The red retro BILTMORE sign glistened through the rain-pelted floor-to-ceiling windows of the top floor of Providence’s recently renovated 1922 grande dame hotel. Its simple brashness was striking against the blue-grey sky and russet-brick building on the late-April evening. Inside all was toasty as waiters served cocktails and crostini, the pledge of a delicious dinner ahead. Chef Kevin Hale kept the promise. Named one of Coastal New … [Read more...]
About Leslie Carbone
Leslie Carbone is the author of Slaying Leviathan: The Moral Case for Tax Reform (Potomac, 2009). Her writing has appeared in magazines including The Weekly Standard and The American Enterprise, in newspapers from The Philadelphia Inquirer to The San Francisco Chronicle, and on Web sites like BreakPoint and National Review Online. She has appeared on more than 200 radio and television talk shows, been quoted in national newspapers.
Stowe’s Simple Surprises
Sometimes luxury is in the simple things. Driving the last ten miles along Route 100 toward Stowe, Vermont, I was entering another way of life. There are no sky-scrapers, no fast-food chains, no billboards or even back-lit signs. There are independent little one- and two-storey shops, selling cheeses and maple syrups and cider doughnuts. I pulled into the parking lot at the recently renovated Topnotch Resort and Spa and quickly ducked … [Read more...]
Encore!
A spiny lobster crawled on top of the other, lifeless sea creatures displayed on the table. Chef Paul Bartolotta easily picked it up with a gloved hand. The olive skin in his slightly round face glowed as he spoke knowledgably and enthusiastically about the dishes he loves to create-fresh seafood from the waters surrounding Italy, made more savory by his blends of herbs and spices and his techniques. Bartolotta clearly takes the work he … [Read more...]
Romancing the Past
Mid-afternoon in the Apollo Room, Alexander Purdie stands before its brownish brick, marble-mantled fireplace and laments the loss of happier days. Mr. Purdie and the fireplace are flanked by two doors of the same teal-green as the rectangular room's wainscoting and window frames; they stand out against the cream-colored upper walls. The golden slats of the wooden floor give slightly underfoot. I love this room. Restored in the 1930s, the … [Read more...]