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Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island: Where Culinary Culture Defines Local Life
The UN Food and Agriculture Committee highlighted Providence as an exemplar in its publication Integrating Food into Urban Design.
Providence Tourism Council
In the realm of North American food cities, Providence, Rhode Island, often flies under the radar—but those in the know recognize it as one of the nation’s most extraordinary culinary destinations. This compact New England capital has methodically cultivated an environment where food culture defines the fabric of local life.
What sets Providence apart is no accident. As early as the 1970s, forward-thinking urban planners laid the groundwork for a food-friendly ecosystem, protecting green spaces and establishing gardens and distribution networks. Their vision was so successful that in 2019, the UN Food and Agriculture Committee highlighted Providence as an exemplar in its publication Integrating Food into Urban Design.
The city’s thriving dining scene is supported by a discerning public that values quality, alongside local laws designed to encourage food business growth, such as support for “cottage food,” meaning food made in a home kitchen for sale.
Hemenway’s Seafood Grill and Oyster Bar in Providence has undergone a recent renovation.
Hemenway’s
Chefs Love Providence
The city’s culinary excellence is anchored by Johnson & Wales University (JWU), one of the nation’s premier culinary institutions. Chef Rollie Wesen is a JWU instructor and the executive director of the Jacques Pépin Foundation—which is celebrating Pépin’s culinary legacy and upcoming 90th birthday with a series of fundraising events, including 90 extraordinary chef-hosted restaurant gatherings.
Wesen says many talented alumni choose to remain in Providence, consistently enriching the local food scene, which never gets stale. New openings happen regularly, and this spring Track 15, an 18,000-square-foot food hall located in historic Union Station is a highly anticipated addition.
“It is a great place to be a chef,” says Wesen. “Because the community is so strong and the public appreciates good food.” The city’s strategic location—within easy reach of both Boston and New York—combined with its more relaxed pace makes it an attractive home base for culinary professionals.
Providence’s food ecosystem is strengthened by exceptional local resources, says Wesen. The region boasts some of the country’s most accessible and highest-quality seafood, complemented by a robust network of farmers, producers, and shellfish farms. Farm Fresh RI, which Wesen regards as the nation’s leading food hub, creates connections between chefs and farmers while hosting vibrant farmers’ markets that have become community fixtures.
The city has a layered academic landscape—including JWU, Brown University, University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island School of Design and Providence College—which Wesen says contributes to a cosmopolitan environment where cultural diversity is celebrated through food. This intellectual and cultural ferment has given rise to an impressive array of restaurants that punch well above their weight for a city of Providence’s size.
The city has a layered academic landscape—including Johnson & Wales University, Brown University, University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island School of Design and Providence College.
Providence Tourism Council
Providence’s Culinary Travel Experiences
Rick Simone serves as the president of the Federal Hill Commerce Association, representing a vibrant area renowned for some of the finest Italian cuisine in North America, led by the legendary al Forno. “The chefs in our city often work together to push boundaries and deliver unforgettable dining experiences, drawing inspiration from a world of diverse cuisines,” says Simone.
Wesen names standout restaurants like Oberlin, Persimmon and Nick’s on Broadway—all of which have earned national recognition, while Gracie’s, Tallulah’s Taqueria, New Rivers, Sarto, Bayberry Garden and newly renovated Hemenway’s (Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence since 2012) continue to innovate and delight. He also mentions the terrific ethnic cuisine of Providence including the classic Italian restaurants on Federal Hill, plus Portuguese, Latino, Indian, Japanese, Korean and Chinese eateries.
And don’t forget the drinks. “Not to be forgotten is how well our restaurants masterfully curate wine lists and craft cocktails, pairing innovation with sophistication that elevates any dining experience,” says Simone.
This attention to detail creates experiences that keep critics and food enthusiasts coming back for more. In fact, Eater named Providence on its prestigious Where to Eat 2025 list—one of a mere 18 winners. “Providence is truly a destination for anyone with a passion for great food,” says Simone.
Wesen also points out a nearby treasure: right down the road toward Newport, on Aquidneck Island, where visitors can find food, farms, restaurants and vineyards—not to mention great breweries and distilleries.
This mix of history, education, diversity and innovation has created a dynamic food culture, making Providence one of America’s top culinary destinations. “We truly have everything we could hope for,” says Wesen. “In all phases, from brunch to late night.”
More from Forbes
New East Bay Bike Path bridges are open and ready for bikes
What’s it like to ride over the new East Bay Bike Path bridges? We sent a reporter to try them out.
I’ve long thought bike paths are among Rhode Island’s premier attractions, up there with the beaches, the mansions and the bay.
We like to knock government, but credit where it’s due, the state has done an amazing job building out an incredible pedaling network.
It’s clearly a priority.
At least I thought it was.
But they’ve just dropped the ball on what should have been a beautiful new stretch.
The plan was to finish a mile-long connector from the East Providence end of the Henderson Bridge all the way to the East Bay Bike Path.
There was even $25 million set aside to get it done.
Except WPRI recently reported that it’s now been canceled.
The main fault lies with the Trump administration, which is no friend of bike paths, and moved to kill that $25 million.
But it gets complicated, as government funding always does.
To try to rescue that money, the state DOT reportedly worked with the administration to refunnel it into a road project. Specifically, the $25 million will now be spent helping upgrade the mile-long highway between the Henderson Bridge and North Broadway in East Providence, turning it into a more pleasant boulevard.
That totally sounds worthy.
But it’s insane to throw away the bike path plan.
Especially for a particular reason in this case.
They’d already put a ton of money into starting it.
When state planners designed the new Henderson Bridge between the East Side and East Providence, they included a bike path.
It’s a beauty – well protected from traffic by a barrier, a great asset for safely riding over the Seekonk River.
The plan was to continue it another mile or so along East Providence’s Waterfront Drive, ultimately connecting with the East Bay Bike Path, which runs all the way to Bristol. Which, by the way, is one of the nicest bike paths you’ll find anywhere.
But alas, that connector plan has been canceled.
So the expensive stretch over the Henderson Bridge to East Providence is now a bike path to nowhere. Once the bridge ends, the path on it continues a few hundred yards or so and then, just … ends.
Too bad.
We were so close.
Most of the stories on the issue have been about the complex negotiation to rescue the $25 million by rerouting it to that nearby highway-to-boulevard project. But I don’t want to get lost in the weeds of that bureaucratic process here because it loses sight of the heart of this story.
Which is that an amazing new addition to one of the nation’s best state bike path systems has just been scrapped.
You can knock the Rhode Island government for blowing a lot of things.
The PawSox.
The Washington Bridge.
But they’ve done great with bike paths.
And especially, linking many of them together.
Example: not too many years ago, Providence bikers had to risk dicey traffic on the East Side to get to the more pleasant paths in India Point Park and on the 195 bridge to the East Bay Path.
But the state fixed that by adding an amazing connector that starts behind the Salvation Army building and beautifully winds along the water of the Seekonk River for a mile or so.
That makes a huge difference – and no doubt has avoided some bike-car accidents.
We were close to a comparable stretch on the other side of the river – that’s what the $25 million would have done.
But it’s now apparently dead.
Online commenters aren’t happy about it.
On a Reddit string, “Toadscoper” accused the state of being “complicit” with the feds in rerouting the money from bikes to cars.
And there was this fascinating post from FineLobster 5322, who apparently is a disappointed planner who worked on the project: “Mind you money has already been spent on phase one so rejecting it at this point is wasting money and also against the public interest … but what do I know? I only worked on the project as an engineer … I didn’t get into this to build more highways. I do it … to give back to communities and give them more access to their environment.”
Wow. One can imagine the state planning team is devastated. That’s not a small consideration. Good people go into government to make life better in Rhode Island, and it’s a bad play to take the spirit out of the job by first assigning a great human-scale project and then, after a ton of work, trashing it.
A poster named Homosapiens simply said, “We just accept this?”
Hopefully not.
The first stretch of the path over the Henderson Bridge is done, money already sunk.
What a shame to leave that as a path to nowhere.
It doesn’t have to happen.
Between Governor McKee and our Washington delegation, there’s got to be a way to get this done.
There’s got to be.
mpatinki@providencejournal.com
WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Two people are dead and another person seriously hurt after a crash involving two vehicles on the highway in Warwick Saturday.
Rhode Island State Police said the crash happened around 1:34 p.m. on the ramp from Route 113 West to I-95 South.
According to police, a Hyundai SUV that was driving in the middle lane of the highway started to drift to the right, crossed the first lane, and then crossed onto the on-ramp lane. The car struck the guardrail twice before driving through the grass median.
The Hyundai then struck the driver’s side of a Mercedes SUV that was on the ramp, causing the Mercedes to roll over and come to a rest. The impact sent the Hyundai over the guardrail and down an embankment.
The driver of the Hyundai, a 73-year-old man, and his passenger, a 69-year-old woman, were both pronounced dead at the hospital.
A woman who was in the Mercedes was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition.
State police said all lanes of traffic were reopened by 4:30 p.m.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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Watch 12 News Now on WPRI.com or with the free WPRI 12+ TV app.
A federal judge on Friday tossed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit aiming to force Rhode Island to hand over its voter information as part of the Trump administration’s push to acquire voter data from several states.
Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy wrote that federal law does not allow the DOJ “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” siding with Rhode Island election officials. She added that the DOJ did not provide evidence to suggest that Rhode Island violated election law.
McElroy, a Trump appointee, wrote that she sided with the similar decision in Oregon. That decision ruled that the DOJ was not entitled to unredacted voter registration lists.
“Absent from the demand are any factual allegations suggesting that Rhode Island may be violating the list maintenance requirements,” she said in her ruling.
Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D) praised McElroy’s decision. He said in a statement that the Trump administration “seems to have no problem taking actions that are clear Constitutional overreaches, regularly meddling in responsibilities that are the rights of the states.”
“Today’s decision affirms our position: the United States Department of Justice has no legal right to – or need for – the personally-identifiable information in our voter file,” he said. “Voter list maintenance is a responsibility entrusted to the states, and I remain confident in the steps we take here in Rhode Island to keep our list as accurate as possible.”
The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.
The DOJ called for the voter lists as it investigated Rhode Island’s compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which allowed Americans to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license.
The DOJ sued at least 30 states, as well as Washington, D.C., in December demanding their respective voter data. This data includes birth dates, names and partial Social Security numbers.
At least 12 states have given or said they will give the DOJ their voter registration lists, according to a tracker operated by the Brennan Center for Justice.
The department stated after it lost a similar suit against Massachusetts earlier this month that it had “sweeping powers” to access the voter data and that, if states fail to comply, courts have a “limited, albeit vital, role” in directing election officers on behalf of the administration to produce the records. The DOJ cited the Civil Rights Act as being intended to unearth alleged election law violations.
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