I love food! To me, food offers comfort and security. In addition, cuisine is a cultural expression and represents an opportunity to more thoroughly understand and appreciate a particular culture or region. When traveling I make it a point to taste local specialties as a way of enriching my travel experience. Someone recently suggested that I share my favorite restaurants with my readers because of my great interest in food. Keep in mind that food preferences are very different from person to person and also that a restaurant experience is about so much more than the food.

I will begin this series of posts with a survey of my favorite restaurants in Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts, beginning with Italian food, my absolute favorite. My favorite Italian restaurants in RI are as follows:

1. Siena, 238 Atwells Ave., Providence, RI & 5600 Post Road, East Greenwich, RI

2. Pane E Vino, 365 Atwells Ave., Providence, RI

3. Trattoria Romana, 3 Wake Robin Road, Lincoln, RI (there is a newer restaurant of the same name in Wakefield, but I have not tried it)

4. Vercelli’s, 160 Pulaski Blvd, Bellingham, MA

5. Spirito’s, 477 Broadway, Providence, RI

6. Bella, 1992 Victory Highway, Glendale, RI

7. Zooma, 245 Atwells Ave., Providence, RI

8. Old Canteen, 120 Atwells Ave., Providence, RI

9. Papa Razzi, 1 Paparazzi Way, Cranston, RI (in Garden City)

10. Marchetti’s, 1463 Park Ave., Cranston, RI (huge portions)

Note that three (4) of these restaurants are located on “The Hill,” the Italian section of Providence. On “the Hill” there are many other restaurants that specialize in Italian cuisine and may be worth a try.