The Dish
DINING DETAILS
FROM LEFT: The modern interior at Matunuck Atelier; oysters are always a must; the lobster croissant sandwich with fries.
Matunuck, Take Two
Matunuck Atelier offers seafood menu favorites and fresh, made-on-site pasta, plus a market, coming soon. By Jamie Coelho
M
ATUNUCK ATELIER is the elegant and sophisticated little sister to Matunuck Oyster Bar. Perry Raso’ s second restaurant opened in late January at 151 Tower Hill Rd. in South Kingstown. Its location— situated on a busy road across from a Wakefield strip mall— is no comparison to the idyllic pondside stretch the original restaurant occupied before being destroyed by a fire in May 2025, but it is convenient and boasts an expansive and similar menu.
Guests pull into the parking lot in front of the restaurant where valets await to whisk cars away. There’ s no need to circle the lot in search of a spot; simply head inside the restaurant in time for reservations. Matunuck Atelier is in phase one of development. The restaurant is now open, but the second phase is expected to include a food market, where guests can purchase Matunuck Atelier’ s fresh pastas, bread, oysters, seafood, sandwiches and more.
“ The original plan was, this is going to be the market, but because the equipment for the market didn’ t come in on time, we just started the restaurant first,” Raso says.“ The idea is to be able to see the product being made over there.”
At the back of the restaurant is a vast open window into the kitchen where guests can watch artisan Gabi Napoli craft housemade bread and pastas— including gnocchi, fettuccini and ravioli stuffed with seafood like lobster or scallops and Jonah crab— using her family’ s time-honored recipes. The key to the pasta is the flour that’ s used to make it. Raso and team chose Filippo Drago’ s Castelvetrano flour, a blend of ancient stone-ground grains, made without any part of the grain kernel removed.
“ And then in the market we’ ll have cheese, pasta, ravioli, fish and shellfish. And then on the end, sandwiches that you might see in Europe, like baguettes with mozzarella and prosciutto,” Raso says.“ And then there will be pinchos. Those little small bites like you find in Spain. So that’ s kind of inspired by San Sebastian-style eating, where you just go and get some kind of unique seafood bite.”
In addition to the new Matunuck Atelier, Matunuck Oyster Bar still plans to reopen under a tent this spring at the same spot, 650 Succotash Rd. in Matunuck, thanks to a new state law that allows restaurants impacted by disasters to continue their operations with fewer restrictions. rhodyoysters. com
Diner’ s Update
The latest food, drink and dining news and events.
Chef Luke Mersfelder and partner Brittany Simons are opening a new restaurant, Kingfish, this spring in the former Bywater space in Warren. Mersfelder, the former Bywater chef and current Dune Brothers fishmonger, and Simons, the general manager at The Eddy, are planning a seafood-focused menu with nostalgic classics and kid-friendly choices. Ć The Hotel Viking announced it will work with Littleneck Hospitality Group for its new restaurant and bar concepts. The Providence-based restaurant group is run by chef Robert Andreozzi and Jesse Hedberg, the team behind Pizza Marvin and Club Frills. Ć The owners of Purslane in downtown Wakefield have a new restaurant in the works. St. Charbel will be a new“ raw bar, small plates bar and other things bar” next door at 254 Robinson St. to help manage overflow from the original restaurant.— J. C.
118 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I APRIL 2026