Lost Restaurants of Providence (American Palate) By David Norton Stone Paperback – April 8, 2019
Lost Restaurants of Providence (American Palate) By David Norton Stone Paperback – April 8, 2019
Steamships once plied the waters of Narragansett Bay, carrying thousands of guests to feasts of clams prepared in every way imaginable at scenic spots like Rocky Point and Crescent Park. After hurricanes and pollution destroyed Rhode Island s soft-shell clam and oyster beds, the quahog became the state s favorite bivalve, and Rhode Islanders took to their automobiles and drove to the beach for clam cakes and chowder at the shacks and chowder houses that carried on the old traditions. Quahogging remains a major business in Rhode Island, where men and women continue to make a living from the sea. The long lines at take-out windows attest that the future of Rhode Island s clam shacks is secure as they successfully balance changing tastes with time-honored recipes."
About The Author
Rhode Island food historian David Norton Stone is a graduate of Bishop Hendricken High School, Yale and the University of Connecticut School of Law. He is the author of the diet-unfriendly Rhode Island Quahog Trilogy (Clamcake Summer, Stuffie Summer and Chowder Summer) and co-author of the highly caloric Rhode Island Clam Shacks. His most recent book is the nostalgia-steeped Lost Restaurants of Providence, published by the History Press.
Furthermore, David Norton Stone's lost restaurant credentials include working as a host at Panache and as a waiter for Michael's Catering after he graduated from Yale. For almost one full night, he washed dishes at a very famous (not lost) restaurant in Providence where, on the way out, he was told that he would never work in a restaurant in Providence again. That turned out to be true, so he went to law school. He has eaten at many of the lost Providence restaurants in this book and misses the meatball, fries and peppers plate at Eddie & Son, the salad bar at the Barnsider's Mile and a Quarter and the meatloaf sandwich (and everything else) at Downcity Diner. With his mother, he was lucky enough to eat at Buddy Cianci's Trapper John's during its brief run. His biggest lost restaurant regret is that he never tasted Ming Wings. David is the author of The Rhode Island Quahog Trilogy: Clamcake Summer, Stuffie Summer and Chowder Summer. He is the co-author of Images of America: Rhode Island Clam Shacks, and his food writing has appeared in Rhode Island Monthly and Edible Rhody and on Quahog.org. His work as a food historian has been cited by Saveur and National Geographic.