Asian Noodles Take a Trip to Italy

My wife is out town. I'm home alone and hungry. Since I work at the house, my routine is to write during the day and have dinner with my wife when she gets home from her office. Cooking our dinner gives shape to my day, since I plan the meal in the morning and do the prep when I'm taking breaks during the day.

Having dinner together is a fun part of the day. Over a meal with a salad, main course and a couple of side dishes, we have time to catch up.

Now I have to contemplate dinner for one and that's not as much fun.

Staring at the open refrigerator, considering what left-overs I could eat or what bits and pieces I could put together to make a meal (a farmers market Fuji apple with slices of comte cheese and bacon from breakfast), a different approach occurred to me.

Having grown up eating instant ramen, a cup of noodles is always the way to go when hunger strikes. But I'm a bit hesitant to go that route because of the high salt content and the predominance of chemical additives in the soup base. Happily, shopping at Asian markets, it's easy to see that ramen is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to easy-to-make noodles.

Even in mainstream supermarkets, if you look in the Asian foods section, you'll find packages of dried egg and rice noodles. Go to an Asian market and the selection will border on the comic with aisle after aisle of fresh and dried noodles. Costing two or three dollars, one package of Asian noodles will easily feed 4-6 people.

If you want, you can certainly prepare the noodles with Asian sauces and ingredients. Personally, I like to combine the noodles with braised meat or poultry and vegetables from our local farmers market. The result is a deliciously comforting Asian-Italian fusion.

I like the dish so much, when my wife comes home, I'll make a bowl for her.

Asian Noodles, Italian Style

Use raw meat and poultry or leftovers from another meal. For stock, home made is preferable to avoid the excessive amounts of sodium in canned versions. The dish can easily be made vegetarian by omitting the meat and poultry. Other vegetables can be added or substituted for the ones I used and, if you like heat, dust the braise with cayenne or a scattering of pepper flakes.

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 pounds uncooked deboned chicken, pork shoulder or top sirloin, washed, pat dried and thin sliced or use 1 1/2 pounds cooked chicken, pork or beef
1 medium yellow onion, washed, ends removed, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled, root ends removed, finely chopped
6 shiitake mushrooms, washed, stems trimmed to remove dirt, thin sliced
2 carrots, washed, ends removed, peeled, cut into rounds
2 cups broccoli crowns, washed, sliced into florets
4 cups kale leaves, washed, stems removed or spinach leaves, washed, roughly chopped
2 cups stock, chicken, beef, pork or vegetarian, preferably home made
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 to 1 pound of Asian noodles
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons sweet butter (optional)

Directions

Heat a large pot with water. Bring to a boil. Unlike Italian pasta, Asian noodles do not require adding salt or oil to the water. Wait to add the noodles until the braise is finished because the drained noodles will congeal quickly.

In a large saucepan or chefs pan, heat the olive oil. Add the onions, garlic and shiitake mushrooms and sauté until lightly browned.  If using uncooked chicken or meat, add now and cook until lightly browned.

Add the broccoli and kale and sauté until wilted. If using cooked chicken or meat, add along with the carrots and stock. Simmer 10 minutes until the carrots are tender.

Taste and adjust the seasoning with sea salt, pepper and (optional) the sweet butter. Reduce liquid to half by cooking another 5 minutes. Lower the flame.

Add the noodles to the boiling water and stir well using tongs or chop sticks to separate the noodles. Read directions for cooking time. Before draining, taste a noodle and confirm doneness. Drain.

Add the noodles to the braise and toss well to coat with the sauce.

Serve hot in bowls with chop sticks or on plates with forks and large spoons.

Ask the Locals Guide: The Sundance Resort and Park City, Utah

The Sundance Film Festival screens hundreds of films from January 20-30. Local insiders know that during the festival, the slopes are less crowded than usual. While filmgoers crowd the theaters, restaurants and bars, skiers enjoy shorter lift lines and uncrowded runs. I don't ski but I do eat. For those who are going to watch films, here are some suggestions about where to eat. 

With heavy snow falling in Atlanta and New York City where it isn't wanted, there's comfort knowing that snow is also accumulating on ski slopes, where it belongs.

At the foot of Utah's Wasatch Mountains, dozens of world-class ski resorts are within easy driving distance of Salt Lake International Airport.

The mountains make an impression the minute visitors land at Salt Lake International Airport. In summer or winter, the white capped peaks are evidence that this is rocky mountain country or, as the state logo has it, "Life Elevated."  Salt Lake City itself is over 4,000 feet, so don't be surprised if you are a little light-headed until you acclimate.

It is no surprise that an area devoted to active winter recreation also has good restaurants where visitors can cozy up to a warming fire and a good meal.

At Robert Redford's Sundance Resort, the only stand-alone ski resort in Utah, the pleasures of the mountain aren't limited to the ski slopes. Staying in one of the ninety-five cottages or in a mountain home puts a visitor up close and personal with the native spruce and pine trees growing close to the buildings.

Even the recently completed Redford Convention Center all but disappears in a thicket of trees, which makes it an ideal location for corporate retreats, weddings, and family celebrations.

Skiers riding the ski lift to the back mountain can stop at Bearclaw Cabin, a warming hut with a panoramic view of the Wasatch Mountains and the Heber and Utah Valleys below. The menu is limited to hot drinks, soup, and sandwiches but given the setting, that seems perfect.

Having completed their runs, skiers visit the Owl Bar, kick back and listen to country music, have a round of drinks and enjoy freshly made snacks, including the house cured pickled eggs and beef jerky.

For full-course, sit-down meals there is the upscale Tree Room and the more informal Foundry Grill, with a fireplace and wood-burning pizza oven warming the room.

Knowing their customers want well-prepared, comfort food, both menus offer dishes that feed the body and warm the soul, like mustard rotisserie chicken, crusted pork on the bone with mashed potatoes and broccolini, braised black cod in carrot miso broth, halibut with rice and vegetables, roast loin of Utah elk flavored with blackberry jus, baby back ribs and cole slaw, and ratatouille with vegetables and quinoa.

With the meal finished and the table cleared, there's no rush to leave. The desserts will hold diners a few minutes longer before sending them off to bed, dreaming not only of sugar plumb fairies but about Executive Chef Mark Shoup's dessert menu of caramel apple pie with mascarpone ice cream, pear cobbler with almond crumble, or banana split with bricks of chocolate and vanilla ice cream topped with a melange of strawberries, walnuts, caramel and chocolate sauce on a plate coated with Chantilly cream and, oh yeah, a split banana.

For anyone achey from too much physical exertion on the slopes, massages are available at the Spa. At the Sundance Resort, fireplaces seem to be everywhere, including the Spa's quiet room, where it is easy to get lost staring at the logs, crackling and hissing as they are consumed by the flames. In the warmth of the quiet room, visitors sit and calculate the comparative benefits of another day of skiing weighed against the pleasures of a late breakfast in the Foundry Grill and relaxing with a good book in front of the fire.

Traveling between Sundance and Park City, locals know to leave time for a stop in Heber City to time-trip back to the 1960s at the Holiday Lanes (565 N. Main Street) to bowl a few games and have a burger, fries and shake. Come early enough and there may be homemade pie.

The Dairy Keen, "Home of the Train," is also on Heber's Main Street. Hamburgers are the specialty but the menu also includes fish and chicken with lots of treats for kids who love watching the model train that circles the inside of the store.

Park City has restaurants to satisfy just about anyone's budget or taste. Affordable family-owned restaurants serve pizza, hamburgers, salads, Mexican food, sandwiches, barbecue and sushi. If you crave fast food, you can find Macdonald's, Burger King and Subway.

Half a block from the Park City Town Ski Lift, High West Distillery & Saloon advertises itself as "the world's first and only ski-in gastro distillery." Taking advantage of the recently liberalized liquor laws, High West offers tastings of wines and spirits in a converted three-story house, with a spacious, family style restaurant on the ground floor in what was once a garage for horses and, later, automobiles.

The spirits served at High West are highly rated by whiskey aficionados. Although High West does produce some of their spirits in the 250-gallon copper still near the entrance, the aged whiskeys are not distilled on the site but are blends of whiskeys sourced from other distillers.

What is distilled at High West are clear spirits, ones not aged in oak barrels. The result is Silver Oat Whiskey and Vodka 7000, both of which are worth trying for their smoothness and unique flavor. In addition to drinks served in the saloon, bottles of spirits can be purchased in the small package store near the entrance.

Many of Park City's better restaurants, coffee shops and popular bars are located on Main Street, the center of the city's commercial life with stores selling tourist souvenirs, clothing, native crafts, the work of local artists, and the fun, interactive Park City Museum.

Insider's Tip: In the lobby of the Park City Museum, pick up a copy of the restaurant coupon book with discounts for local restaurants and attractions. Don't overlook the Park Record which sometimes has an even better selection of discounts.

At the bottom of Main Street, Robert Redford's Zoom specializes in large plates of hearty, well-prepared food. Ribs and coleslaw, herb roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, burgers, sandwiches, grilled fish, risotto, Caesar salads, mac n' cheese, onion rings, hot soup, and fresh salads fill out the menu.

Half way up Main Street, the Java Cow Cafe & Bakery is a local favorite for breakfast pastries, espresso beverages, sandwiches, and crepes. In summer, the homemade ice creams are a big seller, along with the hundreds of t-shirts featuring the Java Cow logo.

Nearby, Cafe Terigo, an intimate restaurant, has a wine bar in the inviting entrance way, a main dining room and two upstairs dining rooms, which are mostly used for parties, receptions and family celebrations.

The menu sticks to basics: soups, salads, sandwiches, grilled meats and fish, pastas and desserts. Run by husband and wife, Ed (he's the chef) and Debbie (she's the maitre d') Axtell, Terigo, as locals refer to it, is a family affair. The dining room has the friendly feeling of your home, only better, because someone else is doing the cooking. Save room for their most popular dessert, the bread pudding with butter rum sauce, pine nuts and dried cranberries. It's a keeper.

350 Main, a sprawling restaurant-bar, is a gathering spot for locals and tourists alike. Taking a global approach, chef Michael LeClerc is influenced by the cuisines of Mexico, Indonesia, India, Italy, Japan, France, and the American Southwest.

Locals crowd the bar ordering from the $6.00 tapas menu, focusing on the Ahi and Hamachi Tower, a tasty treat that goes well any of the drinks on the signature martini and cocktail list.

Something of a local legend, Bill White owns half a dozen popular eating establishments, as varied as one can imagine. Upscale Grappa, at the top of Main Street in a converted house, is well-known for quality meals in a homey setting. While the Windy Ridge Cafe and Bakery zero in on perfecting a salad-pasta-sandwich-comfort food menu in a cozy, unpretentious, country cafe setting.

Given the mountain setting, Wahso is an unexpected treat--an Asian grill. Wahso doesn't so much fuse Asian and Western cuisines as it respects both, pulling the best out of each tradition with the result that Duck Breast "A L'Orange" gets the Peking treatment and ginger scented lentils accompany the Morgan Valley Lamb.

Another, different kind of fusion happens at Chimayo where French and Mexican cuisines embrace as happily as a newly wedded couple. In many of the dishes, Mexican heat enlivens classic French sauces. Pan seared sea scallops are enveloped with a Blood Orange and Jalapeno Beurre Blanc sauce. A rack of lamb eschews mint in favor of the sweet heat provided by a guajillo chile and cumin demi-glace.

A good wine list is supplemented with a selection of quality tequilas and imaginative riffs on the margarita, including one flavored with pomegranate, which might have been too sweet but proved to be light and flavorful.

Park City is cowboy country, so it's natural to expect to eat some barbecue. But only at Chimayo are spareribs marinated all day in a chipotle marinade As with many restaurants in the area, local game animals are proudly served as bona fides of locally sourced meat. In the hands of chef Arturo Flores, elk, which can be chewy, is meltingly tender and flavored with bacon, peppercorns, sesame seeds, and a green chile Béarnaise.

For the appetizers, soups and salads, there are Italian-Mexican combinations in the fried calamari served with lime cilantro and lemon chipotle aiolis and the goat cheese and mozzarella chile relleno with a poblano pumpkin seed pesto. But mostly the starters menu focuses on familiar Mexican favorites which are prepared with the freshest of ingredients: ceviches, queso fundido, duck enchiladas, guacamole and shrimp, tortilla soup, avocado salad with papaya and vegetables with a pasilla chile vinaigrette.

All too often culinary combinations mean propping up the weakness of one cuisine with the strengths of another. When a chef has classic cooking skills and a great palate, fusion means discovering the best of each and bringing new awareness to old favorites. That's what happens at Chimayo.

So if you are spending time around the Wasatch Mountains expect to enjoy great scenery, world-class skiing, and excellent meals.

Fine Dining Southern Rhode Island Style

In recent posts, I described a trip to Rhode Island where I was introduced to a community of talented chefs who are making the state a go-to place for anyone who enjoys good food. I knew I would find good restaurants in Providence. What surprised me was the number of accomplished chefs working in the resort towns in the southern half of the state.

Newport is Rhode Island's best known tourist destination. Located on the southern tip of Aquidneck Island, the city is home to Cliff Walk and the world-famous mansions built at the end of the 19th century with their distinctive architecture and opulent details. Its sheltered harbor and many beaches make Newport a destination for anyone who enjoys sailing and water sports. The city is family-friendly as well, with dozens of affordable restaurants on Broadway and Bowen's Wharf in the harbor.

One Bellevue (One Bellevue Avenue, Newport, 401/847-3300) is located on Historic Hill, overlooking the harbor.

Chef Kevin Theile's menu changes with the seasons and emphasizes local produce and seafood. For him, "Local is a big deal. When people travel to New England, they're looking for seasonal New England seafood." So it's no surprise that most of the seafood on his menu is caught in nearby waters, including Maine lobsters, sole, shrimp, bay scallops, tuna, crab, clams, and oysters. As he proudly says, "Right off the docks, right out of the water," right onto your plate.

Chef Theile tells a story about a recent gastronome's tour of New York he took with his sous and banquet chefs. Most memorable, he said, was a meal at Mario Batali's Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca. An "awesome experience," he said, because they feasted on ingredients they love but could never serve at One Bellevue: head cheese, pigs' feet, lamb brains, rabbit, and goat. "Newport," he said, "is a tourist town, not a culinary scene and people want familiar food."

That was a refrain I heard frequently on my tour of the state. Rhode Island is a tourist destination and tourists enjoy food that doesn't challenge their culinary boundaries, but that doesn't stop chefs from occasionally pushing the envelope.

With his starters, Chef Theile hews closely to expectations with a seasonal menu. When I visited he featured fall ingredients: seared bay scallops with apple wood smoked bacon, crab cakes, autumn vegetable and roasted squash risotto with crispy Granny Smiths and Swiss chard, roasted butternut squash soup, New England clam chowder, caramelized Vidalia onion soup with Crispy bread and melted Gruyere cheese, warm spinach salad, classic Caesar salad, local oysters, and a shrimp cocktail. Eating any of these first courses and you know you're in Southern New England and you're happy.

The comfort food entrees follow familiar paths. The grilled Flat Iron steak with sour cream-chive potato pancakes, citrus glazed half chicken with pancetta whipped potatoes, or blackened pork tenderloin with barbecue pulled pork will satisfy all the meat-and-potato diners who want their food well-prepared and mouth-watering.

But for those who want some cross-cultural surprises, he offers Southern New England ingredients treated with a French and an Asian flair: grilled lobster accompanied with cipolini whipped potatoes and ginger sesame harciot vert, chili rubbed tuna with wasabi potatoes, apple and Swiss chard salad, and grilled shrimp and bay scallop pad Thai.

Located at the end of Cliff Walk and looking every bit like one of the nearby Newport Mansions, the Chanler Hotel (117 Memorial Boulevard, Newport, 401/847-2244) has 20 guest rooms furnished distinctively with European designs. No two rooms look alike. Meticulously detailed, all the rooms are luxurious, even the eccentrically appointed Gothic room with its dungeon-like design.

Taking up most of the ground floor, the Spiced Pear looks like the dining room of an exquisitely appointed Mediterranean villa. From its vantage point on the cliff, the restaurant has a sweeping view of the brilliantly blue water below. In the colder months, the dining room occupies a cozy room facing the open kitchen. In summer, diners can also sit outside in the covered patio and enjoy the cool breezes off Rhode Island Sound.

Executive Chef Kyle Ketchum describes his menu as "contemporary New England cuisine". If you love lobster, start with the lobster bisque, then go on to the delicately flavored butter poached Maine lobster, served with sweet creamed corn, English peas, and mushrooms. A chilled seafood plate has oysters sharing the plate with a shrimp cocktail. In the summer, local produce is featured in dishes like the heirloom tomatoes in a panzanella salad that includes tiny cubes of hearts of palm along with cucumber pearls and Fourme d'Ambert blue cheese.

Acknowledging that his guests do not live by seafood alone, chef Ketchum serves beautifully composed plates of American kobe beef with potato gratin, Moroccan glazed Muscovy duck breast with porcini mushrooms and sauteed spinach, kobe beef short ribs, and Berkshire pork with creamy Parmesan polenta.

His vegetarian tasting menu takes advantage of seasonally available local produce and includes a delicious chilled clear tomato gazpacho, chanterelle mushrooms with English peas and gnocchi, and risotto with truffles and sweet corn.

If you'll allow yourself the calories, chef Ketchum will delight your sweet tooth with the eye-pleasing Tahitian vanilla bean souffle or his acrobatic chocolate trio that couples a wedge of chocolate truffle cake, a dark chocolate terrine, and a pistachio and dark chocolate brownie with a Bailey's Irish cream float topped with whipped cream.

Twenty minutes from downtown Newport, the 35 room Castle Hill Inn & Resort (590 Ocean Drive, Newport, 888/466-1355) sits on a hill overlooking Narragansett Bay. The day we drove out to the restaurant, a rain storm pelted Ocean Drive, the solitary road that circles the island. The lobster skiffs that fish the waters had taken refuge in sheltered coves to avoid the storm.

The Inn looked all the more lovely and romantic in the rain.

The restaurant occupies the sun room of the converted mansion. Open on three sides to a view of the water, light poured in even on a rainy day. Chef Jonathan Cambra, like his fellow Rhode Island chefs, emphasizes local seafood and seasonal produce on his menu. The clams in his New England clam chowder and in the saute combining littlenecks with Portuguese sausage and fennel are from local waters, as are the raw Matunuck Farm oysters he tops with a Bloody Mary sorbet and black pepper gelee.

While the menu lists familiar dishes like bacon and eggs, a lobster roll, and a grilled cheese sandwich, chef Cambra prepares them with upgraded ingredients. The bacon is actually pork belly, the lobster roll uses a tarragon dressing instead of plain old mayo, and the grilled cheese is made with a selection of Narragansett Creamery cheeses on Sicilian bread. Even the hash he serves with his eggs isn't your cafe-variety hash. His is made with lobster.

Desserts come in all varieties. From Belgian chocolate tarts to napoleons, hot fudge sundays with homemade ice cream, banana splits, and a refreshing raspberry consomme.

My personal favorite was the artisan cheese tasting, with a well-chosen accompaniment of caramelized nuts, delicious honey, and apricot puree. By the time we finished lunch, the rain had stopped so we could take a walk on the expansive lawn. Looking across the Bay we could make out the mainland where we would be going next.

A trip to Rhode Island should always include a stop on Block Island. Ferries leave frequently from Point Judith and New London. Looking very much like a Norman Rockwell painting, Old Harbor is one of those rare places where time appears to have stopped. There are no high-rises here. Turn of the century four-story hotels like the National dominate the skyline. Walk a few blocks inland to Spring Street and you'll find Victorian houses that have become B&Bs like the Hotel Manisses and the 1661 Inn (Spring Street, Block Island, 401/466-2421).

Conventional wisdom would have you believe that there is only cafe-style food on the island. Among the dozens of local restaurants, Eli's (456 Chapel Street, Block island, 401/466-5230) is deservedly well-reviewed because the food is fresh, reasonably priced, and well-prepared. But the best place to eat on the island, bar none, is in the Hotel Manisses Restaurant (Hotel Manisses, Spring Street, Old Harbor, Block Island, 401/466-2421).

Chef Ross Audino takes local sourcing one step farther than his mainland colleagues. During the summer, 70% of his vegetables and 100% of his herbs come from the large garden behind the restaurant planted by Justin Abrams, the hotel's owner.

Because of the temperate island climate, chef Audino has fresh lettuce well into the fall. That is, he has lettuce until the week after Labor Day when, like clock-work every year, he wakes up to find that the local deer have descended on the garden and eaten what was left of the crop. Justin speculates that after Labor Day when most of the tourists leave, the deer feel its safe to come out of the hills to forage for food.

Not only are the blue fish, striped bass, clams, littlenecks, tuna, mussels, lobster, and swordfish served at the restaurant fished from local waters, but because Block Island is a tight-knit community, the chef knows the fishermen personally, like Joe Szabo, an old-timer who fishes for local swordfish.

The summertime dining room extends outside into a spacious brick lined patio that looks out on the herb garden at the back of the building. When the weather cools, diners happily stay inside, starting off with a drink at the bar and one of the appetizers: Maryland style crab cakes, tuna tartare with delicious cubes of extra firm fried tofu and ginger mayo on top of a wakame seaweed salad, grilled scallops with ratatouille, fried cod cheeks, and freshly shucked Moonstone oysters.

Chef Audino also puts the local seafood to excellent use in his entrees: gnocchi with lobster meat, pan roasted bass & local littlenecks, striped bass with spinach-shallot foam, and grilled swordfish with lobster mashed potatoes (yes, that's lobster-mashed potatoes and they are delicious).

The menu accommodates vegetarians with a grilled garlic, marinated tofu with house-made mozzarella. A beet salad configured into a tower of savory deliciousness, includes toasted almonds, sweetened mascarpone, and a reduced balsamic vinegar.

For meat-eaters, the menu is a lot of fun. A smoked beef brisket sandwich with crispy onion rings and a large plate of barbecued St. Louis ribs on a bed of jalapeno & cheddar spoon bread from the bistro menu are delicious. The ribs are full of flavor and, literally, finger-lickin' good because they are brined, dry rubbed, slow braised and then finished in high heat so the moist, nicely fatty meat gets a thin crust on top. The addition of a demi-glaze on the grilled Hereford filet mignon on the main menu creates a similar melt-in-your-mouth salty-sweetness and can be ordered either with mashed potatoes or the French fries which are fried with garlic cloves and rosemary leaves.

Desserts range from an apple crumble with an excellent nougat ice cream, carrot cake, Bailey's chocolate mousse flavored with Bailey's and whipped cream, a seven layer chocolate cake with mocha ganache, and a lemon cake with strawberry sauce. All of which were good, but I think that if I were going to leave room for anything, it would be for a couple more of the St. Louis ribs and a handful of those French fries.

Before you leave Rhode Island, you should make one more stop before you go home: the coastal city of Bristol.

Located on the eastern side of Narragansett Bay, mid-way between Providence and Newport, Bristol has small town charms, New England style. The small craft harbor is encircled by a bike and walking path. The small town shops remind you of a time before-we-had-malls.

Walking toward the harbor on State Street, you might pass by Persimmon (31 State Street, Bristol, 401/254-7474) without noticing the intimate, tastefully decorated dining room inside.

Opened in 2005 by chef Champe Speidel and his wife Lisa, Persimmon has gained a large following among tourists and locals, including chefs throughout the state. Working with local purveyors, like all Rhode Island fine dining chefs, chef Speidel's kitchen turns out exquisite plates of extraordinarily delicious food.

His attention to detail would rival any upscale restaurant in New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles. Reading widely in his hundreds of cookbooks, chef Speidel looks for techniques and flavor combinations that he believes will engage his customers. He explained that it is "really easy to get complacent in a small restaurant, but you have to push yourself, always try to do more."

The seasons energize his cooking.

Even though much of Bristol's business is summer tourism, the town is a bedroom community of commuters who work in Providence and Newport. Which means a year-round clientele supports his restaurant.

Challenging himself, he prints a new menu every day, featuring what's fresh and local. Keeping his menu in sync with the changing seasons means his customers look forward to the new ways he'll prepare ingredients with a short season, like asparagus, black bass, and tautog. For his loyal customers he balances favorites like the crispy skin Long Island duck breast with new dishes so he'll encourage them to come back several times a week.

When Champe and Lisa opened Persimmon, their goal was to create a small, cozy restaurant that emphasized high quality food and good but informal service.

Champe calls his menu "modern," but he could have as easily called it global, because he borrows freely from world cuisine and American traditional food. Highly skilled, his cooking is witty.

Eight years ago, Lisa took Champe to his first clambake on the beach. He loved the experience of a wood fire, freshly cooked clams, corn, lobster, potatoes, and chorizo. Wanting to recreate the experience back at the restaurant, he created the mini clambake, one of his most popular appetizer.

When the dish is presented at the table, the plate is covered by a glass dome. As the covering is lifted, a scented cloud of apple wood smoke is released and, for a moment just before you devour the sweetly flavored seafood and broth, you're transported back to a summertime beach where you don't have a care in the world.

One of the dishes I enjoyed the most and would have eagerly asked for seconds, was his "two-minute" ceviche of native razor clams, served with Vietnamese Kalamansi lime, chilies, and mint sauce. Never has a Southern New England clam been so well-served.

His menu includes some exquisitely prepared comfort foods. For those who can afford the fatty indulgence, he serves up a perfectly seared Hudson Valley foie gras with oven roasted figs dressed with a duck reduction and aged balsamic vinegar. For another appetizer, an egg slow cooked at precisely 143.6 degrees for one hour, shares an elegant bowl with sauteed hen-of-the-woods mushrooms flavored with a touch of curry oil.

Armed with an inventive imagination, he carefully shapes the flavor profiles of his dishes. Unlike many chefs who give clams and mussels a featured spotlight, chef Speidel uses shellfish as a flavor garnish, using their uniquely sweet-and-salty profile to enhance the qualities, as he did one night, of line caught Cox's Ledge cod wrapped in apple wood bacon and served in a chowder of razor and littleneck clams.

His Pan Seared South Dartmouth Boneless Pork Loin Chop is sweet and juicy, the meat's flavors all the more enhanced by the accompanying ragout of squash, fennel, turnips, and peaches. While he roasts his Long Island Duck Breast to glazed, crispy perfection, he prefers to cook his organic chicken cuit sous vide, giving the meat a velvety texture that is contrasted by the oven roasted potatoes and onions.

The dessert selections run from the delicate (Yogurt and Vanilla Panna Cotta with native Berries) to the sublime (Rich Chocolate Moussse with Dark Chocolate-Hazelnut Feuilletine and Carmel Ice Cream) to the familiar-though-decadent (Warm Peanut and Banana Cake with Banana Ice Cream, Caramel and Chocolate Sauces). All of which are wonderful. But I confess a simple plate of Berkshire Blue Cheese with a wedge of honeycomb dusted with fennel pollen stole my heart that night.

After having so many wonderful meals, and taking everything into account--the simple elegance of the dining room, Champe and Lisa Speidel's friendliness and charm, the execution and distinctive flavor profile of each and every dish--eating at Persimmon was my best experience on a very memorable trip.

For more about Rhode Island, please go to:

A Photo Gallery of Rhode Island
How Rhode Island Has Changed
Rhode Island Travel Gallery, New York Daily News

Rhode Island Renaissance: The Restaurants of Providence

Rhode Island Renaissance: Spotlight on Providence's Locavore Chefs

The Nugget's Best of the West Rib Cook-Off is a Recession Buster

If you've never been to a barbecue rib-cook off, let me paint you a picture.

On either side of a long street, booths are set up with sellers hawking their wares. You'll hear laughter and a hundred conversations as people walk down the crowded street or stand in line at the booths.

Imagine a midway that looks very much like a county fair only instead of having rides, baking contests, and pens with animals, at a rib rib-cook, everyone is selling meat.

Pork ribs, beef ribs, brisket, turkey drumsticks, barbecue chicken, pulled pork, and hot links.

Ok, that's a slight exaggeration. Not everyone is selling meat.

You can buy sides that go with meat: cole slaw and baked beans and you can buy lots of fried things--thick fried onion rings, zucchini strips, hush puppies, garlic fries, and potato chips piled high on a plate looking very much like a small mountain.

For those watching their diets, there is fresh fruit on a stick and freshly squeezed lemonade. If you want something sweet, there are booths selling fennel cakes, shaved ice and chocolate dipped fruit on sticks.

But you don't come to a rib-cook because you want to eat all that other stuff. You come to a cook-off because you love to eat meat and you love barbecue.

You might see people in PETA t-shirts and you'd scratch your head wondering why animal rights advocates would be here, but then you read the fine print and you'd understand. At a rib cook-off, PETA means "People for the Eating of Tasty Animals."

In early September I was on assignment for Peter Greenberg to be a judge at John Ascuaga's Best in the West Nugget Rib Cook-Off, my second year and the Cook-Off's 21st.

Over six days, the Nugget's rib-cook attracts over 500,000 people, who come together for a celebration of good times and good food.

There are families everywhere you turn. Toddlers in strollers. Babes in arms. Teenagers who might not otherwise hang out with their parents are happily comparing notes about a favorite rib cooker or fiery barbecue sauces, like Johnson BBQ's ThermoNuclear or Rasta Joe's Island Fire sauce.

The Nugget adds to the fun with bands playing day and night. The sound of rock and country music drifts through the air, combining with the sweet smoke that pours off the wood burning grills as the racks of ribs are coated with thick brush-strokes of barbecue sauce.

People find space on the picnic benches that have been set up in the shade. Mostly though, impromptu picnics happen as soon as the people get their ribs. They can't wait. The ribs are that good.

People who come to a rib cook-off don't just come to have a quick bite to eat. Not a chance. They've come to sample and compare.

If you strike up a conversation with people as they eat their ribs, you'll find out that this isn't their first cook-off. Odds are they've attended the Best of the West before and they've come back to enjoy the ribs from their favorite cookers.

They'll eat a basket of ribs. Lick their fingers. Grab an ice cold lemonade. Walk around a bit. Listen to the music, maybe gamble a bit, then they're back out to the midway to try another cooker's ribs.

The conversations you'll hear as you walk down the midway are all about ribs and sauce. If there's inside-baseball talk, then at a cook-off, you'll hear inside-barbecue talk.

Which cookers are at the top of their game. Whose meat has the best balance of smoke and tenderness. Which rib has just the right edge of heat. There are comparisons between old favorites and new ones. Which sauces hit flavor out of the ballpark.

In addition to the judges ranking of the Best Ribs and Best Sauce, there's also a People's Choice award. People have their favorites and they lobby one another to promote the cookers they like.

Butch of Smack Your Lips BBQ is a favorite because he beat Bobby Flay on the Food Network's rib Throwdown. There are long lines in front of Rasta Joe's because who can resist barbecue with Jamaican flavors and heat? Last year's winner for best ribs, Bone Daddy's Bill Wall, has so many fans, they've started a Facebook page and he tweets to let people back home know what's happening each day at the cook-off.

The cookers are as enthusiastic about ribs as are the fans. They literally live, breath, and sleep dry rubs, sauces, and quality of meat. Of the 24 cookers in competition, 23 are on the road 4 months of the year.

From just before Memorial Day to just after Labor Day, the cookers criss-cross the United States in big rigs, pulling their mammoth smokers and barbecue grills. They move from competition to competition, selling their meats and sauces, going up again long-time competitors, and (hopefully) picking up more trophies along the way.

But even if they don't win, this is big business. Only a few of the cookers have restaurants. Most make their living doing catering and traveling the competitive barbecue circuit. In a down economy, where their catering business might be off because corporations don't have as much to celebrate and they've cut back on events, the cook-off business is as good as ever. Virginia Beach's Dan Johnson of Johnson's BBQ says, "People are staying local, enjoying themselves. The cook-offs are good for families. There are things for dads to do, moms too, and the kids get to play. There's lots to do."

The Nugget's Best of the West is a great example why business is so good. Where else can a family have so much fun for so little money?

There's no admission fee. The entertainment is free. Everyone is welcome to stop and listen to the bands that play day and night. A large crafts fair is set up nearby where you can shop for clothing, hand-made jewelry, household decorations, and toys. There's plenty to eat and drink. The most expensive plate of food is under $15.00. You're hanging out with family and friends.

So where do the big guys like to eat when they’re on the road?

Butch eats ribs from old friend Ray “Red” Allen Gill’s Razorback, stopping by Red’s place in Arkansas and when they’re at events competing against one another.

Peter and Roberta Rathmann of BJ's Nevada Barbecue Company--the only Sparks barbecue restaurant at the competition—-try small, family operations when they travel because they want to see what people like themselves are doing.

Joe Alexander of Rasta Joe’s likes Corky’s in Memphis, Tennessee for the pulled pork and ribs.

But surprisingly, what most cookers recommend isn’t what you’d think.

Most agree with Bill Wall who says, “The honest truth is I don’t eat a lot of barbecue. I love to visit and see barbecue places [when he’s traveling]. But when I’m going out to eat, I like Caesar salads and shrimp, a good pasta or a great piece of meat.”

Unlike Bill and the other cookers, I rarely get the chance to eat great ribs and I love them. So being a judge at the Best of the West is a great treat.

The tough part, though, is the waiting. The first rule of the contest is that no judge may eat a rib until the judging.

Walking past all those cookers, their grills ablaze, the smell of barbecue sauce and smoke in the air, is pure torture. Watching crowds of people eating baskets of ribs and licking thick, sweet sauce off their fingers, it takes all my self-control so I don't just reach over and grab one of those ribs and devour it on the spot.

But I’m true to my judge’s oath and I wait.

When the time comes, the judges meet in a secured room inside the casino. The ribs are put out on a large table. The cookers are identified only by number.

The tasting begins in hushed silence. The second rule of judging is “No talking.” In 40 minutes, each judge has to evaluate either 12 (the preliminary round) or 10 (the final round) ribs. Walking around the chafing dishes we solemnly nibble on a bone, evaluating each rib for appearance, tenderness, mouth feel, and taste (salty, sweet, and heat).

Some ribs I like right away. Others I’m convinced aren’t good. But in fairness I know that a cooker shouldn’t be judged on one rib alone. So it’s back around the table for a second tasting. I score each one. Then I go back a third time to confirm my favorites. I’m dying to know who I like, but all I know is a number.

After the judging we’re invited to a special area where the cookers bring their ribs to a large tent so it’s easier to try everyone’s ribs and sauces. Now I have the chance to put a face to a rib, so I methodically take one rib from each serving dish (if you’re keeping track that’s 24 ribs) and carefully write on the Styrofoam plate the name of the cooker. I take a bite out of each one but only eat the whole rib if it’s great.

By the end I think I have a pretty good idea which cookers made my favorite ribs. I keep it to myself because the results of the contest aren't announced until tomorrow.

When I go to bed that night, I go to sleep happy and very full. In four hours, I’ve eaten 30 ribs.

After about an hour, I wake up with terrible chest pains so bad I am convinced I am dying. I know I should call the front desk and ask them to call an ambulance, but the pain is intense, I can’t move a muscle.

Then I realize I'm not having a heart attack. It is heartburn. You can’t eat that many ribs and not pay the price.

But it was worth it