A Saturday Morning at the French Tarte in Hope Artiste Village

Lee takes a break and Magali drops by and makes a call (how French!):

Early arrivals:

Lee pondering what to do next

Looking out the front door at the Mello Farm stand:

Checking out the map of Paris:

 Orange for Restaurants, red for food and kitchen suppliers, purple for pastry shops:

Melodie, Gigi, Noel and folks eager to follow the smell of fresh-baked pastries:

Winter Farmers Market from Open to Close

Back to Nick's on Broadway

Even though it's been less than three weeks, Susie and I and two friends headed over to Nick's the other evening after a stop at Bin 312 for their weekly Thursday wine tasting. Even though it was early in the evening, not long after we sat down the place filled up with friends, couples and everything in between to enjoy warm conversation, great food and pleasant service. And so we did.

A litte amuse buche of pureed beet soup with local creram cheese:

The four of us shared the charcuterie plate as an app. Consisting of a variety of house-made pates, head cheeses, a rilette and condiments it was a thoroughly grand way to kick off a delicious evening:

Andrea had the roasted Narragansett Bay oysters:

Susie had local herb-roasted potatoes with bacon and pea greens (she also had the salad of baby greens lettuces):

I had the Baffoni Farm chicken on a bed of roasted potatoes and pea greens:

And for dessert we had a light sampling of a Spice Cake Truffle and Fruit:

Canelé from Bordeaux by way of Providence, RI

Bite through the dark caramelized crust and you're treated to a wonderful soft and tender custard inside. If you haven't had one of these scrumptious delicacies from Bordeaux put it at the top of your culinary must-have list.

canelé or cannelé, however you spell it this is incredible!

Wine tasting at Bin 312 in Providence

This was our second experience with the Thursday afternoon wine tastings at Bin 312 and it was another winner.

Last week it was wines from the Veneto, this week wines to go with Corned Beef.

Leading off with a sauvignon blanc from Matanzas Creek in California followed up with a delicious Hugel from the Alsace and then a Pinot from California and lastly a blend from the Languedoc. (We didn't opt for the beer chaser.)

The wines were very nice and the reds went quite well with the app of corned beef with dijon mustard, caramelized onion and a hint of cheese on toast points.