Read on for what's happening in the Berkshires, Providence, Mystic and more.
Connecticut
Positive signs of regeneration are raising hopes in several of the state's cities. In the beleaguered capital, Hartford, there are high hopes for the $770 million waterfront development called Adriaen's Landing. Originally conceived as the home of a stadium for the NFL's New England Patriots, the blueprint for the 30-acre site was reconfigured to contain a Marriott hotel, conference center, stores, entertainment venues, and housing. Named for the European explorer who stepped ashore here in 1614, the complex is set for completion in 2005.
Concerted efforts to rehabilitate New London are bearing fruit, too. The harbor formed by the estuary of the Thames River (pronounced "Thaymz") in these parts, is now a landing point for new high-speed passenger ferries to Block Island, and, soon, to Martha's Vineyard, supplementing long-standing car-and-pedestrian service to Montauk and Fisher's Island as well as to Block Island. Its growing function as a transit hub and the presence nearby of the popular Indian casinos have brought money and people back downtown. Visitors are attracted by the blocks of renovated 19th and early 20th Century buildings now housing trendy restaurants, art galleries, and retail establishments.
Also in the southwestern corner of the state, Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration has a new exhibit about the Titanic, including an 18-foot model of the doomed luxury liner. Foxwoods, the Mashantucket Pequot hotel and casino complex, has added two new 18-hole golf courses on the opposite side of Route 2, as well as an extra 2,100 parking spaces and new rooms for slot machines and other games.
Norwalk is further along in its own renaissance, especially in the South Norwalk district inevitably known as "SoNo". Prime impetus for the recovery from what had been a crime-ridden, ramshackle district was the opening several years ago of the Maritime Aquarium, which has subsequently almost tripled in size. A large public parking garage has made access to SoNo's attractions easier, and the ever-increasing numbers of visitors have been catnip to restaurateurs and other entrepreneurs. One measure of success is the level of chic achieved by several establishments, including the relatively new Rain Ultra Lounge, 112 Washington St. (tel.203/866-0800), which features a sushi bar and martini card and a stylish crowd to consume them. Among the restaurants filling up vacant storefronts or replacing departed eateries are Match, 98 Washington St. (tel. 203/852-1088), serving New American takes on many cuisines; Relish, 86 Washington St. (tel.203/854-5300), with "cutting-edge comfort food" rolled out of the kitchen; Shaco-jazz Art Café, 21 N. Main St. (tel.203/853-6124), with West African edibles and music on the card; Mediterranean Z Café, 2 S. Main St. (tel.203/866-6622), which replaced Rattlesnake (which moved around the corner); and the revamped Ocean Drive, 128 Washington St. (tel.203/855-1665), advertising sophisticated but "rambunctious" seafood.
New Haven is enjoying a similar surge in worthy restaurants challenging tradition. At the top of the list of exciting newcomers is Ibiza, 39 High St. (tel.203/865-1933). Chef Luis Bollo turns out sparkling contemporary Spanish cuisine that demolishes preconceptions of the cooking of his native land - don't expect paella, sangria, or flan, at least not in their usual guises. His arena used to be the more modest Pikka Tapas, in the same space.
In June, the new Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum at 258 Main St. (tel.203/438-4519) opened in Ridgefield, with a new cultural mission and a building that is both thoroughly modern and an echo of the graceful New England domestic architecture that lines the broad main street, one of the loveliest in the state.
Central & Western Massachusetts
Seija Ozawa and John Williams returned to Tanglewood in the summer of 2004 to conduct the resident Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the program continued the recent trend of reaching out to incorporate other musical forms. Guest artists included Renée Fleming, violinists Midori and Itzhak Perlman, Peter Serkin, Diana Krall, the Boston Pops, and even Garrison Keillor and his "Prairie Home Companion" road show. Expect similar diversity in summer 2005; the program is announced in late March or early April. Log on then to www.bso.org.
The Williamstown Theatre Festival continued its lengthy run, celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2004. Its Main Stage routinely mounts productions of classics - Shakespeare and Chekov - while the Nikos Stage puts on newer plays destined for that status, by such writers as Terrence McNally and Richard Nelson. The schedule for next summer should be announced by April 2005; check at www.wtfestival.org.
In museum news in the highly cultural Berkshires, the superb Clark Art Institute, also in Williamstown (tel. 413/458-2303), has announced a major fall exhibition by a mysterious 15th Century Dutch painter known only as The Master of the Emroidered Foliage. In all four paintings, nearly identical images of a Madonna and Child are placed before a variety of detailed settings.
A quite different concern affects the museum village of Old Deerfield, in the Pioneer Valley. The frontier settlement was subjected to repeated battles with Indians and their French allies over three centuries ago. Long after the Indian wars had moved far into the West, white descendants of the early settlers memorialized the earlier events in language common in the late decades of the 19th Century. Those words on marble plaques -- "bloodthirsty savages" being typical -- are now covered by drapes with more sensitive descriptions.
Rhode Island
New England chefs and restaurateurs are as alert to trends as any. Raw bars have multiplied in fancier restaurants, whether or not the kitchen specializes in seafood. There are separate menus for cocktails (dominated by martinis), for desserts (with the pastry chef credited by name), and, less often, for cheeses. In a re-fashioning of the tapas/antipasti/mezze traditions, "small plates" are now offered in bars and lounges, providing the opportunity to try two or three or more of the kitchen's creations. And Asian influences and ingredients are seen everywhere, with lemongrass and soba noodles showing up in many unexpected places.
One new Providence hot spot that hits many of these notes is Beyondindia Eurasian Bistro, 123 Dorrance St. (tel. 401/278-2000). Questing singles command the center bar and tastes from the kitchen range from the Mediterranean through the Middle and Far East. The eponymous chef-owner of Neath's, 262 Water St. (tel.401/751-3700) draws upon his years in Southeast Asia and France to address the products of sea and land he encountered when he arrived in Providence. Hotel dining in Newport has taken a leap forward with the opening of the toney The Spiced Pear in the new Chanler Hotel, 117 Memorial Blvd. (tel. 401/847-2244). The oceanfront views from the terrace rival the esoteric food. Sad news: Folksy Common's restaurant, known for such homey Rhode Island treats as johnnycakes and clam cakes, burned to the ground last winter. An alternative (for breakfast only) is The Barn, on Main Road in nearby Adamsville.
The thriving Providence music and entertainment Establishment tries just about anything to get people in seats. Prime example is the Trinity Repertory Company, 201 Washington St. (tel.401/351-4242). In addition to such staples as West Side Story and The Merry Wives of Windsor, the company is staging special nights devoted to specific groups - among them singles, gays and lesbians, under-thirties, and teachers. Meanwhile, upcoming bus-and-truck shows stopping in at the Providence Performing Arts Center, 220 Weybosset St. (tel. 401/421-2787) for the 2004/2005 season include 42nd Street, The Producers, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Movin' Ou t.
Ever more popular Waterfire (www.waterfire.org) continues to increase the number of its performances. The event, in which fires are set ablaze in long files of braziers positioned down the middles of the merging Providence rivers, is now repeated at least 15 times a year between early May and late September.