Lost Restaurants of Providence


Book Description

In the city that invented the diner, so many amazing restaurants remain only in memories. The Silver Top had fresh coffee every twenty minutes, and the Ever Ready was hot dog heaven. Miss Dutton's Green Room and the Shepard Tea Room beckoned shoppers in their Sunday finest. At Childs, the griddle chef made butter cakes in the window for night owls, and Harry Houdini supped at midnight with H.P. Lovecraft at the Waldorf Lunch. Themed lounges like the Beachcomber and the Bacchante Room chased away the Prohibition blues. Downcity Diner offered a famous meatloaf, and Ming Garden's Ming Wings were a staple for regulars. Author David Norton Stone details the restaurants that still hold a place in the hearts of locals.




Lost Providence


Book Description

Dave Brussat has made a significant contribution to the history of Providence. For those interested in that history, Lost Providence is a real find. Providence Journal Providence has one of the nation's most intact historic downtowns and is one of America's most beautiful cities. The history of architectural change in the city is one of lost buildings, urban renewal plans and challenges to preservation. The Narragansett Hotel, a lost city icon, hosted many famous guests and was demolished in 1960. The American classical renaissance expressed itself in the Providence National Bank, tragically demolished in 2005. Urban renewal plans such as the Downtown Providence plan and the College Hill plan threatened the city in the mid-twentieth century. Providence eventually embraced its heritage through plans like the River Relocation Project that revitalized the city's waterfront and the Downcity Plan that revitalized its downtown. Author David Brussat chronicles the trials and triumphs of Providence's urban development.




Rediscovering Lost Innocence


Book Description

In the first half of the nineteenth-century, responsibility for child care primarily rested within families. Needy children were often cared for by community-sponsored efforts that varied widely in quality, as well as by benevolent organizations dedicated to children’s welfare. The late 1800s was marked by major social service infrastructure construction and development. During this period, guided by progressive concerns about the role of the state in responding to societal changes resulting from urbanization and industrialization, Rhode Island took on a more active statewide role in public education, sewers, parks, prisons, and child welfare systems. New ideas about civil rights extended to race, to women, to labor, and to children. Old institutions, such as town almshouses and poor farms, were replaced by state institutions, such as the State Home, which opened in 1885. One might expect to find a huge record for custodial children well imbedded in regional literatures or social science and history texts, yet this is not the case. The State Home Project began in 2001 with no evocative life histories, and no local or regional childhood narratives about the former residents of the State Home upon which to build. It remains an important place because thousands of children and citizens lived portions of their lives there. Documenting children's educational, social and health experiences are not inconsequential. To be sure, varied narratives about custodial children developed as we dug into the soils, read unexamined case histories, and talked with former residents. Archaeology offers the possibility of recovering lost and missing details, and, in collaboration with other disciplines, creates a rich narrative of a place. These experiences were significant in our past; they are important to us in the present and to future generations. They demonstrate our common history.




New England Tiki


Book Description

New Englanders are as far away from the South Pacific as any American can be, yet when tiki fever gripped the country in the mid-twentieth century, even they were not immune. Tropical-themed restaurants and bars sprang up in the unlikeliest of places, from coastal cities to far-flung suburbs. Places like the Hu Ke Lau, the Aku-Aku and the Kowloon were packed every night. Decades after the fever ended, it re-emerged as a new century dawned, and New Englanders took up the mantles of Polynesian pop to escape to places of tropical leisure in their own backyard. Local author Kevin Quigley dives deep into the region's unusual history with tiki culture.




Lost Restaurants of Central Ohio and Columbus


Book Description

From remote diners to downtown political havens, the restaurants of central Ohio satisfied palates for generations. In the era of Sunday drives before interstates, fabulous family-owned restaurants were the highlight of the trip. Sample the epicurean empires established by Greek, Italian, German and Chinese families. Recall the secrets of Surly Girl's chandelier, the delicious recipes handed down by chefs and the location of Flippo the Clown's former jazz hideaway. Following their previous book, Lost Restaurants of Columbus, authors Christine Hayes and Doug Motz deliver a second helping of unforgettable establishments that cemented central Ohio's reputation for good food and fun. That includes eighteen destination eateries in fifteen surrounding towns.




Lost Restaurants of Baltimore


Book Description

Baltimore's unforgettable dining scene of the past is re-visited here in thirty-five now shuttered restaurants that made their mark on this city. Haussner's artwork. Coffey salad at the Pimlico Hotel. Finger bowls at Hutzler's Colonial Tea Room. The bell outside the door at Martick's Restaurant Francais. Details like these made Baltimore's dining scene so unforgettable. Explore the stories behind thirty-five shuttered restaurants that Baltimoreans once loved and remember the meals, the crowds, the owners and the spaces that made these places hot spots. Suzanne Loudermilk and Kit Waskom Pollard share behind-the-scenes tales of what made them tick, why they closed their doors and how they helped make Baltimore a culinary destination.




Politics and Pasta


Book Description

The story behind the podcast Crimetown, as told by the notorious Buddy Cianci himself. An election is a war and "to the victor belongs the spoils." That’s the real democratic process. After all, you'll never see a victorious politician tell his supporters, "I want to thank all of you who worked so hard for my election. However, in the interest of good government, I've decided to give all the jobs to those people who voted against me." This belief became Buddy Cianci’s mantra. Following his own rules, Cianci spent almost three decades as mayor of Providence, RI... before leaving for an enforced vacation in a federally funded gated community. Providence was a dying industrial city when he first took office, but he helped turn it into one of the most desirable places to live in America. He did it by playing the game of hardball politics as well as it has ever been played, living up to his favorite Sinatra lyric "I did it my way"—because that's the only way a mayor can run a city. If you want to know the truth about how politics is played, you picked the right book. This is the behind-the-locked-door story of how politics in America really works. Here is a man who has been called many things: "America's Most Innovative Mayor," a "colorful character," and a convicted felon. But no one has ever called him shy. Here, he serves it all up.




Secrets of the Lost Summer


Book Description

Join New York Times bestselling author Carla Neggers with the first book in her fan—favorite Swift River Valley series A wave of hope carries Olivia Frost back to her small New England hometown nestled in the beautiful Swift River Valley. She’s transforming a historic home into an idyllic getaway—picturesque and perfect, if only the absentee owner will fix up the eyesore next door… Dylan McCaffrey’s ramshackle house is an inheritance he never counted on. It also holds the key to a generations-old lost treasure he can’t resist any more than he can resist his new neighbor. Against this breathtaking landscape, Dylan and Olivia pursue long-buried secrets and discover a mystery wrapped in a love story…past and present.




The New Paris


Book Description

“[Tramuta] draws back the curtain on the city’s hipper, more happening side—as obsessed with coffee, creativity, and brunch as Brooklyn or Berlin.” —My Little Paris The city long-adored for its medieval beauty, old-timey brasseries, and corner cafés has even more to offer today. In the last few years, a flood of new ideas and creative locals has infused a once-static, traditional city with a new open-minded sensibility and energy. Journalist Lindsey Tramuta offers detailed insight into the rapidly evolving worlds of food, wine, pastry, coffee, beer, fashion, and design in the delightful city of Paris. Tramuta puts the spotlight on the new trends and people that are making France’s capital a more whimsical, creative, vibrant, and curious place to explore than its classical reputation might suggest. With hundreds of striking photographs that capture this fresh, animated spirit—and a curated directory of Tramuta’s favorite places to eat, drink, stay, and shop—The New Paris shows us the storied City of Light as never before. “The author’s vibrant and precise command of English frames this lively collection of insights about cultural change and stories regarding multiple chefs and merchants.” —Forbes “As the culinary scene in Paris evolves, a new palate of flavors and styles of eating have emerged, redefining what is ‘French cuisine.’ The New Paris documents these changes through the lens of bakers, coffee roasters, ice cream makers, chefs, and even food truck owners. A thoughtful, and delicious, look at how Paris continues to delight and excite the palates of visitors and locals.” —David Lebovitz, author of My Paris Kitchen




A History of Howard Johnson's


Book Description

The iconic restaurant chain that defined Americana by introducing twenty-eight flavors of ice cream, “tendersweet” clam strips, grilled “frankforts,” and more. Popularly known as the “Father of the Franchise Industry,” Howard Johnson delivered good food and fair prices—a winning combination that brought appreciative customers back for more. The attractive white Colonial Revival restaurants, with eye-catching porcelain tile roofs, illuminated cupolas, and sea blue shutters, were described in Reader’s Digest in 1949 as the epitome of “eating places that look like New England town meeting houses dressed up for Sunday.” Learn how Johnson created an orange-roofed empire of ice cream stands and restaurants that stretched from Maine to Florida . . . then all the way across the country.