If you’ve spent enough time in Providence, chances are you have a story about Angelo’s Restaurant. The Federal Hill red sauce joint has been serving its signature meatballs and fries to everyone from politicians to pizzaiolos since 1924, which made the local institution a fitting home for SAVEUR’s “Local Legends” industry afterparty.
Angelo’s signature meatballs and fries (Photo: Nina Gallant)
The soirée closed out the second annual Providence Culinary Collective, a weekend of ambitious food and beverage programming across Rhode Island’s capital. Afterparty guest Congressman Gabe Amo—who used to frequent Angelo’s with his high school football teammates before big games—praised the city’s dining scene, which was on full display during the festival. “If you want to have a good food weekend, come to Rhode Island,” he said. “The whole hospitality industry [here] is authentic, from Angelo’s…that’s 102-years-old and run by a brilliant young businesswoman to emerging [restaurants] like Club Frills and Fred. They’re all doing things that excite them, and that’s what makes the food here really delicious.”
For the second year running, SAVEUR was the festival’s exclusive national media partner. Editor-in-chief Kat Craddock—a Rhode Island native herself—and other members of the editorial team were in attendance throughout the weekend. “Providence’s food scene has always punched above its weight,” Craddock said. “Rhode Island has long been this incredible cultural melting pot; that and [Johnson & Wales University] help make the city fertile ground for top-tier culinary talent.”
Jamie Antignano (Angelo’s), Kat Craddock (SAVEUR), Congressman Gabe Amo (Photo: Nina Gallant)
Antipasti lined the back bar. (Photo: Nina Gallant)
The evening’s co-host, Angelo’s fourth-generation owner Jamie Antignano, buzzed around the room, ensuring guests had food and drinks in hand at all times, including her restaurant’s signature meatballs, Rhode Island-style fried calamari, cavatelli in vodka sauce, and grazing boards piled high with Italian cheeses, salumi, and assorted antipasti. The bar served the beloved local Narragansett lager alongside a selection of Angelo’s seasonal spritzes topped with Prosecco DOC. Antignano even added a special signature cocktail to the menu: the SAVEUR Spritz, made with Prosecco, Chambord, and fresh basil.
The bar kept things festive with plenty of Prosecco. (Photo: Nina Gallant)
Angelo’s is situated on Atwells Avenue in the heart of Providence’s Federal Hill neighborhood. (Photo: Nina Gallant)
Angelo’s is a storied family restaurant that has remained a constant as the Providence hospitality and dining scene has evolved over the decades. “When we first opened in 1924, we were one of the few restaurants up here—Fed Hill was primarily Italian,” Antignano explains, pausing her duties to perch on one of the restaurant’s iconic red vinyl booths. “The neighborhood still has the Italian [flag] stripe running through the middle of the street, but we have a Mexican restaurant now (Don Jose Tequilas), an oyster bar (Providence Oyster Bar), and all sorts of other spots, which create great diversity here.”
Today, the neighborhood’s old-school Italian American markets and red sauce institutions coexist alongside Indian, Middle Eastern, Caribbean, and Japanese restaurants, as well as newcomers like Latin-inspired cocktail bar Loma—one of Antignano’s favorite local haunts and a James Beard Award finalist barely a year into opening.
Guests sampled menu highlights all night. (Photo: Nina Gallant)
Congressman Amo sees that same evolution in Angelo’s, which was founded by Angelo Mastrodicasa, an Italian immigrant from Abruzzo. “Whenever I’m in here, I feel the history,” he says. “It’s a reflection of Rhode Island.”
Jan Dane and Leah Ammerman (Stock Culinary Goods) toasted the local restaurant community—and sold copies of SAVEUR’s latest issue. (Photo: Nina Gallant)
Marissa L. Pesak (Stock Culinary Goods) and Jamie Coelho (Rhode Island Monthly) (Photo: Nina Gallant)
The party took over Angelo’s bar and flowed into the dining room. (Photo: Nina Gallant)
The SAVEUR team: Toni-Ann Gardiner, Kat Craddock, Farideh Sadeghin, and Alex Testere (Photo: Nina Gallant)
Newport chef Kevin O’Donnell (Giusto, Mother Pizzeria) (Photo: Nina Gallant)
Local business owners Norman and Sue Belliveau (Photo: Nina Gallant)
Kristen Adamo (GoProvidence), Akanksha Aga (Breaking Bread), Eric Weiner (Food Trucks In) (Photo: Nina Gallant)
Antignano shares cones of Angelo’s Rhode Island-style fried calamari. (Photo: Nina Gallant)
Lauren Schaefer (Mother Pizzeria), Rob Andreozzi (Pizza Marvin, Club Frills), Cassandra Earle (Discover Newport) (Photo: Nina Gallant)
Pam and Shawn Kenney (Providence Art Club) (Photo: Nina Gallant)
Alana Pedalino (Culture magazine); Liz McDonnell (Pizza Wine) (Photo: Nina Gallant)
Artist and fisherwoman Joyce Kutty, Riley Kinnane (Photo: Nina Gallant)
Madison Trapkin (Boston Magazine), Toni-Ann Gardiner, and Alex Testere (SAVEUR) (Photo: Nina Gallant)
George Hovarth, Jim Lynn, Tia Clark (Casual Crabbing With Tia) (Photo: Nina Gallant)
Matthew Montgomery (Johnson & Wales University), Andrew Middleton (The Map Center) (Photo: Nina Gallant)
Abe Dane and guest (Photo: Nina Gallant)
The Angelo’s crew celebrates a successful party—and 102 years of business. (Photo: Nina Gallant)
Angelo’s retro red vinyl booths are a welcome nook for catching up with friends over a bite. (Photo: Nina Gallant)
Guests enjoyed Prosecco DOC in signature spritzes and by the glass. (Photo: Nina Gallant)
Claire Howard (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) and Kat Craddock (SAVEUR) (Photo: Nina Gallant)
Jen Wilkie (Bayberry Garden Restaurant), Noah Butler, Pam Carroll, Wes Chow (Photo: Nina Gallant)
Dining and Cooking