Newport Restaurants Provide a Lifting Tide in the City by the Sea
A walk down Charles Street in Newport on any afternoon of late would be quieter than usual, the old white house at its center a bit more serene this April than in springtimes past. Somewhere inside, no more than five people are gathered, taking phone calls and preparing food for curbside pickup, the new normal for this beloved eatery known for drawing a crowd for the Z-Boys on Wednesday nights, when friends would pack in, sip margaritas and dance the night away.
“I miss everyone,” says Geralyn Rodrigues, the general manager at Perro Salado, where she’s worked for 11 years. “I miss everybody feeding off the building … [this] building is just so alive.”
Like other restaurant workers around the state, things have been a bit different for Rodrigues since Covid-19 arrived in Rhode Island in early March, forcing all non-essential workers to stay home while business-as-usual came to a halt.
In the beginning, Rodrigues admits, “I was having trouble with this because I wasn’t really accepting it.” Now, she has accepted that the restaurant has shifted to a takeout place, which could be the reality for the next six months.
“It’s going as best as it could be expected. Every week it’s getting better,” she says, estimating that the restaurant is averaging 35–40% of its springtime business. “We have such a supportive community on this island, we really feel it … we could not have asked for more support than we’ve gotten.”
Of her handful of staff still working, only one is a cook, which has meant she’s been filling in as a line cook in addition to everything else. Other crew members who would usually be servers have been helping with food packaging and delivery. For other staff members, working a few days a week is not a welcome tradeoff for collecting unemployment, Rodrigues said, which has made hiring people back a challenge.
Still, she is remaining positive and grateful to be able to work, and to see some people every day, even if it’s the same four people. Rodrigues says she may still decorate for Cinco de Mayo (which, FYI, coincides with “Taco Tuesday”). “I’m trying to make it as fun as possible,” she says, adding: “We’ll see how it all shakes out.”
Not too far down the road, Geremie Callaghan at Fluke Newport reports a similar sense of one-day-at-a-time optimism, à la “faking it ’til we’re making it.”
“We’re definitely looking at this as a much longer-term thing,” says Callaghan, who owns the restaurant with her husband, Jeff. At the moment, they are offering curbside pickup Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays (their typical winter hours), and Callaghan reports that cars have been driving right onto Bannister’s Wharf, directly to Fluke’s door, which is a much easier feat these days.
“We’re all such social butterflies, such social animals, and miss the interactions with people,” Callaghan says. Even “if it’s only handing you a parcel through your car window, I’m loving that!”
Like many other restaurateurs, Callaghan admits to “an embarrassing amount of social media,” a platform she has been using more and more in this time of social distancing. She also says many summer residents who have not yet returned to the island have been calling and ordering gift cards as a show of support.
“Our goal is to, hopefully, be relevant and have something people are looking for,” she says, noting Fluke will soon (possibly in early May) start offering things beyond menu items, like certain provisions and key ingredients: “You grill the steak, cook the protein; we make the veggies and the sauces.” Or, customers could buy fish stock for the risotto they’re making at home.
In addition to preparing staff meals, for those working as well as the front-of-house staff who’ve been laid off, Fluke has been making meals for workers at Newport Hospital, and dropping them off twice a week. “The one thing that always cheers me up when I’m stressed out is a nice meal,” says Callaghan, who said these offerings are meant to “give everyone the sustenance to keep going.”
This sentiment is one that has been fully embraced by Christopher Bender and David Crowell, co-owners of Stoneacre Brasserie on Washington Square, as well as Stoneacre Wine & Spirits on Thames Street.
For the past few weeks, they have been making family-style meals for hospitality industry workers on Wednesdays and Saturdays, free of charge. Recipients, who span the gamut of service work and several generations, have the option to pick up their meals at the liquor store, or have them delivered, which has been most popular (the majority of recipients live in Newport). On a recent Wednesday, Stoneacre served 300 meals, which was a record and is now the daily cap. By the end of April, more than 2,000 meals will have been provided to community members in need.
Bender expects this program to stay in place for as long as people are in quarantine, and said it may continue in some form one day a week once the restaurant resumes “business similar to normal,” which he hopes is sooner rather than later. Unlike some of the smaller restaurants in Newport, Stoneacre has a larger, more open interior space and may be able to host patrons seated at a distance once Gov. Gina Raimondo gives such an all-clear.
Like everyone else, Bender is “waiting to see how everything unfolds.” In the meantime, if anyone is interested in donating products in support of this effort, which has been key to its success so far, they should reach out to the restaurant.
In another part of town, Sue Lamond and her staff at Salvation Cafe on Broadway have been offering select menu items to-go on Fridays and Saturdays, among them the ever-popular pad thai, the fan-favorite teriyaki salmon and the oft-enjoyed kale Caesar salad.
For Lamond, who opened the restaurant nearly 27 years ago in 1993, adjusting to operating in a pandemic has been a whirlwind. “You have to minimize yourself to food in a to-go box, it’s so funny,” she said on a recent phone call. “[We’re] trying to be the best at this one part of who we are.”
She alluded to how in Newport, there are really two different cities: one for the locals who live here year round, and one for the tourists who arrive at the end of spring and stay until the end of autumn. This year, she says, will be very different because summer business obviously won’t be the same, which will make next winter all the more difficult. While she’s used to being “two different restaurants” depending on the season, now she’s had to become a third: a takeaway place.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” she admits. “I’m just letting it flow.” Lamond credits her staff with pushing her to stay open, and reminding her that Salvation serves a role within the community. “They are leading me.”
She’s also been hearing from longtime patrons about what the restaurant means to them, which was unexpected and incredibly moving. She’s heard from folks saying how the restaurant has been more than a place to just get food and drink, that “a lot of magical moments and relationships have developed there.”
Looking to the coming weeks and months, Lamond remains hopeful. “If there’s a way to creatively think our way out of this, we’re definitely up for that job,” she says.
In the meantime, for those on Aquidneck Island who need an escape, or just an invitation to “mansion at home,” The Chanler is offering an à la carte menu, as well as a 3-course prix fixe menu, seven days a week, along with beer and wine to-go.
Those taking up this invitation include the usual patrons to Cara Restaurant and The Café, as well as locals who live nearby and have never dined at the venue overlooking Easton’s Beach. According to Keith Chouinard, director of sales and marketing, “We’ve had wonderful support from the local community as far as ordering on a daily basis.”
In turn, The Chanler has been able to continue supporting the local farmers who provide much of its offerings. Chouinard said there has been no disruption in their food supply, which he largely credits to Chef Jacob Jasinski and the strong relationships he’s developed with farmers, fishermen and food purveyors. Jasinski has been developing meals in advance, which has allowed them to change daily.
The Chanler will also be offering a special Mother’s Day meal on Sunday, May 10, much like it did for Easter, when they received 200 orders. For Mother’s Day they’re partnering with the Women’s Resource Center to provide a healthy and delicious dinner for the mothers and their children currently in the WRC program, which supports victims of domestic violence.
Like other Newport establishments, The Chanler may continue offering to-go meals once the restaurant reopens, whenever that may be. Chouinard says there may soon be additional offerings, like produce to-go boxes—“straight from the farm to your home table”—once the summer growing season is in full swing.
For now, Chouinard says, The Chanler, like Salvation, Stoneacre, Fluke, Perro and all of the other island eateries, is closely listening to Gov. Raimondo. “In all honesty, [re-opening] depends on the governor’s direction and mandate,” he said. Until then, extra precautions are in place, new menus will continue to be announced each week and everyone will do their best to keep spirits high.
As Chouinard notes, “[This time has] allowed us to appreciate the little things.”
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