Where to Eat in Newport, Rhode Island
Among the forward-looking options in the old-school town of Northampton, Massachusetts, is farm-to-table with a French accent.
Where to Eat in Newport, Rhode Island
Photo Credit : courtesy of La VascaAs a resort town, Newport contains multitudes: the Bellevue Avenue grandees, the funky folk-festival crowd, the day-trippers, the surfer dudes. It’s a summer colony, yes, but also a city, which means it must offer more things to more types of people in that critically short seasonal window when most of the money is made. Where a tiny hamlet like Wellfleet funnels the summer hordes to a handful of restaurants, Newport’s scene is more diffuse, with haute cuisine options such as Restaurant Bouchard.
Photo Credit : courtesy of La Vasca
Perhaps this is why Newport has seen so much turnover of late, with local favorites like Tallulah on Thames and Thames Street Kitchen being replaced by Harry’s Bar & Burger and Winner Winner (fried chicken), respectively. Even the beloved Stoneacre Pantry closed, replaced by a new concept from owners Christopher Bender and David Crowell: La Vasca, a Basque-inspired wine bar and eatery serving tapas, paella, and large-format roasted meats. (FYI: Stoneacre will reopen soon in new digs in Washington Square.)
Photo Credit : courtesy of La Vasca
Photo Credit : courtesy of La Vasca
Drawing from the cuisines of southern France and Northern Spain, La Vasca retains the neighborhood feel that earned Stoneacre a loyal following. Diners cozy up on the long, pillow-lined banquette or gather around the cooper-topped bar. The offerings here lean toward the salty hams, olives, and Romesco sauce you’d expect from a tapas spot, as well as crudos, ceviches, and charred Point Judith squid that celebrate the coastal setting. And then there are Stoneacre classics to tide fans over until its new 5,000-square-foot space is completed: kale salad with miso-Caesar dressing, flash-cooked yellowfin tuna with brown butter and crispy shallots. It’s a wide-ranging menu for a restaurant as diminutive as La Vasca, but paradoxically the small-plates format allows for a larger palette of flavors (look to the success of Cambridge’s Little Donkey for a prime example of this).
Bender and Crowell also run two other local businesses, Wellington Liquors and Radish Patch Catering. Perhaps they’ve cracked the Newport code. If so, the city’s motley crew of visitors and year-rounders will be eating better for it.515 Thames St., Newport, RI. 401-619-4899; lavascanewport.com
Additional Newport Restaurants Of Note
Cru CaféBreakfast and lunch with a fresh-local-seasonal-baked-from-scratch vibe. crucafenewport.com
Newport CreameryDiner classics and ice cream; home of the Awful Awful chocolate shake (“awful big, awful good!”). newportcreamery.com
The Lawn at Castle HillThe alfresco restaurant at this five-star inn is the best place in the state to grab a cocktail and watch the sunset while noshing on classic coastal dishes and steakhouse fare. castlehillinn.com
Fluke Wine, Bar & KitchenThat comma is no mistake: This Bowen’s Wharf spot takes its bar program seriously (there are 40 rums alone). But the food, heavy on sustainable seafood, is sophisticated and delicious. flukewinebar.com
Bouchard Inn & RestaurantThis is the restaurant with the all-in-French menu that brings to mind the dining rooms of the old Newport elite (though commoners are most welcome). Don’t miss the pavé de filet de boeuf au Brie.bouchardnewport.com
As Yankee’s senior food editor, Amy Traverso oversees the magazine’s food department and contributes to NewEngland.com. She’s also the cohost of Yankee’s TV series with WGBH, Weekends with Yankee, and the author of The Apple Lover’s Cookbook (W.W. Norton), which won an International Association of Culinary Professionals cookbook award in the “American” category.
Amy Traverso
Amy Traverso is the senior food editor at Yankee magazine and co-host of the public television series Weekends with Yankee, a coproduction with WGBH. Previously, she was food editor at Boston magazine and an associate food editor at Sunset magazine. Her work has also been published in The Boston Globe, Saveur, and Travel & Leisure, and she has appeared on Hallmark Home & Family, The Martha Stewart Show, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Amy is the author of The Apple Lover’s Cookbook, which was a finalist for the Julia Child Award for best first-time author and won an IACP Cookbook Award in the “American” category.
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