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March of Dimes 12th Annual Signature Chefs Auction Coming September 19, 2013

by David Dadekian August 29, 2013
written by David Dadekian
March of Dimes Rhode Island's 2013 Signature Chef Kevin Thiele of the Hotel Viking / One Bellevue

March of Dimes Rhode Island’s 2013 Signature Chef Kevin Thiele of the Hotel Viking / One Bellevue

It’s almost time once again for one of the year’s best chef and restaurant events in Rhode Island, the March of Dimes Signature Chefs Auction. Where else can you find 24 of the area’s best chefs preparing their fantastic food in the same place, while also benefitting a great charity? The event is coming up on Thursday, September 19 in Newport and tickets are available here. Full details follow in the March of Dimes Rhode Island release below.

 

 

Something’s Cooking In Newport and the Key Ingredient Is . . . You!

Twenty-four of Rhode Island’s top chefs “come to the table” with their signature dishes to support the State’s tiniest citizens at 12th Anniversary of March of Dimes Signature Chefs Auction Event

Ever have one of those nights where you want to dine out but just can’t decide which of your favorite restaurants to go to or what kind of food you’re in the mood for? Problem solved for at least one day anyway. Head to Belle Mer on Goat Island in Newport on September 19 at 6 p.m. and enjoy the company and signature dishes of 24 of Rhode Island’s leading chefs. The chefs will leave their restaurant posts for the day to lend their culinary talents to the March of Dimes’ 12th annual Signature Chefs Auction. By attending the event, you’ll be helping R.I.’s tiniest citizens – its babies – while partaking in a culinary extravaganza with a front-row seat of the ocean.

“We are so fortunate to have such top-tier cooking talent all under one roof for this important event,” said Betsy Akin, director of March of Dimes Rhode Island. “These leading chefs have graciously donated their time to prepare samplings of unforgettable dishes to help support the March of Dimes, and subsequently, to help give babies a healthy start in life.”

Ellen Slattery, owner of Gracie’s and co-chair for the sixth consecutive year of the Signature Chefs Auction, added, “This is a true show of collaborative spirit and combined talents for a very important cause. As someone who has been personally touched by the March of Dimes and knows all too well how scary it is when a baby is struggling, it means so much to me that all of these skilled chefs are sharing their gift for cooking in support of this great organization which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.”

Serving as co-chair of the event with Slattery is Annette Picerne of East Greenwich.

In addition to the “Signature Chef” samplings, a tribute will be “on the menu” as Chef Kevin Thiele of Newport’s Hotel Viking/One Bellevue will be presented as March of Dimes Rhode Island’s 2013 Signature Chef. The evening will also include participation of celebrity auctioneer and entertainer Sir Jeremy Bell of Edinburgh, Scotland, who will auction off superb culinary, accommodation, theater and vacation packages. To give a “taste” of the evening, one of the superb items on offer during the Live Auction is an 8 day cruise, with stateroom river view accommodations of the storied Danube River and through 4 of Europe’s most enchanting countries – Austria, Germany, Hungary and Slovakia – courtesy of Viking Cruises.

Participating chefs include: Kevin Thiele of Hotel Viking/One Bellevue, Karsten Hart of Castle Hill Inn, Michael Hervieux of Belle Mer – all in Newport; Matthew Varga of Gracie’s, Brian Kingsford of Bacaro, Josh Herring of CAV, Massimiliano Mariotta of The Dorrance, Melissa Denmark of Ellie’s Bakery, Joe DeQuattro of Pane e Vino, Rolando Robledo of Aspire at Hotel Providence, Edward Bolus of Mills Tavern, Jennifer Luxmoore of Sin Desserts, Maria Meza of El Rancho Grande, Kaitlyn Roberts of Easy Entertaining, Jon Dille of The Grange – all in Providence; Champe Speidel of Persimmon, Sai Viswanath of DeWolf Tavern – both in Bristol; Joe Simone of The Sunnyside in Warren; Kevin Gaudreau of The Boat House in Tiverton; Andrew Shotts of Garrison Confections in Central Falls; Ben Wood of Wildwood Catering in Kingston; Raymond Montaquila of The Coast Guard House in Narragansett, Ben Lacy of Tastings Wine Bar & Bistro in Foxboro, Mass. and Kevin Des Chenes.

The Signature Chefs Auction begins at 6 p.m. and tickets are $150. Corporate and host tables are available, and the March of Dimes hopes that individuals and companies recognize the opportunity to help babies and their families while enjoying inventive and succulent dishes in an elegant venue.

For more information or sponsorship opportunities and tickets, contact Neil Sharpe at March of Dimes at 401.228.1932 or visit www.marchofdimes.com/rhodeisland

Proceeds from the Signature Chefs Auction will help support the March of Dimes mission to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Founded in 1938, the March of Dimes funds programs of research, community services, education, and advocacy to save babies. For more information, visit the March of Dimes Web site at marchofdimes.com or its Spanish language Web site at nacersano.org.

August 29, 2013 0 comment
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chefs & restaurantsnews

March of Dimes Rhode Island Names Chef Jonathan Cambra Their 2012 Signature Chef

by guest March 22, 2012
written by guest
from left to right: March of Dimes Rhode Island State Director Betsy Akin, Newport Harbor Corporation COO and 2003 Signature Chef Casey Riley, Chef Jonathan Cambra and Gracie's owner and Signature Chef Event co-chair Ellen Gracyalny

from left to right: March of Dimes Rhode Island State Director Betsy Akin, Newport Harbor Corporation COO and 2003 Signature Chef Casey Riley, Chef Jonathan Cambra and Gracie's owner and Signature Chef Event co-chair Ellen Gracyalny

Not everyone likes surprises, but when leaders from March of Dimes Rhode Island recently showed up on the doorsteps of the Boat House in Tiverton to surprise the restaurant’s Executive Chef Jonathan Cambra with an important announcement, cheers and elation ensued. That’s because Chef Cambra was named Signature Chef of the 11th Annual March of Dimes Signature Chefs Auction. The event, a dream evening for “foodies” that will take place on September 20 at Belle Mer in Newport, combines the talents of the region’s leading chefs who prepare their signature dishes to raise funds for R.I.’s tiniest citizens:  its babies.

“I’m honored to be named Signature Chef of this year’s Signature Chefs Auction for the March of Dimes Rhode Island,” said Chef Cambra. “As a father, I can empathize with parents who are grappling with any kind of health challenge facing their children. I’m happy to do anything I can to help families who are struggling with the health of their young babies.”

Prior to joining the Boat House in August 2011, Chef Cambra spent five years as Executive Chef at sister property, Castle Hill Inn where his vision of sustainable agriculture, locally-purchased ingredients, and organic first was prevalent in all of the Inn’s menus. A Bristol native, he trained at the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont, and has long been a fan of perusing local farms and docks for just-picked, just-caught flavors. While at Castle Hill, Chef Cambra was invited to cook at the prestigious James Beard House in New York twice, and was instrumental in the property receiving many national awards and accolades

Boat House Executive Chef Jonathan Cambra comes out of the kitchen to be surprised by the March of Dimes Signature Chefs group

Boat House Executive Chef Jonathan Cambra comes out of the kitchen to be surprised by the March of Dimes Signature Chefs group

“Jon is a remarkably gifted and resourceful culinary professional,” said Casey Riley, Chief Operating Officer at the Newport Harbor Corporation, which owns and operates Newport Restaurant Group, Castle Hill Inn and the Newport Yachting Center Marina and Events. “Just as important, he is a wonderful work partner and—at home—a devoted husband and father.  I am privileged to have him as a friend and colleague.”

Betsy Akin, State Director of March of Dimes Rhode Island and host of the 2012 Signature Chefs Auction, echoed Casey’s comments, adding, “We at March of Dimes salute all our fabulous chefs who give so freely of their time and talents to support our lifesaving mission.  In Chef Cambra, our event co-chair Ellen Gracyalny—owner of Providence’s Gracie’s Restaurant—and the Nominating Committee have selected not only an accomplished chef but also someone who has been a tireless supporter of our work. We are delighted to have Chef Cambra as our 2012 Signature Chef.”

The event, now in its 11th year will be held at Belle Mer in Newport on September 20, 2012 from 6 to 10 p.m. and will feature 26 of R.I.’s finest and most talented chefs.

March of Dimes is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Founded in 1938, the March of Dimes funds programs of research, community services, education, and advocacy to save babies. For more information, visit the March of Dimes Web site at marchofdimes.com or its Spanish language Web site at nacersano.org.

March 22, 2012 0 comment
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chefs & restaurantsnewswine & drinks

Interview with Emily Luchetti, appearing at The Sun WineFest, January 27-29

by David Dadekian January 20, 2012
written by David Dadekian
Chef Emily Luchetti

Chef Emily Luchetti

The Sun WineFest ’12 at Mohegan Sun is coming up and in addition to the spectacular two-day Grand Tasting there are a number of special tastings and events taking place over the three-day Festival. Chef Emily Luchetti of Waterbar and Farallon restaurants in San Francisco is one of the many celebrity chefs coming to southern New England to participate in Saturday evening’s Celebrity Chef Dine Around Presented by Moët & Chandon as well as Sunday evening’s closing event Bubbles and Bon Bons Presented by Perrier-Jouët which sounds like the must-attend event for dessert lovers.

Eat Drink RI spoke to Luchetti and it turns out she has some very local ties to a Rhode Island dessert institution. Read on to find out which flavors are her favorite and what she’ll be serving up at The Sun WineFest.

eat drink RI: Tell us a little about yourself.

Emily Luchetti: I am the Executive Pastry Chef at Waterbar and Farallon restaurants in San Francisco. I’ve written six cookbooks and I’m also a Dean at the French Culinary Institute—they have a campus in New York and in California. I’m originally from the East Coast. I moved out to California in 1984 and started working at Stars. I worked there for 11 years. The first part of my cooking career was in the savory side and then in 1987 I switched to desserts because I figured it would be a lot more fun to make desserts. It was one of those things where, as soon as I switched to it, I felt like I found my niche and knew that was where I wanted to be.

edRI: Do you get a chance to do some cooking every day or is it more overseeing things as an Executive Pastry Chef?

EL: I’m lucky to have a team in each restaurant. We develop menus together. I’m always involved in menu development. I’m at one of them [Waterbar or Farallon] five days a week so when I go in there, my belief is you don’t just sit there in an office in front of a computer. If you’re going to really get a sense of what’s going on, you look at the clipboard, see what needs to be done, and you roll out tart dough, you make cookie dough or you do whatever is needed. I like to bake, so I really do get to bake on a weekly basis.

edRI: Is there one part of the job you like to do best?

EL: At this point in my career, I kind of like the diversity. When I was younger I loved creating the dessert menu everyday and making sure everything was done by 5:30 and everything was perfect and explaining it all to the waiters. You’re really focused on that one part of your job. Now I get different kinds of challenges and exposures. The beauty of it all is that, when I seem to get sick of one, I seem to have another responsibility that I can switch to.

edRI: How often do you come up with new desserts at the restaurants?

EL: I would say we change the dessert menu in each of the restaurants about every month. A lot of it’s driven seasonally, a lot of it’s driven by what we get bored with and we want to do something different.

edRI: Is there something on your menus right now that you really love?

EL: We’ve just been switching the menus the last couple of weeks and we’re now pretty excited about the citrus in California that’s coming up. We have Meyer lemons, the different kinds of oranges and things like that. We use a lot of passion fruit. The citrus is fun because it’s bright and vivid. Visually and texturally and taste-wise it adds some excitement to a January day.

edRI: Have you been to The Sun WineFest before?

EL: No, I haven’t. I’m really looking forward to it. I have family in the area so I’m very familiar with that part of the country, but I’ve never been to Mohegan Sun so I’m looking forward to going.

edRI: What will you be doing at the Bubbles and Bon Bons event?

EL: I’m going to be doing some ice cream sundaes. We wanted it to be chocolate, but I thought I’d do something different, because I’m sure Jacques Torres will have truffles, which are absolutely lovely and delicious. So I’m doing crème fraîche ice cream with caramel sauce, fudge sauce, cocoa nibs or candied almonds. But people will be able to make it their way.

edRI: How do you make the crème fraîche ice cream?

EL: I make a traditional crème anglaise base with egg yolks, sugar, milk and some cream. I cook that over the stove top and get it nice and thick to cook the eggs. Then I take it off the stove and whisk in the crème fraîche. I don’t heat the crème fraîche because it starts to breakdown and changes the texture of it. It’s got a good ratio of cream and milk. I probably use a little bit more cream than milk in my ice cream but I definitely use milk. You don’t want to use all cream because then it tastes too fatty. There is a point where you can actually have too much cream. It’s hard to believe!

One of my favorite ice creams in your area is Gray’s. The Mocha Chip and the Ginger are my favorites. I have a beach cottage in South Dartmouth. I go there in the summer and work on my cookbooks. When I get there I don’t really feel that I’m there until I go over to Gray’s and get an ice cream cone. In one of my books, A Passion for Ice Cream, I profile about a dozen great ice cream places around the country and Gray’s is in there.

edRI: Tell us about your most recent book The Fearless Baker?

EL: I wrote that because people come up to me often and ask “what do you do?” and I say, “I’m a pastry chef” and they say, “oh I could never do that, I can’t bake.” I started thinking about what makes people so fearful of baking and I said to myself, I want to help people get over this fear of baking [by giving] them a book where they can not feel so intimidated and realize they can be successful when they bake dessert. It’s geared toward the beginning baker, but at the same time I make stuff from it all the time because it tastes really good. All the recipes I made with people who haven’t baked before so I really got a feeling for what questions would come up and what problems they would have.

edRI: What do you have planned for the Celebrity Dine Around?

EL: I’m doing a Brownie Brown Sugar Parfait. That’s layers of brown sugar pastry cream with caramel sauce, brownies and toasted pecans. That was one of the desserts on the opening menu of Waterbar. We’ve been open for four years and it makes a reoccurrence [on the menu], but it’s not on the menu right now.

edRI: Is there a dessert on one of your menus you just can’t take off or people would scream?

EL: There is a chocolate pudding cake. You serve it warm and when you bake it, it separates so it’s cake-y on top and pudding-y on the bottom. People really like it. We’ve had it on for four years and we finally said we’re going to take it off and see what happens. Maybe there won’t be that big of a revolt and we’ll try to replace with something they’ll like even better. The jury’s not back on that one yet.

The Sun WineFest runs Friday, January 27 through Sunday, January 29 at Mohegan Sun. Check the site for more information including schedule of events, guest chefs and exhibitors.

January 20, 2012 0 comment
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chefs & restaurantsnews

A Visit to Trafford for Newport Restaurant Week, November 4 – 13, 2011

by David Dadekian November 1, 2011
written by David Dadekian
Trafford's Mussels Frites

Trafford's Mussels Frites

Newport Restaurant Week, November 4 - 13, 2011Newport Restaurant Week (NRW) begins anew this Friday, November 4, at over 55 restaurants in Newport & Bristol Counties. Diners at participating restaurants get to enjoy three-course lunches for $16, and three-course dinners for $30, from the 4th through November 13. In talking with the NBCCVB about this year’s Restaurant Week we decided to do something a little more interesting than just writing about the events and listing restaurants. Here we have a sneak preview of some items on the NRW menu at Trafford, a restaurant at 285 Water Street in Warren that’s not only a NRW first-timer, but also almost brand new, having opened a little over four months ago.

To read the rest of this post please continue at the NBCCVB’s From Stem to Stern blog.

November 1, 2011 0 comment
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