Makes a six-pack
Equipment: Funnel, glass bottles and caps, at-home capper
1 c gin (preferably something neutral like Beefeater or Plymouth)
1 c grapefruit juice (preferably fresh or not-from-concentrate)
1⁄2 c thyme syrup
1⁄2 c fresh lime juice 6 c soda water
Make the thyme syrup: Boil 1 cup each of sugar and water with five sprigs of fresh thyme until sugar dissolves. Let cool. Store excess syrup in the refrigerator for future use.
Make the sodas: Mix together syrup, gin and juices. Pour into bottles using a funnel, then top off with club soda. Cap immediately per capper’s instructions, then refrigerate. Capping as quickly as possible after adding the soda ensures maximum carbonation.More
Looking for a little more than just a sit down dinner? Try the Providence Alternative Market. Every Saturday between 10am-2pm from now until October 26, this “alternative” farmer’s market provides food trucks such as Mijos Tacos and Rocket Fine Street Food, other food vendors, artisans, musicians, crafts and local farmers’ produce. Browse the various artisan pieces and musical performances, all while enjoying a fist full of food in each hand. So what makes this market so alternative? “We’re shooting for the full package,” says Richard Suls, “with workshops almost every week, food trucks, musicians and ample parking. It is really an evolution of the farmer’s market.” To find out which businesses and vendors are coming each week like them on Facebook. More
If pizza isn’t your food of choice, try newly opened Succotash. Operated by executive chef Ryan Keough and Umberto Sorbo of Coco Pazzo, this venue offers a variety of options for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and also includes a full service bar. With culinary that is described as “southern-flare soul food,” this location offers favorites like fried chicken and waffles and cornmeal crusted catfish salad, to a variety of delicious vegetarian and vegan options. Dinner is served after 5pm with succulent entrees like the Apple Brined Calabrese Pork Chops with creole mustard, which can be paired with any of their southern-inspired sides. If you’re an early bird and want to do breakfast as big as they do in the South, try some of their fluffy banana and berries waffles and pancakes or smoked salmon omelet. Even their juices have a unique twist, like Little Havana, a mixture of banana, lime, mint, pineapple and coconut – a refreshing taste of the tropics for the summer heat. Soon to provide special discounts to students around the area, including Johnson & Wales and Brown University, you’ll be sure to see plenty of hungry mouths there.More
We went back to school for the cover photo shoot of our July edition. For the third annual installment of our Superlatives Issue, we found two native Lincoln gals who made it to the big leagues as members of the New England Patriots cheerleading squad – who better for our cover photo? In keeping with the high school yearbook superlatives spirit of the story, we brought rookie Brittany Dickie and third-year veteran Jodi Ricci to Classical High School for the shoot with photographer Corey Grayhorse. Needless to say, they caused quite a stir. They slipped in the door relatively unnoticed in the warmup sweats, but once they changed into the iconic uniforms they became an undeniable presence.
First, we met with Principal Scott Barr, who, as you might imagine, was more than gracious in welcoming the ladies into his school.
Next up, we brought them into the library. Not surprisingly, bringing two cheerleaders in uniform into a library full of high school kids proved to be a bit of a distraction.
We also got librarian Jonathan Ryder into the mix, playing off the job's reputation for professional shush-ing.
For the second photo setup, we moved out into the hallway, where student Odina Ellis was kind enough to let us commandeer her locker.
When the bell between classes rang while we were still mid-shoot, our ladies again proved to be the center of attention.
For the final set-up, we moved them out in front of the school's trophy case. Though the ladies were forbidden by NFL policy from jumping or dancing in our photos, that didn't stop Corey from showing off a couple moves.
Of course, fuzzy iPhone photos barely do justice to the incredible work these ladies put in. To see the final results, you'll just have to wait for our July issue. Suffice to say it will be one of our most cheerful covers ever.More
Mark Tuesday, July 9 on your calendar: it just might be the most important date all summer. In the spirit of our third annual Superlatives Issue, we're throwing our first annual Superlatives Party at Aqua – and it promises to be a superlative event. We'll be celebrating the movers, shakers, creators and, yes, cheerleaders featured in our Superlatives Issue with great food, cool music, cocktails by the pool and maybe even a few surprises along the way. We're also excited to have last year's Superlatives cover girls, PVD Lady Project, helping us to make this the coolest party ever. More details will follow, and tickets go on sale soon. Check us out on Facebook or Twitter for updates and announcements – but most importantly, put it on your schedule now! After all, you don't want to miss the coolest, most superlative event of the season.More
The Manton Avenue Project deserves a round of applause for all the good they do in de veloping the creative voices of kids living in Olneyville by pairing children with local theatre professionals to create original plays. The non-profit welcomes the public to its annual fundraiser, the Manton Avenue Project Gala. This year’s event includes a musical performance of reworked kids’ time travel-themed plays as well as a raffle, an auction and a time machine experience. Bring your creative spirit and prepare to be wowed by these tiny talented thespians. June 7. $50 online at Brown Paper Tickets or $60 at the door. 6-9pm. Fete, 103 Dike Street. 383-1112.
The Providence Preservation Society will host the Festival of Historic Houses 2013 (June 7-9) this month. The weekend kicks off with a Friday night progressive cocktail party on the corner of Prospect and Jenckes Streets and continues with a tour of several elegant Prospect Street homes on Saturday afternoon. Participants can nose around, taking in grand architecture, extraordinary interiors, private gardens and sweeping city views. On Sunday, tourgoers will browse loft spaces at Monohasset Mill on the West Side. $35 advance members; $40 advance non-members; $45 day of tickets; $70 advance two-day tickets (Saturday and Sunday). $125 Friday night cocktail event, which includes a ticket for either Saturday or Sunday. 831- 7440.More
Gourmet Heaven has opened at 205 Meeting Street in the space formerly occupied by Cosa Nostra and, before that, Via Via Pizzeria. This is the chain’s fourth location, having made a splash two years ago when it opened Downtown’s only grocery store. Gourmet Heaven also has an extensive prepared foods section and salad bar, and will be open 24/7.
After 28 years in business, Details is closing its doors at 277 Thayer Street. The store’s inventory is on 30% off clearance until the store closes at the beginning of June.
Method Fitness has closed its Wayland Square location in preparation for a move to a bigger facility in Richmond Square, where owner Amahl Harik plans to offer more of their popular programs like boot camp.
Everyone was surprised to hear that Cuban Revolution’s Aborn Street location unexpectedly closed. While there’s no clear story on what happened, some Facebook posts the restaurant made point to problems with their downtown landlord. Cuban’s Valley Street location is open for business as usual.
The Providence Flea is a new, upscale outdoor market selling upscale crafts, jewelry and novelties. It starts June 2 and happens every Sunday through August in the parking lot of the Wild Colonial on South Water Street.More
On Monday, May 13, Cluck!, the humble little urban farming supply store that’s caused the big controversy, was granted the zoning variance necessary for it to open at 399 Broadway – for the second time. Though the same variance was granted once before, it was appealed and overturned by a cabal of opponents whose motivations ranged from at best self-serving to at worst transparently spiteful and spurious. Now, proprietor Drake Patten once again has the green light from the Zoning Board of Review and has reached an agreement to assuage the concerns of one of the main objectors, Sts. Vartanantz Armenian Church across the street. If the subsequent 20-day appeal period passes without incident – which, at least for the moment, it seems as if it will – then Cluck! will be open for business.
I would like to use this column to send a message to those opponents: I suspect we haven’t heard the last of you, but for the moment it seems that you’ve lost your battle – and you deserved to. How could you not lose? Shame on you. This ridiculous charade you staged in order to get your way – raising trivial objections, speculating about unrealistic hypotheticals, trying to invalidate Patten’s progress on ridiculous technicalities and generally just braying like hysterical children – could not conceal the fact that you had painted yourself a rhetorical corner. You essentially forced yourself into the position of arguing that an abandoned gas station was somehow better for the neighborhood than a gardening supply store.
That a small business owner should have to endure months of legal fights, backbiting and fear mongering, rack up exorbitant legal fees and rally the support of hundreds of neighbors simply to earn the right to sell seeds and garden tools in a once blighted property that she has remodeled and revitalized is patently absurd and sends a terrible message about the cost of doing business in our fair …More
