Providence and Newport, RI - Dec 3 - Dec 4, 2011
Posted 12/22/2011
Photo courtesy of Kristin
There are a few tried and true measurements of friendship on this Earth. Things that you will do for a good friend, no questions asked, at any time of day.
For example, if a good friend is in an argument with someone and you know, deep down, that they are wrong, what do you do? You stand by her and argue that, of course, Los Angeles is the capital of California and, duh, the San Juan Islands are found off the coast of Mexico (both, so very, very wrong).
But when a friend named Kristin tells you that she is thisclose to achieving her 24 Before 24 bucket list travel goals if she could just get to 2 new states before December 21st, you know what you have to do, right?
Come up with a ridiculous 72 hour, 1100 mile New England road trip complete with exploration of two states and a drive through seven. Were all the details planned out meticulously ahead of time such as where we will eat, where we will sleep and what we will see?
Possibly …. not.
Our recent road trip was a bit last minute but complete and total fun. We planned to let our eyes and our stomachs lead us and let everything else just fall into place. It took a little convincing on my part to make Kristin trust me that no, we don't need to know where we are staying Saturday night and that yes, everything will turn out OK. I reminded her that my husband and I traveled through Ireland for four days never knowing where we were sleeping each night and made it out just fine and about 20 lbs heavier what with all those full Irish breakfasts and smoked salmon lunches. Oh, and all the beer.
Although I have been to every state in New England, Kristin was a Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island virgin.
This needed to be fixed.
We headed off in our sleek VW rental (because every road trip needs to happen in a VW, am I right?) and after a brief but lovely pit-stop in Greenwich, CT, we arrived in Providence, Rhode Island at about 5pm and were chomping at the bit to get inside here.
There are a few tried and true measurements of friendship on this Earth. Things that you will do for a good friend, no questions asked, at any time of day.
For example, if a good friend is in an argument with someone and you know, deep down, that they are wrong, what do you do? You stand by her and argue that, of course, Los Angeles is the capital of California and, duh, the San Juan Islands are found off the coast of Mexico (both, so very, very wrong).
But when a friend named Kristin tells you that she is thisclose to achieving her 24 Before 24 bucket list travel goals if she could just get to 2 new states before December 21st, you know what you have to do, right?
Come up with a ridiculous 72 hour, 1100 mile New England road trip complete with exploration of two states and a drive through seven. Were all the details planned out meticulously ahead of time such as where we will eat, where we will sleep and what we will see?
Possibly …. not.
Our recent road trip was a bit last minute but complete and total fun. We planned to let our eyes and our stomachs lead us and let everything else just fall into place. It took a little convincing on my part to make Kristin trust me that no, we don't need to know where we are staying Saturday night and that yes, everything will turn out OK. I reminded her that my husband and I traveled through Ireland for four days never knowing where we were sleeping each night and made it out just fine and about 20 lbs heavier what with all those full Irish breakfasts and smoked salmon lunches. Oh, and all the beer.
Although I have been to every state in New England, Kristin was a Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island virgin.
This needed to be fixed.
We headed off in our sleek VW rental (because every road trip needs to happen in a VW, am I right?) and after a brief but lovely pit-stop in Greenwich, CT, we arrived in Providence, Rhode Island at about 5pm and were chomping at the bit to get inside here.
This is Al Forno, a lovely Italian restaurant in, what appears to be, an up-and-coming warehouse district of Providence. So lovely, in fact, that they have complimentary valet parking. Needless to say, I was hesitant to just hand over the keys of a rental car to some dude sitting in a little white house claiming free valet parking but Kristin assured me it was safe and I reluctantly gave up the keys.
See, this one time, a crazy uncle of mine handed over his keys to an airport car rental to a man who promised to return it for him so he can make his flight. Last we heard of that car it was driven straight to a chop shop and its body parts sent all over the tri-state area like some sort of sick and twisted rental car homicide case.
I shudder to think about it.
But, nevertheless, the keys to our VW were gone and all that was left to do was to experience the dish that put Al Forno on the map for us.
But wait! Before dinner, there is something else Al Forno is apparently known for and neither Kristin nor I knew this until we sat down at our little lovers table directly to the front/right of the bathroom door (no joke). Al Forno is known for its house-made Limoncello.
Yum! Right?
See, this one time, a crazy uncle of mine handed over his keys to an airport car rental to a man who promised to return it for him so he can make his flight. Last we heard of that car it was driven straight to a chop shop and its body parts sent all over the tri-state area like some sort of sick and twisted rental car homicide case.
I shudder to think about it.
But, nevertheless, the keys to our VW were gone and all that was left to do was to experience the dish that put Al Forno on the map for us.
But wait! Before dinner, there is something else Al Forno is apparently known for and neither Kristin nor I knew this until we sat down at our little lovers table directly to the front/right of the bathroom door (no joke). Al Forno is known for its house-made Limoncello.
Yum! Right?
Holy-God-on-high NO! That, my friends, is death. Yellow-colored death staring you right in the face. I know it looks all little and harmless served in its shot glass.
Kristin asked, “do we shoot it?”
“I don’t think so.”, I say. “ I think we sip it”.
Dear Lord, I wish I shot it.
At first, you smell this lovely bouquet of lemons right at the top. So clean, refreshing, and fun. Then you take a sip and there is a hint of lemon meringue pie sweetness on the tip of your tongue.
Then it hits the back of your mouth and so help you if there is a baby anywhere in the near vicinity because you would kick that baby straight through the Met Life stadium goal posts.
Limon Diablo. That is what that is. When Limon Diablo wakes up hungover in the morning after a long night of drinking straight up Everclear and takes a morning pee, that is this Limoncello. It was horrifying. When our waiter came over and asked how we liked it, we couldn’t hold back. We spilled the beans saying things like, “how can you serve this to people without a warning or a waiver?!” and “have you ever made a Molotov cocktail out of this because you could! You could!!”
We were so angry, and disappointed, and misled. And then our dinner came out. Do you know what Al Forno is really known for?
Kristin asked, “do we shoot it?”
“I don’t think so.”, I say. “ I think we sip it”.
Dear Lord, I wish I shot it.
At first, you smell this lovely bouquet of lemons right at the top. So clean, refreshing, and fun. Then you take a sip and there is a hint of lemon meringue pie sweetness on the tip of your tongue.
Then it hits the back of your mouth and so help you if there is a baby anywhere in the near vicinity because you would kick that baby straight through the Met Life stadium goal posts.
Limon Diablo. That is what that is. When Limon Diablo wakes up hungover in the morning after a long night of drinking straight up Everclear and takes a morning pee, that is this Limoncello. It was horrifying. When our waiter came over and asked how we liked it, we couldn’t hold back. We spilled the beans saying things like, “how can you serve this to people without a warning or a waiver?!” and “have you ever made a Molotov cocktail out of this because you could! You could!!”
We were so angry, and disappointed, and misled. And then our dinner came out. Do you know what Al Forno is really known for?
Grilled mother effing pizza. That’s right. GRILLED PIZZA!
Have you ever had grilled pizza before? No? Well then rent a VW, drive to Al Forno in Providence, RI and order their grilled mother effing pizza (that’s not how its written on the menu, it’s just grilled pizza without all the cussing, just to be clear).
Kristin and I ordered the seasonal pumpkin tomato grilled pizza and I’ll be damned if there wasn’t about ½ cup of EVOO swirling all around the surface of it.
Have you ever had grilled pizza before? No? Well then rent a VW, drive to Al Forno in Providence, RI and order their grilled mother effing pizza (that’s not how its written on the menu, it’s just grilled pizza without all the cussing, just to be clear).
Kristin and I ordered the seasonal pumpkin tomato grilled pizza and I’ll be damned if there wasn’t about ½ cup of EVOO swirling all around the surface of it.
This was like a melding of my current two most favorite foods on the planet: pizza and Indian food. The pizza connection is clear but Indian, well, the crust was very reminiscent of freshly fired naan all charred and chewy. This was so very, very good.
The party didn’t end there for Kristin and I that night. We drove to our hotel in Newport, Rhode Island and partook in some libations at a couple bars there. We enjoyed a few drinks at Pour Judgement where a John Krasinski doppelganger works and then more than a few rounds at Fastnet’s Irish Pub where a total stranger, overhearing our conversation, completely agreed with me that John Mayer is a total douchebag.
The next part of our adventure takes place in Salem, Massachusetts and includes a ghost tour and an Elvis Presley latte! Connection? Maybe.
Stay tuned.
The party didn’t end there for Kristin and I that night. We drove to our hotel in Newport, Rhode Island and partook in some libations at a couple bars there. We enjoyed a few drinks at Pour Judgement where a John Krasinski doppelganger works and then more than a few rounds at Fastnet’s Irish Pub where a total stranger, overhearing our conversation, completely agreed with me that John Mayer is a total douchebag.
The next part of our adventure takes place in Salem, Massachusetts and includes a ghost tour and an Elvis Presley latte! Connection? Maybe.
Stay tuned.
On 12/23/2011, Larry wrote:
"I made the mistake of lying and saying how good that Limoncello was when a Sardinian friend brought his momma's homemade over. Now it keeps coming back...what's one to do?"
On 12/24/2011, Liana wrote:
"When life gives you horrifying limoncello ... give it to the in-laws? (of course, you have to not like your in-laws which doesn't work in my case, but maybe yours!)
"I made the mistake of lying and saying how good that Limoncello was when a Sardinian friend brought his momma's homemade over. Now it keeps coming back...what's one to do?"
On 12/24/2011, Liana wrote:
"When life gives you horrifying limoncello ... give it to the in-laws? (of course, you have to not like your in-laws which doesn't work in my case, but maybe yours!)
