Birthday weekend [Newport, RI]

[MaxEntropy]

My Significant Other decided that Spring Onion shouldn’t be the only one in the family celebrating a birthday with a foodie weekend somewhere easily reachable from Boston withour boarding an airplane. She chose Newport. We got off to a smashing start, stopping enroute in Providence for dinner Friday night, snagging the last three walk-in seats at the bar at opening. The food here just continues to be outstanding. We shared a mushroom pizza and burrata with house-made finocchia to start. For mains, a special of baked halibut, fedelini with rib-eye meatballs, and the famous baked pasta with cheese. For desert, chocolate crepe and fennel ice cream with chocolate chunks. Just wow. Al Forno just hums along.

For brunch today we went to the Grill at Forty One North. A hotel restaurant directly on the harbor. We sat outside on a covered deck, which could have been quite pleasant but the ambiance was diminshed by music played at party boat volume. Food was better than serviceable, though not particularly outstanding. Moules frites came in a sauce reminiscent of French onion soup, quite tasty. A buratta salad with spring peas and radishes was a nice match as a shared app. Significant Other and Spring Onion shared a large ribeye with bourbon-peppercorn butter. The butter came out at refrigerator temperature, and the meat wasn’t quite warm enough to melt it. I had a lobster roll with a side green salad, quite a generous portion of lobster meat in a toasted brioche bun lined with a lettuce leaf. Pretty decent, but not quite competition for Row 34.

We hiked a good portion of the Cliff Walk after lunch, rewarding ourselves at Nitro Bar with iced matcha (Spring Onion - “anniversary cake” and Significant Other - vanilla) and for me a carmelized bananna iced latte. Worth the 15 minutes in line. I guess Nitro Bar is Instagram famous, but not without reason.

Tomorrow the weather forecast is dicey so we will tour a couple of mansions. Dinner rez at Claw and Hammer, in the former Scales and Shells space. We’ll see if they measure up to the legacy.

[MaxEntropy]

Bar at Al Forno

[MaxEntropy]

Matcha with “anniversary cake” topping from Nitro Bar.

[MaxEntropy]

So…rainy evening in Newport. We stopped in a public parking lot on Thames Street a short distance from Claw and Hammer to discover they wanted $40 for two hours, so we moved on down Thames to discover a street parking space directly in front of the restaurant - a good omen.

The rooms have been snazzed up from Scales and Shells days, given a crisp and somewhat nautical feel. We sat downstairs in one of their comfortable banquettes. A bit of a surprise was a spoonful of crab salad offered as an amuse – not something I recall encountering in Newport. We embraced the menu with gusto animated by skipping lunch, ordering mussels, clams casino, stone crab, and a special of seared scallop topped with caviar. The three scallops (perfect for sharing among the three of us) were perched on an “egg yolk foam”, basically devilled egg. An outstanding dish. The mussels were fine, though slightly outshone by the mussels at the Grill at Forty 1 North. The portion of “large” stone crab claws included three claws, also perfect for sharing, and were perfectly cracked and presented, requiring minimal effort (in contrast to Joe’s Stone Crab or every crab shack I’ve visited where you have to work for your meal). The accompanying mustard sauce was excellent. The clams casino were flavorful, but Significant Other deemed them heavy on breading (though they didn’t seem so to me).

For the main, we opted for the 2 1/2 pound Portuguese stuffed lobster, easily enough for the three of us. The stuffing of scallop, shrimp, crab, and chorizo was a masterpiece commading the table, and delicious. My Significant Other deemed it the best lobster dish since the stuffed lobster at the dearly-departed Blue Ginger in Wellesley, MA, and I concur. Served with two sides, we chose succotash (sauteed corn, lima beans, and red pepper) and beef tallow fries. Both were excellent.

Spring Onion and Significant Other both had the house Bloody Mary, which they both enjoyed. My Significant Other is not a fan of horseradish in Bloody Marys, but she deemed this one lemony and not dominated by the horseradish. I had the house take on a Tom Collins, nicely refreshing and less sweet than some versions. A nice wine selection by the glass (I had a Scharffenberger brut) and even nicer by-the-bottle. They have a Scar of the Sea pinot, a pleasure whenever you can find it.

A final surprise came when our waiter said our first round of drinks had been picked up by (names redacted). At first we didn’t make the connection but then realized it was our AirBnB hosts, who somehow remembered where we were headed for dinner. We had a brief issue in the afternoon with the water supply and they felt they had to make it up to us. Class move.

Bottom line: Claw and Hammer is not just a worthy successor to Scales and Shells, it sets a new standard. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

[tomatotomato (Denise)]

Happy birthday to your Significant Other! So glad that you are sharing like a significantly wonderful celebratory weekend together.

[tomatotomato (Denise)]

*what looks like a significantly wonderful weekend… (please excuse my typo earlier)

[fooddabbler]

I thought you were just being, like, hip.

And, yes, happy birthday, @MaxEntropy , to your Significant O.

[MaxEntropy]

as long as you forgive mine! I’ve made some whoppers

[MaxEntropy]

A recommended breakfast place in Jamestown is closed on Monday, so we ventured back into Newport to Cru Cafe. Line out the door but moves rather briskly. You order at the counter and find a table - they run the food to you (identified by little photos of various Newport landmarks). A range of avacado toast options - one with egg, smoked salmon tomato onion and capers tempted the girls, I opted for the Croque Madame. Tasty and generous. We also ordered two orders of their tater tots, one plain one loaded with cheese bacon bits and scallions. The girls held off on beverages, wanting to return to Nitro Bar to reprise their matcha for the ride home. First we traversed Ocean Drive marveling at the homes as much as the ocean. When we got to Nitro Bar the line was a block long, but the girls are undaunted.