I’m claiming it- Newport, Rhode Island is my second home. I’ve lived here for a brief period in college and I’ve visited multiple times with friends and family. I don’t know what it is but it draws me back time and time again. This year my parents and I drove out here for a long weekend and spent time in Middletown. There are some fun gems in this little town of Aquidneck that I haven’t explored before. But there are still the tried and true spots I return to every time I visit.

UTILITY

I’ll never forget the place I got my first canary yellow toolbox. Food stylists and chefs have knife rolls and compartmentalized bags but this makes a lot of sense. The chef mood can be very “utilitarian” with a side of badass. I like everything to be cutesy- chic but sometimes I gotta break into a new vibe. You never know what you’ll need a pocket maldon salt for so we got a couple of those! I just recently hear about salt tablets and think they are incredibly clever– good marketing!

PASTA VINO

I was surprised I didn’t see this come up on any “best of” lists because it was quite delicious. You cannot beat homemade pasta, you just can’t! Lot’s of Roman style pasta like cacio e pepe, carbonara, and amatriciana. All served with tonarelli, which is a thicker more squared off spaghetti. Rarely do I see menus with tonarelli or authentic fettucini alfredo made with butter and parmigiano cheese. These all felt like good signs. We ended up with tonaralli with chicken saltamboca, eggplant parmigiana and tonaralli alle vongole. That eggplant parm was like vegetable mille fuille!

CUSTOM HOUSE

I can’t believe I wasn’t a coffee hound when I lived here but now I am. This is a great cafe for delicious coffee and pastries that come from a bakery in providence. The old fashioned chocolate chip doughnut was so sweet but I ate the entire thing! Nothing gets past me when chocolate.

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