This year you have read in this column about many contributors to the state’s successful restaurant community, from chefs and restaurateurs to winemakers and farmers. All can be considered stars of the industry. more

Paul Skoczylas grew up around kielbasa. By age 8, he was lending a hand at Central Falls Provision, his family’s Polish sausage shop, and through high school and college he was working there full time during the summers. Photos from the period show him in front of the oven, holding a rack of sausages, wearing a T-shirt with “kielbasa kid” stenciled across the chest. more

Foolproof Brewing Co., New England’s latest addition to the craft brewing scene, has launched its hand-crafted beers in bars across Rhode Island. more

Three Rhode Island restaurants – Basil’s Restaurant, Bouchard Restaurant and Inn, and The Spiced Pear – made OpenTable’s list of the Top 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in the United States for 2013. more

While the number of Rhode Islanders who visited Twin River declined 9.1 percent from 2010 to 2012 to 161,726, those who came from Massachusetts increased 8.8 percent to 385,348, helping the Lincoln gaming facility gain less than one-half percent in visitors to 582,662 in the time period. more

“Look at the history in this street,” said chef Jake Rojas, as he looked out the front window of his restaurant, Tallulah on Thames. Even as he admired the scene, he did so with a certain amount of trepidation. Lower Thames Street in Newport was undergoing a repaving operation and like his colleagues from Memorial Boulevard to Wellington Avenue, Rojas was casting a wary eye on the craters and potholes in the pavement before him. more

Every year just about this time, I have the pleasant task of letting you know about new and relaunched restaurants around the state. Just in time for the high season, chef-owners and restaurateurs roll the dice and open their doors. In reviewing the columns I have written on this topic over the past five years, I uncovered an interesting trend. The number of restaurants opening their doors each year since the recession began is something of an economic indicator. more

Located deep in the heart of Centerdale village, Yacht Club Bottling Works has been a fixture in the state for more than 90 years. This family-owned-and-operated business has managed to increase its sales despite a down economy thanks to some new marketing and good, old-fashioned know-how. more

To work here, you have to love to ride. That means riding on a motorcycle for employees at Twisted Throttle in Exeter, who are required to have a motorcycle license in order to work in any department of the motorcycle apparel-and-accessories company. more

I was invited to Stowe, Vermont to broadcast from the Stowe Wine and Food Classic, a festival of wine and foods to be paired by chefs, winemakers and purveyors from throughout the culinary world. The headliners were nationally known winemakers and chefs who joined their colleagues based in the Green Mountain State to dazzle the crowd with their creations. The pairings were expert, even artistic. What I found most impressive was that two of the primary artists were from Rhode Island. One is a leading Providence restaurateur, the other an up-and-coming chef who helped launch two restaurants in the Ocean State between stints up north in ski country. more