Newport Restaurant Week Returns April 5-14

NEWPORT, RI — Foodies, rejoice. Restaurant week is returning to Newport next month. The 2019 event runs from April 5 through 14 and will feature more than 45 restaurants. As spring arrives in Rhode Island, local chefs want to showcase their relationship with food providers in the community.

Newport Vineyard's restaurant Brix will be a part of the event. Its chef, Andy Teixeira, said that creating relationships with local farmers helps bring diners a higher quality product.

"At its core, Newport Vineyards is an agriculture business. We grow our own grapes over 100 acres of preserved farmland and make estate-grown wines, so it only makes sense for the culinary program to follow that philosophy," explains Teixeira. "We are 100% made-from-scratch in our kitchens here. We brine, we bake, we smoke, we pickle, we preserve everything from scratch – right down to the ketchup, spices and sauces. It’s no small task, but it’s just the way food is meant to be."

There are over 1,200 farms across Rhode Island, using about 10 percent of the state's land. Farmer's markets and initiatives such as the Rhode Island Seafood Marketing Collaborative are working to make local food more accessible. During restaurant week, Discover Newport is encouraging participating businesses to share the local farms they collaborate on menus or boards.

"A few restaurants in our destination already publicize the local farms they source from, but far too many source locally as part of their regular practice and don’t necessarily share this with their customer as they are busy with everyday operations," says Brittany Lauro, the organizer of Newport Restaurant Week. "It’s a missed opportunity as more and more consumers want to know where their food comes from, how it was made, where it was grown and by whom. Local flavor is what gives each destination its sense of place. Our goal is to expand the positive social impact communities experience with food transparency."

Throughout the event, diners are encouraged to interact with chefs, restaurants and farms on social media using the hashtag #NPTRestaurantWeek .

Diners, chefs and restaurateurs can interact with one another throughout the event by using the hashtag #NPTRestaurantWeek on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For an ongoing, real-time observations and images throughout the destination, users can include the hashtag #TheClassicCoast in their posts.

Newport Restaurant Week is sponsored by Discover Newport, OpenTable and the Rhode Island Seafood Initiative. It was launched in 2006 as an annual event to promote local businesses in the Newport area. In 2008, it was expanded to a twice-yearly event, held in the spring and the fall.

A full list of April's restaurants is available on Discover Newport's website.