Watch the video below for all the action, and read on for The Rhode Show article.

While the sun rises over a tranquil Mount Hope Bay, the action underneath is anything but. It is striped bass season in Rhode Island and for local fisherman, it doesn’t get much better than this.

“The season we are in here is big time stripe bass. Beautiful fish. Twelve to 15 pound range fish are the ones we want to take home. Those are the best for grilling or roasting in the oven,” said one of The Rhode Show’s resident chefs, Jonathan Cambra of Newport Restaurant Group .

“The passion of bringing it to the plate, that’s really what it is, the catching the fish and being out here early morning, understanding the water, the bay, and our ocean,” added Cambra.

On this trip Chef Jon took to the water with long time friend and Charter Captain Billy Silvia of ‘Can’t Imagine Sport Fishing. The two men have fished Narragansett Bay for years.

“I’m 35 years old. I’ve been fishing them since I was a little guy and I really got back into the past 10 years because of the conservation of the regulation of the stripe bass,” said Cambra.

And it doesn’t take long to see the conservation efforts at work. The morning of the outing on the water, live pogies do the trick. It’s one beautiful fish after another. All well over the regulation size 28 inches.

“It really makes it for a fun, filled experience. It’s not all about pulling it into the boat. It’s about the challenge of getting it into the boat the right way, not beating the fish up, feeling the fish, understanding what it is doing in the water, and hopefully you can bring it in at the end.” We need to not forget where our food is coming from.”

Cambra has some advice for fellow fishermen out there.

“Narragansett Bay really brings us some special fish and our duty is to do the best with that fish, take care of it, ice it down, get it back into the land.”

“We currently are harvesting lots of different lettuces, green beans, sunburst squash, zucchini, patty pan squash, all kinds of herbs, swiss chard, and kale. Castle Hill’s team pulled garlic from the field today; it is currently drying and is beautiful. Soon to come will be many varieties of peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, red, white, and yellow onions, along with many other late summer vegetables.”

…Even more to look forward to!

Castle Hill’s Chef Jon was featured Cultivating Life with Sean Conway,  a weekly television series that aims to prove “reconnecting to the land is as easy as stepping out your back door.” Sounds like Chef Jon and Sean’s culinary philosophies have much in common.  Whether Chef is incorporating herbs and vegetables from the Castle Hill garden into his dishes or taking a fishing trip out in Narragansett Bay to catch fresh striper for dinner that night, he (quite literally) uses his backyard for culinary exploration and inspiration.

Watch the video above as Chef shows Sean how to make the quintessential New England dish, Clam Chowder.  To quote Cultivating Life, “The flavors in his version are clean, and rely on the best of his main ingredients for the flavor, bacon, onions, home grown potatoes and Quahogs harvested from the beaches nearby.”  Sounds like the celebrated approach each of our Newport Restaurant Group chefs take when creating a dish – relying on freshness and local flavors to leave a lasting impression.

Speaking of our Newport Restaurant Group family carrying on the New England Clam Chowder tradition, we have a bit of boasting to do.  At the Knorr Great Chowder Cook-Off held at the Newport Yachting Center on June 5th, chowder enthusiasts tasted various recipes from 29 different restaurants and voted on who they felt made the best Clam, Seafood, and Creative Chowders. The Boat House took home top honors for their Creative Chowder, and Waterman Grille won bronze in the same category.  Hemenway’s Seafood Grille & Oyster Bar secured second place in the largest category, Clam, as a first time entrant.  We are ecstatic that the hard work of our culinary teams was recognized at what is considered by most the premiere chowder tasting event in the country!

…Hungry yet? You can make Chef Jon’s scrumptious clam chowder on your own. Just visit here for the recipe!

If this doesn’t spark an appetite, I don’t know what will. We are back just about one year later from our first dinner and are more than pleased to report on another successful Long Trail Beer Dinner at Castle Hill. A special thank you to our great group of guests who attended, and our host Brandon Mayes of Long Trail who did a fantastic job leading the dinner. The culinary team at Castle Hill out-did themselves again. How can you go wrong with the perfectly brewed beers of local Long Trail, coupled with crafted local cuisine featured on the menu, created by Executive Chef Jonathan Cambra.  Click below to read on about the dinner and the beers.

The evening began with a reception of passed hors d’oeuvres including Simmons Farm Pork Corn Dog with cranberry mustard, Venison Chile with winter spiced sour cream, Mac & Cheese Strudel with Shelburne Cheddar béchamel, Chicken & Biscuits with Kenyon’s cornmeal fried quail and chourico gravy, and half-shelled Matunuck Oysters with an ale mignonette, all paired with Long Trail Ale, a full-bodied amber ale featuring a complex yet clean and full flavor, and the light and refreshing Blackberry Wheat.

The dinner’s first course of Georges Bank Monkfish was served with winter vegetable slaw, tempura white anchovy, and sun dried tomato vinaigrette, and paired with the cloudy and golden Winter White Ale, featuring aromas of orange, coriander, nutmeg, ginger, and spices.

The second course featured Pork & Clams: Simmons Farm pork and native clams with new potato, parsley, and tomato, paired with the Long Trail IPA, brewed in the tradition of the British IPA, unfiltered with extra hops and a higher strength.

A dish of Broken Arrow Ranch Antelope followed, served with butternut squash hash, parsnip puree, poached apple, a huckleberry emulsion, and the robust Long Trail Hibernator, featuring malty flavors of wheat, chocolate, and caramel.

The dinner’s fourth course featured locally raised grass-fed Aquidneck Farms Beef Rib Eye with Edge goat cheese-stuffed potato, mushroom ragout, and ancho chile reduction, paired with the Long Trail Double Bag, a full-bodied and dark amber selection.

The evening concluded with Portuguese Sweetbread Pudding with donut custard, molasses ice cream, and porter anglaise, served with the limited-release Imperial Porter. Featuring a complex and darkly roasted malt flavor complemented by a thin, creamy head, the Imperial Porter offers an abundance of two-row, Cara Munich, caramel 80L, wheat, roasted barley, and chocolate malts which are balanced with a variety of hops to create a clean finish.

Cheers to another outstanding event!

Another memorable wine weekend at Castle Hill as Bruce Cakebread, President and COO of Cakebread Cellars joined a collection of 45 guests Saturday evening November 7th for dinner. Bruce’s seminar was incredible; his passion for his craft was so evident. Without a doubt, the wines and the food were the stars of the show. Until next time… read on below about all the courses that were served and the wines that were paired. 

The evening began with a selection of hors d’oeuvres, including American Caviar with lemon-chive crème fraiche in a golden potato cone; Elysian Field’s Lamb Sausage with a chestnut-grit cake and blackberry jam; Hudson Valley Foie Gras Boudin with sweet potato bread and local apple-walnut compote; Vegetable Dumplings filled with a tasting of Castle Hill’s garden harvest and miso broth; and Simmons Farm Pork Tacos with an Ancho chile glaze, cheddar refried beans, and blue corn tortilla; to be enjoyed with the 2006 Cakebread Cellars Sauvignon Blanc., offering classic aromas of fresh pink grapefruit, mineral, and stone fruit and a crisp palate of gooseberry, melon and grapefruit.

Dinner began with a butter-poached Maine Lobster Tail with caramelized autumn squash, Sweet Berry Farm cider nage, and an apple chip, paired with the 2007 Cakebread Cellars Chardonnay, displaying vibrant citrus blossom, ripe apple, sweet melon and white peach aromas, and succulent, ripe peach, yellow apple and lemon zest flavors.

The evening’s second course featured skillet-roasted Arctic Char with crispy skin, chanterelle mushroom-leek ragout, salsify, and Pinot Noir gastrique, complemented by the fresh, fragrant aromas of toasted blueberries and warm, ripe strawberries, with enticing baking spice scents and red-cherry and strawberry flavors of the 2006 Cakebread Cellars Pinot Noir.

A dish of Vermont maple-rosemary smoked Canadian Wild Boar Chop followed, served with hazelnut-barley risotto, lingonberry-vanilla jam and the 2004 Cakebread Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Benchland Select, offering fragrant aromas of blackcurrant, blackberry and black plum fruit and rich black fruit, dark chocolate and briary spice flavors.

Dinner concluded with a Pradera Soufflé with dried cherry compote and cashew brittle, paired with the 2004 Cakebread Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Dancing Bear Ranch, boasting intense aromas of Bing cherry, brambleberry and spicy dark plum fruit with wild cherry, ripe fig, spicy black fruit and dark chocolate flavors.

Join us for dinner at the dining room of Castle Hill on Sundays and enjoy 50% off the entire wine list. November 15 – December 20. Explore wines that  you may not have before! Our friend at the Lisa Magnuson of the Providence Wine Examiner dishes about Castle Hill’s newest special and the wonderful wines that make up their list. Click here to read.

To get the full recipe, click here.

We recently checked in with Castle Hill Executive Farmer, eh hem I mean Executive Chef Jonathan Cambra – to see how the fall harvest was going out at the Castle Hill garden. Here’s what he had to report:

“We have had much success this season even with the challenging weather we had in June and July. We have been harvesting veggies all season and utilizing them for menu items, menu additions, the nightly amuse bouche. The dinning room staff have really enjoyed learning about the garden so they can see for themselves where the veggies come from and how they grow. The fall crop of veggies are coming up which include white turnips, kale, collard greens, Brussels sprouts, assorted lettuces and a variety of herbs. We have also planted a blueberry bush patch. The last item to go into the ground will be garlic, this we be planted in late October for a late 2010 spring and summer harvest.”

Can’t wait!