The Top Dozen Clamcake, Stuffie and Clam Chowder Events of 2014
As the year fritters away into its final days and we begin the countdown to 2015 and the reopening of our favorite clam shacks in a few months, I'm continuing my tradition of selecting the top clamcake, stuffie and chowder events of the departing year. These are the top dozen clammy highlights of 2014:
12. On June 27, 2014, calamari is named the official Rhode Island state appetizer. Later that same day, clamcake, stuffie and clam chowder are asked for their reactions "No one obeys the law in this state," clamcake scoffs. "Calamari needs a law to be loved?" Stuffie mocks. "I don't know about them, but I'm boiling about it. I'm really steamy. It's a hot potato. Let's be clear, I'm seeing red. This isn't just spilled milk," says clam chowder.
11. Buddy Cianci runs again for mayor of Providence. Clamcake, stuffie and chowder consumption shoots way up until November as East Siders stress eat.
10. Business must be up at clam shacks and seafood restaurants, because Iggy's expands, Matunuck Oyster Bar adds a second floor and I'm back on Weight Watchers.
9. Rocky Point Clam Shack opens in a souped up (chowdered up?) trailer on Post Road in Warwick, and brings back the beloved orange chowder and small clamcakes. The Rocky Point name proves a huge draw as lines to order are as long as those for the Flume during a heat wave.
8. In the year's best clamcake hack, The Newport Lobster Shack introduces Lobster Belly Bombs, which are like clam cakes but studded with lobster meat. These rich fritters are only $4 for a half dozen, so try them some weekend when the shack starts selling cooked food again in the spring. But after a lordly lobster lunch among the Newport mansions you may be asking along with the Dowager Countess, "What's a weekend?"
7. Horton's Seafood in East Providence closes after being in business since 1945. Its ardent fans hope the dispute with the city can be worked out and that this institution that fed and employed so many will return.
6. In March 2014, Don Bousquet retires from drawing his weekly comics for the Providence Journal. This is no laughing matter for those who raced to the Sunday paper funnies for his often quahog-themed jests about hefty Rhode Islanders.
5. On June 29, 2014, the Chepachet Union Church reenacts the Trolley Day ceremony that had occurred a century earlier when the trolley from Providence first arrived in Chepachet. They serve the same lunch of chowder, clamcakes and watermelon that was served a hundred years ago. These are the rarest chowder and clamcakes in Rhode Island, occurring only every hundred years. And, traditionalists, you may want to sit down. The chowder the church served in both 1914 and 2014 was...red.
4. The stuffie comes to New York City! A restaurant called the Clam at 420 Hudson Street serves a cherrystone stuffie. But why is it that with countless restaurants serving every global cuisine, Manhattan is only in 2014 discovering Rhode Island?
3. 2014 had its tragedies, including a fire that closed the recently opened Palmer River Clam Shack in Rehoboth. The owners plan to rebuild and reopen. I will be among the first in line when they do, because clam shacks are more than a business, they are a passion to those who own them and deserving of support.
2. The third annual Quahogger's Jamboree takes place on June 11 at the most quahog-celebrating library in the state, the Warwick Public Library. Real fishermen are there, as well as a quahogging boat and a special appearance by me, David Norton Stone, reading from my book Clamcake Summer and taking about my quest to find the best clamcakes, stuffies and chowders in the state. I ask the quahogger who is there for his favorite chowder recipe. He responds, "I use whatever is in the refrigerator that day." He promises to take me out quahogging in his boat in the spring. That should be the top highlight of my 2015 list!
1. Clamcakes are chosen as the quintessential Rhode Island thing in the I Luv RI bracket competition. People voted for the clamcake over Del's, the saugy, New York system and even, in a titanic first round face off, the stuffie. My life's work is validated!
Happy 2015 everyone. Please share your own favorite clamcake, stuffie and chowder moments of 2014!
12. On June 27, 2014, calamari is named the official Rhode Island state appetizer. Later that same day, clamcake, stuffie and clam chowder are asked for their reactions "No one obeys the law in this state," clamcake scoffs. "Calamari needs a law to be loved?" Stuffie mocks. "I don't know about them, but I'm boiling about it. I'm really steamy. It's a hot potato. Let's be clear, I'm seeing red. This isn't just spilled milk," says clam chowder.
11. Buddy Cianci runs again for mayor of Providence. Clamcake, stuffie and chowder consumption shoots way up until November as East Siders stress eat.
10. Business must be up at clam shacks and seafood restaurants, because Iggy's expands, Matunuck Oyster Bar adds a second floor and I'm back on Weight Watchers.
9. Rocky Point Clam Shack opens in a souped up (chowdered up?) trailer on Post Road in Warwick, and brings back the beloved orange chowder and small clamcakes. The Rocky Point name proves a huge draw as lines to order are as long as those for the Flume during a heat wave.
8. In the year's best clamcake hack, The Newport Lobster Shack introduces Lobster Belly Bombs, which are like clam cakes but studded with lobster meat. These rich fritters are only $4 for a half dozen, so try them some weekend when the shack starts selling cooked food again in the spring. But after a lordly lobster lunch among the Newport mansions you may be asking along with the Dowager Countess, "What's a weekend?"
7. Horton's Seafood in East Providence closes after being in business since 1945. Its ardent fans hope the dispute with the city can be worked out and that this institution that fed and employed so many will return.
6. In March 2014, Don Bousquet retires from drawing his weekly comics for the Providence Journal. This is no laughing matter for those who raced to the Sunday paper funnies for his often quahog-themed jests about hefty Rhode Islanders.
5. On June 29, 2014, the Chepachet Union Church reenacts the Trolley Day ceremony that had occurred a century earlier when the trolley from Providence first arrived in Chepachet. They serve the same lunch of chowder, clamcakes and watermelon that was served a hundred years ago. These are the rarest chowder and clamcakes in Rhode Island, occurring only every hundred years. And, traditionalists, you may want to sit down. The chowder the church served in both 1914 and 2014 was...red.
4. The stuffie comes to New York City! A restaurant called the Clam at 420 Hudson Street serves a cherrystone stuffie. But why is it that with countless restaurants serving every global cuisine, Manhattan is only in 2014 discovering Rhode Island?
3. 2014 had its tragedies, including a fire that closed the recently opened Palmer River Clam Shack in Rehoboth. The owners plan to rebuild and reopen. I will be among the first in line when they do, because clam shacks are more than a business, they are a passion to those who own them and deserving of support.
2. The third annual Quahogger's Jamboree takes place on June 11 at the most quahog-celebrating library in the state, the Warwick Public Library. Real fishermen are there, as well as a quahogging boat and a special appearance by me, David Norton Stone, reading from my book Clamcake Summer and taking about my quest to find the best clamcakes, stuffies and chowders in the state. I ask the quahogger who is there for his favorite chowder recipe. He responds, "I use whatever is in the refrigerator that day." He promises to take me out quahogging in his boat in the spring. That should be the top highlight of my 2015 list!
1. Clamcakes are chosen as the quintessential Rhode Island thing in the I Luv RI bracket competition. People voted for the clamcake over Del's, the saugy, New York system and even, in a titanic first round face off, the stuffie. My life's work is validated!
Happy 2015 everyone. Please share your own favorite clamcake, stuffie and chowder moments of 2014!
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