Text 17421, 104 rader
Skriven 2011-11-04 13:28:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: trip 157
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The concert guys had arranged with Beekman Violins in
Peace Dale to lend me an instrument for the week, so my
friend Rosemary and I took a field trip there. She naturally
didn't bring the information for the place, so naturally we
got lost. Pulled into Sweet Cakes, the well known bakery that
keeps getting Best of Rhode Island type awards all over the
place, where we inquired and incidentally got an individual
French pudding cake (aka Sweet Rose), the signature dish,
which was more like a giant candy than a small cake - I'd
say a quarter pound of chocolate caramel, very rich and
gooey, over a negligible amount of cake: enough to give me
an all-natural high for (as it turned out) 24 hours. They
had no clue about sweet music, just desserts.

Finally found the place by asking at town hall - turns out
we'd sailed right past without noticing during a rainier
spell half an hour before.

We didn't look too musicianly and were greeted with a bit
of caution, but fairly soon, as I talked a decent violin
and, as it turns out later, played a decent violin, our
bona fides were established, and I had my pick of the
litter for my tiny part in this weekend's concert. My
choice: a Sheng Liu Europa #3, third in a line that goes
upward in quality to #11 or 12 at least, with the top
ones retailing at over a grand! Chinese mass-produced
thing, but it was set up nicely and had a big sound such
as I wanted for this occasion. I thought about buying
one just to keep around - they're available upstate for
$300-400.

Toward the end of our visit some guy came in with one of
Luis Leguia's celebrated cellos and played an impromptu
little recital, speaking of big sound.

Then down rte 1 a few miles to the Matunuck Oyster Bar, of
which I'd heard good things; it was started by a local
waterman as a showcase of his own products and has become
quite well known, locally at least. Right between Point
Judith and Potter's Ponds, it boasts a lovely aquatic view
and an impressive list of 9 varieties of local oysters (all
sourced within 20 miles). I was excited ... but then the
otherwise agreeable and attractive waitress announced that
they had only three kinds, all from between Charlestown and
South Kingstown, the beds within a few miles of each other.
All right, my memory isn't good enough to remember the
flavors of 9 varieties any more, anyway. I'd have liked to
compare the Block Island Salt Pond ones with the Rome Point
(North Kingstown) ones and munch my way between, but that
wasn't in the cards.

Matunuck - small, quite briny, lots of character, a bit of
crunch; these are from beds owned by the restaurant

Ninigret - largish, fairly briny, sweet finish, slippery,
a bit of crunch

Quonset, from Narragansett Bay proper - largish, less saline
than the other two, slightly fishy, soft and squishy.

Perhaps the Quonsets, being from all of 15 miles away, had
suffered a bit from the long shipping.

As a consolation for the missing six, I had some cherrystone
clams; these were good, on the small side, and had no
appellation attached to them, clamminess not apparently
being affected so much by the terroir or whatever you'd call
it. Prices were big city but not that big city.

Rosemary started with the rather fancified oyster stew,
which was made with rosemary, leeks, and sweet potatoes,
and which surprising combination I'd tried before at another
establishment that added bacon as a most worthy improvement.
She pronounced it mostly good, though the sweets had been
insufficiently cooked and were crunchy (if intentional, a
mistake; if a mistake, a mistake). She followed with "Point
Judith calamari lightly fried with cherry peppers and tossed
with arugula, fried capers and topped with citrus aioli";
the squid (all rings - what happens to the arms of the poor
Point Judith calamari?) was fresh, tender, and expertly
fried; the peppers, sliced, and the capers, whole, were also
fried, a bit of an oddity. The sauce, ehh.

I had what was advertised as a pint of fried Rhode Island
clams. The pint was rather lightly packed, though the clams
were small. Here too the seafood was fresh and nicely done,
it's just the quantity that I take issue with. This came
with homemade fries (very dark but still not crisp) and
homemade cole slaw (fresh, possibly even dressed to order,
but cut with a machine that leaves large flat pieces of
cabbage in among the shreds). 

Guinness went well, if not spectacularly, with.

The waterman-become-restaurateur came by to say hello.
His warm hospitality was probably wasted on the boat.

Back back so I could become acquainted with the fiddle
before rehearsal (for music I hadn't seen, which was
fine, as it was easy).

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