unimpressive, but as we entered, we were soothed by the comfortable, nicely-decorated and surprisingly spacious interior.
Pat’s has expanded to take up the entire strip mall, making room for not only plenty of dining tables and booths, but also a lounge with a large bar and lower seating area, as well as a banquet room which seats over 50 people. Though the parking lot was full on a Friday night, we only waited a few minutes to be seated.
As we ordered appetizers, I ea-gerly attacked the bread basket and could have eaten a loaf of the whole-grain bread myself. It was just a deli-cious, old-style slice.
The Arancini ($7.95) were served four to a plate. I liked that these fried rice balls had plenty of cheese and incorporated fresh spinach in place of peas. The Mozzarella triangles ($7.95), also an order of four, were
a fantasy version of the mozzarella sticks of our childhood, giant and fresh. Both appetizers were served with a saucer of Pat’s signature to-mato basil sauce.
The Polpette ($8.95), a special, featured three giant meatballs swim-ming in sauce with a dollop of Narra-gansett Creamery ricotta. The meat-balls were airy, as if whipped, with a soft, velvety texture.
Pat’s famous tomato basil sauce enhanced all three of these appe-tizers. Once named “Best Sauce in Rhode Island” by readers of the Prov-idence Journal, it is light and uni-form with a hint of sweetness. This lightness was appreciated; we must have had a jarful with our appetizers alone!
To drink, we shared one bottle, and then another, of the Sensi Cupido San-giovese ($27). It was dry and smooth, able to cut through rich food.
Pat’s entrees come with a choice of soup or salad. The rest of my table chose the salad with creamy Parme-san peppercorn dressing. I tried the
chicken soup, a traditional version with plenty of small Acini di Pepe-type pasta.
For my main, I ordered the Vitello alla Sorrento ($21.95), a breaded veal
cutlet topped with mozzarella, ricot-ta and breaded eggplant, served in sauce. The size of this dish was im-pressive, the cutlet pounded to the size of a dinner plate. My husband’s Inferno di Pollo del David ($19.95) had plenty of character. The large chicken breast was topped with pro-sciutto, tomato, fresh mozzarella and scattered with hot pepper rings. One of our friends had the Cotoletta di Pollo Parmigiana ($16.95), which you probably know as chicken Parmesan. This, too, was served with melted mozzarella and tomato-basil sauce.
These three entrees came with a choice of pasta, potato or vegetable. I recommend upgrading to one of the homemade pastas ($1.95 surcharge): radiatore, bucatini, rigatoni and pap-pardelle. I loved my radiatore, which were playfully large, almost the size of ping-pong balls. This quirky pasta shape is named after a radiator. Just like a radiator’s folds increase surface area to provide more heat, the squig-gles of this pasta increase surface
Feast |
Ciao Italiaold world classics meet new world favorites at Pat’s Italian restaurant
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By Stephanie Oboddareview
ONE MORE BITE: Feeding a crowd? Pat’s can cater events with trays of your favorite entrees, like eggplant lasagna, chicken marsala and veal parmigiana.
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Veal Christine
May 2016 | Providence Monthly 49
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area to soak up more sauce. Both my husband and our friend chose the pappardelle. It arrived on a platter, family-style, with a huge scoop.
Our fourth dining companion had a pasta dish for her entree. The But-ternut Squash Ravioli ($17.95), a first-time special, were not only filled with butternut squash, but also had squash in the dough. The brilliantly orange ravioli were tossed with slices of grilled chicken breast. She was happy with her choice, and jealous glances from nearby tables told me this spe-cial might make a repeat appearance.
We shared two desserts. Our Spumoni ($4.95) was a classic ver-sion of the layered ice cream treat made with chocolate, pistachio and cherry ice cream, drizzled with mel-ba sauce. The Mud Pie ($7.95) had a chocolate crust filled with coffee
and chocolate ice cream, topped with milk chocolate. We enjoyed these with cappuccino ($4) and cof-fees ($2, free refills).
Our young server, who was excep-tionally attentive, was a highlight of our experience. We also appreciated the restaurant’s commitment to source local ingredients, including meat.
Pat’s Italian’s tagline is “nobody leaves this kitchen hungry,” and they certainly deliver on that promise. Not only did we leave full, but carry-ing bags of leftovers.
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Pat’s Italian Restaurant
1200 Hartford Ave, Johnston
273-1444
PatsItalian.com
Inferno di Pollo del David
50 Providence Monthly | May 2016
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Coffee is the ultimate equalizer. We give it as gifts, accept it as peace offerings, pour over it in times of dis-tress and take in all its glory in moments of joy. There are coffee runs, coffee breaks and coffee dates. You can even engage your social conscience by only drinking locally roasted, fair trade cof-fee from third wave shops or forego it and get it extra extra. However, some-thing seems to be missing, almost as if it’s on the tip of our tongue, or perhaps our fingertips. It seems the evolution of any movement must be digital, and coffee is no exception.
In an effort to move coffee forward – as well as our interaction with it – War-wick entrepreneur Paul Haun of local startup Kaneland just launched Nack. “Every morning I would pick up a cof-fee on my way to work. The thought of buying a cup for a co-worker, sec-retary or even a client would always pass through my mind,” Paul says. “However, not knowing how they liked their coffee, or if they already grabbed a cup for themselves, it was always dif-ficult to turn this thought into action. I soon came to see these disconnects as missed opportunities to share sim-ple acts of kindness. I started to think about an app that could enable anyone to express their knack for kindness and forever change and enhance the social experience around coffee.”
Nack is an app where anyone can gift a cup of coffee to anyone else. Imagine gifting a cup to your bestie on their birthday. Owe your coworker a few bucks? Gift them a cup of their favorite joe. Want to give back to the community you live in? Gift a cup of coffee to a specific café. Need to sweeten a deal? You get the point. It all works through PayPal, so it’s legit, quick and delish. The user easily and safely deposits money from their Pay-Pal account to the recipients. “A free cup of coffee will bring a smile to your
face and maybe even turn your day around. Coffee is a perfect gift in that it is relatively inexpensive and most people drink at least one cup a day,” says Paul. “Every now and then, I used to buy a cup for the person behind me in the drive-thru. Now with an app like Nack, mobile technology makes it even easier to share some positiv-ity with friends and even strangers in-stantly from wherever you are. Hope-fully, those receiving coffee will be inspired to pay-it-forward and buy a cup for someone else.” GetNack.com
You shop local, think local and eat local. But is it enough? Believe it or not there’s yet another level to be concerned with when it comes to what we put in our bodies. While most of what is purchased at farmer’s markets or specialty shops is surely local, made with care, concern and a commitment to correct labeling, there are those few bad eggs that have to go and ruin it for the rest. Ruining it to the point where EcoRI is doing some-thing about it. On May 18, they’re hosting the inaugural Happy Hour Speaker Se-ries: The Dark Side of Local Food with a panel of experts.
The panel will address questions rang-ing from how consumers can know what they’re buying is truly local, how to de-fine local food and is local food better for the environment to who is left out if
local food isn’t affordable. A few exam-ples of questionable items are honey and corn. EcoRI News co-founder and Execu-tive Director Joanna Detz explains that, “In our reporting, we’ve uncovered that some local honey isn’t really local. Some honey producers repackage honey from as far away as North Dakota or even Ar-gentina and Brazil and pass it off as local.
GMO’s are also of concern. “Consum-ers concerned about GMO’s may be getting GMO corn when they shop at a farmer’s market. This GMO corn re-duces the need for spraying pesticides because of an insect-killing protein pro-duced in the kernels,” Joanna says. As to what we as consumers can do, just ask a lot of questions. She recommends talking to farmers and asking what farm-ing methods they use. Ask what your
farmer’s market manager does in order to ensure that farmers are actually sell-ing what they say they are selling. Also, know your growing season. If you see “local” farmer’s market strawberries in September, chances are, they’re not local. May 18. 5:30-8pm. Tickets are $5 for students, $10 general admission. 115 Empire Street. EcoRI.org
Feast |
Kindness Through CoffeeGifting your favorite cup of joe is more than cool beans
By Grace Lentinion the menu
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Entrepreneur Paul Haun created the Nack app so you can gift coffee
Is Our Local Food Really Local
May 2016 | Providence Monthly 51
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Have you ever tried to give a pizza rec-ommendation to a New York transplant in Providence? It’s nearly impossible. They all have harsh critiques and far-away nostalgia for the “perfect slice” back home. But no more, folks – we have a legit New York-style pizzeria on Atwells Ave. Chef Christie Flanagan of Napoli-tano’s Brooklyn Pizza tells us how this iconic pizza is done right.
Tell me about the distinctive qualities of New York-style pizza. You have to have the right crust to start. It can’t be soft; it can’t be dry. It has to have the right consistency to hold its shape, so when you pick up the slice it doesn’t flop down. And it must be chewy with a little bit of crisp.
After that, the mozzarella cheese, which is basic. A lot of places around here use different cheeses on their pizzas, like cheddar. I think most New Yorkers would die a little if they saw cheddar cheese on a pizza. We don’t mix and match here. If you want to sprinkle parmesan on your slice after the fact, that’s your decision. But it’s mozzarella – that’s it.
If you had to choose one, what’s your favorite slice of pizza? Cheese. Three key ingredients: cheese, tomato sauce and dough. If you can’t make cheese pizza, you can’t make piz-za at all. A lot of places will throw weird ingredients on a slice to make it taste good, but for me, if you want to eat piz-za, you have to order a slice of cheese first. If that tastes amazing, you know the rest of the pizza is great, too. You have to have a good base and then build off it.
How do New Yorkers eat pizza?You have to fold it. Crust-to-crust; not crust-to-point. It’s the easiest way to eat
a slice. When you pick it up and fold it (if you have a good piece), it’s not going to flop down at the tip. It’ll maintain a nice structure and then you can walk around, get on the subway, read the paper and you’re on your way. I don’t know why New Englanders have trouble with that concept. I’ve had plenty come in here and fold the pizza the wrong way. New Yorkers will try to school them on how to eat a slice the right way. It’s pretty funny.
What’s another must-try on the menu? I’d say the homemade gravy with the meatballs and sausages. It was a sta-ple every Sunday at my house when I was a kid. You could smell it cooking in the morning and knew around two or three o’clock you were going to sit down and have some type of macaroni or ravioli with meatballs. We make the sausages in-house; it gives the gravy a really nice flavor.
What’s the type of feedback you like to see from area pizza lovers? My favorite is serving another New York-er a slice, especially when they haven’t had it in years. He or she will come in and look around, like, “is this for real? I don’t believe you.” Believe me, this is the real thing! Then they take the first bite and they’re like “Oh my God, it’s been so long.” Sometimes it’ll be ten, 20 even 40 years since they had a New York-style pizza. So that’s great to watch.
Feast |
Dough NutChef Christie Flanaganhighlights NY-style crust
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By Nick StaabIn the Kitchen
Napolitano’s Brooklyn Pizza
Locations in Cranston and Providence
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54 Providence Monthly | May 2016
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In a former hole-in-the-wall joint just over the Providence border in Pawtucket, a Cape Verdean-inspired tapas bar called Ten Rocks is quietly flipping a lot of scripts. It’s a bit more upscale than what its neighborhood was used to, for one, after transform-ing a dingy nook into something brighter and finer. Second, it’s main-streaming Cape Verdean culture in a place that still bears its very blue col-lar, very blue-plate-special roots. And, last but not least, it’s garnered the first endorsement of a flavored martini that this column has ever put on record. Let’s pause while that sinks in.
Some background: Most cocktail enthusiasts and, ahem, booze colum-nists wince at “martinis” that bedaz-zle the drink’s classic formula of gin or
vodka, vermouth and bitters. (See for reference: Chocolate-tini) The proper reaction is almost always a shudder – and yet, somehow, Ten Rocks serves up a tamarind rum-based version that totally charms. Named for Brava, one of the ten Cape Verdean Islands where tamarind grows wild, the cock-tail is a heady mix of sweet, sour and a little sticky. Ginger and lemon keep it this side of treacly, and the homage to home is hard to resist. Even hard-ened-liver, hard-nosed critics can be swayed, it seems.
Island VibesTen rocks captures Cape verdein a martini
Ten Rocks1091 Main Street, Pawtucket
728-0800
BravaServes one
The anchor of this cocktail is a tamarind ponche, made by infusing the region’s local rum (called grogue), with tama-rind. Plenty of DIY recipes float on the internet, but charisma and a good tip might buy you some in a pinch. Or, you could sidle up to the bar at Ten Rocks any night of the week but Monday, and enjoy their handiwork.
• 1.5 oz tamarind ponche • .5 oz vodka, plain• .5 oz orange-flavored vodka• Splash of ginger liqueur• Squeeze of lemon
Combine all ingredients in a cock-tail shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled martini glass, then garnish with lemon. Ten Rocks uses a wedge, but a thin strip of peel would work nicely, too.
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Feast | By Emily DietschIn the drink
Ten Rocks infuses Cape Verdean rum into delicious cocktails
May 2016 | Providence Monthly 55
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RHODY BITESA Sponsored Statewide Dining Guide
view our full restaurant Profiles on RhodyBites.com
What Cheer Tavern & Taqueria A landmark in Providence’s bar scene is reinventing Mexican food for foodies everywhere. The new menu features classics like Queso Fundido, tortilla chips with melted cheese, but takes them up a notch with poblano peppers, nopales and chorizo verde. The new menu also has completely unique concoctions like the Mexi-cali Ramen. It’s an innovative dish of noodles, broth, chicken, cabbage, avo-cado, cilantro, onion and jalapeño that
only a mad scientist could have come up with.
While the food menu is awe-inspir-ing, What Cheer Tavern & Taqueria is just that, a tavern. As always the bar features some Rhode Island-made beers like Proclamation Tendril on tap along with national crowd pleasers like Maine Beer and Co. What Cheer is a safe haven for foodies and bar hop-pers all over Rhode Island with reason-able prices and a phenomenal staff.
228 New York Ave, Providence • 680-7639
Don’t know your brews? Sample a beer before committing to a glass, so there’s no guess and check.
Insider Tip:
10 Prime Steak & Sushi Gourmet steaks and sushi. 55 Pine St, Providence, 453-2333. LD $$$
Angelo’s Civita Farnese Restaurant Italian American comfort food classics. 141 Atwells Ave, Providence, 621-8171. LD $-$$
AQUA Poolside cocktails with seasonal American cuisine. 1 Orms St, Provi-dence, 272-2400. LD $-$$
Besos Kitchen & Cocktails Tapas and eclectic cuisine and cocktails. 378 Main St, East Greenwich, 398-8855. BrLD $$$
Bistro 22 New American rustic cuisine in Garden City. 22 Midway Rd, Crans-ton, 383-6400. LD $-$$
Black Bass Grille Classic seafood, historic waterfront setting. 3 Water St, South Dartmouth, MA, 508-999-6975. LD $$
Blend Café Modern Latin-American infused fare. 745 Reservoir Ave, Cran-ston, 270-5533. BBrLD $-$$
Bluefin Grille at the Providence Mar-riott Downtown Seasonal and sus-tainable seafood in an elegant at-mosphere. 1 Orms St, Providence, 272-5852. LD $-$$
Breachway Grill Classic New England fare, plus NY-style pizza. 1 Charlestown Beach Rd, Charlestown, 213-6615. LD $$
Café Nuovo Contemporary New World cuisine. 1 Citizens Plz, Providence, 421-2525. LD $-$$$
Capriccio Upscale international food with a northern Italian/Mediterranean accent. 2 Pine St, Providence, 421-1320. LD $-$$$
Carriage Inn & Saloon Regional com-fort food accompanied by a whiskey bar. 1065 Tower Hill Rd, North Kings-town, 294-8466. D $-$$
CAV Eclectic cuisine and art in an his-toric setting. 14 Imperial Place, Provi-dence, 751-9164. BrLD $$-$$$
Celestial Café Organic farm-to-table fine dining. Oak Harbor Village, 567
S County Tr, Exeter, 295-5559. BrLD $-$$$
Centro Restaurant & Lounge Con-temporary cuisine and cocktails. 1 W Exchange St, Providence, 228-6802. BLD $$$
Champlins Seafood Dockside fresh seafood serving easy breezy cocktails. 256 Great Island Rd, Narragansett, 783-3152. LD $-$$
Chez Pascal/The Wurst Kitchen Sea-sonal farm-to-table cuisine with a French accent. House made sausages, hot dogs and accoutrements. 960 Hope St, Providence, 421-4422. LD $-$$$
Chapel Grille Gourmet food overlook-ing the Providence skyline. 3000 Cha-pel View Blvd, Cranston, 944-4900. BrLD $$$
Circe Restaurant & Bar South Beach meets New England seafood favorites. 50 Weybosset St, Providence, 437-8991. BRLD $-$$$
Clean Plate Delicious comfort food in a
casual setting. 345 S. Water St, Provi-dence, 621-8888. BBrLD $$
DeWolf Tavern Gourmet American/Indian fusion. 259 Thames St, Bristol, 254-2005. BLD $$-$$$
The Dorrance Fine dining with exqui-site cocktails. 60 Dorrance St, Provi-dence, 521-6000. D $$$
Eleven Forty Nine City sophistication in the suburbs. 1149 Division St, War-wick, 884-1149. LD $$$
Ella’s Fine Food & Drink Elegant din-ing meets international cuisine. 2 Tow-er St, Westerly, 315-0606. D $-$$$
Flatbread Company Artisanal pizza, local ingredients. 161 Cushing St, Provi-dence, 273-2737. LD $-$$
Fresco Italian American comfort food with international inspirations. 301 Main St, East Greenwich, 398-0027; 140 Comstock Pkwy, Cranston, 228-3901. D $-$$
George’s of Galilee Fresh caught
Key: B breakfast Br brunch L lunch d dinner $ under 10 $$ 10–20 $$$ 20+
A beer lover’s dream, now with tacos,at What Cheer Tavern & Taqueria
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56 Providence Monthly | May 2016
For full restaurant profiles, go to RhodyBites.com
seafood in an upscale pub atmo-sphere. 250 Sand Hill Cove Rd, Narra-gansett, 783-2306. LD $-$$
Harry’s Bar & Burger Handcrafted slid-ers, brews and pub games. 121 N Main St, Providence, 228-7437; 301 Atwells Ave, 228-3336. LD $-$$
Haruki Japanese cuisine and a la carte selections with casual ambiance. 1210 Oaklawn Ave, Cranston, 463-8338; 172 Wayland Ave, Providence, 223-0332; 112 Waterman St, Providence, 421-0754. LD $-$$
Iggy’s Doughboys & Chowder House Classic clam shack fare, plus famous doughboys. 889 Oakland Beach Ave, Warwick, 737-9459; 1157 Point Judith Rd, Narragansett, 783-5608. LD $
Iron Works Tavern A wide variety of signature American dishes in the histor-ic Thomas Jefferson Hill Mill. 697 Jeffer-son Blvd, Warwick, 739-5111. LD $-$$$
Jacky’s Galaxie Local Pan-Asian chain offering sushi and classic entrees in a modern atmosphere. Locations in Providence, North Providence, Bristol and Cumberland, jackysgalaxie.com. LD $-$$$
Jigger’s Diner Classic ‘50s diner serv-ing breakfast all day. 145 Main St, East Greenwich, 884-6060. BL $-$$
Julian’s A must-taste Providence staple celebrating 20 years. 318 Broadway, Providence, 861-1770. BBrLD $$
Kartabar Mediterranean-style cuisine, chic setting. 284 Thayer St, Provi-dence, 331-8111. LD $-$$
KitchenBar Contemporary comfort cuisine. 771 Hope St, Providence, 331-4100. BrLD $$
Laurel Lane Country Club Upscale pub cuisine overlooking a picturesque golf course. 309 Laurel Ln, West Kingston, 783-3844. LD $-$$
Lim’s Restaurant Upscale Thai and fresh sushi. 18 South Angell St, Provi-dence, 383-8830. LD $$
Luxe Burger Bar Build your own cre-ative burger. 5 Memorial Blvd, Provi-dence, 621-5893. LD $
Maharaja Indian Restaurant Indian cui-sine and traditional curries in a warm setting. 1 Beach St, Narragansett, 363-9988. LD $-$$
Malted Barley American craft beer, gourmet pretzels and creative sand-wiches in downtown Westerly. 42 High St, Westerly, 315-2184; 334 Westminster St, Providence, 490-0300. LD $$
McBride’s Pub Traditional Irish pub fare in Wayland Square. 161 Wayland Ave, Providence, 751-3000. LD $$
McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood & Steak Mixed grill selections and sig-nature fish dishes sourced locally and seasonally. 11 Dorrance St, Providence, 351-4500. BLD $$-$$$
Mia’s Prime Time Café Upscale café cui-sine by the Pawcatuck River. 1 West Broad St, Pawcatuck, CT, 860-599-3840. BLD $$
Mill’s Tavern Historic setting for New American gourmet. 101 N Main St, Providence, 272-3331. D $$$
Napolitano’s Brooklyn Pizza Classic Italian fare and traditional New York-style pizzas. 100 East St, Cranston, 383-7722; 380 Atwells Ave, Provi-dence, 273-2400. LD $-$$
Nordic Lodge Surf and turf buffet se-lections perfect for family gatherings. 178 E Pasquisett Trl, Charlestown, 783-4515. LD $$$
Ocean State Sandwich Company Craft sandwiches and hearty sides. 1345 Hartford Ave, Johnston. 155 Westmin-ster St, Providence, 282-6772. BL $-$$
The Olive Tap Extra virgin olive oils, aged balsamic vinegars and gourmet food and gift selections. 485 Angell St, Providence, 272-8200. $$-$$$
Opa the Phoenician Authentic Leba-nese food served in a fun atmosphere with hookahs. 230 Atwells Ave, Provi-dence, 351-8282. D $-$$$
Parkside Rotisserie & Bar American bistro specializing in rotisserie meats. 76 South Main St, Providence, 331-0003. LD $-$$
Pat’s Italian Fine Italian favorites,
natural steaks and handcrafted cock-tails. 1200 Hartford Ave, Johnston, 273-1444. LD $-$$$
Phil’s Main Street Grille Classic com-fort food; great rooftop patio. 323 Main St, Wakefield, 783-4073. BBrLD $
Pho Horn’s Fresh authentic Vietnam-ese dishes in a colorful setting. 50 Ann Mary St #403, Pawtucket, 365-6278. LD $-$$
Pizza J A fun, upbeat atmosphere with thin crust pizza, pub fare and gluten-free options. 967 Westminster St, Providence, 632-0555. LD $-$$
Pizzico Diverse Italian and fusion cuisine in a rustic yet eclectic atmosphere. 762 Hope St, Providence, 421-4114; 308 Coun-ty Rd, Barrington, 247-0303. LD $-$$$
Providence Coal Fired Pizza Old world coal-fired pizzas, appetizers and
RHODY BITESContinued
Black Bass Grille is a gem hidden away in a cozy little corner of South Dartmouth overlooking the water. With fresh-off-the-grille steaks and fresh-out-of-the-ocean seafood, you could want for nothing in this small Padan-aram Village restaurant. Enjoy classic New England dishes like crab cakes and lobster rolls or explore the more adventurous side of the menu with a mix of Portuguese and Italian flair. Try
their Arancini, an Italian tradition of fried risotto balls with an ever chang-ing mix of ingredients that is worth ask-ing your server about. They even serve brick oven pizza with artisanal level in-gredients like their Great Hill Fig Pizza featuring sliced figs, Great Hill blue cheese, caramelized onions and moz-zarella. With a wide arrangement of salads and burgers there is something for every picky eater in your family.
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Can’t miss dish:
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Neighborhood seafood favorites abound at The Black Bass Grille
May 2016 | Providence Monthly 57
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entrees made from scratch. 385 Westminster St, Providence, 454-7499; 6105 Post Rd, North Kingstown, 885-7499. LD $-$$
Public Kitchen & Bar American food with changing daily inspirations. 120 Francis St, Providence, 919-5050. BrLD $-$$
Rasa Authentic and contemporary Indian. 149 Main St, East Greenwich, 398-2822. LD $$
Rasoi Vegetarian-friendly Indian cui-sine . 727 East Ave, Pawtucket, 728-5500. LD $$
Red Stripe Casual French-American bistro. 465 Angell St, Providence, 437-6950; 455 Main St, East Green-wich, 398-2900. BrLD $$
Rick’s Roadhouse House-smoked barbecue. 370 Richmond St, Provi-dence, 272-7675. LD $-$$
Roberto’s Italian fine dining and large wine selection in the scenic East Bay. 450 Hope St, Bristol, 254-9732. D $$-$$$
Sa-Tang Fine Thai and Asian fusion cuisine with gluten-free selections. 402 Main St, Wakefield, 284-4220. LD $-$$
Siena Impeccable Italian cuisine. Lo-cations in Providence, East Green-wich, Smithfield, 521-3311. D $$-$$$
Simone’s Gourmet brunch followed by upscale Mediterranean cuisine. 275 Child St, Warren, 247-1200. BBrLD $$-$$$
Sophia’s Tuscan Grille BYOB eatery with classic Tuscan dishes and home-made desserts. 1729 Warwick Ave, Warwick, 732-6656. BLD $-$$$
T’s Restaurant Plentiful breakfast and lunch. Locations in Cranston, East Greenwich, Narragansett, 946-5900. BL $
Taullulah on Thames Farm-driven, a la carte and prix fixe menus in a sim-ply decorated setting. 464 Thames St, Newport, 849-2433. BrD $$$
Tavern by the Sea Waterfront Euro-pean/American bistro. 16 W Main St, Wickford, 294-5771. LD $$
Tavern on the Water A fusion of Portuguese and French cuisine in an upscale American atmosphere. 743
Putnam Pk, Smithfield, 349-3888. LD $-$$$
Tavolo Wine Bar and Tuscan Grille Classic Italian cuisine with an exten-sive wine and beer list. 970 Douglas Pike, Smithfield, 349-4979. LD $-$$
Ten Rocks Tapas Bar Cape Verdean- in-spired small plates, handcrafted cock-tails and frequent live music. 1091 Main St, Pawtucket, 728-0800. BrLD $-$$
The Coast Guard House Modern New England fare with Bay views. 40 Ocean Rd, Narragansett. 789-0700. LD $$-$$$
Theatre 82 & Cafe Hybrid art space with all day breakfast, coffee and theatre-inspired entrees. 82 Rolfe Sq, Cranston. 490-9475 BL $
Tortilla Flats Fresh Mexican, Cajun and Southwestern fare, cocktails and over 70 tequilas. 355 Hope St, Provi-dence, 751-6777. LD $-$$
Trattoria Del Mare Traditional Italian cui-sine with a focus on seafood in an elegant yet relaxing atmosphere. 145 Spruce St, Providence, 273-7070. LD $$-$$$
Trinity Brewhouse Rhode Island’s original brewpub. 186 Fountain St, Providence, 453-2337. LD $-$$
Twin Willows Fresh seafood and wa-ter views in a family-friendly atmo-sphere. 865 Boston Neck Rd, Narra-gansett, 789-8153. LD $-$$
Vanuatu Coffee Roasters Artisan-crafted, single origin coffee, pastries and breakfast sandwiches. 294 At-wells Ave, Providence, 273-1586. BL $-$$
The Village Casual dining and live en-tertainment. 373 Richmond St, Provi-dence, 228-7222. BrLD $$
Wes’ Rib House Missouri-style barbe-cue, open late. 38 Dike St, Providence, 421-9090. LD $$
What Cheer Tavern & Taqueria Neighborhood gastropub, taqueria and beer garden. 228 New York Ave, Providence, 680-7639. D $-$$
Whiskey Republic Delicious dockside pub fare. 515 South Water St, Provi-dence, 588-5158. LD $-$$
XO Cafe Creative cocktails and New American fare. 125 N Main St, Provi-dence, 273-9090. BrD $$
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WWW.PVDFEST.COMPhoto | Ehsun Mirza “malang”
Produced by the City of ProvidenceFounding Creative Partner, FirstWorks
May 2016 | Providence Monthly 59
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Get OutEVENTS / ART / MUSIC / THEATRE
May 12: The NPR news quiz comes to PPAC, bringing along host Peter Sagal and friends as they crack wise about the week’s headlines. Test your own knowledge and public radio wit through Lightning Fill in the Blank, Limerick Challenges and other games you all know and love. 7:30pm. 220
Weybosset Street. 421-2787, PPACRI.org
Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!1.
May 1-29: The Gamm The-atre marks the 400th an-
niversary of Shakespeare’s death with The Winter’s Tale. King Leon-tes imprisons his wife, banishes his daughter and tries to murder a life-long friend, reassuring audiences that though their family might be crazy, it isn’t Shakespeare crazy. 172 Exchange Street, Pawtucket. 723-4266, GammTheatre.org
2. May 13: Friday the 13 gets extra spooky this month
as Vudu Sister drops their new-est album, Mortis Nervosa, at the Columbus Theatre. Brace yourself for an evening of haunting goth-ic folk from Keith McCurdy and friends, as well as acoustic per-formances from Bloodpheasant and Pixels. 8pm. 270 Broadway. 621-9660. ColumbusTheatre.com
3. May 21: The Providence Artisans Market is back,
just in time for opening day of the Hope Street Farmers Market. The market offers paintings, ceramics, jewelry, glass, vintage and much more, doing for your aestehtic what the farmer’s market does for your fridge. There is definitely something for everyone. 1015 Hope Street. Facebook.com/PVDArtisansMarket
5.May 15: Put on your high-est heels and do your
makeup for Guys as Dolls Drag Extravaganza at Comedy Con-nection. This 90-minute show is full of costume changes, sparkle and glam. Come say hi to Sabri-na Blaze, Ladiva Jonz and Haley Star. 7pm. 39 Warren Avenue, East Providence. 438-8383, RICom-edyConnection.com
4.
Huh... Peter doesn’t sound bald. See the cast of NPR’s news quiz live this month at PPAC.
60 Providence Monthly | May 2016
May 1-22: Anything goes at Ocean State Theatre Company, that includes their production of Anything Goes. Set aboard the ocean liner S.S. Amer-ican with nightclub singer and evan-gelist Reno Sweeney and her friend Billy Crocker, who stowed away to be with his sweetheart, Hope Harcourt. Unfortunately, Hope is engaged to Lord Evelyn Oakleigh so things don’t go exactly according to plan. 1245 Jefferson Boulevard, Warwick. 921-6800, OceanStateTheatre.org
May 7: Okay, so technically it’s Siete de Mayo, but a party’s a
party so we’re not about to split hairs. Head down to downcity for their annual Cinco de Mayo Block Party, featuring a fleet of food trucks, a bar at Grant’s Block and the Rock ’n Roll Yard Sale. Free. 11am-6pm. Westminster from Dor-rance to Mathewson. InDowncity.com
May 7: Ocean State Theatre Com-pany is thrilled to announce the re-turn of LuckyBob. This magician/jug-gler/comedian will give you a night of awe and laughs. The show is fun for everyone as he interacts with the audience and incorporates children and adults. He juggles, reads minds and makes things vanish. Is there anything he can’t do? 11:30am. 1245 Jefferson Boulevard, Warwick. 921-6800, OceanStateTheatre.org
May 8: Do the little ones want to make something for Mother’s Day? Bring them to the Providence Chil-dren’s Museum for Mother’s Day Bead Making. Sculpt your own beads from clay, paper and other materials and use them to make necklaces and keychains. Admission is free for mom and grandma. 100 South Street. 273-5437, ChildrenMuseum.org
May 8: It’s time to treat your mom and Celebrate Mother’s Day with Tea at Lippitt House. Enjoy an af-ternoon with tea, sweet and savory delights, signature cocktails and a relaxing Jazz quartet led by James Scott Chowning. This event will give your mom a day to remember. 12:30 and 4pm. 199 Hope Street. 453-0688, LippittHouse.org
May 11: It’s a beautiful time to walk amongst the flowers. The
Spring Blooms Walking Tour at Swan Point Cemetery allows you to do just that. The guided tour that is offered will spotlight mid-spring blossoms in a historic garden ceme-tery. Find life on this tour. Free. 2pm. 585 Blackstone Boulevard. Reserva-tions at 272-1314 or [email protected]
May 11: Lupo’s gets loud as it wel-comes Eagles of Death Metal back to PVD. Bang your head and rock out, but don’t let the name fool you. These dudes aren’t here to scare you, they’re here to get you to party. 8pm. 79 Washington Street. Lupos.com
May 12-31: Connected and commu-nicating, As One and Many by Shari Weschler Rubeck looks at how we have communicated collectively and individually in the past and how we will in the future. These paint-ings are filled with draping imagery that symbolizes a veil that is being covered or lifted. How has technol-ogy affected the way we communi-cate face to face? 999 Main Street, Unit 105, Pawtucket. 533-8825, CanditaClaytonGallery.com
May 14: The Urban Pond Procession is a growing event that takes place
each year to celebrate and cultivate public interest in the health of the Lower Pawtuxet River Watershed. The Procession goes through neigh-borhoods around Mashapaug Pond and Roger Williams Park. There will be food, music, environmental health updates and art from local artists and youth. UPPArts.org
May 18-31: Catechism classes are not considered to be fun, but with Trinity Rep’s Late Nite Catechism your per-spective might change. This interac-tive hit comedy will bring back mem-ories to anyone who went to school with an all-seeing nun. 201 Washing-ton Street. 351-4242, TrinityRep.com
May 15: For the first time in nearly two decades, the Chorus of Wester-ly will be performing in Providence. Guest conductor Maestro David Hill will lead a stirring performance of Verdi Requiem as the chorus takes the stage at The Vets. Use the code PM20 at checkout for 20% off tick-ets. 2:30pm. One Avenue of the Arts. TheVetsRI.com
May 15: Calling all runners and walk-ers. The Kids Klub Fundraiser is hold-ing its Klub House Rock! 5k. Along with the run there will be face painting, games, a raffle and other fun activities. All of the proceeds go to The Kids Klub Fund to provide students with tuition
Get Out |
May
By Katlynn Grenier & Mollie StackhouseCalendar
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE For an up-to-date statewide calendar and to submit your own listings visit ProvidenceOnline.com
May 12: Want an event that has it all? Come to the Sweet Little Variety Show where there are musicians, comedians and more. This monthly show promotes local artists as a feminist, anti-racist, queer-positive and body-positive cabaret. Featured this month are Lara Herscovitch, Reece Cotton, Bernard Morton and Host, Nicool. This event is 18+ unless attended by an adult. 8pm. 276 Westminster Street. 272-5723, AuroraProvidence.com
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May 2016 | Providence Monthly 61
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scholarships, field trips and education-al enrichment programs. 8:30-11:30am. 1583 Hartford Avenue, Johnston. 723-2277, KidsKlubRI.com
May 17: Come see the magic of impro-visation at Ryan Kowal’s Improvisation Extravaganza. Some of the Providence area’s best musical improvisers come together to create a unique and unfor-gettable performance. 9:30pm-1am. 115 Empire Street. 831-9327, AS220.org
May 20: Cat Country 98.1 presents Stars with Guitars. In this event the musicians will all be on the stage at
the same time, laughing, telling sto-ries and singing songs. The concert features stars like Trace Adkins, Jon Pardi, Lindsay Ell and Easton Corbin. 7:30pm. One Lasalle Square. 331-6700, DunkinDonutsCenter.com
May 21: You may know him as Agent Jack Bauer from 24 but this actor has more to give than his onscreen tal-ents. With his debut album Down in a Hole, Kiefer Sutherland makes his way to The Met. Don’t miss your chance to see this actor/musician in person. 8pm. 1005 Main Street, Pawtucket. 729-1005, TheMetRI.com
Get Out | Calendar
May 21: The Hope Street Spring Block Party is back and is promising to be bigger than ever. Check out two stages of live music, contests, kids activities, a beer garden and food trucks. It’s like everything great about Providence has been condensed into a single block party. 12-6pm. Between Rochambeau and 5th Street. HopeStreetProv.com
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62 Providence Monthly | May 2016
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“Are you familiar with Scary Sto-ries to Tell in the Dark?”
Vudu Sister’s Keith McCurdy asks me this early in a conversation that had already found itself wandering in and out of childhood reminiscing (he’s got an impressive collection of Super Nintendo carts). Of course I’m familiar with Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. What ‘90s brat isn’t?
“Those original illustrations were so visceral,” he says, and I get chills just thinking about them. The black and white illustrations featured phan-tasms and horrors that often seemed like they’d be a better fit for a Hell-raiser movie than a kid’s anthology, but therein lay the beauty of them. “I was flipping through it and looking at the titles of the stories and thought ‘some of these sound like cool song titles.’ I never write a song based on a title but sometimes it’s a fun exercise, so I decided to do that. Then it just got ahead of itself.”
Mortis Nervosa might draw from a beloved piece of Gen X pop cul-ture, but it completely abandons the grunge trappings of Vudu Sister’s 2013 rocker Household Items. Mortis Nervosa goes for straight folk with a sinister twist, sounding more like tra-ditional ballads than even Vudu Sis-ter’s debut, Bastard Children, which lands more in the orbit of Americana and folk revival. Populated by mur-derers and ghosts, Mortis plays like the horror anthology that inspired it, with beautiful string arrangements to compliment the dark, often grisly subject matter. Like a raspy-voiced stranger on a dark country road, Keith leads listeners from one macabre tale
to the next. Songs like “White Satin Evening
Gown” and “He Heard Footsteps Coming Up the Cellar Stairs” – lots of dead children in that one – calls out to that part of us that will always be un-comfortable in our own basements or nervous about being home alone after dark. On the flip side, “Raven-haired Girl” and “Rings on Her Fingers” feel more indebted to Poe’s gothic tradi-tion than the gorier spooks and hor-rors elsewhere on the record, though they certainly don’t lack for their own kind of sorrow.
“Some of it’s gruesome,” Keith says. “But most of the material on this al-bum is me trying to find disturbing themes and work with them in a way that’s beautiful. A lot of the subjects are disgusting, but [the songs] aren’t overtly disgusting. It’s trying to find the beauty in decay.”
Vudu Sister will be releasing Mortis Nervosa at the Columbus Theatre on Friday, May 13 (of course). Joining them will be Pixels and Bloodpheasant, each performing acoustic sets which kind of blows my mind. In the meantime, you can stream “White Satin Evening Gown” from their website to get a taste of what you’re in for. Draw the curtains and light some candles, set your phone in the middle of an Ouija board and hit play… if you dare.
Get Out | By Tony PacittiMusic
Ghost SongsVudu Sister trades grungefor gothic folk
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Vudu SisterVuduSister.com
Mortis Nervosa release showColumbus TheatreMay 13 8pm-12am
Vudu Sister debuts Mortis Nervosaon Friday the 13 at the Columbus
May 2016 | Providence Monthly 63
64 Providence Monthly | May 2016
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“I Like Your Butt” sprawls delicately in bright colored curls over white card-stock. “I think it’s a good representation of our values and our humor,” expresses Ma-ret Bondorew in reference to the greeting card. “I’m pretty proud of that one.”
Maret, Chris Milko and owner Asher Schofield are the collective creative force behind much of the amusing and culturally relevant merchandise found at Frog and Toad. From slices of stationery that congratulate that special someone on their rap career, to pencils with the phrase “F*ck Yeah Rhode Island!” to po-litically minded patches urging people to “Stand Up For Flint,” all of these items are conceived and executed with care-ful consideration by the aforementioned trio under the name Frog and Toad Press.
While Asher has designed for his shop since the beginning, it wasn’t until Maret joined the store almost two years ago that F&T Press was established.
“She started working here and slowly over time I realized that somehow we had been delivered this amazing artist. We ar-rived with where we’re at now – having a studio and making our own merchandise – just by evolving with Maret and seeing her work as an artist,” says Asher.
Most – if not all – of the Frog and Toad Press line is light hearted in nature, but some items have a deeper meaning than what’s drawn on the surface. “We felt like something that was missing in the greet-ing card market was the mass incarcera-tion niche,” says Asher while discussing a new collection of stationery that fea-ture phrases like “Two words: Conjugal visit,” and “That judge totally had it out for you.”
“Developing a line of cards that spoke to that community is relevant. [Ameri-ca] has such an issue that it’s at the
forefront of the cultural discussion and the idea was to push that conversation around a little bit – this is actually such a thing now that we’re making greeting cards saying ‘Thank you for being my court-appointed attorney?’”
Another recent Frog and Toad creation was a direct reaction to the atrocities hap-pening in Flint, MI. There is nothing funny about the “Stand Up For Flint” patch, as there is nothing funny about what it rep-resents. Instead, the image of a fist in the air is bold, strong and fearless.
“One day as she’s wont to do, my wife and co-owner Erin said we need to do something about this – I don’t know what – but we need to do some-thing for the people of Flint’,” explains Asher. “I brought the sentiment to work one day and immediately Chris said we should do a patch. We can use this voice that we have, this talent that we have, to do something that has some sort of tangible effect.”
The patch itself sells for $5 and can be found at the store or online, with all of the proceeds sent directly to help the people of Flint. Asher even mailed one to Michigan Governor Rick Snyder. “Maybe this is something that somebody is wear-ing at their coffee shop and a conversa-tion is started based on that,” considers Asher. “It’s like a tool, something to fur-ther the conversation to increase aware-ness. It’s been a really exciting new thing that we’ve done and it’s shown me this is something we can do again in the future.”
Get Out | By Elyena “Nellie” de GoguelArt
Keep PVD WeirdBehind the designs at Frog and Toad
Frog and Toad Press 795 Hope Street
831-3434FrogandToadStore.com P
hoto
gra
phy
by
Tiff
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Axt
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Chris Milko, Maret Bondorew and Asher Schofield create the quirky – and relevant – designs at Frog and Toad
May 2016 | Providence Monthly 65
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Recently, storyteller Len Cabral was cleaning his office. A collector as much as a teller of stories, histories and rich cross-cultural experiences, one can only imagine what trea-sures such a space might hold, ready to be uncovered at any moment.
In this particular moment, Len recalls, two letters came tumbling out from a portfolio. They were both from the late Senator Claiborne Pell, the ad-vocate of education and arts whose legacy is honored each year by Trinity Repertory Com-pany. Fitting, since Len was re-cently named one of the two Rhode Island Pell Award for Ex-cellence in the Arts recipients to be feted at the 2016 gala, held this month in Newport. Len had met Pell on two occa-sions: once when Len received the Jefferson Award, an award honoring citizenship, and again when he emceed an event in honor of the Senator’s retirement.
“I’m honored to receive the award,” Len says. “[Senator Pell] was a good man, and I was glad that he was from Rhode Island. He was someone I could brag about when I traveled around the country.”
It’s safe to say that many Rhode Is-landers feel the same way about Len. He’s a recognizable figure in the Provi-dence arts scene – his decades-long storytelling career has gone hand in hand with his work for the Providence Inner City Arts Council (PICA), a non-profit multi-cultural community orga-nization he founded in 1971. Through PICA, the city has enjoyed festivals like the Florentine Faire, the Jazz City series, two years of programming at the now-shuttered Roots Cultural Center downtown and other projects that have borne Len’s stamp.
“It feeds my soul, on a personal lev-el,” Len says when asked about what makes the arts so important. And what about the arts in Providence and in Rhode Island, the place he calls
home? “There’s so much diversity in Rhode Island. It should be highlighted, but we don’t talk about it,” he says.
For Len, advocating for the arts – for the value of showcasing and reveling in the human experience in all its fac-ets – is advocating for diversity in the arts. An African-American whose own cultural heritage reaches back on both sides to the Cape Verdean islands, this is a deeply felt responsibility.
“It’s discouraging to see the lack of diversity in Rhode Island in the arts, in education and in business. This is my home,” he says. “You walk through downtown, and you’re like, where are the people of color? Where are the black professionals? Where are the black artists? It’s not inviting. The places I go into, it’s [often] just me and a cup of coffee.”
An integral part of changing that, Len says, is to actively encourage the celebration of our differences. He feels that it’s our duty to expose our young people to as many experiences and stories as we can find – to show
them that other types of peo-ple, and that other paths, exist apart from the majority. From a young age, he realized the importance of storytelling in this mission – he found that he was most interested in classes where teachers approached education with a storytelling bent. He would go on to re-flect that philosophy in his own teaching, whether with PICA, throughout the state in his own performances, or in his work as an early childhood educa-tor (“On a wing, I took this job at a daycare center, and I was in charge of 15 five-year-olds. That’ll make you a storyteller”).
With a resonant voice, an open, expressive face that’s easy to break into a warm smile, you can see that Len makes the ideal teacher. To see him on stage is to become enrap-tured with whatever story he’s spinning – he prefers folklore, fairytales, myths and the like. It
seems impossible to not connect. And that’s what he’s hoping for, he says. That despite the disconnect of the modern world, and despite the bub-bles that we impose upon ourselves, that we’ll be able to learn how to listen – and that we’ll all be better for it.
“We’re all connected through these stories. People have been telling them since the beginning of time. Before people knew how to write, they told stories,” he says. “Many of the themes in the stories are share, be kind, take care of the environment, take care of each other, be helpful, don’t be greedy. Don’t be a bully. All these things are right there in folklore from years gone by. I feel a lot of the answers to to-day’s problems are in these folktales that people have been telling since the beginning of time.”
Honoring a Lifetime of StorytellingPell Award recipient Len Cabral on diversity and the importance of storytelling
Len CabralLenCabral.com
Get Out | By Jenn SalcidoTheatre
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Len Cabral believes in celebrating diversity, and that the modern world can still learn from folklore
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May 2016 | Providence Monthly 67
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68 Providence Monthly | May 2016
Savor ProvidenceBy Cameron Bryce and Grace Lentini
Much More Than Fourth MealNothing says comfort and deliciousness better than Mexican food. From tacos to nachos, salads to rice dishes, we tasted the gamut of Mexican specialties. With Cinco de Mayo right around the corner, there’s no time like the present to dig in.
Crispy, Crunchy Comfort More Than A SideWhat was once just a food truck, Paco’s Tacos now has a brick and mortar restaurant and another food truck on the way. After sampling their crispy taco, it’s pretty clear why they’ve expanded. The heavenly crunch of the taco never got soggy as it held the beef, lettuce, cheese, pico de gallo and cotija cheese. Plus, the fried poblano rings on the side left everyone wanting more. 100 East Street, Cranston. 463-7226
It can’t always be about tacos. After tasting the cactus salad from Chilangos, it shouldn’t be. Tangy and crisp thin slices of cactus were paired with tart grapefruit bites to add a surprisingly refreshing bite. The sprinkling of sliced almonds was also a nice touch. Needless to say, it whet our appetite for more. 447 Manton Avenue. 383-4877
Simple Pleasures Homemade HappinessViva Mexico Cantina Grill delivered the ultimate balance of homemade food at a high quality. The crunchy taquitos were cheesy and crisped to perfec-tion, while the enchiladas verdes packed a spicy kick. Lastly, we dug into rice, refried beans and the spicy, sauce-covered soft tacos that everyone should go try now. 129 Washington Street. 369-7974, VivaMexicoCantinaGrill.com
The tacos at Tortilla Flats, packed to the brim with flavorful, juicy ground beef, lettuce and cheese, left us satisfied and craving more. With a choice of soft or crunchy hard-shelled tacos, spicy sauces, sour cream, beans, toma-toes and other delicious ingredients, we had lots of tasty options. 355 Hope Street. 751-6777, TortillaFlatsRI.com
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