In Our Fall 2024 Issue

Last Updated September 18, 2024

Dear Reader,

How is it that summer flies by in the blink of an eye—and before we know it, fall is here, the mums are in full array at farm stands and markets, and pumpkin spice is creeping into every beverage imaginable?

I have a love-hate relationship with mums, to be honest, and I’ll skip the pumpkin spice, but the other delights that arrive with autumn make it one of my favorite seasons of the year. I’ll miss summer, to be sure, but I love the cooler temperatures, the colorful foliage and all the variation in the early versus late fall bounty.

Much like two seasons melded into one, fall spurs me into cooking like no other time of year.

In this issue, we have a number of delicious recipes you’ll want to make, including a pork dish from our friends at New Rivers that’s replete with fall flavors like cider, roasted roots, apples and rosemary. We also have two tasty recipes we’re lucky to share from chef, teacher and cookbook author Pascale Beale, whose cooking was influenced by her friendships with culinary icons Julia Child and Michel Richard. And save room for dessert with a recipe from Ellie’s in Providence for apple-semolina tartlets, which are shortbread-like treats filled with cinnamon-scented apple butter.

Our cocktail columnist Willa Van Nostrand does it again with a bevy of autumn cocktails to make at home, including an outstanding Manhattan from the folks at O’Brien & Brough, a distillery and bar in the historic Unity Park factory complex in Bristol. We decided that a deeper dive into Unity Park was in order and so our Liquid Assets columnist Will Tuthill spent time exploring and talking with other food and beverage business owners in the multi-use campus. Unity Park has an interesting history and is now home to some outstanding food and drink purveyors, which you can read all about in Will’s story.

In our Foodways column, contributor Wanda Hopkins visits with Silvermoon LaRose, a citizen of the Narragansett Tribal Nation and knowledgeable forager, who learned about the importance of edible and medicinal plants from her mother and grandmother. LaRose shares her experience and what four generations of shared knowledge mean for her children and the generations yet to come.

Another generational feature should inspire your next meal out and that’s our cover story on Cielito, the newest restaurant from James Beard Award–nominated chef and owner Diego Alcantar along with his mother, Maria Gerbacio. Diego was a semifinalist for “Best New Restaurant” for Tuxpan Taqueria, their small eatery in Central Falls. Cielito, located in downtown Providence, offers a larger space and a broader but more refined menu that, like the taqueria, is filled with the authentic flavors of their small hometown in the Mexican state of Michoacán.

Our Gil’s Loves Local cooking class this fall is set for November 13 with Carissa Meekins, baker and owner of Diva’s Dips. If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to decorate sugar cookies using piping bags and royal icing, now is your chance in this hands-on class! She’s going to teach us all the tricks for beautifully decorated confections, just in time for the holidays. Sign up soon at EdibleRhody.com; classes generally sell out.

There’s plenty more food for thought in this issue. I hope you enjoy all the stories, and the autumnal tastes gathered here for you this season.