Rhode Island
Newport Restaurant Week kicks off on April 5
Newport, R.I. will showcase many of its world-class restaurants beginning Friday, when its annual Restaurant Week gets underway, featuring the area’s top coastal fare at historic spots like Clarke Cooke House, Christie’s, and White Horse Tavern.
Three-course, prix fixe meals will be only $16 for lunch, and $30 for dinner at more than 50 restaurants. Beverages, gratuities, and taxes are not included. A number of special wine tastings, culinary tours, and food and wine pairings will also be among the many events also taking place through April 14.
For a list of participating restaurants, events schedule, and menus, visit www.DiscoverNewportRestaurantWeek.org.
newportFILM presents free screening
Newport is not a bad place to be in April when the weather warms up, hopefully, and prices are cheaper. Free is the best price of all, and newportFILM has just that in a free Earth Day screening of the documentary “Elemental” April 22, hosted by The Aquidneck Land Trust as part of its Conservation Speaker Series, and in partnership with The Newport Tree Society’s Newport Arboretum Week. The film tells the story of three people on three different continents united by a deep connection with nature, driven to confront pressing ecological challenges. To check out the trailer, and reserve seats, visit www.newportfilm.com/films/elemental The film airs at 6 p.m. at the Jane Pickens Theater.
Another film, one that costs $20 a ticket but includes cocktails and light refreshments, is “Venus and Serena,” about the Willams tennis siblings, said to be a “warts and all” look at the powerhouse sisters. It is being shown in partnership with the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and airs April 25 at the Casino Theater on Freebody Street. The film’s director, Michelle Major, is scheduled to hold a post-screening Q&A session with the audience. For information and tickets, visit www.newportfilm.com
First Eat Drink RI Festival coming to Providence
The inaugural Eat Drink RI Festival is being held April 19-20, running throughout downtown
Providence, a city ranked number one in the food/drink/restaurant category in Travel + Leisure's "America's Favorite Cities 2012." The festival has more than 40 chefs, farmers, bartenders and food producers scheduled to take part, including Champe Speidel of Persimmon, a James Beard Foundation Best Chef Northeast semifinalist; Blackbird Farm, Jonathan Edwards Winery; Benjamin Sukle of The Dorrance, a James Beard Foundation Rising Star semifinalist; the United States Bartenders' Guild R.I.; Revival Brewing, Allen Farms; Dave's Coffee, and others.
Highlights include a "Truck Stop to Benefit the Rhode Island Community Food Bank" on April 19 in Kennedy Plaza; Education panels on April 20 that will discuss the abundance and quality of local food and drink, followed that night by a grand tasting , the festival's main event, at the Providence Biltmore; and a grand brunch April 21 at Gracie's, the city's only AAA Four Diamond restaurant.
For information, event pricing and a full schedule, visit www.eatdrinkri.com/festival
Rhode Island flower show blooms for 20th season
Kevin O’Connor, host of TV’s long-running home-improvement show, “This Old House,” will be a featured speaker, and joins a roster of experts including author and landscape designer Julie Moir Messervy, and nationally known gardening expert and author Melinda Myers, who will appear in the show’s Bartlett Tree lecture series. 
Providence touting its culinary scene
Providence was recently ranked tops for "Food/Drink/Restaurants" in Travel + Leisure's 2012 "America's Favorite Cities" poll. You can check out why it's rated so highly during the Providence Winter Restaurant Weeks, running through Jan. 26, with about 100 of the city's top restaurants taking part. You can do it with special three-course, prix-fixe menus priced at $14.95 per person for lunch and $29.95 for dinner. Featured at eateries from ethnic-rich Federal Hill to New England fare in the downcity area. Some places include New Rivers, Gracie's, Bacaro, Mediterraneo, Farmstead, Inc., The ROI and Coco Pazzo. All restaurant weeks specials are offered in addition to regular menu fare, and don't include beverage, tax or tip. To check it all out, visit www.providencerestaurantweeks.com
Providence is a hotbed of winter activities
If you're of a mind to get out and about this winter, Providence has many activities going on, from museum exhibits to craft shows and the popular WaterFire installation.
Rhode Island School of Design's Museum of Art's newest exhibition, "America in View: Landscape Photography 1865 to Now," showcases the expansive photography of the nation's landscape over the past 150 years. The exhibit runs through Jan. 13, with admission prices starting at $3. Check it out at www.risdmuseum.org, or call 401-454-6500.
Craftland, a once-annual holiday sale is now a full-out store in downtown, promoting handmade jewelry, crafts and home good. Its holiday showcase runs through Dec. 31, featuring collectables from more than 160 New England and American artists. For information, visit www.craftland.myshopify.com/index or call 401-272-4285.
Winter WaterFire is a special holiday lighting of 41 braziers on the downtown rivers Dec. 14, burning from Waterplace Park to Steeple Street. There will also be a Christmas tree lighting in the basin and a visit from Santa, caroling and refreshment. The event is free and for information, visit www.waterfire.org or call 401-273-1155.
The city rings in the new year Dec. 31, an event hosted by Providence's arts community, dubbed "Bright Night." It features art exhibits and family programming around the city, including storytelling and poetry readings, puppet shows, an antique fire truck exhibit, live shows, and food trucks. It kicks off at noon, and evening ceremonies include the midnight countdown to 2013 and features live shows by Big Nazo, Extraordinary Rendition Band and the Banished Fools. Tickets range from $10-$20. For information and schedules, visit www.brightnight.org or call 401-864-5973.
For more information on all the city has going on, check out www.goprovidence.com
Eat well for the benefit of others
Courses include Rhode Island oysters, lumpfish roe, sea urchin, spiced chicharrones salad, seashore honey-roasted veggies, foraged mushrooms, lamb belly, tea-smoked chicken, and dark chocolate, persimmon and arctic rose tart with maple ice cream.
According to its website, the Quebec-based Société-Orignal is a creative platform linking farmers, activists, chefs and grocers. Check it out at www.societe-orignal.com
To register for the Providence event, visit www.farmsteadinc.com/events/ or call 401-274-7177
Learning to cook with one of Newport's best
"You can cook like this at home, you just have to keep it simple," says Bach-Sorensen, 50, leading a group of food writers through the steps of making the above dish, which I'm proud to say, came out pretty good.
You can do it, too: Asterisk hosts regular chef series events, where for a scant $35 you don chef whites and work one-on-one with Bach-Sorensen all day (the usual chef series features just one guest at a time), planning what to make, preparing food and then making meals for friends you invite, usually about eight to 12, he says. Then you cook their food and sit down to eat it with them, along with Bach-Sorensen, who will happily talk about cooking, his history in the trade, anything related to the fine art of cooking.
Growing up as a boy outside Copenhagen, he learned the business with his family, which owned restaurants there. Part of his job was going to markets with them and picking out the best food for that night's menu, including choosing what he thought were the best cuts of meat. He later cooked in France, taught the skill to others, and eventually came to Newport decades ago, falling in love with the city and sailing and never left.
Asterisk is in a renovated historic garage, with 12-foot glass doors in front that open to patio dining in summer. The open kitchen allows you to look inside at chefs scurrying about preparing food. Best view: The chef's table near the opening to the kitchen, where you can practically feel the heat from the work going on inside.
The restaurant seats about 100 and is packed in summer, but this time of year you've got a good shot at just coming in and finding a table, even on weekends. It has an open design, with a giant black beam above and exposed ductwork and a sizable black-mirrored bar area that serves all manner of unique beverages, including Mikkeller Porter from Denmark and Saison DuPont beer from Belgium. Bach-Sorensen said Asterisk was the first place in the United States to serve Stella Artois. And you can't leave until you try a signature espresso martini.
Future chef series events include an Italian night, a game night and a special meal for Christmas. The series runs for the rest of this month, and picks up again for March and April; they don't do it in high season, the kitchen would be too crowded. But even if you don't want to learn to cook and just partake of the fresh ingredients and locally sourced fish, this is a great place to do it. Cool stuff includes a grilled seafood pizza with shrimp, mussels, roasted pepper, olives, capers and anchovies for $22, char-crusted sirloin with grilled potatoes, market veggies and a mustard green onion-caper vinaigrette for $32 and that exquisite crispy salmon dish for $23.
For information on the restaurant and the chef series, visit www.asterisknewport.com The restaurant is also part of Newport Restaurant Week, which runs through Nov. 12, with more than 50 Newport restaurants serving up a three-course prix fixe lunch for $16 and dinner for $30 per person. For information, visit www.gonewportrestaurantweek.com
"We started the chef series for friends last year, but it really took off," Bach-Sorensen says. "It's a great way to learn what life is really like in the kitchen."
Plus you get to wear chef whites. To amateur foodies like me, that's worth the price of admission alone.
Chanler hosts final tasting event
Leading into the holiday season, the Chanler at Cliff Walk in Newport is hosting its final tasting series event Dec. 2 from 1-3 p.m., with a champagne and sparkling wine tasting. The ticketed event, $85 per person, plus tax and tip, takes place at the hotel's Spiced Pear restaurant, with drinks from the Pernod Ricard collection, including JH Mumm, Perrier-Jouet, Mumm Napa and more. Chef Thomas Duffy and his Spiced Pear culinary team will create a specialty menu to pair with each tasting.
Arian Bouron, champagne ambassador for Pernod Ricard USA, will be on hand to present the wines and discuss the significance of each. Bouron has extensive experience in the industry, having worked for two years in China developing the luxury portfolio for Pernod Ricard. She has spent years organizing private tastings for connoisseurs, working with five-star hotels and restaurants around the world, and developing a brand vision for Pernod Ricard’s flagship outlets.
Reservations are required, by visiting www.thechanler.com or calling 401.847.2244.
Foliage train scheduled for Blackstone Valley
The Blackstone Valley Tourism Council is hosting its annual Fall Foliage and Shopping Train Excursion Oct. 20 aboard the Providence and Worcester Railroad, which leaves the Woonsocket train depot in Rhode Island at 9 a.m. and returns at 4:30 p.m. The foliage train travels through historic Blackstone River Valley to the many antique shops, restaurants and gift shops in Putnam, Conn., where there will be an arts and crafts fair, music, sidewalk sales, a pumpkin festival, bazaar and luncheon, at the Putnam Congregational Church. The train leaves Putnam at 2:15 and chugs back to Woonsocket by 4:30 p.m.
Ticket prices run from $28 to $58. There is a snack bar on the train, and passengers can also bring their own, though no alcoholic beverages are allowed. For information and reservations, visit www.tourblackstone.com or call 401-724-2200.
Opulence hidden behind a hedge in Newport
I've probably driven up and down Memorial Drive in Newport a million times, and have long heard of the upscale Chanler at Cliff Walk, but never put two and two together and realized the Chanler was so close to Cliff Walk. OK, so it's smack dab on Cliff Walk, but my reason for not knowing that is a big one: It is completely hidden behind a giant hedge, affording it remarkable privacy and quiet despite being steps away from one of Newport's busiest streets. Set back on a cobblestoned drive, it is a magnificent building, loaded with charm, elegance and a pretty neat history: Built in 1865 as a summer home for New York Congressman John Winthrop Chanler and his wife, Margaret Astor Ward, it was the first mansion built on Cliff Walk and hosted the likes of President Theodore Roosevelt and poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It was later a museum and then a girls' school before becoming a hotel in the 1940s.
We had the occasion to stay there one night and got the Empire Room; each of the 14 mansion rooms in the main building are decorated and named for an historical period based on the furniture design and architecture of that time, themed from Gothic to English Tudor to Greek Revival. One of the many beauties of this place is no two rooms are alike. And throughout, some of the furnishings from the Chanler Museum are sprinkled throughout. There are also three separate garden villas and three ocean villas.
Our Empire Room in the mansion was gorgeous, on a corner facing Easton's Beach and Cliff Walk. The room had a sizable living room with a two-person Jacuzzi on the far wall, which doesn't exactly befit the historical period on which the room is based, but was a very relaxing respite after a long stroll on Cliff Walk. Here, for an extra cost, a butler will come in while you're at dinner, run the bath and leave rose petals strewn about, and lighted candles surrounding the tub set in a mirrored alcove. A more romantic setting we could not imagine.
The fireplace mantel is of antique slate, taken from a mansion in Michigan and painted to look like granite. Empire decor, inn officials said, often used a faux treatment of materials to look like granite or marble. Several antique tiles with figures on them in ochre and lime green are embedded into the mantel, making it more unique and interesting. The room itself is unique; being on the corner, the ceiling height varies from corner to center, from around six feet to more than eight, with a stained-glass skylight in the ceiling. The room's feel is decidedly Victorian but with modern touches such as a triple-head shower in the gold-hued granite bathroom, and iHome docking station.
The main culinary draw is the Spiced Pear, a restaurant with incredible ocean views, some of the best in Newport, and cuisine to match. Give the Spiced Pear martini a shot, with Absolut pear vodka, Amaretto DiSaronno, pear nectar, cinnamon and lemon juice. We also had local chilled oysters, wild burgundy escargot, Narragansett Bay striped bass and the menu's highest priced item, the exquisite butter-poached Maine lobster for $42, worth every melt-in-mouth cent. Before and/or after a meal like that, a long jaunt down nearby Cliff Walk is almost a necessity. Or you could wait until the next day, because breakfast here is insane, too; check out the salmon and goat cheese omelet.
We retired to the bar of hand-rubbed mahogany for a nightcap before heading back to the room where that rose-petal strewn tub awaited, and got more proof of how renowned the Chanler is: The following weekend, it would be closed to the public, privately booked for the wedding of the creator of the Facebook logo. And yes, Mark Zuckerberg was scheduled to attend.
Newport used to go to sleep in the off season, but no more. At the Chanler, a fall two-night special ($425 per night) includes full breakfast, a bottle of Spiced Pear sparkling wine, two tickets to a Newport mansion of your choice, and one, three-course meal for two in the Spiced Pear. Wait until winter and you can get the two-night "A Chanler Christmas," ($375 per weekday night, $430 per weekend night), available Nov. 28-Dec. 29 which gets you the same as the fall special, minus the bottle of wine; instead you get a minted Chanler Christmas ornament. All prices include room taxes, food taxes and dinner gratuity. And if you want to check out other parts of the city, you can get a free ride any place in Newport, up until 11 p.m., first come, first served. Check it out at www.thechanler.com
All that behind a hedge? I have to start paying attention where I'm going.
Rhode Island inn offering grand-opening deal
Playful city plays it up
Providence has been honored as a "Playful City USA" by KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit with a mission to create "great playspaces through the participation and leadership of communities." To celebrate, the city's park and recreation, and other venues, will participate in a citywide weekend of play, starting with a Playful Providence kick-off Sept. 7, from 4:30-6:30 p.m., in Burnside Park. The celebration will have playful activities by Providence Children's Museum, R.I. Parkour, R.I. Museum of Science and Art and more, along with music from the Brown University Band, collaborative art projects and a short speaking program.
The activities run throughout the weekend at 21 neighborhood parks and six other play and recreation venues around the city. Playful Providence is planning by the Partnership for Providence, a new group that provides chances for kids to have structured and unstructured play in safe places. To learn more about it all, check out www.providenceparks.org
Stylin' in Providence
Tickets start at $30, and for $75 on Friday, you can sidle up to fashion industry insiders, at the industry-only Swarovski VIP suite. That ticket includes access to all shows that night.
The Biltmore is offering deals for those attending the show, with superior rooms fetching $89 a night, and junior suites $119. For all information, visit www.styleweeknortheast.com
The event was created to provide emerging designers a platform to showcase their debut collections to the reason, said Rosanna Ortiz Sinel, president and founder of Styleweek, adding that it "evolved from a local to regional event and is one of the few regional fashion expositions supported by the council of Fashion Design in America. Styleweek not only brings together the fashion business and the community but is a true celebration of style and culture."
Wine and cheese come together at Patio Pours in Providence
The pours feature unusual and small-batch producer wines, the Jennings said, most of which are rarely available outside the bottle, including Stefano Massone Masera Gavi, Valdesil Montenovo Godello and Glatzer Blaufrankisch. Matt Jennings, a three-time Cochon 555 champion (a popular culinary event that has chefs creating "snout-to-tail" menus from heritage breed pigs), creates charcuterie including the unique pig-ear bacon, hoof and snout terrine and fennel and preserved orange cotechino.
The Farmstead's curated cheese selections include spirit-washed originals like the Drunken Providence, a Gouda-style cheese from Narragansett Creamery that's washed with Thomas Tew Rum from Newport Distilling, and aged for two months in Farmstead's street-level cheese cave, and other creations from Matt Jennings and his team of three cheesemongers.
Matt and Kate Jennings have run La Laiterie and Farmstead for the past 10 years. Matt Jennings is a two-time James Beard Foundation award nominee, and the couple has earned kudos from Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, Travel + Leisure and Saveur, as well as mention on the Cooking Channel's "Unique Eats" program.
For more info, visit www.farmsteadinc.com, or call 401-274-7177.
Newport museum hosts free America's Cup exhibit
The International Yacht Restoration School at 449 Thames St. in Newport is hosting free America's Cup exhibition this summer, through Oct. 1, one comprised entirely from the collection of William I. Koch. It features fine art, artifacts and other objects, including gifts given within the social circles of those who have competed for the coveted trophy. Koch's collection on display covers about 150 years of America's Cup history.
Koch, an America's Cup champion in 1992 and who developed the historic all-women's team for the 1995 race, is well known in the sailing world. Among his other titles are two Maxi Yacht World Championships in 1990 and 1991. Koch is known for his art collection as well, which consists of works by Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Modigliani, Picasso and others. Items from Koch?s collections have been shown at the Louvre, The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and The Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach.
The America's Cup exhibit at the school is open to the public and free of charge. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. For more information visit www.iyrs.org or call 401-848-5777, ext 222.
R.I. Audubon Society runs nocturnal wildlife tours
Summer nights are the best, with cool breezes, bright moonlight, star-studded skies and just a peaceful easy feeling. Oh, and things that make noises in the dark that can make you jump out of your skin if you don't know what they are. Which is what the good folks at the Audubon Society of Rhode Island are counting on with a summer program of nocturnal events designed to explore, embrace and explain things that go bump in the night.
"When we venture out on the wildlife refuges at night, we seek out those mysterious noises and movements," said Audubon naturalist Kim Calcagno. "Part of each walk is simply getting used to walking in the dark. The more you learn about what you see and hear, the more comfortable you become in the darkness and the more you can enjoy the peacefulness, cool air and array of night sounds."
The evening events include:
Aug. 3, bats at Eppley Wildlife Refuge, West Kingston, a night walk through the refuge to learn about the flapping creatures of the night.
Aug. 10, family night exploration at Fisherville Brook, Exeter, where kids and their parents engage in games and activities that explain the night vision of creatures like bats, deer and coyotes, and have some s'mores later.
Aug. 29, family hike night at Fort Nature Refuge in North Smithfield, where participants (ages 8 and up only, it involves a nearly two-mile hike) listen for animal sounds and test their night vision.
Aug. 31, a full-moon kayak paddle at Hundred Acre Cove in Barrington (ages 16 and up), a quintessential salt marsh with osprey and terrapin turtle nesting sites, where great blue herons and snowy egrets are often seen, and where participants can get out and see the cages of the turtle nests.
All programs are $12 for non-members of Audubon ($6 for kids) and $8 for members ($4 for kids), except for the moonlight paddle, which is $65 for non-members and $55 for members (all equipment included). Registration is required for all programs by calling 401-949-5454 ext. 3041 or emailing programs@asri.org. A free download of all Audubon activities is available at www.asri.org
"We want people to discover the night and find wonder and delight in what is around them," Calcagno said. "In the end, we hope to introduce and share with people the same enjoyment of the wilds at night that our naturalists possess. It's a wonderful time to explore."
JetBlue lands in Providence; will offer service to Florida later this year
JetBlue Airlines announced today that it will begin service from T.F. Green International Airport near Providence, R.I., to multiple destinations in Florida beginning Nov. 29. T.F. Green becomes the 75th destination within JetBlue's network of airports.
JetBlue will initially offer two daily nonstop service to Orlando International Airport and one daily flight to Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport .To commemorate the addition of its 75th city, the airline is offering Florida fares as low as $75, available today through Aug. 1, for travel Nov. 29-Dec. 12.
Last year JetBlue chief executive Dave Barger said that the carrier was considering expanding to Providence, and possibly Worcester, but he suggested that Green was the first priority. The Worcester Telegram and Gazette reported that JetBlue officials said recently that the company had no plans “in the near future” for Worcester, but did not rule out the possibility.
"I am proud to welcome JetBlue Airways to Rhode Island," R.I. Governor Lincoln Chafee said in a statement. "The addition of JetBlue will have positive effects throughout the state: T.F. Green customers will have more flight options, the airport will enjoy the addition of new air service and jobs, and Rhode Island will continue to build its reputation as a great place to do business. JetBlue service makes T.F. Green Airport, in the heart of Warwick's growing transportation hub and regional connectivity, an even more appealing option for the traveling public."
RI skies to fill with hot-air balloons
The festival is the main fundraiser for the Wakefield Rotary Club, which has raised more than $1 million since it began. All proceeds from the event are donated to charities, club officials said. For a complete list of events and more information visit www.southcountyballoonfest.com
Photo by Laurie Ramaker
Great movies above, great food below at Vanderbilt Grace
Down below, the hotel's upscale restaurant Muse has a "Vintage Vanderbilt" menu that was unveiled in May, modeled on a Vanderbilt family menu from 1912 created by Grand Chef Relais & Chateaux Jonathan Cartwright. The menu includes cream of mushroom and lobster broth; oysters with mignonette sauce; and a main course of turkey supreme with roasted potatoes or sea bass with hollandaise and grilled asparagus. Vintage dessert options include chocolate meringues with coffee ice cream or roasted peaches with cinnamon ice cream.
A "Vintage Vanderbilt Experience" package is now being offered, with pricing starting at $995 for two, and including a two-night stay, welcome gift, daily champagne breakfast for two, a Vintage Vanderbilt five-course dinner for two with wine pairings, and two Newport mansion passports to tour five mansions. If that's too pricey, the hotel offers a $599 option for a one-night stay, which includes the package components and one Newport mansion tour.
Check it all out at www.vanderbiltgrace.com
Great grub awaits in Providence's restaurant week
Nearly 100 restaurants from across the state will offer three-course, prix fixe lunches and dinners for $14.95 and $29.95, respectively. Some are offering two-for-one deals and other promotions as well. All that is offered can be found at www.providencerestaurantweeks.com
Some of the participating restaurants include Andino's Restaurant, one of several from the city's best-known culinary district, Federal Hill; Bravo Brasserie across from Trinity Repertory Company, and popular with the theater crowd; Cook & Brown Public House on the East Side, which opened two years ago, fashioned after European gastro pubs; Sawaddee Thai Restaurant near Brown University, with authentic Thai food; and La Laiterie at Farmstead on the East Side, recognized locally and nationally for best "haute farmhouse cuisine."
New sponsoring partnerships this year include yelp.com and foodspotting.com, which adds a new interactive component to the event. "Yelpers," a community of online reviewers, can check in at participating venues to get special offers good for return visits, all done via smartphone. Foodspotting, a popular website and mobile app that focuses on dish reviews, is promoting the event to its online community, and those who upload photos of their recommendations at any of the venues will be eligible to win gift cards from participating restaurants.
"Working with social media partners allows the event to take on a virtual life of its own," said Martha Sheridan, president and CEO of the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau, which organizes the event. "The high-tech element balances nicely with the simple pleasure of enjoying a beautifully prepared meal."
Lark Hotels opens Newport and Nantucket inns
The Chapman, located at 20 North Water St. in a circa 1717 structure, has 11 guest rooms redesigned by Rachel Reider Interiors of Boston. The hotel is the sister property of Lark Hotel's 18-room Veranda House around the corner, which dates to 1684 and opened in 2006. Rates at the Chapman, which opened June 16, start at $129 a night. For more information, visit www.chapmanhousehotel.com
The Attwater, built in 1910, has 12 guestrooms, also redesigned by Rachel Reider Interiors, and is located at 22 Liberty St., within walking distance of Newport?s hot shopping and dining centers, Cliff Walk and the mansion district. It opened June 1, and rates start at $159 a night. For information, visit www.theattwater.com
Lark Hotels is run by Robert and Leigh Blood, who bought the Attwater for $1.05 million and Chapman for $1.45 million, according to Hotel Business magazine.
Chapman House photo credit: Rare Brick
Fireworks with a view at Hotel Viking in Newport
The rest of the summer, the lounge is open to all, and features musical entertainment, barbecue food, chilled plates and signature cocktails like the Viking Green Tea. To check it out on Twitter, use @HotelViking, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hotelviking
Variety marks offerings at summer film series in Newport
The mostly al fresco films air all over Aquidneck Island, starting just after sunset, from Bellevue Avenue mansions to ocean-front lawns to working farms, with many films followed by industry experts or filmmakers holding conversations with the cinematically curious.
On July 20, at the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fabled grass courts, “Ethel,” by Rory Kennedy will air, a look at the life of the famous wife of the late Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Rory Kennedy will be on hand to introduce the film and hold a Q&A after. Admission is free.
For baseball fans in general, and Red Sox fans in particular, “Knuckleball,” a film which features former Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield, will air at the Casino Theater on Freebody Street on July 31. The pitcher is expected to attend, organizers said, and he may put on a little pitching demonstration. Tickets are $25 each.
Performing at the Newport Folk Festival July 29 is Sixto Diaz Rodriguez, a.k.a., the musician known as Sugar Man, and airing July 28 at the Jane Pickens Theater in Newport is “Searching for Sugar Man,” winner of the 2012 Sundance Audience Award. Tickets are $15 each, and Rodriguez will be in attendance, along with the film's director, Malik Bendjelloul.
Other free films in the series include “Marley,” on June 30 at the Newport Yachting Center, a film about the fabled Reggae star; “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey” on July 12 at King Park in Newport, billed as a rock ‘n’ roll fairy tale; “The Queen of Versailles” on Aug. 2 at the Elms mansion gardens on Bellevue Avenue, about a billionaire couple’s story to uncover the “innate virtues and flaws of the American dream," at which director Lauren Greenfield will be in attendance; “Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters” on Aug. 9, on the Newport Art Museum Lawn, about creative photographer Crewdson, who will be in attendance; and “Chasing Ice” on Sept. 7, an environmental documentary that’s part of newportFILM’S Green Screen program, airing on Rose Island.
The newportFILM Kids series runs this summer as well, some of which is free, some of which isn’t but still reasonable at $5. Through July 1, the “Fort Adams with American’s Cup World Series” runs at historic Fort Adams, with daily half-hour sessions of children’s ocean-focused environmental short documentaries, all free.
On July 26 at Sweet Berry Farm in Middletown, from 4:30-6:30 p.m., live music in the field will be followed by a half hour of short children’s films in the barn house, for $5 per person. Three free films will be shown at Ballard Park in Newport, “The Lion King” on Aug. 8; “E.T.” on Aug. 15; and “Back to the Future” on Aug. 22. Preceding each, newportFILM will air a family friendly short film.
For more information, up-to-date changes or additions, and locations for rain-date alternatives, visit www.newportfilm.com or call 401-649-2784.
Photo from "Ethel" courtesy of newportFILM
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