Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar “Sweet Charity” cocktail

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Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar

“Sweet Charity” Cocktail for a Cause!

Fleming’s supports The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society during October

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar announces its latest Cocktail for a Cause: the “Sweet Charity.” For the entire month of October, 100% of the sales of “Sweet Charity” will be donated to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the world’s largest voluntary non-profit health agency dedicated to funding blood cancer research. The cocktail can be purchased at Fleming’s Providence for $9.95.

Created by Fleming’s Director of Wine Maeve Pesquera, the new “Sweet Charity” cocktail is elegant and floral combining Lillet Rose infused wine, St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur and soda water, served over ice in a wine glass with a raspberry garnish.

“Each year, Fleming’s is proud to donate to a cause we feel passionately about, and this year is no exception. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is near and dear to many of our guests. Last year’s Cocktail for a Cause benefited breast cancer research and raised more than $60,000. This year we hope to top that.” says Pesquera.

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Hudson Street Deli

Landmark deli introduces exciting changes

Hudson Street Deli at 68 Hudson St. Providence RI 02909, 401-228-8555 is now offering an updated menu featuring daily and weekly specials, breakfast sandwiches, made with fresh cracked local eggs, and a new expanded signature sandwich and grinder menu which includes the locally famous Hudson Street Italian Grinder. All grinders are available in regular and extra-large and are made on specially made Crugnale Grinder Rolls. A new responsive, mobile friendly website is now available to view reviews, history, and the entire menu at www.hudsonstreetdeli.com

The Hudson Market originally opened in 1922. In 2009 the building was bought by Rebecca and Eric Rossi with a commitment to keep the deli open. With no previous restaurant experience Rebecca and Eric learned about the community, owning a deli, and running a business. They cannot imagine doing anything else and absolutely love it!

Temple Restaurant & Lounge

Temple Moving Culinary Needle Thanks to All-New Food & Beverage Team
Eclectic Menu of Fresh, Local Ingredients Celebrate Flavors from Countries Surrounding Mediterranean Sea

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Located in the historic Masonic Temple on Providence’s Capitol Hill, Temple Restaurant & Lounge has been creating quite the buzz since an entirely new food and beverage team came on board to revamp the menus and take better advantage of its inviting atmosphere.

Led by Food & Beverage General Manager, Vincent Lo Buono, Temple offers Rhode Islanders and visitors to the Ocean State a unique destination for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and cocktails. Highlighted by an eclectic menu of bright flavors with fresh, local ingredients, Temple’s palette is inspired by the 22 countries that surround the Mediterranean Sea – at an affordable price.

“When I joined the team at Temple, my goal was to revitalize the food and beverage team and bring with me all of the culinary influences that will truly set our restaurant apart from the competition,” said Lo Buono. “Today, our entire staff is new with more than 150 years of combined restaurant experience between them. We’re really excited for the future.”

Along with Lo Buono as the new General Manager, Temple’s food and beverage team includes a new Assistant General Manager, Event Manager, Executive Sous Chef, Restaurant Manager and Sous Chef. David Cardell continues as the restaurant’s Executive Chef.

For the past decade, Vincent Lo Buono was a key player in Todd English Enterprises, serving as the General Manager of Tuscany Restaurant at Mohegan Sun Casino for eight years. In 2009, Lo Buono became the Director of Boston Operations for Todd English; responsible for the daily operations of five restaurants. As part of the corporate team, he opened CA VA Brasserie at the Intercontinental Hotel in Times Square, Todd English P.U.B. at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas, and Wild OLiVES in Boca Raton, Florida. His most recent achievement was the opening of OLiVES in Charlestown, a 200-seat restaurant in Massachusetts. Vincent holds a degree in business management from Rhode Island College and lives in Cranston with his wife.

Paul Sousa is Temple’s new Assistant General Manager. With over 15 years of restaurant experience, most notably between Gatehouse and Café Paragon on Providence’s East Side, Paul has a passion for providing diners with memorable experiences while creating unique cocktails and martinis. Originally from East Providence, Paul now resides in Providence.

After spending the last seven years at Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino, Michael Texera is Temple’s new Event Manager with a goal of making the restaurant the preferred destination for private functions and social events. Involved in the restaurant business since the age of 12, Michael has always been fascinated with food and the role it plays in bringing people together.

Every good kitchen starts with an impressive team of chefs. At Temple, David Cardell of Warwick continues as the restaurant’s Executive Chef; bringing his Boston and New York City experience to Downtown Providence; delighting diners with a flavorful and healthy menu. David is joined by Executive Sous Chef Rebecca Lentrichia of Cranston, who comes to Temple after spending eleven years at the Bluefin Grille. As Executive Sous Chef, Lentrichia oversees all banquet functions and works with guests to create custom menus for special occasions of all sizes. Richard Dowe of Pawtucket is a graduate of Johnson & Wales University and Temple’s new Sous Chef. His impressive list of experience includes opening 1149 Restaurant in East Greenwich as its Executive Sous Chef, and working at Capriccio and Café Nuovo. Richard also spent five years working for the PGA Tour at the Tournament Players Club in Boston as the Executive Sous Chef.

With many years of private and corporate restaurant experience, Brenda Vazquez comes to Temple as its new Restaurant Manager. Throughout her career, Brenda has worked at restaurants that span from the Caribbean to the states – bringing with her a love for every aspect of the restaurant world. Brenda is a proud resident of Warwick, Rhode Island’s second-largest city.

The new Spring Cocktails at Tini, from left to right: (verb) my Green Bikini in (place), A Classy (noun), (noun) on the Horizon, (verb) the White Dog, Make Her (verb) This Time

After this winter, it seems as if everyone is working hard to bring about spring. When I asked bartender Alicia Canning about working on the five new drinks for Tini‘s Spring Cocktail Line she gave kind of a sly smile. I’ll just say bringing about spring at Tini can be intoxicating and leave it at that. It can also be delicious, as proven by Chef Darius Salko’s two new dishes. When I received Salko’s message mentioning a fried chicken skin sandwich you could almost see the swooshing, curly speed lines behind me as I rushed to Tini.

Orange Dream Salad (larger version at end of piece)

First, the food. In addition to the fried chicken skin sandwich, which is more properly called The Crackling Club, there is the Orange Dream Salad. I’ll confess, when Salko told me what was in it—orange and grapefruit segments, dates, Bulgarian sheep’s milk Feta cheese, red seedless grapes, torn mint, cinnamon and pomegranate seeds—I wasn’t sure how that combination would work. But I’ve learned to have faith in Salko’s method of putting together good, fresh ingredients in clean, simple ways that create hugely flavorful dishes. Salko told me, “We serve it with two tortillas and you kind of just have a ball,” and he was so right. I highly recommend ordering the Orange Dream Salad, especially if you’re going to also have The Crackling Club, which as you might imagine, is so good (and only a little bit “bad”).

The Crackling Club (larger version at end of piece)

While you might think a fried chicken skin sandwich sounds hedonistic, again, in the Tini style of fresh and simple, it’s really a somewhat light sandwich. I say somewhat because it is a club sandwich, so there’s also house cured & smoked bacon, Allen Farms red mustard greens, sweet cabbage, pickled shallots, bread-and-butter pickles and house made mayonnaise, along with the two chicken cracklings. It’s all piled beautifully on their house made brioche. The chicken skin is perfectly crisped and slightly puffed so the effect is really a somewhat light spring-like club sandwich and not something heavy.

Now, the cocktails. Canning prepared five beautiful drinks for me to play with making photos of, and then of course I got to try them all. The Spring Cocktail Line is called “Ad Lib” and the names of the drinks require the person ordering to fill in some key words, in the style of a favorite childhood written word game. Sure the missing spots in the cocktail names could all be filled-in with words loaded in innuendo, but then who didn’t do that with Mad Libs anyway (0r skipped the innuendo altogether and just went straight to the gutter)? The cocktails are:

White Whisky, Muddled Cucumber = [verb] the White Dog
Cachaça, St. Germain, Basil = [verb] my Green Bikini in [place]
Belvedere, Framboise, Lemon, Champagne = A Classy [noun]
Genever, Maraschino, Violette, Mint = [noun] on the Horizon
Maker’s Mark, TINI Grenadine, Thyme = Make Her [verb] This Time

I really enjoyed the “[verb] the White Dog.” It uses Death’s Door White Whisky which is fermented in stainless steel and finished in uncharred oak barrels so it never gets the caramel color or smoky flavors of a traditional whisky. Personally, I wouldn’t call it a whisky, or maybe label it with an asterisk, because it’s a delicious drink and people who aren’t fans of whisky might pass it by. The “Make Her [verb] This Time” was also a favorite. The thyme and a little touch of salt in it really brings out some subtle flavors. All the drinks were perfectly balanced and should be big hits.

In addition to the new drinks and dishes, Tini is now serving late on Wednesdays with live music. Salko posted, “It’s the Tini Show starting at 10 p.m.! 3 excellent musicians, amazing cocktails, $15 wine bottles, late night grub until 11 p.m. You can’t go wrong! Tini Weenies and Fries will be served for the Music Lovers!”