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Katie Roberts

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Holiday News Bites: Junior League of Rhode Island, The Grange for Southside Community Land Trust, Easy Entertaining Inc.

by David Dadekian December 17, 2020

written by David Dadekian

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

Junior League of Rhode Island

Shop with a Cause this Holiday Season with the Junior League of Rhode Island, Inc.’s Online Charity Auction
2nd Annual Holiday Auction at BiddingForGood.com to Benefit Local Charities

The Junior League of RI, Inc. (JLRI), is pleased to announce the return of its online charity auction this holiday season, taking place Friday, November 29th through Friday, December 13th. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the JLRI and the work it does in the community, including its current focus of empowering young adults who are aging out of the Foster Care System in Rhode Island. For more information, please visit www.jlri.org.

Hosted on www.BiddingForGood.com/jlri, a charitable e-commerce company that connects fundraisers, cause-conscious shoppers and socially responsible businesses, this unique holiday shopping experience will give participants the opportunity to bid on unique gifts and experiences, such as spa treatments, boat cruises, and an African safari, all for a great cause!

The JLRI will host a holiday auction social with live bidding and “buy it now” opportunities for last minute shoppers on Thursday, December 12th from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at Jacky’s Waterplace in Providence, featuring complimentary hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar.

The Grange Presents An Evening of Thanks and Giving to benefit Southside Community Land Trust

click the image to download the PDF flyer

Easy Entertaining Inc.

Easy Entertaining Inc. Launches One Stop Shop for All Your Holiday Needs!

Easy Entertaining has launched a glamorous holiday center for all your party needs. The team has put together three all-new menus and a new venue rental package for the holidays. Easy Entertaining has assembled the perfect locavore menus featuring pick up platters, passed apps and plated dinners. “We are thrilled to help our fantastic clients celebrate – locavore style. We have a wide variety of menus to choose from this year. From an elegant cocktail soiree to simple gourmet pick-up menus – we have you covered! I couldn’t be more excited.” Said Katie Roberts, owner & Chef at Easy Entertaining Inc.

Easy Entertaining’s Plated Holiday Soiree menu starts with a locavore station featuring assorted grilled pizzas, homespun pickled vegetables, and homespun chicken pate with sweet onion jam topper. Entreés include Rosemary & Balsamic grilled Baffoni Farm chicken breast, pumpkin risotto, New England Fisherman’s Stew, 100% Angus Blackbird Farms roast beef, espresso & cocoa rubbed sustainable pork loin, and Homespun Tuscan ragu with Blackbird beef & pork. The meal ends with a selection of desserts.

If you just need platters for your guests, choose from the “Local to You Winter Holiday” Menu with platters, petite bites, wraps & sandwiches, select entrees & sides along with breakfast items to cater or supplement your next soiree.

If your holiday party needs more of a “Gatsby” feel, Easy Entertaining’s “Holiday Cheer Sustainable Cocktail Soirees” menu features hot and cold local appetizers that include their signature Homemade Potato Chip Bar, Homespun Medi Chicken Meatballs, and Petit Chicken Tacos, just to name a few. Add a raw bar to your holiday party with Matunick oysters, or local littlenecks. Add on one of our live action stations where guests can fix their own Tacos, enjoy southern delights, or savor warm creamy risottos. (Packages are recommended and Bar services is available.)

All of these menus are available to be used at either your home or Easy Entertaining’s unique 2400 square foot venue, located in the heart of Providence’s west side featuring original hard wood floors and private parking with accommodations for up to 90 guests. For more information about Easy Entertaining’s Holiday Center go to their website at http://www.easyentertainingri.com/#!holiday-central/c22pc or call 401.437.6090 or email Info@EasyEntertainingRI.com

December 17, 2020 0 comment

chefs & restaurants news

News Bites: Saveur magazine honors Providence, Easy Entertaining for the National Breast Cancer Foundation, plenty from Tallulah on Thames

by David Dadekian October 16, 2013

written by David Dadekian

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

Providence Restaurants Named Among the Best in the World In Saveur Culinary Travel Awards

Saveur magazine has included Providence among the best small cities for restaurants and dining in the world, as part of its 2013 Culinary Travel Awards. Providence was one of a handful of American cities to make the list.

“Being recognized in Saveur is particularly gratifying, as it is a publication that looks at the intersection of food and travel,” said Martha Sheridan, president and CEO of the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau. “In marketing Providence to visitors, we emphasize the quality of our restaurants and are pleased to see them recognized on an international level.”

The magazine defined small cities as those with a population under 800,000. Its panel of experts deemed San Sebastian, Spain as the top small city for restaurants and dining, while readers tapped New Orleans for that accolade. Saveur then chose three cities as “Outstanding”: Lyon, France; Charleston, S.C.; and Bologna, Italy. It then recommended an additional 10 cities as “Notable,” which included Providence. The others were: Portland, Ore.; Austin, Texas; Florence, Italy; Las Vegas, Nev.; Vancouver, BC, Canada; Tel Aviv, Israel; Miami, Fla.; Edinburgh, Scotland; and Porto, Portugal.

A full listing of award winners and the methodology used to discern them may be found here: http://www.saveur.com/culinary-awards.

The Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau is an accredited, 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization whose mission is to create vibrant growth for the local hospitality economy by promoting, developing, and expanding a united visitor industry. For more information, contact 401-456-0200 or visit www.GoProvidence.com.

Local Café Dazzles in Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness

The Café at Easy Entertaining Inc. located at 166 Valley St. Providence, RI, will be transforming into “Café for the Cure” to raise money for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. From Friday, October 4th until Thursday, October 31st, Easy Entertaining Inc. will donate five percent of all café proceeds to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

“We are donating a portion of our proceeds this month to support the National Breast Cancer Foundation to honor my mother-in-law. She has survived breast cancer four times and is currently battling it for the fifth time. She is an inspiration to me every day because of her optimistic outlook, zest for life, and utter strength. All of these are qualities we all wish we could have a little more of. Also, being privileged to own a female-run organization, we feel that women’s health is an important topic for us to address head-on” says owner and executive chef Katie Roberts.

Roberts, along with her team, bedecked for the month in hot pink t-shirts, have turned the café into a pink paradise-replete with pink twilight lighting, pink Yacht Club Soda, and pink cup cakes.

The “Cafe for the Cure” campaign we are running this year is something that we hope will be the first of many years to come” says Roberts.

Enjoy breakfast or lunch for a good cause! “Café for a Cure” is located at 116 Valley Street, Providence, RI 02909. For more information please contact 401-437-6090 or email Ashley@EasyEntertainingri.com.

Tallulah on Thames on WGBH’s “Neighborhood Kitchens” and Winter Special Nights

Tallulah on Thames is proud to announce Chef Jake Rojas on WGBH
Chef Jake Rojas is featured on Neighborhood Kitchens, a weekly WGBH show! View the entire episode online!

Winter Special Nights

Reservations Suggested: November, December, February, March, April
Call 401-849-2433

Wednesday Burger Night

Starting November 13th, 2013, our Wednesday Burger Nights are back with the offering of The Tallulah Burger & The Classic Burger.

Sunday Suppers

We are excited to bring back our Sunday Suppers starting November 17th, 2013. It’s a Pre-Fixe Set Three-Course Menu based on Family Sunday Supper Classics taken from families in America and around the world! Includes a glass of wine. $35.00/person. Our regular menu is offered on Sunday too!

2013 Holiday:

OPEN
December 23rd & Christmas Eve (12/24)
December 30th & New Years Eve (12/31)

New Year’s Eve Five-Course Chef Tasting Menu w/Wine Pairing
Join us to ring in the New Year for our annual celebration with the chefs & team at Tallulah!

Tallulah’s Tacos

No Reservations

We are excited to offer Tallulah’s Tacos for Lunch this winter at Tallulah on Thames upstairs dining room. The Tacos + Burritos will be offered in a counter service environment starting November 1st. Hours are 11:30 to 3:30, Thursday thru Saturday.No reservations. No To Go. No Waiters. Tacos & Burritos served as they are at the cart so it’s Tallulah on paper plates!

October 16, 2013 0 comment

chefs & restaurants cooking farms news

A Local Thanksgiving: Purchasing a Turkey or the Whole Meal

by David Dadekian November 9, 2011

written by David Dadekian

turkeys Whether you cook a big Thanksgiving dinner yourself or purchase a complete meal, there are several options for locally raised and produced dinners. This isn’t a comprehensive list of everyone in the area doing turkeys and Thanksgiving meals, but a select group for truly local eats. Here’s to a southern New England Thanksgiving! Raise a glass of local wine or local beer.

Turkeys

If you’re cooking Thanksgiving dinner, locally farm-raised turkeys are definitely the way to go. They’re more flavorful with better skin than mass-produced turkeys and, since they’re available fresh they’re usually much more moist than frozen birds. Broad-breasted whites, your typical meat turkey, are well raised on pasture with no hormones or other chemicals. The turkeys I’ve had from local turkey farms have been so juicy that I don’t brine them, something I had been doing to grocery store turkeys for years.

There are several farms in the area raising pastured turkeys so please look around your home. I mention these two farms because I’ve had their turkeys. The first is Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm near my home in Sterling, Connecticut (the farm is about 4 miles over the R.I. border). They’re well into their reservation period right now, but because they raise so many still have turkeys available, though I would advise calling now to get the size you’d like. We regularly buy Ekonk Hill turkeys and they’re some of the best birds I’ve ever cooked.

The other turkey I recommend is from the farm I work with, Blackbird Farm. I cooked last year’s turkey from Blackbird Farm on my charcoal grill and everyone raved about it. Unfortunately, our turkeys are already all reserved at the farm stand, but I’m happy to pass along the inside scoop that Persimmon Provisions, a marvelous butcher shop in Barrington, has purchased 30 of the birds to sell at the store. I have no idea what their reservations are like, so I would recommend calling.

Catering

So you want to have a big family dinner at home but aren’t able to cook? You’re going to want to look into one of these options:

Easy Entertaining, Inc. is offering a number of complete dinner packages or a la carte choices. From their order form, “Easy Entertaining Inc. prides itself on sourcing over 70% of products from a 250 mile radius, year-round. Serving a Thanksgiving package from Easy Entertaining Inc. is serving locally raised vegetables from Schartner Farms, Confreda Farms, Cooks Valley, Barden Family Orchards and many more. Feasting with Easy Entertaining is roasting a humanely raised, hormone and antibiotic free, grain fed, happy bird from Baffoni Poultry Farms. Thanksgiving with Easy Entertaining is serving a homemade cranberry-apple sauce, with cranberries grown in bogs less than 30 miles away.” Easy Entertaining’s form with directions can be found here. The deadline for ordering is November 17.

Tastings Wine Bar & Bistro‘s Chef Ben Lacy is putting together a Thanksgiving dinner to be picked up, based around an organically raised farm fresh turkey from Misty Knoll Farms, which you can also purchase uncooked if you want to prepare the bird but not the rest of the meal. Tastings is offering several soups, salads, pies, rolls and 11 different side dishes. Their deadline is November 18 and the order form can be found here.

Tallulah on Thames in Newport is offering a “Farm to Table” Thanksgiving to Go for the second year in a row. The meal includes a heritage breed turkey from Brambly Farms along with many sides made from locally farmed produce. More information can be found on their “To Go” page. The deadline is November 19 and the order form can be found here.

Ripe Hospitality is offering a Thanksgiving meal that not only feeds your family but also gives back to feed others as well. “Ripe Hospitality is donating a portion of all of the proceeds from Thanksgiving meals to several Rhode Island and Boston based non-profits including the Rhode Island Food Bank, the Genesis Center, and Kids Can Cook! As always, we’ve created a menu using organic, all natural products that come from the finest farms, local producers, and specialty suppliers New England has to offer!” Ripe Hospitality’s deadline is November 19, though they recommend reserving sooner if you’re interested in the unique in-home preparation option. Their menu and contact information can be found here.

November 9, 2011 0 comment

chefs & restaurants news wine & drinks

The Savory Grape Welcomes Raffaele Boscaini of Italy’s Masi Vineyard and Presents Video with Chef Kaitlyn Roberts

by David Dadekian August 4, 2011

written by David Dadekian

Two of my favorite food and wine people in the area have teamed up to entertain and inform you with the video you see above. The Savory Grape owner Jessica Granatiero and Easy Entertaining Inc. owner Chef Kaitlyn Roberts have put together this short video to discuss six summer wines along with foods that can be paired with them. Chef Roberts has even offered recipes for three of her dishes on the Easy Entertaining Inc. site (click the “Savory Grape Demo Recipes” box on the front page). Both Granatiero and Roberts will be appearing at the Providence Food & Wine Festival at the end of the month, to share even more knowledge and experience.

Before that though, on Friday, August 5 from 5 – 8 p.m. The Savory Grape welcomes Raffaele Boscaini of Italy’s Masi Vineyards for a tasting and bottle signing. If you know Italian wines and have had the pleasure of tasting Masi wines, then you know it is known for its Valpolicella wines, Amarone and Campofiorin, both of which we will taste that evening among others. The Boscaini family has been the owners of the Masi vineyards for six generations. They will be featuring Masi’s 2009 Masi Masianco, 2009 Passo Doble, 2007 Masi Campofiorin Valpolicella and 2006 Masi Costasera Amarone Classico. For more information please see the event page on The Savory Grape’s site.

August 4, 2011 0 comment