Here's a few more of this year's portraits of my (still) favorite group of dancers from The Talent Factory in North Kingstown, RI. Thank you again to Dana, Tara and all the wonderful dancers.

A few weeks ago we got an early start on this year's portraits of my favorite group of dancers from The Talent Factory in North Kingstown, RI. I had planned on releasing them all at once after this coming weekend's picture day, but have posted a few edited images on my Facebook business page for the girls. So why put up a blog post early? Because Facebook crushes these images too much. Anywhere online doesn't do these photographs justice, but until Dana puts up another billboard, here you go! Thank you to all the wonderful dancers and especially Dana and Tara.

I don't think any vegetables and herbs in Providence have a better view than those planted in Gracie's garden on the roof of the Peerless building around the corner from the restaurant. A couple of weeks ago Chef Joe Hafner was kind enough to give me a tour of his 2009 planting. He let me sample a few of the herbs and edible flowers that have bloomed and let my daughter play in the mulch and pick at petals. The vegetables have just started to sprout, so I'm looking forward to heading back up in a few weeks when the plants have overtaken the scenery. Next time I'm going to bring along the tripod and get a 360° panoramic of the whole space.

We've been pretty lucky here in Newport this season, rainy weeks, but picture perfect weekends. This family came to The Chanler in Newport for the grandparents anniversary and we took a number of portraits. Sometimes a traditional grouping is what works best—and sometimes kids are too much fun.

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet with restaurateur and multi-winery owner Joe Bastianich. He was gracious enough to extend an invitation to an annual springtime celebration at his home. Naturally I asked if I could bring my camera and so yesterday I had the pleasure of eating and drinking some fantastic food and wine while photographing a beautiful event. I also had some great conversations with many new acquaintances. Below are just a few highlights.

Chef Mario Batali, partner and co-host with Joe Bastianich
















Let's see if I can get everything on my plate correct: Enormous beef steak "chop" beautifully grilled by Chef Cesare Casella; gorgeous and tender octopus and beans prepared by Chef Dave Pasternack; smoked trout panzanella salad, roasted chiles, a salad-I'm-forgetting and (I'm sure I'm not writing this fancy enough) crisp cheese/bread sticks by Chef Andy Nusser. On another plate was an outstanding (and award-winning) burger made by Chef Michael Schlow.




A beautiful and elegant slicer, one of forty that Joe Bastianich has collected, on which Chef Bill Gallagher spent part of the day slicing up some fantastic mortadella and prosciutto, occasionally handing a slice off to a passing photographer. Thanks, Chef!








My wife couldn't resist a photo of me and Chef Batali. I'm thankful she couldn't. Chef was a champ, posing with dozens of people.

A few more highlights from the 4th Annual Springtime Bastianich Wine & Swine event, these selected by the Bastianich Winery blog.