France trip 2013 -- "Le Berceau," Blanquette de Limoux

Some months back when I was researching southern France looking for a place that might suit our ideas about what it was we wanted to see in that corner of the planet, I stumbled across the village of Limoux.

Located between Carcassonne to the north and the Pyrenees to the south, and smack in the heart of Cathar country it seemed ideal. The Cathar castless were at the top of my list of things to see, to feel, to experience in the Languedoc so I found a nice place outside of the village with two rooms (Richard and Pauline will be joining us for three days). And, according to the Rough Guide to France, Limoux was noted for production of blanquette, a particularly delicious sparkling wine.

Back to Providence.

For some months until it closed much against our wishes, Ama's on the west side poured a tasty little sparkling wine called Le Berceau. We would always buy it by the glass -- and if more than two of us by the bottle and it became a standard, a favorite of ours at Ama's. Well, I never paid close attention to the label until recently when I purchased a bottle at Campus Liquors, a short 10-minute walk from where I work.

While I was pouring it I looked closely and voila! the light bulb went off -- and here I thought it was pretty much extinguished:

Stay tuned sports fans -- I hope to be pouring lots more on location in May!

The French Tarte opens with a quiet bang

By now most of you know that he French Tarte (AKA Susie Q) has opened the door of her brand-new commercial kitchen and is up and running. The last two Saturdays were the final days of this year's Winter's Farmers Market at Hope Artiste Village and she drew nice crowds both days. She has also posted a schedule of classes through June and they're filing up quickly -- a nice way to launch a new business to be sure.

She also had her first special order in the new space, a croquembouche (tower of puff pastries) from one of her former students. Well, it just so happened the woman who ordered the piece montee (as it's also called) for her daughter's graduation is  French and when she came to pick the order up this past Saturday her sister and brother-in-law joined her to help (it's a bit tricky to maneuver alone). It turned out that her brother-in-law grew up in a patisserie in eastern France. The consensus of the whole family was the croquembouche was delicious, better, so they said, than some they had in France!

Speaking of food, we've been back to a couple of our favorite haunts recently: Ama's and Broadway Bistro -- extraordinary food at a price.

I also want to mention our favorite wineshop in Providence, "Bottles," located on the east side of the city next to Eastside Market and in the shadow of the Great Railroad Bridge Hanging in Midair. They have great prices, wonderful service and an outstanding selection -- on our last trip we found a scrumptious white wine we discovered on our swing through Sicily in the spring of 2005:  a Grillo from Altadonna just west of Palermo; inexpensive and with a smooth balance, we've only seen it once before in this country.

Finally, if you're in Newport you should stop by the Pan Handlers kitchen shop -- recommended by the peripatetic Joe Hafner, we went there several weekends back when Susie was in the market for a tabletop burner. She ended up walking out with a Fissler -- very nice, very handy and works like a charm. The staff knows their kitchen equipment to be sure and are eager to answer questions and even demo a unit if necessary.

Three of our favorite eateries in Providence

For a week or so in early March we hit three of our favorite eateries here in Rubetown: Ama's on Luongo Square near home, Duck and Bunny on Wickenden Street in the Fox Point area and Broadway Bistro on, you got it, Broadway at the corner of Pallas Street.

Ama's is small and intimate, what one reviewer on Chowhound styled as a "jewel of a place," right across from one the city's more popular watering holes: The Avery. Run by Mike Sears, one of the most underrated restauranteurs in Providence ("Lili Marlene" to "Loie Fuller" to "Ama" and coming soon an honest-to-God diner one block from our home), with some of the best tasting and best priced food in the city, this was our umpteenth visit to Ama's and, as always, a pleasure.

Three of us started out with a new app, lightly fried edamame pods with a scrumptious dipping sauce. While I love the succulent peas themselves, edamame pods have never been one of my favorite foods, I usually find them tough and barely edible. But these were tender, tasty and cooked to perfection. We also ordered our standard app, the house green beans.

As usual, Susie and Andrea each had the Bento boxes while I went for the fish and chips. A bottle of sparkling accompanied us throughout.

After a long Friday at work for one and an even longer day at home for another we were feeling an urge for a taste of crepes in a cozy setting. And crepes here in Greater Gritworld pretty much meant Duck and Bunny. Billed as a "snuggery," Susie and I had recently gone there for the first time for Valentine's Day dinner and were eager to return and try their regular menu on for size. We weren't disappointed.

For an aperitif, we each had the "mojitoph," a delicious concoction of fresh mint, sugar, lime juice with a splash of fruit puree, topped with champagne. The salads are fresh, flavorful and huge -- Susie and Andrea split one as an app leaving enough to take home. The crepes were equally substantial and equally delicious. Susie had the "Distinguished Lincoln" crepe, ham & Gruyere with caramel mustard; Andrea had one of her favorites, the Mazzy Star, with Portobello, Fontina with rosemary and truffle oil. I had "Creperito", stuffed with brown rice, black beans, cheddar, onions, spinach, and house made salsa and guacamole with sour cream. Whoa! What a meal!

Service was friendly, attentive and the ambience cozy and inviting -- at least in the fireplace room near the bar.

http://www.theduckandbunny.com/

This past Monday evening Susie and were in need of comfort food (trust me on this), and that meant our neighborhood favorite: Broadway Bistro for ribs 'n grits. It was quiet when we arrived so we picked out a choice spot in front overlooking the street life. We started with two glasses of Italian prosecco, followed by celery puree soup for Susie and a bean stew for me. Although billed as an appetizer, we each had ribs n' grits for the entree -- plenty of food believe me, washed down with a nice, comfortable palate-pleasing Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.

Once again, and again and again, great food sensibly priced.

http://broadwaybistrori.com/