HG here wishing all of his readers and followers a Happy New Years!! HG would like to extend his hopes that everyone has a 2014 filled with delicious edibles and wonderful memories!
Some time ago, HG wrote about good restaurants in unlikely places. One of those was Lucky Garden, a very nice Chinese restaurant located in a mundane strip mall in gritty North Providence, Rhode Island. It was an obligatory venue for a happy family dinner during the Christmas holiday. Since HG eats no Chinese food in Santa Fe (where all that exists is corn starch heavy, sweet, tourist cuisine of the PF Chang variety), HG insisted (though it’s a shlep) on a visit to Lucky Gardens. An error. Management had changed. Interiors had been expanded and renovated. Unfortunately, the cuisine had taken a toboggan slide downhill. Worst dumplings ever. Unfortunate pork belly. Pallid eggplant casserole. Cold tripe that made HG long for a bowl of New Mexico menudo. Passable chicken and chive blossoms did not compensate. SJ and EM, Asian food mavens, were not among the dinner party. Lucky them. Un-Lucky Garden is to be avoided.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Hemenway’s . For years, an HG visit to Rhode Island has always included a stop at Hemenway’s with its big windows overlooking some fine 18th and 19th Century architecture and a pretty little park in downtown Providence. The food, the service, the friendly welcome, the oyster bar and the comfortable dining booths are all splendid. HG/BSK had lunch in the oyster bar with SJ and Gifted Daughter Lesley R. Two dozen local oysters and six Rhode Island clams. plus crisp fried calamari with hot Greek peppers ( a Rhody specialty). Everything fresh and sparkling. It was so good that SJ and HG came back the next day. They were accompanied by Exquisite Maiko (who had been troubled with an unpleasant cold). EM had two of her favorite comfort foods: Clams Casino and French onion soup. HG/SJ knocked off Hemenway’s versions of a French brasserie “Plateau de fruits de mer.” Hemenway’s version had a bunch of New England’s finest: Oysters and clams plus a one half Maine lobster. There were also some very good jumbo shrimps from southern waters. A Delightful, and more importantly, a consistent dining experience.
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