Harvard Farmers Market

Les Femmes Fraiches crossed the border this week to check out the eat-local scene just south of us in Rhode Island.  We found ourselves at a fabulous destination called The Mooring, right on the docks of Newport’s Sayer’s Wharf.  The Mooring is part of a group of RI restaurants dedicated to local and sustainable food resources.  Their seafood is fresh caught daily, and they use local and organically grown produce whenever possible.  Local contributing farms are listed on the menu and include Belmont Fruit, Newport Lobster, Foley’s Seafood, Farming Turtles and more.  According to The Mooring, they wish to ‘enhance the connection between the plate and its source.’  A like-minded group of folks for sure!

The Moorings ‘Bag of Doughnuts’ – lobster, crab & shrimp fritters with chipotle-maple aioli

The next day we happened upon a small cheese, coffee and bake shop on Bellevue Avenue called Le Petit Gourmet.   Part of a program called Farm Fresh Rhode Island, we learned that the entire state is making a concerted effort to support local resources in many amazing ways.  In this instance, small stores such as Le Petit Gourmet are able to purchase food from local area farms in a CSA type of fashion:  Storeowners choose the products they would like to sell, and a boxful of those products from various RI farms will be delivered.  We were thrilled to see some of our local favorites including Harvard Farmers’ Market’s own Shy Brother’s cheeses on board, and we were delighted to bring home one of Rhode Island’s own premier artisan cheeses.   It was spectacular, especially paired with wine from the same owner’s store next door The Newport Wine Cellar.  Kudos to those behind the scene finding creative ways to get farm fresh goods to consumers!