Customers that walk in to the sunlit Cottage are usually greeted by the small and friendly Pesos, a champagne-colored terrier rescued from Mexico who has made a comfortable home in the only fine home furnishings boutique around. And it’s no wonder he likes it here. The Cottage in Tiverton Four Corners is a modern lifestyle haven featuring two floors of soft, classic, and bold colors and fabrics, lovely floral scents, fresh wood accents and elegent music for inspirational browsing. While Pesos spends his time lounging amidst the tasteful décor, store owner Nancy Heminway and her partners Ivy and Linda are busy prettying the shop to perfection.
Nancy, Ivy, and Linda have been working together for over 15 years, and The Cottage has been a local staple for even longer, but even if you’re a regular customer here you will never see the same display twice. These three women make daily styling changes to the windowsills, table-tops, and furniture sets in store in order to keep up with a high demand for their goods, and provide customers with a fresh perspective each time they visit. “We take care of the merchandise.”
Personal attention to the pristine details make shopping at this home furnishings boutique feel something like a guilty pleasure, but it can be a treat for your wallet too; we’re competitive in prices, says Nancy. The store mostly carries high-end and luxury products, but their quality and value are assuredly the best you will find, not to mention the sale room. Names like Mitchell Gold and Lee Industries, Simon Pierce, and Bella Notte line the shelves, and most everything they carry is American-made. The Cottage also specializes in exclusive imports, like the Florence-made fragrance line Officina Profumo. One of the most unique traits of this store can be found behind the well-placed scenes: Everything, including furniture, is stocked, which means whatever you see in- store can be taken home with that same day. A wonderfully gratifying perk for shoppers.
Customer satisfaction and innovative design are part of Nancy’s roots. Before opening The Cottage she worked for Design Research, the Boston-based lifestyle retailer known most noteably as the first home for modern American design. DR introduced lifestyle stores to the world of retail with popular brands like Merimekko and Alvar Aalto. Trading in the big name for the small boutique life has proven rewarding for Nancy and her team. They gracefully weave together an intelligent eye for design, expertise in elegant home fashion, and the gentle pace of the Tiverton countryside. The Cottage carries everything for the home from cookbooks to dish soap, rugs, to popular local art work. They also offer in-home design services as well as merchandise loans to ensure every product is the right fit.
Award winning and stunning the The Cottage blissfully remains the closest thing to home as you will find while out shopping….for person and pooch alike.
It’s just about 4 in the afternoon, the sun is winding its way down behind the Sakonnet river, illuminating drifting boats and choppy waters in a golden yellow, while the god-given smell of roasting coffee is warning people like fog horns of a freshly roasted round of coffee beans. This is the inhalable story of Coastal Roasters…
A small coffee shop with a sturdy foundation, Coastal Roasters was founded in 2002 by Donald Machado and his partner Lisa when they decided to purchase the small surf shop overlooking the Sakonnet River. Before then, Donald knew only a little about coffee, spending his free time “home-roasting” for friends and family using a popcorn popper and zest for good quality. When the itch to broaden his horizons became too much to bear, the couple bought the Tiverton property, fixed it up a little, and started a business selling wholesale coffee beans. Thankfully, Donald invested in something a little bigger than a popcorn maker for Coastal Roasters, which quickly evolved into the area’s most visited cafe, as the smell of coffee crept into the heart of the coastal town. ”I underestimated how many people are interested in quality coffee,” said Donald, but that was what he knew then.
Now Coastal Roasters is a mega coffee gathering place, roasting daily, over 50,000lbs of coffee a year and featuring over 20 unique blends of bean. “We don’t do a lot of tutti frutti stuff,” says Donald, “we try to stick to just coffee.” And good coffee besides; 70% of their beans are organic or Fair Trade and all of it brewed with respect for the environment and the farmers that grow the beans. Concentrating on quality and sustainable production has given the shop a cultured reputation for “being green,” drawing in true coffee lovers for miles and miles.
“We have to be at the right place doing the right thing, at the right time, which is kind of a niche,” says Donald who sources, roasts, and packages the beans. The beans themselves arrive from mostly small farms in exotic locations all over the world, and although they honor basic regional coffee blends, Coastal Roasters has expanded their inventory over the years to meet customer needs. Teas, smoothies, frozen drinks, and nearby bakery selections are on the menu, as well as custom blends like Wild Wetamoo, Fort Baron, Coastal Gold, and Old Stone Bridge. Keeping in local is all part of the plan.
Coastal Roasters has also become part of a larger campaign for educating the masses, not just about coffee, but community values that extend beyond the roaster. They sponsor a range of fund and awareness-raising events like Singing Out Against Hunger, which raised over 60,000 last year, in conjunction with Evelyn’s Drive In, for providing healthy meals to local families in need. Other beneficiaries include the Little Compton Community Center, Allen’s Pond Wildlife Sanctuary, Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust, Sakonnet Growers Market, and the Tiverton Four Corners Arts Center.
The most gratifying ambition of Coastal Roasters is their mission to educate about coffee: where it comes from and what it supposed to taste like. “Some people don’t realize beans need to be roasted,” says Donald. There’s a whole world of coffee out there, beyond the bag. If you want to know the secret to the Coastal Roasters taste, it’s in the roasting. They roast in small batches, and often. And oh, what a delicious smell…
As all good businesses do, Coastal Roasters has continued to expand, these days, through the main roads of cyber space. Online coffee sales are a new vessel for acquiring fresh beans, and Coastal Roasters recently launched online ordering on their website. Donald has seen immediately the benefits of reaching a larger demographic, sending off to customers from Florida to the West coast. Perhaps more exciting for the consumer is Coastal Roaster’s Coffee of the Month Club, an impeccably convenient way to familiarize yourself with regional blends, or to stay at home in your pjs. A unique blend of coffee arrives on your doorstep (or a friend’s if you so choose) once a month to be savored each morning, afternoon, or night.
But don’t let us sway you, stop by Coastal Roasters where “the coffee speaks for itself.”
Open year round, 6am-5pm at 1791 Main Rd. Tiverton RI, and 24 hours online at www.coastalroasters.com.
Whenever a wedding is around, food is in order. Extravagant or intimate, indoors, or out, there’s always a generous supply of food at weddings. Food is what makes a celebration a celebration, after all. Weddings, in particular, rely upon good food, real food, food that is meaningful and maybe even symbolic. That’s why the job of wedding planning can be such a tough one; to roll love and harmony, quality and symbolism into one meal is really no piece of cake. So naturally, many brides look to the experts. And around here, the experts are ready and waiting.
Down the winding, narrow streets of the FarmCoast, Dan George of Smoke and Pickles parks his smoker, a 3-chamber cooking machine. While the name doesn’t exude anything entirely regal, the smoker is extraordinary in its duties. It’s a charcoal-black contraption that prepares feasts on site, retaining flavor and freshness by smoking, barbecuing, and grilling, if need be, all at once. Weddings that hire Smoke and Pickles can be spotted from down the road. People watch starry-eyed and salivating as the smoker pulls in, a fragrant white cloud signaling the makings of a feast.
Behind the triumphant veil of smoke and rich flavors is a modest team of talented food experts carrying with them an authentic attitude of abundance, celebration, and elegance coupled with real “foodie” enthusiasm and a small touch of humor. “It takes a Coastal Village” is their motto, because Smoke and Pickles is a cooperative effort. Each member has their own role operating the “engine,” as they refer to themselves, drawing on their unique personal histories and the support of the robust FarmCoast food community. There’s Dan, proprietor and Pickle Man, his wife Chris who can often be found playing the fiddle and performing “quality control;” theres Mark, the light-hearted Grill Master, snow-border, and long-time chef, and Kristen the Sourcer, Expediter, modern Forager of sorts, ensuring the arrival and preparation of exceptional quality. Not to mention Sally, the event planner, and the catering staff. Bustling around as behind-the-scenes guests, this group creates a visible sense of harmony to the work of preparing and serving food. Their cadence with each other is the result of a long stream of steady practice, knowledge, and sincere effort to capture moments, and foods, at their best.
Perhaps the most splendid attribute of the group is their resourcefulness. All the food prepared by Smoke and Pickles arrives from local farms and providers within a 20 mile radius. Famous herbs from Eva’s garden, crisp organic veggies picked the day of, or oysters straight from the bay. “We keep things whole as late in the game as we can to keep things as fresh as possible,” says Dan. Nothing is pre-packaged or prepared; the team reaps the sweet benefits of knowing every farmer around by name.
When it comes to the menu choices, Dan treats them like he treats his food, with reverence, compassion, and wisdom. Artistically-composed menus reflect such worldly cuisines such as Coastal New England (of course our favorite), Southern Barbecue, Vegetarian, Latin American or Middle Eastern fare and, although heavily influenced by the Bride and Groom’s palate, are always guided by seasonal farm offerings during that time of year (or week or day), and most always involve giant loves of bread. Dan endeavors to maximize flavors through contrast with pairings like… melons and mint, littlenecks and sausage, whole wood-grilled bass or salmon or chicken or steak, roasted lamb, long and slow barbecued pork, rhubarb relish, freshly chopped parsley and basil…and other sophisticated, mouth-watering combinations. Smoke and Pickles has a vision beyond simply feeding crowds, and that’s honoring glorious “rights of passage,” providing meals fit for kings and queens, brides and grooms, or people who just love food.
Details are another seductive part of the package. In addition to hand-carved wooden cutting boards and whispy flower bouquets, full-service event planning, from the initial planning stages to last-minute details, is included in the service. Sally Huntington holds this all together as a vital liaison between the brides and grooms and the Smoke and Pickles staff. Expert organizer and conceptual guru, Sally joined Dan in the beginning of his pickling adventure with a savvy business background and the necessary patience for making things go as smoothly as possible.
So where do the pickles come in? They’re in the heart of the close-knit company, what started it all, and always, colorfully adorning the appetizer table. Dan George was once a lawyer, and –at what happened to be just the right time– asked his friend Chis Schlesinger, then chef at The Back Eddy, if he could help out in the kitchen. Days later, Dan was crowned “pickle chef” at The Back Eddy for no particular reason other than perhaps, now chef-extrodinaire Schlesinger knew it was a stroke of genius. “No one had heard of a pickle chef,” says Dan, including himself. Dan became a pickle master, dunking his hands and elbows into the history of pickles, the traditions, and oh, the flavors. He went on to attract attention from food writers around New England and co-wrote a pickling cookbook called Quick Pickles-Easy Recipes with Big Flavors. The profound influence of pickles and pickling on Dan infused this idea for the now famous team of roving caterers, striking down wedding-food stereotypes, and breathing life, creativity, and pickles into the industry.
Smoke and Pickles is the way of fresh, good food and heartfelt hospitality, the way homegrown catering should be. A slice of modern tradition, at your service.
To contact Smoke and Pickles, please visit their website at www.smokeandpickles.com. To see more photos of their events visit us on Flicker!
Charlie Barmonde was recently named the best potter in Rhode Island by RI Monthly, an unexpected but welcomed honor to the young artist and Little Compton resident, who has greeted his artistic life with humble ambition. 35-year-old Barmonde describes his work as a “gratifying, intellectual as well as physical exercise,” but more than that, ceramics for Charlie is a full-time job. He works in his own studio in Little Compton drawing on his passion and knowledge of a life by the sea. “I spent my life sailing…I have a strong connection to the ocean,” he says. His pieces range from functional dining-ware to sculptural works of marine-inspired art.
Charlie moved from Long Island at the age of 16 and followed a meandering academic path involving a mix of ceramics and art history. He traveled the country honing his skills, and serving other respected potters through various jobs and apprenticeships. Charlie also spent time as a gallery owner for an arts collaborative in New Bedford along with other local artists. Now, with his roots well planted in RI, Charlie’s recent years have been spent prioritizing his family life and evolving ceramic work in his private studio.
Of all artistic works, Charlie says, ceramics provide the most direct connection between the artist and consumer. Only ceramics allow you to see, and actually feel the hands of the maker, transforming buying a mug or bowl into a truly intimate experience. This sensuous and tactile nature of the craft is what drew Charlie in from the beginning, guiding his functional and gorgeous line of pottery. His work has grown to include conceptual sculptural pieces that provide a vessel for expressing his love of the nautical world. Charlie aims to provide affordable handmade art, and hopes to extend his line to be even more accessible in the future, so that everyone can appreciate art easily, and often.
Photo Credit: ApartmentTherapy.com
Charlie is a proud member of the region, bursting with varied seasoned artists who’ve all discovered a similar affinity for the southcoast. Unlike other larger art districts, the backroads of the southcoast seem to inspire an older, more assured talent. The SCA, or SouthCoast Artists is a non-profit organization that has recognized the value of this area’s multitude of artists, and has gone through lengths to connect them together as part of a larger group, providing the public with ample opportunities for art-appreciation. This weekend is the second round of SCA “Studio Tours” this summer where Charlie, along with many other artists, will be open and throwing pottery, and hopefully selling a few pieces. You can visit him this weekend or anytime by appointment. And then you can congratulate this inspiring artist and well-deserved recipient of the title, best.
Sustainable design and limitless ambition are the hallmarks of a new gallery open to the public in Westport, Massachusetts. The Dedee Shattuck Gallery, one of many stops along the Farmcoast, is the area’s newest addition stunning visitors with its crisp, clean, inventive atmosphere. From the outside, the gallery resembles a modern version of the Friends Meeting House (a historic neighboring attraction). Inside, cascading flower bouquets, delicate piano keys and light hardwood floors mimic a New York, loft-style gallery. The showroom is set just behind the popular Partners Village Store, and stands modestly adjacent to roaming cows and lush forestry, a fitting placement given owner Dedee Shattuck’s grand and equally humble vision for the space.
The idea behind the large scale, countryside gallery was lovingly crafted over several years as Dedee Shattuck set out to fulfill her dream of bringing a love-of-art to the masses. The Dartmouth native spent her early career in New York, working as an interior designer before returning to New England to raise her two sons. “I love design…and making. It’s what’s ticking in my heart,” says Dedee, who’s husband and son are both active artists. Her goal was to create refined space that wouldn’t compete with the surrounding rural environment and likewise give the Farmcoast area a much-needed stomping ground for celebrating art and discovery. “An artist reflects and expresses what being human is, they are the translators of experience,” says Dedee. “I want people to experience art in a beautiful, rural environment. I want to highlight the beauty of art.”
On top of a wide appreciation for art and its makers, sustainability, land conservation, and “Yankee sensibilities about frugality” are also on the list for things Dedee holds close to her heart. These values guided her collaborative effort to create an environmentally friendly gallery space, a tribute to the land that is her home, and the key people that she feels are responsible for it’s integrity: the farmers. “These are my heroes,” Dedee says, pointing to a stark black and white photograph of a Dartmouth farmer on the first pages her recently published book. Farmers: Portraits in a Changing Landscape profiles the farmers of the south coast region with stunning photographs and personal details about their patient love for the land; Dedee grew up on Barney’s Joy Farm and feels forever indebted to the local farmer’s perseverance. Like the farmers featured in her book, Dedee hopes to spread the same message of support and appreciation for artists.
The Yankee-inspired, lover-of-farmers and design is filled with a refreshing sense of curiosity, and an abundantly youthful enthusiasm for the life art brings to a place. She now has a capable home for her passions and her most ambitious venture yet. “I’m totally in my element,” says Dedee. The gallery will feature “all works of art,” not only paintings and drawings. Currently exhibiting are purely local area artists to jumpstart the grassroots gallery. It includes works from family, friends, and admirable acquaintances.
Future exhibits plan to include artists from around the globe in addition to lectures, education, and workshops in an infinite variety of artistic pursuits. Plans to create a walking path in the acres of land behind the gallery are also in the works. The paths will showcase sculpture, and encourage visitors to spend time wandering the land.
The gallery represents the beginning of an era for Dedee. “My life’s work is in the arts…I want to make things happen,” she says. See for yourself what great things are happening at the Dedee Shattuck Gallery, open at 1 Partners Lane in Westport, Tuesday-Saturday 10am- 6pm, and Sundays 12- 6pm. For more information, a full list of artists, and upcoming exhibits visit www.dedeeshattuckgallery.com.
