Rhode Island coffee tour

Booked a last minute trip to Rhode Island just for the hell of it last week and were lucky enough to stay at the Renaissance Providence Downtown Hotel.  Tina works for Starwood Hotels and Resorts and gets sick discounts on rooms and this was the first time we were able to take advantage.  We only stayed a night and unfortunately booked right in time for New England’s first big snow storm but hey, it was a great excuse to make it a café and eating focused getaway.  We had one dry, albeit cold day to walk around and explore Providence so naturally what did we do first?  

New Harvest was on our list but we were kind of walking around aimlessly when we caught that distinct coffee smell and saw a group of hipsters walking out a random side door.  Being the curious and adventurous couple that we are we decided to check out said side door - that looked absolutely nothing like it would lead to a café - but alas, it did.  Psyched, because our first coffee experience in Providence was disappointing (not going to mention the café name bc I’m not a dick) but we kind of knew New Harvest would perform! And it did!  Had a great cappuccino and the location is pretty cool, located inside a revived Arcade building filled with other small businesses ranging from vintage boutiques to salons and restaurants – Trust, it’s worth a visit!

Bolt Coffee we had been to before and not only loved the coffee but the atmosphere in The Dean Hotel is swanky, hip and relaxing all at the same time.  Casey and Kristin were on the bar and were so so kind to us – serving up not only great coffee but conversation as well.  Casey offered to introduce us to their Roaster, Justin and we look forward to that in our near future.  I also have to add that their donuts, by Knead Doughnuts (also owned by Bolt) were fantastic and just the perfect companion to a warm cup on a cold day.

The Duck and Bunny was recommended to us for brunch, which is exactly what we were in the mood for en-route home, in a snowstorm.  The google pictures of the restaurant food and coffee were the deal sealers.  We both indulged in Eggs-bun-a-duck and a cortado, which wasn’t on the menu but the barista whipped up a perfect one anyway :) Highly recommend this place! 

Learned (yet again) a valuable lesson during this trip, that social media can fool you.  I cannot stress this enough, if you’re looking for places to go, look at pictures that previous visitors have taken (google or yelp are good research tools) – those pictures are what you want to go by, not only the restaurants/cafes instagram feed! I hate being a debbie downer but I hate paying for a bad coffee or meal more :) ! 

Bonus* Dinner at Al Forno – holy shit. Just do it, so good. They make their own ice cream so be sure you save room for dessert! *** No pictures, ate everything too fast

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