Oliver Siodmak's Rants & Raves

If you are like Sharon and me. You occasionally find yourself having a really, really long day. So long in fact you find it continuing straight through dinner and into the early evening.

On days like this I try to take little breaks so I don’t feel completely brain dead by the end of the day. Since I work from home, breaks are often instituted upon me by my almost 5 year-old son, Jake. These breaks are often a welcome distraction from the endless series of e-mails, instant messages and phone calls. During one such break today he even volunteered to go to Starbucks and get me a cup of coffee! What a joy.

In addition to the periodic family breaks I also make a point of making dinner a step above eating out of a little paper box. Tonight was a good example. Neither Sharon nor I had a chance to order, let alone make dinner. A quick scan of the refrigerator found the 3/4 remains of a Rib Eye steak (far to expensive to simply feed to the dog — sorry Chestnut), steamed veggies with two jumbo shrimp and a full box of brown rice.

Right about now you are saying to yourself .. “Oh my god, call the NYC Child Welfare Department, they are malnourishing their child!” Not to worry. Jake’s nanny does a great job making all of his meals during the work week. On a good night, there are left-overs for Sharon and I to feed off of. Tonight however, was not one of those nights.

Back to my point. After a quick spin in the microwave, I had all the food nicely warmed up. I simply called upon my childhood memories of Julia Childs and said to myself, “How would Julia present this meal?” Out came to nice china plates, a placemat and a drinking glass. A little thought an effort on food placement and you can hardly tell that we are settling for leftovers.

A friend of mine is taking his family to Newport, RI for the first time last week so I offered some tips on places to go and things to do.  Here is the summary of what I shared with him:

Restaurants of Note:

• Mamma Luisa’s Restaurant (673 Thames Street, Newport RI 02840, #401-848-5257) – Great Italian Food.  Nothing more be said.
• Puerini’s Italian Specialties (24 Memorial Blvd W, Newport RI 02840, #401-847-5506) – A musician friend of mine introduced me to this little italian restaurant over 10 years ago.  I have never had a bad meal here.
• Clarke Cooke House (1 Bannister Wharf, Newport, RI 02840, #401-849-2900) – Very expensive but good food.  The Porch (upstairs) is a great place to have a quiet romantic dinner with the one you love.
• The Moorings (Sayer’s Wharf, Newport, RI 02840, #401-846-2260) – At one time this was one of my top 10 restaurants in the USA.  Unfortunately they were bought out by a corporation and the menu is not what it once was.  It does however still have one of the best views in all of Newport.  If you decide not to have dinner there, make a point to have a drink at the outside bar slightly before sunset.  The outside bar on the back deck faces west and you can watch an amazing sunset over the sailboats in the harbor.

Restaurant Guide of Note: Table Hound – Interesting Google Mash-up that allows you to search for restaurants by price, type of service, etc.

Things to Do:

• Mansions – The Newport Mansions demonstrate that life was different at the turn of the last century.  Built as “summer cottages” these homes are exquisite.  I have toured most of them two or three times.  My personal favorites are: Marble House, Rosecliff, The Elms and the Breakers.  You can buy passes for one or multiple homes.  The homes are maintained by The Preservation Society of Newport County and they provide daily tours.  If you only had time for two I would strongly recommend Marble House and The Breakers.  Whichever you decide to see .. make sure you see The Breakers last.  You should be aware that not all the mansions in Newport are managed by the Preservation Society.  A few are independently owned and managed like the Astors Estate,  Belcourt Castle, and Hammersmith Farm (Ocean Drive).
• Cliff Walk – The mansions hug the northern and southern ends of Newport.  Around the coastline is a path called the Cliff Walk which starts on Memorial Drive and ends on Narragansett Ave. The walk is a total of 3.5 miles but there are many exit points along the way.  Most of the path is well paved and you can easily use a stroller.  Sharon, Jake and I usually stop at a deli an pickup sandwiches on the way to the walk and then stop and have lunch along the way.  There are fabulous views of the ocean and the mansions along the way.
• Shopping – Like every town there is lots and lots of shopping in Newport.  Since Newport is a fairly upscale town the shopping here is of a better quality than other seaport towns I’ve been to in New England.  The most interesting can be found on Bannister’s Wharf, Bowen’s Wharf, and The Brick Marketplace
• Sailing – Because Newport has such a large and naturally deep harbor it has been a sailing capital for centuries (literally).  There are several companies that offer day and sunset sails around the harbor.  If you are not up to sailing around by yourself, Sharon and I really enjoyed the charter run by Adirondack Sailing Excursions
• NightClubs/Music – There are a number of bars and clubs in Newport that hire live bands.  Since I am still trying to hold on to my youth, I always make a point to stop by One Pelham East (270 Thames St., Newport, RI) where they always have a good rock band performing.  There is also a good Jazz club down the street from One Pelham located in an old bank (closer to the Post Office) but their name escapes me at the moment.
• Parks – If you’ve already done the cliff walk there are two other parks in Newport that I recommend visiting; 1) Fort Adams State Park (Brenton Point, off of Ocean Drive) – The fort dates back to 1799 and was once the most heavily armed fort in the nation.  It has a great view of the entire Narragansett Harbor, and 2) Ocean Drive – If you travel south down Thames St you can pick up Ocean Drive where it starts and follow it all around the entire southern end of the island.  Along the way you will pass Fort Adams, Hammersmith Farm, and some of the most beautiful homes and coastline in New England.

Don’t forget to check out … Official Newport Visitor’s Bureau

You’ve heard of fried chicken.  You may have even heard of chicken fried steak.  But have you ever heard of Chicken Fried Bacon?  If not, watch this quick YouTube video of a little restaurant in Texas that hasn’t forgotten the 1,001 uses of a deep fryer.