EDITED BY JAMIE COELHO
On Tap: New Suds in Smithfield
Uncommon Pair Brewing fills a brewery void in northern Rhode Island. By Lauren Clem
namon. If I’ m not doing traditional Greek methods and plates, then I’ m looking for flavors that influence the cuisine.”
The team of three cooks works in the open kitchen at the front of Courtland Club. They don’ t have a ton of storage, but that’ s not a problem.“ A lot of the stuff is getting made daily. But in terms of production space, this kitchen might appear small, but there are many kitchens in Europe that are even smaller,” she says.“ I think constraints can cause a chef to be more creative.”
Every detail is considered, including the custom ceramic plates crafted by Slow Bloom Ceramics and Oh, Land Ceramics. And the menu itself is designed by a Greece-based artist, Studded Betrayal.
It all comes together to inspire creativity between the cuisine and the space.“ One foot’ s in the food world, and the other is in the art world,” Agganis says. 51 Courtland St., Providence, 227-9300, courtlandclub. com
UNCOMMON PAIR BREWING IS SMITHFIELD’ S FIRST BREWERY. The nanobrewery is the work of Nate Aiello and Anthony Girard, two former Ponaganset High School classmates.
The taproom is just forty seats plus a couch area and a standing bar. Aiello and Girard say that’ s by design. At a time when craft breweries are struggling to find their footing across Rhode Island, their goal is to cultivate a community feel.“ We like being small because we have more control over what we’ re making,”
Nate Aiello( left) and Anthony Girard of Uncommon Pair Brewing.
Aiello says.
The opening was a hotly anticipated event, owing in part to the owners’ savvy marketing. A mug club limited to fifty members sold out within two hours. Its location, on the lower level of a commercial plaza near Smithfield Crossing, is in a bit of a desert for breweries between Providence and Smithfield.
“ There was a whole dead spot in the middle,” says Girard, who grew up in Glocester and now lives in Connecticut. Aiello lives in Burrillville.
The owners don’ t anticipate an IPA-heavy lineup—“ People have done IPAs, we don’ t want to be an IPA house,” Girard says— but instead plan to offer a rotating selection of eight taps in a variety of styles. Their opening menu included a Dirt Road hoppy farmhouse amber, the Subtle Flex marshmallow porter, Girls Trip blueberry and lemon hef ale, Common Ground American pale ale and an Off Season spruce-infused ale made with locally harvested spruce. The Girls Trip will be a lighterdrinking option that will rotate flavors seasonally. They also plan to make hard seltzers, a hard tea and have three nonalcoholic brews, along with soda, available.
Aiello notes there are five restaurants in the building above them( including a Vietnamese restaurant, a Japanese restaurant, a pizza place and a D’ Angelo), and outside food is welcome.
The brewery’ s name stems from their personalities, which they say are completely opposite, despite a shared love of crafting unique brews.
“ We’ re an uncommon pair, and we’ re going to make uncommon beers,” Girard says. uncommonpairbrewing. com
After initially announcing a planned closure in February, Crafted Hope Brewing Company owner Kyle Toste now says the brewery is seeking a new investor and may not be closing after all. 2 The
Small Sips Rhode Island Brewers Guild has announced a new, physical brewery passport to replace the brewery passport app. Passports are now available in Rhode Island taprooms and passport holders are eligible for prizes. 2 The Newport Beer Festival will be held May 2 from 1 – 4:30 p. m. at historic Fort Adams State Park in Newport. Attendees will enjoy beer tastings from more than fifty hand-selected breweries and beverage producers from across New England and beyond.— L. C.
PHOTOGRAPHY( OPPOSITE PAGE): ANGEL TUCKER;( THIS PAGE, FROM LEFT): PHOTO BY EZRA POLLARD; LAUREN CLEM.
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