Rhody Sampler

Wienerpalooza
We had a serious wiener conversation in the office the other day. At issue was the correct spelling of one of Rhode Island’s culinary delights – the New York System Hot Wiener – which has nothing to do with New York and is traditionally spelled “weiner,” at least if you go by some of the oldest establishments in the state: the Original New York System Hot Weiner joint in Providence; Cosmic Steak, Pizza & Weiners in Warwick; Moonlight House of Weiners in Woonsocket; the Wein-O-Rama in Cranston and the Weiner Genie in Lincoln. Of course, not every wiener business spells it the same way. In some locations, the word is “weiner” on the building and “wiener” on the road sign (or vice versa). Our grammar Bible, the A.P. Stylebook, has no entry for wiener. So we are left to our own devices.

Maybe in the future, when other states eventually catch on to the culinary glory of “an arm all the way with an Arizona” – steamed buns stuffed with wieners, meat sauce, mustard, onions and celery salt running from the cook’s palm to the shoulder washed down with a coffee milk – we can do what the Scots do with whisky. Whisky made in Scotland, better known as Scotch, is spelled with no “e;” whereas it’s whiskey if distilled anywhere else. One day, perhaps, only Rhode Island wieners will be spelled officially as “weiners.” (Smells like legislation brewing.) Until that happens, however, we chose “wiener” essentially for grammatical clarity – and also because most of the modern restaurants that get into the wiener business spell it the dictionary way. It may not be as much fun as perpetuating a deliberate typo but it provides a bit of editorial sanity when we have to write about gaggers.

That said, don’t be surprised if a rogue weiner slips into our writing every once in a while.

The reason this came up is because colleague Chris Church wrote a story in the March 10 edition of The North East Independent about the North Kingstown House of Pizza winning an award from the Web site Fork in the Rhode for having the best wieners in the state. The judging was based on sampling more than 100 belly-busters from 34 wiener joints. It’s a nice honor for the Post Road eatery, given that it beat out some classic gagger locales, including the A&W Restaurant in Greenville, Olneyville New York System, Ferrucci’s Original New York System in Arctic, Lumber-Jacks-Pizza ’n Wieners in North Smithfield, Sparky’s Coney Island System in East Providence, Snoopy’s Diner in North Kingstown and (my wiener local) Rod’s Grill in Warren. But another problem with any comprehensive Rhody wiener story is keeping track of all the places that sell them. There’s no telling how many spots were left out of the survey, but Quick Rick’s Sandwich Shop just across the parking lot from our Independent offices sells them, as does Kingston Pizza down the road in Peace Dale. Bishop’s 4th Street Diner in Newport is also a contributor to Rhody’s gagger landscape.

As for the wiener wording, it’s the latest in a long line of Independent grammatical conundrums. Previous discussions – and they can get pretty heated – have established a consistent style for a variety of local terms and cultural references. They include our “two Z” spelling of Verrazzano (the explorer’s name who shares space on the Jamestown Bridge and is spelled differently on various road signs en route; even Wikipedia only gives him one “Z”); our “no H” spelling of jonnycake (even though most Rhode Island jonnycake purists insist that the flour must be made with Rhode Island stone-ground white flint corn to earn the H-less distinction); and whether to “capital the B” in Easter Bunny (A.P., once again, is silent on the matter).

Rhody Universe: Sendai
Odd note from The Weather Channel this weekend, reporting on the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan, especially the city of Sendai. According to TWC, Sendai’s closet climatological comparison to an American city is Providence. The two municipalities, both located on the northeast corners of their countries, share an uncanny similarity in average high and average low temperatures, average rainfall and average snowfall.

Happy Anniversary, Rhody
In the spring of 1636, Roger Williams crossed the Seekonk River to what would become the Rhode Island side of the New England colonies and dropped anchor in a place he called Providence. That means this spring marks the 375th anniversary of Rhode Island’s founding.

So what would be an appropriate 375th anniversary gift for Rhode Island?

Most anniversary gift lists only go up to 75 or 80 years. According to Wikipedia, the oldest traditional anniversary gift given in the United States (appropriate for age 75) is something with diamonds or gold, although modern lists (up to age 80) have been revised to diamonds or pearls. Traditionally in the United Kingdom it’s oak. Imagine after 80 years of marriage, getting a handful of acorns....