Let's talk sharks
Good afternoon dear readers. I'm Gail Ciampa, Journal food and dining editor.
Narragansett Beer isn't just the "Hey Neighbor" beer. It's the "Crush it like Quint" beer, too.
The 1975 blockbuster "Jaws" is one of the most successful movies of all time. It's also forever tied to 'Gansett thanks to crusty Captain Quint downing a beer and crushing the can in his hand.
Mark Hellendrung, who revived the brand in 2005, has enjoyed some clever tie-ins thanks to "Jaws." They include selling the retro 1975 can to evoke the Quint beers. Right now you can buy a Jaws 1975 12-pack.
But they've just knocked things up a notch to with the announcement they are embarking on a new conservation effort.
Narragansett is tagging a shark with UMiami’s Shark Conservation and Research Program.
"It focuses on understanding the effects of environmental change on the biological ecology and conservation biology of sharks in a human-altered world," they said.
It is a male blacktip shark and will be traceable soon. But it needs a name and 'Gansett has been holding a contest on their Instagram page.
Last night was the deadline for the voting on the final four - Shark Hellendrung, Sharky McSharkFace, Quint and Brews.
Quint had my vote.
On Saturday, July 16, you can visit Narragansett Beer's Providence Brewery, 271 Tockwotton St., Providence, for Shark Week Waterpark Day.
From 1 to 10 p.m., they are bringing in a 15-foot inflatable waterslide and a 25-foot inflatable slip and slide to the beer garden. It's open to all ages with adult supervision required. There will be limited Jaws/Narragansett beach towels available and live music from 3-6 p.m. A screening of "Jaws" will begin at 8:30 pm in the taproom.
I won't make it there that night but I'll watch "Jaws" again at home and put my 'Gansett in my new shark cozy.
There are no sharks in the Venice Canals, at least I don't think there are. But there are capers on pizza served at restaurants in St. Mark's Square. It's one of my favorite memories from my first dinner in Italy during my honeymoon. It was a magical taste I'll never forget.
My friends the Donhams just returned from a trip to Italy that included a stay at a friend's centuries-old stone home amid olive groves.
They shared this photo of a caper bush climbing up one of the exterior walls in Montegonzi. How do you plant that, you ask?
They put caper seeds into figs and push them into the cracks of the walls. For every 10 figs, you get maybe one bush. This photo shows one of the success stories.
Apparently caper bushes like the well-drained rocky soil favored by olive trees. They also like masonry.
Now you know the rest of the story and can share it on your next trip to Italy.
Today's food section has some information restaurant owners would like you to have. It's about reservations. They are happy to make them, and even understand if you have to break them.
But they can't abide you ignoring them and leaving empty restaurant tables.
Most restaurants in R.I. do not require a deposit to make a reservation. After deadline I learned that Bellini, the new restaurant in the Beatrice hotel in Providence, requires a $50 deposit on reservations that will go towards the check.
But maybe you'd understand if they did after you read some of the horror stories I heard.
On a recent Saturday night at CAV, the eclectic Providence restaurant, had reservations of eight and 12 and both parties didn't show and didn't call. They also didn't answer when the restaurant reached out to them.
Those are seats that could have been filled even if they called at the very hour of their reservation.
So why should you care?
Because no-shows cost restaurants money and that means they cost you, the patrons, money. They also cause waste. And none of us can abide food waste, can we?
I hope you'll read my story and make it food for thought. There's simply no excuse for not making a call when plans change.
More: Staffing isn't the biggest issue facing restaurants in RI in 2022... It's reservations?
Green Line Apothecary is one very cool business. It's a throwback in the best of ways.
The two stores, in Providence and Wakefield, are where you find local products and get your prescriptions filled and delivered statewide. But most importantly, they are community gathering places with their old-fashioned soda fountains. They have old-fashioned egg creams, phosphates and lime rickeys. They allow guests to maybe go back in time to a simpler world for a time.
When they needed a larger space, they moved their Wakefield Apothecary five doors down the street.
They decided to build a kitchen for making their own small batch ice cream.
But they built big so they could offer a commercial kitchen for new businesses just getting started.
At the heart of it, owners and founders Ken and Christina Procaccianti, remember how hard it was for them to open Green Line. Now they want to nurture new food businesses.
Read all about it.
More: Green Line Apothecary owners launch commercial kitchen to help other small businesses
If you like a fine wine with dinner, you'll want to see which Rhode Island restaurants made Wine Spectator's list of the best.
I'm really impressed that there are 17 restaurants that made the 2022 list. With a poplulation of about a million, that's pretty great.
Maine and Vermont have similar populations and don't have nearly as many restaurants on their lists. Maine only has eight while Vermont has 11 on the Wine Spectator list.
Even New Hampshire with a greater population only has 9 restaurants.
Massachusetts has 80 restaurants on the list and Connecticut has 33. But of course both have much higher population.
I guess the bottom line is that the state's most upscale spots - Castle Hill, Capital Grille, Ocean House - naturally have great wine lists. But so do cozy neighborhood restaurants like La Masseria and Tavolo.
That's always been the strength of the Rhode Island dining scene hasn't it. Sure Providence and Newport have top shelf restaurants, but so, too, do many of the great Main Streets across the state.
More: What RI restaurants have the best wine selections in 2022? This list will tell you
In case you missed my Sunday story on blueberry season, you can read it here. With the glorious weather we've been having, I'm sure you want to head out to do some picking of the blues.
More: Blueberry bliss: Where to pick your own in Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts
That's it for now dear readers. If you like our time here, please come back next week. And do tell a friend to sign up here to receive my weekly newsletter, Gail's Food Feed. I'd appreciate it.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Narragansett Beer and Jaws are forever linked thanked to crush it like Quint
