Johnnie could not resist having her Red Stripe usual: grilled tea-smoked tofu “steak” ($16). It was “plenty smoky from the grill,” she reported, apart from any Lapsang Souchong tea influence, and she enjoyed the accompanying vegetables, which were roasted in paper to keep in the juices. There was also a generous pile of mesclun greens in a raspberry vinaigrette.
Final courses range from a Farmstead cheese plate ($16) to retro-trad banana-splits and hot-fudge sundaes (each $7). Johnnie couldn’t decide between the cinnamon or dulce de leche ice creams ($5), so she had some of both. They were wonderful, restrained with both the spice and the sweetness.
The night we checked out the place, D’Oliveira was in the house, easily recognizable by his long braid and intense manner; we noticed him sweeping up spots, now and then.
So is he planning any other Red Stripe spin-offs? Well, the Newport Creamery in Garden City looks like it’s thriving but, D’Oliveira says, he does have his eye on it. He was jok-ing. At least I think he was joking. But more Red Stripes are on the horizon, he indicated. Today Narragansett, tomorrow signs outside saying, “Millions of Moules Served.”
Bill Rodriguez can be reached atbill@billrod.com.
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