In Our Spring 2018 Issue

Last Updated March 19, 2018
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Spring 2018 Issue

Dear Reader,

To answer your question: Yes, they are delicious! The teascented chocolate truffles on our cover are as good as they look, the delicate outer shell giving way to a soft, melt-in-your-mouth ganache center. What’s more, they are each made one by one, with care. It’s hands-on work—and you’re going to find that same passion and attentiveness to food throughout this magazine as you savor the stories of the small food business owners we’ve highlighted in this issue.

The story of Michele De Luca-Verley’s handmade truffles will evoke fond memories for those of you who remember her Newport shop, La Maison de COCO, and I know you’ll be glad to learn about what she’s been up to lately.

Jumping from chocolate to strawberries (not a leap for me), we head down to the farm to meet Alby Brandon, a young farmer in West Kingston who is growing organic strawberries in low tunnels and producing some of the earliest-ripening berries around. He doesn’t come from a farming family but Mom and Dad are both helping out while he grows his business on 10 acres of fertile soil.

We’ll venture to another growing business, one that just expanded to a great big new facility in Warwick, in large part due to a change in Rhode Island law. We sip the suds with the owners of Proclamation Ale and learn how they have, through hard work, diligence and the help of a growing craft beer fan base, built their new brewery.

Creating a product, devising a business plan and getting that product to market is a demanding process. You’ll get to learn about the challenges of food business start-ups and follow the journey of two individuals who enrolled in the Social Enterprise Greenhouse Food Accelerator Program and find out what the course meant for their growing enterprises.

You’ll get a behind-the-scenes peek on page 22 into one of the year’s best multi-chef benefit dinners, Dinner by Dames (for AIDS Care Ocean State). Now in its seventh year, a team of some of Rhode Island’s most talented women in food (and drink) gather together to create a memorable evening for all involved. The dinner is also part of the seventh annual Eat Drink RI Festival. (Hint: Get your tickets soon!)

Another event coming up this spring will give you an opportunity to glean cooking tips from Chef Richard Allaire of Metacom Kitchen in Warren, whose story is profiled in this issue. The chef is teaming up with Edible Rhody to provide a hands-on cooking class at the brand new demonstration kitchen at Gil’s Appliances in Bristol. I’ll be there too, eager to learn insider tricks, tips and recipes highlighting fresh spring ingredients. Flip to page 37 or visit EdibleRhody.com for more information about signing up.

I hope you enjoy this marvelous season of reawakening, the sprouting shoots of green leaves and the optimism evidenced by the return of another outdoor growing season here in Li’l Rhody.

Dig in!

 

Inside Michele De Luca-Verley’s La Maison de COCO

A Kitchen Atelier Designed for the Love of Chocolate “I know this may sound strange, but every time I walked into the barn on the property...

What’s Cooking with Richard Allaire of Metacom Kitchen

Local Ingredients and Modern Technology Converge at a Restaurant in Warren Metacom Kitchen is a “modern American bistro” on a busy one-way...

Made By Me Cooking School Inspires Young Chefs

Heather Dupee Fills a Void and Helps Get Kids into the Kitchen to Learn The skeptic in me wondered: In 90 minutes, could a small group of...

Brandon Family Farm

Juicy Red Strawberries Help a Young Farmer Get into the Black The first time I encountered Alby and Lisa Brandon was at the 2016 East Farm...

Sipping the Suds with Proclamation Ale Company

A Change in Legislation Allows a Small Brewery to Make the Big Move It has been said that the only place where success comes before work is...

Social Enterprise Greenhouse Food Accelerator Program Nurtures Culinary Talents

Lily Scott and Paul Kubiski Dish About Their SEG Experiences, Business Challenges and Progress What do Rhode Island– made cocktail syrups...

Going Crackers for Beth Bakes

When Elizabeth Fradin’s daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease 17 years ago, Elizabeth decided to come up with some gluten-free...

Cluck! Re-hatched on the Cranston Farm

After five years of Broadway brouhaha in Providence, during which Drake Patten’s urban agricultural supply store Cluck! was opposed [and...

PB & Cacao An Award-Winning Superfood

Most kids love peanut butter and many of them love the combo of peanut butter and chocolate. Former yoga teacher and nutrition consultant...

From Macarons to Macaroons, Croissants to Cream Puffs

French baker Xavier Mauprivez is a fifth-generation baker on his father’s side and fourth-generation on his mother’s side. He grew up above...

Spring into the Kitchen

Joshua McFadden is an accomplished chef who combined his culinary expertise and knowledge of farming into an amazing cookbook idea. After...

Congratulations to our 2018 Local Hero Winners!

FARM/FARMER: Tess Brown-Lavoie, Laura Brown-Lavoie and Sarah Turkus / Sidewalk Ends Farm Two sisters and a best friend in their 20s (Sarah...

Last Bite Knowing your Seeds

A GOOD RULE OF (GREEN) THUMB Plant seeds at a depth of 2 -3 times the width of the seed. Tiny' seeds can be sprinkled on top of the soil....

What’s happening near you

March 30 | 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Providence Farmers Market

Farm Fresh RI
Providence
April 06 | 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Providence Farmers Market

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Providence
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