In Our Fall 2021 Issue

Dear Reader,

As I sit down to write to you, fall is rapidly approaching. The days are already getting shorter and before we know it, the leaves on the trees will be changing their colors, just like those on our cover— only the leaves adorning our cover are edible and delicious! They were baked from scratch and decorated by hand expressly for Edible Rhody.

I know you will enjoy learning about Alva Cabrera and what spurred this self-taught artisan baker to start a handcrafted cookie venture in the midst of a pandemic. Just as Cabrera dreamed of starting her own business while stuck at home during the Covid lockdown, so did Julia Broome, who started a restaurant in downtown Providence, Kin Southern Table + Bar, at a time when the hospitality industry was facing severe challenges. Read Broome’s story to discover who inspired her Southern menu and cocktail selections and her “welcome-you-like-family” philosophy. Plus, Broome shares one of her favorite recipes so you can bake a traditional Southern treat for friends and family this fall or for the fast-approaching holidays.

For anyone with a taste for craft beer (and I know you’re out there!) this story will inspire you to visit five breweries in Rhode Island with brewing programs currently led by female brewers. From Narragansett Beer’s new Providence brewery to Grey Sail in Westerly, Shaidzon in West Kingston, Proclamation Ale in Warwick and Crooked Current in Pawtucket, the women brewers at the helm of each of these noted breweries are forging important pathways in an otherwise male-dominated industry.

We focus on a different type of brew in the story on Sanctuary Herbs, an herbal tea and culinary herb company born out of the desire to help improve small farm viability for immigrant and other local farmers. The company works with farmers hailing from far-flung places like the Azores, the Republic of Burundi, Laos and Rwanda growing and preparing a variety of “farm-to-cup” herbal blends.

We are proud once again to share the Edible Communities Signature Section with you, too. This special insert is part of an ongoing series of articles related to food sustainability, hunger, regenerative agriculture and restaurant revitalization. This season’s topic on rethinking hunger with a focus on nutrition for those in need is particularly timely in the wake of Covid-19 and the unprecedented demand for food the pandemic created at local food banks across the country.

As always, it is our mission to give you food for thought, to inform how your support of our local farmers, restaurants, food and beverage artisans and retail shops can make a difference in our food systems and local economy. I hope you’ll also make a point of supporting our trusted advertisers who are behind every copy of Edible Rhody you pick up, subscribe to or share with a friend. It is only through their ongoing partnerships that we are able to bring you the compelling stories, beautiful photos and tempting recipes.

We hope you enjoy all the delicious flavors of the fall season in Li’l Rhody and all those within these pages.