Random eats: Revolution [Cranston RI], Publick House [Brookline MA], Northern Spy [Canton MA]

Been busy as heck lately with work, trying to get our vacation house into habitable shape (no renovations needed, just need to furnish it), and starting the process of helping mom and dad sell their house and move to NY. I have time only for a quick catch-up post (and excited about all the new folks joining HO).

Mid-February, we tried Revolution in a cute part of Cranston (Pawtuxet Village) for my mom’s birthday lunch simply because they have dining igloos. It was more fun than I expected - Spring Onion and all the adults enjoyed the experience. Dad loved his salmon, mom and B had the Portuguese clams (delicious broth but the portion was a little stingy), and my Beyond Burger was fine. Friendly service, good food, nothing earth-shattering but importantly, mom and dad had a nice time.

Lunch one Saturday before the Puppet Showplace Theater at an oldie but goodie, Publick House in Brookline. It’s as fun and as busy as ever, which was great to see. They have cute outdoor open dining huts (European Xmas market-ish) but we opted for indoors. My veggie burger was mushier than I like, but the mussels were as good as we remember, and Spring Onion loved his hot dog. As always, delicious beers and fries.

An early dinner on a Friday night on our way to Barrington at Northern Spy in Canton. Beautiful space and food that is fancier than our usual meals out. B grumbled a little at the prices but he enjoyed his food enough to return. It’s not stuffy at all, but a comfortable, casual place. His scallops were cooked perfectly, as were my gnocchi, both appealingly seared (in fact, they were hard to tell apart when they arrived at the table). Spring onion plowed through his Mac and cheese. Fries were awesome.

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Thanks for the reviews, I love the dishes at the Northern Spy and those scallops look wonderful.

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By “dishes,” do you mean the plates/dinnerware? We found them quite charming and a nice change from the usual plain white. Nice stemwear, too.

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Yes, that is what I meant. Was it all the same or different patterns?
I do like a little personality in the table settings.

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Another trip down to RI, another meal at Northern Spy, this time, lunch. Room was pleasantly buzzing with families, friends, and couples. My mushroom sandwich was tasty but a quibble - it was too tall to eat comfortably, especially because it had a char on it, a potentially painful situation, so I after the first bite, I ate it open faced. Overflowing with umami-ful mushrooms and the whipped goat cheese wasn’t gummy/pasty as I find goat cheese to be sometimes. Arugula added contrast. B loved his grilled chicken sandwich which had bacon and broccoli rabe. We both had the wonderful thickly-cut fries. Spring Onion went with Mac n cheese again. Nice Sauvignon blanc and Nebbiolo for me, IPA for B. A little pricey at $85 before tip but we both are enjoying it as a pit stop on our way to RI.

Today we had time to stop by the Paul Revere exhibit upstairs. The whole campus is a Paul Revere heritage site (he lived there). We ran into one of the volunteers trying to make a museum a reality but they are still fundraising. We learned that the beautiful building once housed a rubber company and that older folks show up who once worked there. A very interesting end to our lunch.

Edited to add: @grumpyspatient Now I realize that the lovely, unmatched old-school dinnerware is a nod to the historical significance of the site.

And there is a pleasant outdoor patio out back that we didn’t see last time. It had full sun today.

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Nice reviews, and if I may point out (I don’t see it mentioned upthread, but I may have missed it) Northern Spy is the offspring of the late, lamented Loyal Nine in Cambridge.

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More on the origins of Northern Spy:

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Love these reviews, and the food looks delicious. I love the puppet showplace theatre! I went there as a child and loved it and it was a joy to bring my kids.

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Love the reviews. We haven’t experienced igloo dining yet but we’re inspired to try. I love the name Northern Spy - one of my favorite apples.