NEWPORT FOOD SCENE: Who wins a gold medal in the Aquidneck Island restaurant Olympics?
This Friday, the ceremonial torch will be lit in Beijing to officially kick off the 2022 Winter Games.
While it doesn’t feel like there’s too much Olympic fever around here (we’ve been vaccinated for that), once the Games begin, we will inevitably get sucked into the triumphs and stories of the competition.
Perhaps you find the combination of shooting and skiing that make up the biathlon a bit absurd, but when you learn it’s the only winter event in which an American has yet to capture an Olympic medal, you will suddenly become invested.
You now have something to root for. You’ll become a biatha-fan. Throw in more drama, like biathlete and native New Englander Susan Dunklee’s making this Olympics her last competition before retirement, and all of a sudden you find yourself setting your alarm for 4 a.m. to watch the Women’s 10K qualifiers.
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We get caught up in it all — the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat. There’s something about seeing those gold medals being placed around a winner’s neck that makes us cheer.
There are very few of us who will ever be an Olympic athlete, but there’s something to be said about watching a competition to settle who's best. We like to pick our favorites and root for them. It makes us feel like we’ve got a stake in the competition. Plus, it gives us lots to talk about with anyone else watching.
Maybe that’s why we should have an Aquidneck Island restaurant Olympics. We could showcase the amazing talents of all those hard-working chefs, bartenders and menu creators. We could award the winners a gold medal for excellence and they could wear them around town with pride.
We could engage the whole Island in conversations about who are the most deserving champions. People would wear their team colors. They’d be singing the anthems and chanting their names in the streets.
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Think about what events we could have. There’d be the always controversial Best Lobster Roll event. The Mooring and Brick Alley Pub might be the favorites, but don’t count out The Red Parrot, The Lobster Shack or the sentimental favorite, Easton’s Beach Snack Bar.
Who would medal in the Best Chowder category? The Black Pearl is a perpetual frontrunner, but what about Anthony’s Seafood and Flo’s Clam Shack?
We could have the championship Best Donut match, too, with Ma’s Donuts going up against New England Donuts and the Ivan Drago-like Dunkin'.
In the international spirit of the Olympics, we could have events to pick the top regional foods as well. Where can you get the Best Thai Food in town? Is your champion Siam Square, Bangkok City or Thai Cuisine?
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Who takes the gold in the Best Mexican event? Diego’s, Tito’s Cantina and Perro Salado are at the top of the leader board, but will Tallulah’s Taqueria in Jamestown be the Cinderella Story?
Could Ching Tao win the gold for Best Chinese Food, or will it be Ming Moon or China Star? There’s true competition to be the best all throughout Newport.
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Sports metaphors always fit nicely into the world of hospitality. Both require teamwork to achieve a shared goal, but also allow for individual achievement on the road to success. At the end of the day, in sports and in restaurants, the goal is to be the best. The champion of the day.
In sports, the act of watching is sharing in the emotions behind that team’s success (or failure). The Olympics are perhaps the greatest example of that spirit. It goes beyond rooting for your favorite. Who you cheer for is tied to your heritage and to your sense of patriotism. It’s a sense of pride in the best of what we have.
That’s why I think we need to cheer for our restaurants like they are Olympians. Rooting for your favorite eatery is about taking pride in our whole restaurant community. And like an Olympian that uses the roar of the crowd to help take it to the next level, our restaurants could use your cheers now.
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They’ve been training and working harder than ever in the hopes they can reach the top of the winner’s podium. Your support might be what gets them there.
When Olympic fever comes to town this weekend, get ready to cheer. But no matter who wins in Beijing, don’t forget to root for the team at home. Cheer for your gold medal winner in the Best Sandwich in Newport event. (Will it be Pickles, A Deli or the Ashmart?)
Cheer for your favorite Local Brewery. (Taproot, Rejects or Ragged Island?) Start the chant for your favorite Breakfast Spot. (Annie’s, Cindy's Country Café or Foodworks?)
Whoever you are rooting for, keep the cheers loud! There will be plenty of tasty gold medal meals waiting for us all when the Olympic torch is blown out.
Dan Lederer is a Middletown resident with 30 years experience in the food service industry throughout New England. He continues to work locally behind the scenes within the industry and remains a devoted fan of all things restaurant and hospitality related. His column appears on newportri.com and Thursdays in The Daily News. Cheers!
This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Newport RI: Who wins gold in Aquidneck Island restaurant Olympics?
