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Maria Meza of Providence’s Dolores Nominated for James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Northeast 2024 Award

by David Dadekian March 11, 2025

Congratulations to Maria Meza on her long overdue nomination for Best Chef: Northeast. The nomination is for one person and Maria is certainly the powerhouse and loving matriarch of a family, and a family of employees, who I’ve been fortunate to know since they opened their first restaurant 17 years ago. That second photo with young Joaquin is from around that time when we first met (I’ve got a photo with Marco where he looks like a teenager, but that’s for another post)!

I can’t say enough wonderful things here about all the Mezas or about the better than award-winning food that has come out of their restaurants—in addition to leading the country on the highest quality tequila and mezcal. Every time I produced an event or helped a fundraiser, if I asked, they said yes and Maria was there. I’m beyond happy for them, and I know there’s so much more to come.

That last photo is my view of pure joy and in thinking about it, Maria may be the single person I’ve had more shots with than anyone on Earth. 😀 You know what the secret ingredient is that has led to this Best Chef nomination and all the delicious food—love. Sounds corny, but you know it’s true.

Salud to the first family and mother of food. We love you, Maria!

Joaquin and Maria Meza, photo by David Dadekian

March 11, 2025 0 comments

chefs & restaurants farms news wine & drinks

News Bites: Newport Vineyards Opens Restaurant, DEM Farm Viability Grants, Cook & Brown Public House Wins National Competition

by David Dadekian October 24, 2014

written by David Dadekian

Newport Vineyards’ Brix Restaurant

Current news releases—Eat Drink RI is not the source for these items—please follow any links for more information.

Newport Vineyards Announces Addition of Brix Restaurant

New Restaurant Part of a Multi-Million Dollar Winery Expansion

Newport Vineyards is pleased to announce the addition of Brix Restaurant to its winery location, as part of a multi-million dollar expansion. The former location of Nunes Motor Group, Andrew’s Restaurant and The Glass Union, has been transformed into a refined rustic space, including exposed industrial ductwork, wood beams and polished concrete floors. Preserving the history of the space, an original stone fireplace has been restored and serves as an area for guests to gather around. The space also features two walls of windows, overlooking the winery’s barrel room, tank room and views out to the vineyard, ideal for taking in all the action of harvest and winery activities.

Under the culinary direction of Andrew Gold, the Aquidneck Island restaurateur has come full circle to manage Brix Restaurant which is the same location he opened Andrew’s Restaurant in 1988. The nearly 100-seat restaurant will serve dinner daily, and Sunday brunch will be introduced in the coming weeks. Guests can enjoy Newport Vineyards wines, along with a selection of guest wines, beer and specialty cocktails. The space will also be available for daytime corporate and social group functions.

“We are very excited to announce the addition of Brix Restaurant to the Aquidneck Island community and beyond,” stated owner John Nunes. “The restaurant will offer both our local guests and winery guests a truly unique dining experience, coupled with views of our winery and vineyard.”

On the heels of its 20th anniversary, Newport Vineyards is renovating over 30,000 square feet of their building located conveniently on East Main Road, just minutes outside of Newport. Phase one of the expansion has been completed and includes Brix Restaurant, a new fermentation tank room and barrel room, as well as an outdoor patio and seating complete with wine by the glass and tasting bars. Slated for an early 2015 completion, phase two of the renovation includes a new tasting room, three-season porch, second patio, marketplace and new space for neighboring business Fatulli’s Bakery and Deli.

DEM Announces Award of $255,543 in Farm Viability Grants to Enhance and Promote Rhode Island Specialty Crops

The Department of Environmental Management has announced the award of farm viability grants totaling $255,543 for projects that will enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops grown in Rhode Island. The funds are from the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Specialty Crop Block Grant program. Specialty crops are defined by this federally-supported program as fruits and vegetables, dried fruit, tree nuts, and nursery crops including floriculture and turf grass production.

“These grants will help promote the long-term viability of agriculture in Rhode Island by strengthening markets for specialty crops and sustaining the livelihood of our state’s farmers,” noted DEM Director Janet Coit.

The farm viability grants will be used for a wide range of purposes, such as enhancing food safety practices among farmers and produce vendors at farmers’ markets; increasing the consumption of specialty crops by the Latino population and decreasing obesity rates among participating families; and supporting agricultural research at Rhode Island College on the honeybee population.

Following is a list of projects awarded funding through the grant round:

$37,752,000 for the Rhode Island Good Agricultural Practices Program, a partnership between the University of Rhode Island’s Nutrition and Food Sciences Department and DEM’s Division of Agriculture, to provide growers with training and support to become part of the state RIGAP certified grower program. The program has helped enhance food safety on farms for the past 12 years by providing farmers with information and resources about safe produce planting, harvesting and handling practices;
$40,000 to Farm Fresh Rhode Island for the RI Farm to Cafeteria Project, a collaborative effort designed to bring RI institutional buyers such as schools, hospitals, state agencies and worksites together with RI farmers to develop sustainable purchasing agreements. This project builds on the success of the RI Farm to School Program, taking best practices and techniques and applying them to other types of large-scale food buyers. Work will include educating food service buyers and chefs on local specialty crop availability and use through the development and dissemination of a “Harvest of the Month” print marketing campaign to promote local specialty crops in cafeterias, and enhancing the Market Mobile program to serve more institutional purchasers;
$10,300 to the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Rhode Island, to increase the production and consumption of certified organic specialty crops in Rhode Island by providing outreach, education, and technical assistance to farmers;
$35,400 to New Urban Farmers, to support a collaborative effort with the Pawtucket Housing Authority that promotes the use of specialty crops among Latino residents living in two family development complexes in Pawtucket. The project will include hands-on demonstrations and workshops, a mobile market to make specialty crops available from farm-to-table, and assistance for residents to establish community gardens;
$22,736 to the Rhode Island College Honey Bee Study, to conduct a rigorous survey of the health and size of the state’s honeybee populations along with the incidence of the small hive beetle (SHB). Survey data generated will represent baseline data for further monitoring of the bee population in Rhode Island. Educational outreach will be conducted to promote beekeeping and bolster bee populations, and mitigation strategies will be assessed to reduce the impact of the SHB. The goal of the study is to increase the size of the bee population and enhance the ability to pollinate specialty crops in the state;
$31,398 to the University of Rhode Island Division of Research and Economic Development to conduct a study entitled, “De-Tasseling Sweet Corn to Prevent Bird Damage: An Alternative to Cannons?” This project is designed to address bird damage to sweet corn, which is a major specialty crop in Rhode Island both in acreage and in value. Uncontrolled feeding by flocks of birds can result in the loss of entire plantings of sweet corn. Currently the most effective and affordable control option for farmers is propane-fueled bird cannons, which emit a sonic blast every 40 seconds to 30 minutes to frighten birds. It has been reported that removing the tassel from corn plants after pollination decreases bird damage and may be an effective alternative to bird cannons. The study will evaluate the effectiveness of de-tasseling at preventing bird damage, measure its effect on corn yield and quality, and determine if de-tasseling provides sufficient benefits to growers to justify the expense; and
$6,000 to Harvest New England Association, Inc. for an educational program designed to increase sales and consumption of regional specialty crops by New England consumer, specialty crop producers and wholesalers of specialty crops.

In addition to the grants, $71,957 in funding is provided to DEM’s Division of Agriculture, to continue to increase demand and consumption of Rhode Island-grown specialty crops by expanding on the “Rhode Island Grown Get Fresh Buy Local” initiative through produce preparation demonstrations featuring local celebrity chefs at all RI farmers markets and participating roadside stands; updating its RI agricultural display; and enhancing the marketing program by making point-of-purchase advertising material available to farmers.

Rhode Island has 1,243 farms, mostly family run, which occupy 68,000 acres. The state is a national leader in direct-sales to consumers, with 50 seasonal farmers markets in the state’s urban, suburban and rural areas, seven indoor winter markets, and numerous pick-your-own and farm stand operations. The recent Green Industry Economic Impact Study funded by DEM and conducted by URI conservatively estimates that total agricultural revenues in Rhode Island are $170.6 million.

Cook & Brown Public House Wins American Lamb Jam Finale

On Sunday, September 28, 2014, Chef Nemo Bolin of Providence’s Cook & Brown Public House was victorious in claiming the national title in the American Lamb Jam competition. The four competing chefs, all of who won Best in Show at their local area Lamb Jam competitions were: Chef Sophina Uong, Pican (San Francisco), Chef Sarah Lorenzen, Andaluca (Seattle), Chef Rodney Scruggs, Occidental Grill (Washington, D.C.) and Chef Nemo Bolin, Cook & Brown Public House (New England). Bolin’s winning dish was a merguez scotch egg with harissa, herbed yogurt, pickles & herb salad. More information on Bolin’s New England win can be found here on Eat Drink RI.

In celebration of the win Cook & Brown Public House will be hosting a limited dinner featuring local lamb and wines from Neal Rosenthal on Saturday, November 15th at 6 p.m. It will be five courses (with some additional treats here and there) of food and wine for $125 per person. Seating is limited and you don’t want to miss out. Call 401-273-7275 for reservations.

October 24, 2014 0 comments

chefs & restaurants news

Castle Hill Inn Hosts Clambakes with their New Oceanside Pit

by David Dadekian July 16, 2019

written by David Dadekian

Castle Hill Inn Executive Chef Karsten Hart watches the pit

“My goal and my hope for the clambakes here is that this is the best clambake location in New England,” Castle Hill Inn’s Executive Chef Karsten Hart told me as we stood by a long, shallow pit of expertly lined stones—a pit that was getting hotter by the minute from the wood fire in it that was slowly turning to hot embers. Some boats passed by just yards away from us and the Newport Bridge was prominent in the background. The hot August day was slowly cooling down and there were very few clouds in the sky as the sun set across the way from us. If this wasn’t the most beautiful clambake location in New England, “the best” as Chef Hart hoped, then I’d very much like to see what tops it.

Last spring I was at an event at Castle Hill Inn and ran into Hart. We stopped to talk and he was like a giddy boy with a new toy. You have to come see our new clambake pit, he said, and if I hesitated I bet he would have dragged me down the lawn to see it. But of course I was as excited to see it as Hart was to show it off, and as soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to photograph it in action. Last week my wife and I were invited guests of Castle Hill to watch the clambake process and eat an amazing meal under the stars on the Chalet lawn.

The clambake process is relatively straightforward: dig a hole, line it with rocks, light a fire on the rocks and wait until it burns down to embers heating the rocks, place your food in a basket in the hole, cover the hole and wait until it’s ready to eat. It’s an almost ancient cooking procedure, shown to Europeans by Native Americans, and many food anthropologists think it may have been the actual meal at the first Thanksgiving. Naturally it’s been refined over the years, but the process is basically the same.

Hart explained how the clambake pit came to be at Castle Hill, “The inspiration started from a Relais & Chateaux conference that we hosted two years ago. It was my second week at Castle Hill. I just moved from California. I wasn’t sure what to think about the clambake. We did a traditional one right on the beach for about thirty people. We buried the lobster, seaweed, similar to how we’re doing right here. I admit I was pretty suspicious. I wasn’t sure how it was going to come out. I’d never seen it before in my life.

“But I was just so amazed at how incredible the flavor was from the smoke and seaweed flavor that it gave the lobster. It kept the juices in there. I thought it was going to overcook, but it didn’t. It just sealed it. It’s almost like a pressure cooker in there and it just seals everything in. I was so impressed with it and as an outsider coming into to New England I could not understand why Castle Hill did not have a clambake pit. So for the past two years we’ve been searching for the most beautiful spot on the property that we don’t utilize and this is it right here. So we found the location, and in my opinion it’s picture-perfect. It’s a beautiful location and an incredible product.”

The lobster is an incredible product, as Hart said, because, as expected at Castle Hill, Hart brings his exacting precision and dedication to cooking to the clambakes. Banquet Chef Joe McCarthy, who was assisting with the clambake, said they kept logs indicating cooking times, fire temperature, wind direction and other external factors to see what contributed to the best cooked lobster.

Hart explained the process, “The first few times that we did this, we timed it. It was a goal of mine to have a perfectly cooked lobster. I didn’t want to overcook. I did my research and the more I researched the more I realized most people are cooking the lobsters for up to two hours, which is too long. The first few times we did this it was a little nerve wracking because I wasn’t certain if they were going to be cooked perfect. We dropped the time to an hour and they came out delicious, just to die for. They were perfectly cooked. I remember saying to the guys, ‘We just set a standard.’

“We did about four of these before we even decided to open it to the public. We have the timing down [according] to how many lobsters and the staff is just doing an excellent job with it now. We’ve mostly been selling these clambakes to corporate groups—we can do up to about eighty lobsters. It’s nice to show them what specialties and gems we have here in New England. We had three dates this year so that the public can enjoys this and will probably have four or five [dates] next year.”

Hart’s not boasting when he said “perfectly cooked.” The lobster was a standout, all of the meat was almost sweet and I hardly used any melted butter. But of course, that’s not all we were served. The evening began with passed hors d’oeuvres on the lawn. When he became Executive Chef Hart began a charcuterie program at Castle Hill and his fried rabbit rillettes with mustard is a standout. I also had some rice croquettes which were perfectly fried. There was a third passed item, a stuffie, which all managed to disappear as I was making photos. My wife had two and told me they were some of the better stuffies she’s had.

After the unveiling of the clambake, we were seated at gorgeously designed tables on the lawn and dinner began with Clam Chowder with a black pepper biscuit. It seems kind of crazy to say, but if all I had all evening was that clam chowder I would’ve been happy. Several of the other guests indicated the same. But of course, we weren’t going to refuse the main course. In addition to the perfectly cooked lobster we were each served a bowl of steamed Littlenecks with smoked seaweed-vihno verde broth, another item I would’ve been happy to make a meal of.

The potatoes and corn that were cooked in the clambake pit were served family style, as was the house made chouriço with peppers. Hart’s chouriço is very well made, with a nice little spicy kick at the end. There was a big bowl of shaved Red Cabbage Slaw with apple cider vinaigrette which was excellent and, as odd as it may be, I want to give special mention to the abundant slices of toasted baguette. There was a lot of delicious sopping up to do so the bread was more than welcome by all the diners.

If I had to improve upon one thing, I would have liked to have had a broader selection of wine at the outdoor bar. For white wine we were only offered Chateau St. Jean Chardonnay or Fumé Blanc by the glass. I would have loved something that could have better complimented the amazing food. Perhaps a crisp German or Oregon Riesling, maybe with a hint of sweetness that would have gone great with that chouriço. Or a high acid Vermentino could have worked well with the richness of the lobster and clams. Maybe offering too many wines by the glass at a temporary outdoor bar is a slight logistics problem, but my feeling as I tasted the wine was that such a well-made meal deserved a more complimentary pairing.

Dessert was a house made Apple Crisp along with a Watermelon Aqua Fresca. Both were a great, light way to close the dinner. By the end of the meal, night had completely fallen and we lingered with friends we had made at the table until we were almost the last ones there. The Chalet area was well lit, but you could still make out the stars and the Newport Bridge was lit up in the distance. It was one of those perfect Rhode Island nights, made all the more special by the feeling that Hart had met his goal of best clambake location. Please take a look at the picture-perfect-process in the photos below.

The next and final clambake for 2012 is being held on Thursday, September 20th at 6:30 p.m. The cost is $95 per person plus tax and gratuity. For more information or to make reservations, please call 401-849-3800 or visit www.castlehillinn.com.

Corn, potatoes and house made chouriço with some seaweed in the steaming crate by the pit

Banquet Chef Joe McCarthy and Executive Chef Karsten Hart by the clambake pit

Close-up on corn, potatoes and house made chouriço with some seaweed in the steaming crate

Lobsters with seaweed in the steaming crate

Chef Hart happily poses by the clambake pit

Hart rakes the wood coals as McCarthy observes

McCarthy and Hart place the steaming crates on the coals

Hart gives a thumbs up as they place the last cage

Burlap soaked in water is placed over the crates first

Then water-soaked canvas tarps cover the burlap

Making sure everything is well covered to keep in the heat

McCarthy hoses down the tarps to keep the steam going

The tables are set on the Chalet lawn at Castle Hill Inn

Guests sample hors d'oeuvres on the lawn while watching the clambake pit — Guests sample hors d’oeuvres on the lawn while watching the clambake pit

The Castle Hill Inn Chalet tent and dinner seating on lawn

The bell that is rung to announce the unveiling at the clambake pit

McCarthy and Hart unwrap the crates as dinner guests watch

McCarthy wheels everyone's dinner back to the tent for plating — McCarthy wheels everyone’s dinner back to the tent for plating

Castle Hill Inn's Clam Chowder with black pepper biscuit — Castle Hill Inn’s Clam Chowder with black pepper biscuit

Lobster alongside steamed Littlenecks with smoked seaweed-vihno verde broth

July 16, 2019 0 comments

cooking

Charcutepalooza May: Grinding: merguez and Mexican chorizo

by David Dadekian May 15, 2011

written by David Dadekian

Sometimes, as the poet Burns wrote, “the best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry.” That isn’t to say I didn’t grind meat for this month’s Charcutepalooza challenge. Nor is it to say the final product wasn’t very tasty. It’s that, well, things went awry. Which is why there are only two “before” photos of my sausage making and none of the sometimes-food-porn that I make of the final product (see February’s “The Salt Cure: bacon & pancetta” for glistening pork love).

I love making sausage. I’ve been making it for years. Even when I lived in a studio apartment and only had a tiny kitchenette, I kept a food processor on what ridiculously little counter space I had and would pulse up all kinds of sausage patties. Since then I’ve graduated to a KitchenAid mixer and the very first attachment I bought was the sausage making kit. Which isn’t perfect, I know, but unless you’re going to buy me this beautiful beast, I don’t want to hear it. So when I saw that May’s Charcutepalooza challenge was grinding, I wanted to come up with something that was an additional challenge for me.

Usually I would play with recipes, experiment with different flavors and try something different in the mix. Something that would set me off on a new path. However, having made both merguez and chorizo in the past from Ruhlman & Polcyn’s Charcuterie recipes, I knew that for me they are two of the most bulletproof recipes in the book. I really like them both the way they are (though in typical I-must-do-things-in-the-kitchen-my-way fashion I’ll admit to doubling the red wine and nixing the chilled water in the merguez recipe). So I headed downstairs to the freezer and perused our inventory whiteboard attached to the door to see if it would spark some improvisation.

I knew it would be goofy to share that I have a whiteboard attached to our standalone freezer listing the contents of the freezer, but I didn’t realize how weird it would be describing it.

In the freezer we have a lot of lamb. I love lamb. My grandmother used to make us rib chops all the time and ground lamb is very common in many Armenian dishes. I really love lamb fat too, and we had a few pounds in the freezer, so I decided to use it instead of any pork fat this time out. Then I saw on the whiteboard that there was still some lamb offal left from the lamb I got for Christmas, and since there are very few ways I could sneak half a lamb heart and a liver into my family’s meals, they seemed perfect for sausage. I took from the freezer the lamb fat, heart and liver, along with some pork shoulder and liver, and a bag of corn cobs. Then I meticulously removed the items from the inventory whiteboard of course.

I left the meat items on the counter so they would thaw just a little bit, but not entirely as I wanted them firm to grind. I put the corn cobs into a pot of simmering water to make broth as I had this spring dinner vision in my head. I also stuck the KitchenAid grinder attachment and bowl in the freezer to chill. A couple of hours later I had this bowl of meat, fat and offal.

Clockwise from top: lamb liver, pork liver, pork shoulder, lamb fat, half a lamb heart

The corn broth had developed nicely so I added a couple of pounds of diced potatoes and some salt and went back to my sausage making. First up, merguez with the lamb heart, liver and fat. I had about 500 grams of heart and liver so I created a quick ratio to the amount of meat called for in the Charcuterie recipe and figured out the amount of fat and other ingredients I needed. Then I began grinding. Here’s where I first realized this might not be the best idea I’ve ever had. Everything ground up fine, I mixed in all the herbs, spices and wine and it certainly smelled like the same merguez I’ve made before. But it didn’t look right. The liver and heart were just too soft and I shouldn’t have thought to treat them like meat. As I tweeted to my friend Janis, the end result looked like an “unattractive meat slurry.”

Not to be deterred I heated up a saute pan, sprayed on a little non-stick cooking spray, took out a #20 disher and dropped two scoops of the liquid sausage into the pan. Kind of like meat pancakes. I cooked them for a few minutes on each side, and while the end result still looked kind of unappealing, it tasted exactly like good, spicy lamb sausage. I made the rest of my merguez-cakes before moving on to the chorizo. The pork ground up much tighter and behaved more like ground meat because of the shoulder. Also the pork liver was a lot more dense and meatier than the lamb liver. I added in the rest of the lamb fat too for texture.

Grinding away, the blurred shapes are arm movement during the long exposure

So maybe things had gone awry, but I was back on track and having fun grinding. It was then that I realized how much time had passed, dinner wasn’t ready yet, my wife Brenda was hungry and also a little curious about the amount of blood and meaty substance that now covered a lot of our kitchen counter. She was also a tiny bit concerned about the fact that I had prepared sausage for dinner out of a bowl that looked like it had meat batter in it. So instead of taking the time to stuff the chorizo into casings, I whipped in the herbs, spices and liquid, turned the whole thing out onto a huge sheet of parchment paper, rolled it up tight into a 4″ diameter tube, placed it on a sheet pan and stuck it in the freezer. The next day I quickly sliced the chorizo tube into 1/2″ rounds and put those into bags in the freezer, keeping one out to fry up and make sure it tasted like chorizo, which it did.

So I completed the May challenge with two sausages that tasted great. The chorizo I’ll use in all kinds of dishes, maybe even frying up a slice for a quick snack or putting a round on the grill during the summer. The merguez? That went into our late dinner which was: Corn Broth with Potatoes and Freshly Sliced Schartner Farm Asparagus, Accompanied by Floating Rounds of Merguez.

Lawyer-poet John Godfrey Saxe said, “Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made.” I’m sure there are hundreds of Charcutepalooza posts out today that disprove that quote. Thanks again to Cathy Barrow and Kim Foster. This month you inspired and challenged me.

May 15, 2011 0 comments