2015: The Clamcake Year in Review
In 2015, we said goodbye to some old favorites and welcomed a few additions to the world of Rhode Island clam shacks.
7 Seas Chowder House in Warwick near Rocky Point is listed on a few online sites as "permanently closed". I will miss its screened dining room decorated with potato sacks from all those spuds used in the chowder.
Yesterday's in Newport is now itself a nostalgia piece. Since 1974, it was a cozy place to have chowder and stuffies year round, but alas has no tomorrows, since it closed in the fall.
Perhaps in recompense, a new clam shack opened smack dab in downtown Newport: the Perry Mill Clam Shack. I didn't get a chance to try it last year, but am pleased to see a take-out window option right on Thames in case there's a traffic jam blocking my way to Flo's.
Iggy's Creamery and Boardwalk opened in June and made Oakland Beach even more of a destination by adding a table service option for enjoying Iggy's clamcakes, chowder and other fare with a million dollar view of the Bay, as well as an ice cream shop serving doughboy sundaes.
Most thrillingly, movie nights at Rocky Point included food trucks, allowing me to eat clamcakes and chowder again at Rocky Point. Can a new shore dinner hall be far behind?
I proposed just that when I was a speaker at the Warwick Rotary Club in March and argued that any plans for Rocky Point's future must include clamcakes and chowder.
In other news, there is a movement afoot in Wickford to revive the Quahog Festival there. There is talk of live music, a parade and a best stuffie competition. No word yet on whether the quahog fashion show will be brought back. But I'm working on a pillbox hat decorated with clamcakes just in case.
Finally, and personally, in 2015 I began work (with co-author Christopher Martin of quahog.org) on a new book for Arcadia Publishing titled Images of America: Rhode Island Clam Shacks. That should keep me busy and salivating through 2016!
Happy New Year and thanks for your companionship in celebrating Rhode Island's glorious shellfish heritage.
7 Seas Chowder House in Warwick near Rocky Point is listed on a few online sites as "permanently closed". I will miss its screened dining room decorated with potato sacks from all those spuds used in the chowder.
Yesterday's in Newport is now itself a nostalgia piece. Since 1974, it was a cozy place to have chowder and stuffies year round, but alas has no tomorrows, since it closed in the fall.
Perhaps in recompense, a new clam shack opened smack dab in downtown Newport: the Perry Mill Clam Shack. I didn't get a chance to try it last year, but am pleased to see a take-out window option right on Thames in case there's a traffic jam blocking my way to Flo's.
Iggy's Creamery and Boardwalk opened in June and made Oakland Beach even more of a destination by adding a table service option for enjoying Iggy's clamcakes, chowder and other fare with a million dollar view of the Bay, as well as an ice cream shop serving doughboy sundaes.
Most thrillingly, movie nights at Rocky Point included food trucks, allowing me to eat clamcakes and chowder again at Rocky Point. Can a new shore dinner hall be far behind?
I proposed just that when I was a speaker at the Warwick Rotary Club in March and argued that any plans for Rocky Point's future must include clamcakes and chowder.
In other news, there is a movement afoot in Wickford to revive the Quahog Festival there. There is talk of live music, a parade and a best stuffie competition. No word yet on whether the quahog fashion show will be brought back. But I'm working on a pillbox hat decorated with clamcakes just in case.
Finally, and personally, in 2015 I began work (with co-author Christopher Martin of quahog.org) on a new book for Arcadia Publishing titled Images of America: Rhode Island Clam Shacks. That should keep me busy and salivating through 2016!
Happy New Year and thanks for your companionship in celebrating Rhode Island's glorious shellfish heritage.
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