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News Bites: Nicks on Broadway Holiday Drive 2025 / Harry’s Bar & Burger is a Winter Wonderland! / 10 Prime Seafood Opens

by David Dadekian December 12, 2025

written by David Dadekian

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

Nicks on Broadway Holiday Drive 2025

🎁✨ Holiday Season Is Here — Let’s Do Some Good! ✨🎁
We’re excited to kick off our Nicks on Broadway Holiday Drive to support two amazing local RI organizations: Federal Hill House & RI Community Food Bank!

🎄 Now through December 31st:
Bring in non-perishable food items, warm weather gear or holiday toys to help families right here in our community. Every donation counts & can make someone’s holiday a little brighter. ❤

🍾 Give a Little, Get a Little:
Donate $100 to either Federal Hill House or the RI Community Food Bank anytime in December & you’ll receive a complimentary bottle of Rosé with dinner as our way of saying thank you for spreading joy. (Now through 12/31)

🍽 Special Sunday Night Dinners at Nicks on Broadway:
Join us on Sunday, December 21st & Sunday, December 28th for special Sunday Night Dinner services & donation drop-offs! For every guest who joins us those evenings, we’ll donate $10 directly to the RI Community Food Bank. Eat well + do good.

Ho Ho Ho! Harry’s Bar & Burger is a Winter Wonderland!

Harry's Bar & Burger Christmas Cookie Shot — Harry’s Bar & Burger *Christmas Cookie Shot*

Harry’s Bar & Burger, located at 121 North Main Street and 301 Atwells Avenue in Providence, Rhode Island, has decked their halls once again for the holiday season, welcoming guests into a festive wonderland with daily holiday specials, deals, and giveaways to celebrate the season and spread holiday cheer.

“We are so excited to create a magical winter pop-up for our guests once again,” said Harrison Elkhay, President, Chow Fun Food Group. “Both Harry’s locations are decked out with kitschy, over-the-top Christmas cheer from floor to ceiling with bright, sparkling lights, garland, wreaths, Christmas music, holiday movies on the TVs, and more.”

Harry’s yuletide celebration begins with a selection of holiday cocktails, including the Mistletoe Mule: Ten Prime Vodka, cranberry juice, and ginger beer garnished with rosemary and cranberries; a Gingerbread Latte: Ten Prime Vodka, coffee, Kahlua, Carolan’s Irish Cream, and gingerbread syrup; Partridge in a Pear Tree: a festive twist on the 10 Prime classic featuring Absolut Pear, Licor 43, lemon juice, and ginger syrup; and a Christmas Cookie Shot with vanilla vodka, Amaretto, Carolan’s Irish Cream, and topped with red and green sprinkles.

Milkshake specials will feature Peppermint Mocha and Egg Nog while food specials will include Philly Cheesesteak Egg Rolls filled with shaved steak, American cheese, peppers, onions, and chipotle mayo and the Big Sack Stack: two full-size burger patties topped with American cheese, fried onion ring, and bacon jam.

Harry’s 12 Days of Christmas kicks off on Friday, December 12^th with a variety of offers to reward guests at each location (until otherwise noted):

Dec. 12^th: Bottomless Fry Friday! Unlimited refills on Salt & Pepper Fries
Dec. 13^th: Complimentary hot chocolate, while supplies last
Dec. 14^th: Holiday face painting noon-4pm. (Harry’s on the Hill only)
Dec. 15^th: Double Rewards Day
Dec. 16^th: Decorate your own Christmas cookie, while supplies last
Dec. 17^th: Holiday Trivia at 8:00 p.m. $300 in cash & prizes (Harry’s on the Hill only)
Dec. 18^th: Santa-approved photo booth
Dec. 19^th: Ugly sweater contest 6pm-8pm; $200 in cash & prizes (Harry’s on the Hill only)
Dec. 20^th: Flip a coin for a free drink
Dec. 21^st: Live holiday music 6-8pm (Harry’s on the Hill only)
Dec. 22^nd: Spin to Win with the purchase of the Big Sack Burger
Dec. 23^rd: Santa Harry gives away gifts and shots

10 Prime Seafood Opens its Stylish Doors for Dinner

John Elkhay’s legacy restaurant features fresh and locally-caught seafood with hints of Asian fusion and loads of whimsy

10 Prime Seafood Dinner, photo courtesy of Chow Fun Food Group

10 Prime Seafood, located in the historic former Packard Motor Car showroom at 123 Empire Street (corner of Empire and Washington) in Providence, RI is now open. The newest restaurant from Chow Fun Food Group, an acclaimed, cutting-edge restaurant group with award-winning concepts throughout Rhode Island, features a menu of fresh and locally-caught seafood, creative concoctions, and whimsical presentations from appetizers to cocktails.

The first restaurant from Chow Fun in more than four years, 10 Prime Seafood reunites an award-winning culinary team of Chow Fun Maestro John Elkhay and Executive Chef Jules Ramos and pays homage to past successes, including XO Café, 10 Prime Steak & Sushi, and others.

Dinner at 10 Prime Seafood is a true culinary journey. Diners can begin with the Raw Bar featuring a selection of Rhode Island oysters, littlenecks, and classic shrimp cocktail or The Tower featuring Maine lobster claws, shrimp cocktail, Rhode Island oysters and littlenecks. Caviar service features a choice of Kaluga Hybrid or Osetra Royale served with potato chips, crème fraiche and chives; Chicken Nuggets & Caviar with Osetra caviar and crème fraiche dip; or Smoked Caviar Cones with chive cream cheese.

The Chilled & Raw section features Tuna Carpaccio with avocado, lime and Spanish EVOO; Hamachi Sashimi with sliced jalapeno and yuzu hot oil; Bluefin Tuna Crispy Rice with sriracha mayonnaise; Salmon Crispy Rice with avocado and coconut aminos; and Tuna Tartare with ginger, plantain crisps and coconut. A selection of salads is also available.

Warm Bites feature Angie’s Haddock Chowder with smoked bacon, thyme and house-made crackers; Sesame Crusted Tunaserved on a hot rock with ginger and wasabi aioli; Lobster Acting Like Escargot served en croute; Tenderloin Sliders with caramelized onions and chipotle aioli; Fritto Misto with rock shrimp, clam strips, hot peppers and remoulade; and 10’s soon-to-be-famous Tacklebox, a bento-style box with fritto misto, tuna tartare and salmon crispy rice.

Main courses include a Fish & Seafood selection of Fish & Chips served super crunchy with hand-cut fries and remoulade; Shanghai Crab Fried Rice featuring jumbo lump crab and brunoise vegetables; Crispy Fish Tacos with avocado, cabbage salsa verde, and serrano crema; Faroe Island Salmon served grilled kabayaki style with sticky rice; Swordfish ‘Prince Murat’ with artichoke and parsley butter; Day Boat Scallops with haricot verts almondine and chimichurri; and Sesame Crusted Tuna with sticky rice, ginger and wasabi cream. Guests can also enjoy a selection of simply prepared seafood with a choice of sauces.

The Steak House features include a New York Sirloin of certified Black Angus, ‘oh-those-potatoes’, and bone marrow bordelaise; Filet Mignon with a cacio e pepe tortelloni served on Versace china; Prime Steak Frites with l’entrecôte sauce, hand-cut fries, and rosemary aioli; and a Grass-Fed Cheeseburger with American cheese, Harry’s special sauce, a sesame bun, and hand-cut fries.

Lobster Specialties feature the Alive & Kicking, a two pound steamed in the shell lobster or lazy style with drawn butter; Lobster Lo Mein with tempura lobster tail served Cantonese style; and Whole Lobster Mac & Cheese featuring cavatappi and three cheeses. A selection of sides suitable for sharing are also available.

“The menu is inspired by simplicity with locally-sourced and organically-focused components, because what you eat matters. Where it is grown and raised matters. The oils we use matter. I’m not putting anything on this menu that I wouldn’t prepare and eat in my own kitchen,” said Elkhay.

The wine and cocktail menu offers guests a mix of specialty sips, including 10 Prime Seafood’s own vodka label made from organic corn, as well as iconic libations from XO Café, 10 Prime Steak & Sushi and Chinese Laundry, and a carefully-curated wine and spirits list. The design comes from Margherita Caspani and Marco Billotti, talented Italian artisans who Elkhay tracked down after seeing a beautiful menu they illustrated while dining at a restaurant in Milan. 10 Prime Seafood’s menu is whimsical and joyful, demonstrating la dolce vita – the sweet life.

10 Prime Seafood is the most elegant restaurant in the Chow Fun collection. It evokes sophistication mingled with chic, edgy fun. Guests will notice a ribbon of subtle and strong nautical elements winding throughout the two-story space, including specialty chandeliers that resemble a bloom of floating jellyfish, octopus tentacles beckoning guests up to the private second floor, a mermaid over the corner ‘power table,’ and the playful colors of the ocean imbued in the tile, carpeting and server attire. Design elements on the second floor pay homage to the building’s original use as a Packard Motor Cars showroom.

10 Prime Seafood is open for dinner Sunday through Thursday from 4:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 4:30 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. Enjoy $12 glasses of Moët & Chandon and complimentary organic popcorn during “Poppy Hour” daily from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., because life is too short to not drink Champagne.

10 Prime Seafood, photo courtesy of Chow Fun Food Group

December 12, 2025 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