Come to Newport’s Hotel Viking

Robert Andreozzi and Jesse Hedberg’s Quartet of Striking New Restaurant Concepts

Robert Andreozzi floats through the restaurant beneath a roséhued ceiling, surrounded by muraled walls evocative of John La Farge paintings, like a maestro quietly conducting the rhythm of the room. Marble-topped tables, mid-century green and gold chairs, long banquettes, artsy chandeliers and vintage-looking mirrors give unabashed glamour but in a French Riviera-meets-Slim-Aarons way. For Andreozzi, it’s the manifestation of a vision a year in the making, when he and business partner, Jesse Hedberg, answered the Hotel Viking’s call to bring four new restaurant concepts to the century-old property.

Before making their newest splash in Newport, the duo had been best known for their restaurant Pizza Marvin and cocktail bar Club Frills in Providence, and both have nabbed prestigious James Beard Award nominations. The Hotel Viking is the first lodging property project for their company, Littleneck Hospitality Group, which is also opening Rollers Sports Bar and Grill in Providence this summer.

Executing the dining concepts of this grande dame property has been a tall order. The historic Bellevue Avenue hotel, celebrating its centennial year, was built after the Gilded Age solidified Newport as America’s premier coastal resort.

“The commitment to making this return to its former glory, it’s sincere. I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of it,” says Andreozzi, who studied old photographs to get a better sense of the property’s legacy. “You look at the quality of the work they are doing—they’re making a really great investment in this place, and in Newport, and that makes me feel amazing.”

Pescadou is the cornerstone of the hotel’s dining program; its preppy pink and green color palette seemingly taken from the iconic Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc with subtle hints of Newport’s dreamy coastline.

“My vibe was ’60s, ’70s; that Riviera, Amalfi, Slim Aarons quintessential vibe,” he says. (Slim Aarons was known for his large-format photos of jet-set society.) Pescadou’s menu equally channels the spirit of the South of France, merging Mediterranean influences with the freshest catch sourced from local Narragansett Bay Lobster Co., plus seasonal produce from area farms like Foggy Notion Farm, Wishing Stone Farm, Ward’s Berry Farm and Kitchen Garden Farm.

Andreozzi explains that, like Italian fare, it’s important to remember that French cuisine—even along the country’s coastlines—is far from monolithic.

“Working at Del Posto in New York, the focus there was really understanding all 20 Italian regions and figuring out how you’re going to tell that story, so applying that mindset to the French Riviera has been really fun,” he says. Tapping into the varying foodways throughout Provence and the Côte d’Azur and taking some liberties to please the masses (yes, there will be pastas), Andreozzi says guests can expect fresh fish, a raw bar, fresh ingredients and flavors that embody a sophisticated but relaxed coastal experience, right down to the beverage program.

“I wrote the wine list and, shockingly, may have over-indexed on rosé,” he says. “But I was like, ‘Just watch.’” Too many rosés at a reborn Riviera-style coastal icon in Newport? Hardly.

While the restaurant offers seating for just over 100, they’ve reinvigorated the long-underused outdoor patio with vintage-inspired pagoda-style umbrellas and woven bistro chairs for lazy, sun-soaked dining on one of the country’s toniest avenues.

Andreozzi and Hedberg enlisted well-known Rhode Island chef Will Reitzel, a 2022 James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef Northeast with an enviable resumé that includes Castle Hill Inn, Coast at the Ocean House, and most recently, Giusto in Newport, to be chef de cuisine at the hotel overseeing Pescadou, as well as the three other dining outlets in the hotel: Skoal Room, a classic cocktail bar; Tuck Shop, a coffee bar with freshly baked goodies; and Cap Club, the rooftop rum bar with small plates, lounge chairs and killer sunsets.

The Skoal Room is Hedberg’s playground, where classic but expertly crafted cocktails take center stage. The bar is dark and moody, a dichotomy from adjoining Pescadou. In their research (and part of Newport lore), Andreozzi and Hedberg learned it’s the place where Jacquline Bouvier’s father, John “Black Jack” Bouvier III, tipped back one too many on the eve of her wedding to then-Senator John F. Kennedy. (The hotel has long been known for celebrity sightings, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash and Ella Fitzgerald, who were guests during the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals). Overhead, Skoal Room’s ceiling is a Viking ship mural by Rhode Island artist Michael Ezzell, a nod to similar ones found in archival photos of the hotel.

Just past the lobby, Tuck Shop is the New England boarding school–inspired coffee and pastry cafe. “The coffees will be very vibrant Jesse creations,” adds Andreozzi.

Five stories up, the Cap Club crowns the property, offering panoramic views of Newport Harbor and the Pell Bridge in the distance and a stylish sensibility but with a wink.

“If downstairs and Pescadou is ’60s/’70s era, this is ’80s/’90s, Ted Turner, America’s Cup. I want rambunctiousness. I see tropical cocktails and a little bit of Caribbean influence there,” Andreozzi says. The menu follows that vision, as he says he’s “figuring out how we can bring those Jesse-isms to the cocktail menu,” and building a menu inspired by destinations like Barbados and the BVIs. Think raw bar, crudo, apps, curries and jerk dishes.

“For me, it’s an honor to be in Newport,” Andreozzi says. “It’s a big lift and I know it’s a big responsibility to not mess it up as a Rhode Islander. I know people’s eyes are on us saying ‘What the hell are these guys gonna do?’ But as soon as people feel it and see it, they’re going to understand, and that’s great. We could have mailed it in … Jesse and I pushed back and we wanted to give the community something it deserves, that has legs to be here a long, long time.”

Andrea E. McHugh is a freelance writer who has written for The Boston Globe, Parade Magazine, US News, Wine Enthusiast, BBC Travel, Business Insider, Imbibe and more. She resides in Newport.

Hotel Viking
1 Bellevue Ave., Newport
HotelViking.com

Photography credit MaaikeBernstromPhotography.com