This was fun news out of the blue. Providence restaurant Frank & Laurie’s was named to Gwyneth Paltrow’s “59 Exceptional Restaurants (Worth Traveling For)” an annual feature of her lifestyle brand Goop. While not a culinary honor like James Beard or Michelin, this is a pretty big deal. She has a zillion followers and Frankie & Laurie’s is the only restaurant in all of New England to make the list! Here’s the text:
Frank and Laurie’s is one of those excellent neighborhood spots that reminds us you don’t always have to chase down reservations or pony up a paycheck to have one of the best lunches of your life. Here, they serve simple, homey stuff—egg sandwiches, tomato salad, hashbrowns—all inspired by chef Eric Brown’s grandparents, who taught him the magic of a jammy egg.
Regular readers know that I am more into science than “lifestyle” but if Gwyneth is switching her attention from jade eggs to jammy, I’m all for it. I am also not sure that this place needed the publicity, since the joint seems to be hopping every time I drive by.
Paltrow first mentioned the restaurant last fall when dropping off her son Moses for his freshman year at Brown calling it “the best lunch of [her] life”. She seemed to be experiencing some empty nest, separation anxiety at the time. One report quoted her as saying:
It’s kind of giving me a nervous breakdown, if I’m honest. I started being like, ‘Oh my God, and I need to quit my job and I need to sell my house and I need to move’ . . .
Restaurant owners, the husband and wife team of Eric Brown and Sarah Watts, thanked Ms. Paltrow “for including us in your list of fave restaurants!! in the world!!! pretty surreal to be peppered in next to so many outstanding institutions. What a ride!”
We wrote up the new eatery last May when they first opened. Apologies to Ms. Watts who was not on hand when I stopped by to take photos.
Frank and Laurie’s, 110 Doyle Avenue, (directions)