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What She’s Having: Sardella’s, the 45-Seat Bistro That Grew Into a Newport Institution

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What She’s Having: Sardella’s, the 45-Seat Bistro That Grew Into a Newport Institution

Principal Placed on Leave After Locker Room Assault at Rogers High; Investigation Finds Systemic Failures

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What She’s Having: Sardella’s, the 45-Seat Bistro That Grew Into a Newport Institution

Principal Placed on Leave After Locker Room Assault at Rogers High; Investigation Finds Systemic Failures

Cappy’s Hillside Cafe Partners With Kitchen Companion to Launch KC at Cappy’s

Ryan Reynolds Gets Roasted By His Twin Brother!

Christian Winthrop·November 14, 2016

What? You didn’t know Ryan Reynolds had a twin brother?

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Christian Winthrop

Christian Winthrop is a media publisher and journalist and the founder and editor of Newport Buzz, the leading news platform covering Newport, Rhode Island. He is also the creator of Palm Beach Buzz, expanding the same community-focused journalism model to South Florida. A fifth-generation Newporter, Winthrop previously worked in national politics and later as an entertainment producer in New York City before returning home to launch Newport Buzz in 2011.

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Fresh off two GRAMMY wins, drummer, producer and b

Fresh off two GRAMMY wins, drummer, producer and bandleader Nate Smith has been appointed artistic director of the legendary Newport Jazz Festival, organizers announced.

Smith will serve a three-year term beginning with this year’s festival, set for July 31–Aug. 2 at Fort Adams State Park. He succeeds Christian McBride, who held the role for a decade, and follows in the footsteps of founder George Wein.

The appointment comes after three consecutive sold-out years for the 72-year-old festival, one of the longest-running and most influential jazz gatherings in the United States.

As artistic director, Smith will work closely with the Newport creative team on booking, programming, community engagement and year-round jazz education initiatives through the Newport Festivals Foundation.

Board Chairman Bruce Gordon said the selection process drew a “wide and varied” pool of talent, underscoring that “jazz is alive and well and thriving.” He called Smith uniquely suited to honor the genre’s traditions while pushing it forward. “Nate is family,” Gordon said, noting Smith’s long history performing at the festival.

In a statement, Smith said he accepted the role “with humility and gratitude,” thanking Gordon, the foundation board and programming director Jay Sweet. He also acknowledged McBride, saying he leaves “awfully big shoes to fill.”

Smith said he hopes to deepen the connection between fans and artists to ensure jazz continues to evolve.

A widely respected collaborator, Smith has toured and recorded with Brittany Howard, Childish Gambino, Jon Batiste, Norah Jones and Pat Metheny, among others. Earlier this month, he won two GRAMMY Awards for his 2025 album LIVE-ACTION, including Best Alternative Jazz Album.

In 2019, Wein praised Smith as “a leader who will make his mark felt on the future of jazz.” Now, that future will take shape on Newport’s storied stage.

📸 @ogata_photo

#newportjazzfest #newportbuzz #newportri

The Newport Folk Festival just added another name

The Newport Folk Festival just added another name to its ever-expanding constellation for 2026 — and this one hums in lo-fi.

Hudson Freeman will take the stage Friday, July 24, bringing his bedroom-born folk confessionals to the Fort. At 27, the Brooklyn-based songwriter has quietly built a following that feels less like hype and more like gravity — the kind that pulls you in slow and keeps you there.

Freeman’s latest full-length, is a Folk Artist, cemented him as one of indie’s most absorbing new voices — a songwriter unafraid to stare down modern identity, digital alienation, and the uneasy math of faith. His songs feel handwritten in the margins of a restless generation.

Born to Evangelical missionaries, Freeman’s origin story reads like a coming-of-age indie film. At 13, his life veered hard when his family relocated from suburban Dallas to the Kingdom of Eswatini. The rupture left a mark. So did the holy trinity of influence — Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver, and the DIY sprawl of his college years in Springfield, Missouri. The result: a lo-fi folk artist forged in Midwest basements and late-night doubt.

Now, his breakout track “If You Know Me” is widening the circle. It’s a moody collision of bedroom pop, slowcore hush, post-emo ache, and folk minimalism — stitched together by a looping guitar riff and mantra-like lyrics that burrow deep. It doesn’t shout. It lingers.

At Newport — a festival built on reverence for storytelling and reinvention — Freeman’s arrival feels less like a booking and more like a moment. The next chapter of indie’s quiet revolution may just begin on a Friday afternoon by the water.

#newportfolkfest #newportbuzz #newportri

Nearly 46 years ago on Gooseberry Beach, Richard S

Nearly 46 years ago on Gooseberry Beach, Richard Sardella and two of his former fraternity brothers hatched a plan to open a bar in Newport. Less than a year later, a 45-seat bistro called Barclay’s opened its doors on Memorial Boulevard.

“I guess we thought it sounded Newport-ish,” chuckled Richard Sardella. But as an Italian restaurant, the title didn’t quite fit, and by 1986 it relaunched as Sardella’s Italian Restaurant.

As a regular at Gooseberry, Sardella became acquainted with the Fitzgerald family and their seven kids.

“I’d offer to buy a hot dog for someone if they went to the snack bar for me and they’d all come running!” he recalled. Within just a few years, starting as dishwashers, Patrick and Kevin Fitzgerald became integral members — and eventually shareholders — in the Sardella’s Restaurant company. Today, Patrick serves as vice president and Kevin as executive chef.

Early on, Sardella took the two to visit his Italian family on both sides of the Atlantic.

“Both those trips proved to be inspiring,” he said.

“Richard took us to Jersey City, which is just like Italy,” Patrick quipped. “His Italian aunts taught us how to really cook. After that, he took us to meet the aunts on the Sardella side in Frosolone, Italy. They taught us how to really eat.” The lessons also shaped the restaurant’s philosophy of hospitality.

“I never want to turn a table at Sardella’s. It’s not in our DNA. You could sleep over!”

Despite challenges, the business has grown from 45 to 400 seats. Sardella roars with laughter as he recounts, “The first time we grossed $1,000, probably in 1982, we opened up a bottle of Dom Pérignon!” Today, he muses, that sum wouldn’t open the doors.

And it’s Mr. Mayor to you: Sardella served for 21 years as Director of Athletics at Brown University, was elected to the Newport City Council in 1995 and as mayor in 2000.

All while the restaurant continued to evolve. He left office in 2005. Today, his namesake joins the Clarke Cooke House as one of just two longstanding Newport restaurants still owned and operated by their original proprietors.

Comment “Pasta” for the full article.

#whatsheshaving #newportbuzz #newportri

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