September Goings On

The fall equinox is officially upon us!   I'm sitting in my dining room on a beautiful Saturday morning with a mug of hot breakfast tea and some toast...my Grammy would be proud.  Before I begin on what I know you're all waiting anxiously to hear about, I'd like to wish Dave's best friend Alexis a very happy birthday today!  Alexis was responsible for the 'Summer In A Glass' post when we first started this blog and I look forward to celebrating with her later.

The last you heard from me on the seasons I was near tears over the impending end of summer.  I'm happy to report that I'm over it now.  I've breathed autumn in, accepted it and moved on.  Fall in New England after all is for many the absolute best season to visit here and is a very close second to summer for me.  Everything quintessential about the fall season is here--foliage, warm fall days with cool fall nights that will soon give way to crisp days and cold nights, fires, pumpkin and apple ciders (and muffins, coffees, lattes, beers...you name it), mums and hayrides at almost every rustic New England farm you come across.

I've been out and about in my little city quite a bit these last few weeks.  I will say, I've been enjoying the ability to walk everywhere without needing to change my shirt upon arrival at my destination due to the bucket of perspiration that's come out of me from the heat.  I was on my way to a Genever tasting the other night (I know I know, what the heck is Genever...blog on that to follow) and it was perfect walking weather.  I walked past the skaters in Kennedy Plaza and soon smelled the beginnings of a busy night for Haven Bros., just gearing up for the evening to the tune of Pink Floyd.  I strolled into Symposium Books down on Westminster and ducked into Eno Fine Wines to browse.  The last of the movie nights outside was setting up and people were everywhere...shopping, eating and just enjoying a beautiful Thursday evening in Providence, reminding me that the best way to experience this town is on foot so you don't miss anything.

I attended the Rennaisance Wine Festival at the same Kennedy Plaza a couple of weeks earlier and navigated my way through the 200 wines onsite to try some fantastic Pouilly Fuisses, California Cabernets and Chardonnays, some Lambrusco and Pinot Noir.  I also caught a couple of chef demonstrations by the head chef at Constantino's on Federal Hill and Cafe Nuovo.  Once I had sufficiently tasted I moseyed on over to Westminster Street to meet a friend at Providence Coal Fired Pizza (www.providencecoalfirepizza.com), one of my favorite new spots due to their fantastic cocktails and specialty pizzas.  This is no ordinary pizza here folks!  We enjoyed a meal of baked goat cheese, pork rib appetizer and a clam pizza with littlenecks, potatoes and onions.  

Attention ladies and gay men--their cucumber cosmopolitan is amazing and I highly recommend it to wash down your grub.  If you are a straight man you should not drink that...ever.  Lucky for you they have plenty of straight man friendly cocktails as well.

Later that week I worked an industry tasting put on by MS Walker at the Westin and was fortunate enough to pour for Vin Divino wines.   Vin Divino is a wine importer from Italy and has a fantastic portfolio, mostly Italian obviously which is right in my sweet spot but they also have a few greats from other regions.  Among the wines I poured was a Gavi, Prosecco, Nero d'Avola, Merlot, Montepulciano, Sangiovese, Gruner Veltliner, Sauvignon Blanc and a Fallanghina.  Not a bad job if you ask me, and the tasting showcased spirits as well so there were fantastic tequilas, whiskeys, and vodkas to boot.

Finally, I hit up a beer tasting at Bottles on the east side yesterday after work.  The Sebago Brewing Company came down from Maine and those nice folks let us taste their Frye's Leap IPA, Boathouse Brown, Local Harvest Ale and Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout.  I'm not a huge beer drinker so when I like a beer it's gotta be pretty good, and these were pretty good.  If you're a Rhody, you can find their brews at Bottles and many of the Douglas stores.

Today I'm headed to an oyster festival hosted by Hemenway's, the best seafood restaurant here in Providence and sponsored by the Ronald McDonald House.  Narragansett Beer will be flowing and I will continue enjoying the brand new autumn season.

Anyone seen Dave?

Cheers,
Trish