A Neighborhood Store with Specialty Flair

A small specialty foods store on Providence’s East Side has such an expansive variety of imported and local items that it could sponsor a captivating scavenger hunt. How many brands of chocolate bars can you find? (30+) What’s the most unusual jam/jelly? (Blueberry sumac or yuzu marmalade.) Ditto for frozen sausage? (A rabbit-pork-ginger blend.) How many items from Spain can you count? How many other countries are represented? How many items are produced in New England? (Most likely, more than 15 to 20 for each of those questions.) Hawes Fine Foods owner Pam Hitchman bought Kevin Hawes’s enterprise last June, and her passion for unusual flavors, delicate textures and interesting sources is evident everywhere. Yet she also wants Hawes to be a neighborhood grocery store, where anyone could gather the ingredients for a meal on a weekly or even daily basis. Staples such as eggs, milk and Seven Stars bread, plus select fresh vegetables and fruits are available. Hitchman’s enthusiasm for her products is infectious. With Hawes’s wide-ranging inventory, Hitchman is sharing cultures along with tastes, without her customers even leaving the city.

Open seven days. 107 Hope St., Providence. 401.302.5623; HawesFineFoods.com