Local small businesses, the good and the goodbye

What an amazing experience last night to watch the owners of five small businesses making their pitch for $10,000 in prize winnings and the the honor of being Rhode Island's first champion in the Sam Adams Brewing the American Dream Pitch Room Competition.

I was lucky enough to be one of five judges to chose the winner — Aura Fajardo of Aura's Chocolate Bar which has a shop at 250 East St. in Cranston. She took home $8,000 which she will use to buy more chocolate tempering equipment to increase her production. She also has plans to buy a machine that will allow her to process cacao beans imported from her native Venezuela.  

She will receive business coaching from the Sam Adams program as well.

In a surprise twist, the other four competitors were each given $1,000 each and awarded coaching as well.  They are Amber Jackson for her Black Leaf Tea and Culture Shop; Sam Chesebrough for Pickily, his pickled veggie business; Carissa Wills-DeMello for Town Farm Tonics; and Debbie Wood for We Be Jammin', a Warwick shop that offers a wide variety of jams, sauces and condiments and provides a business opportunity for her autistic son Jason.

Jennifer Glanville, brewer and director of brewery programs at Sam Adams, who led the judging, said the votes were so close, it was the right call. The program usually awards only the top two runners-up. 

Hope & Main hosted a live online broadcast of the event which added a lot of excitement to the fast paced proceedings. Each of the small business owners had two minutes to pitch their passion and plans before answering judges' questions and getting feedback.

You can learn more about all of the businesses on Instagram and Facebook social media  at @auraschocolate, @theblackleaftea, @pickilyfoods,  @townfarmtonics and @webejamminri. And I'll be visiting some of them for new stories before the end of the year.

When I saw the Tommy's Pizza Facebook post announcing that the Providence restaurant was closed, I knew I had to talk to Tommy Sacco. 

Before I ever met him, in fact before I became food editor, I had enjoyed Tommy's Pizza in The Journal newsroom for virtually every celebration, good-bye or office lunch. 

People spoke reverentially about the pizza. They talked about the bread-like dough cooked to a pale golden brown perfection on the bottom. It had to hold up under the weight of the cheese and the generous toppings such as olives, pepperoni, sausage, peppers and mushrooms. The tomato sauce was always bright and rich. 

His grandfather Thomas Sacco opened Tommy's in 1955 in the basement of the family home. Imagine that for a second. 

Tommy and I first spoke in 2008 on Chalkstone Avenue in Providence while I was visiting the city's neighborhoods, doing a 10-part story on my tours. 

Even 13 years ago, his grandfather's restaurant had changed. The dining room that once hosted neighborhood families, now held pizza boxes piled high. Take-out to corporate office buildings was keeping Tommy's going.

It was that day Tommy told me he was renovating the old Barney's Bagels in Cranston to be his second Tommy's. All his customers have moved to the suburbs, he said. We have to as well.

But he couldn't let go of the place where he started working with his grandfather when he was a young teen. 

Fast forward to a pandemic that closed offices across downtown Providence. All that takeout is gone. Sacco's financial advisor says the Providence restaurant is losing money every day. Sacco and his wife have moved to South County. He walks into a restaurant in Wakefield where a patron calls out hello to him. 

He sees his customers are moving farther and farther from Providence.

Lucky for him he made that Cranston expansion. It's been successful. On one special day in April 2016, he hosted a former president there. The nation's divisive politics made that visit of Bill Clinton as difficult as it was great, he told me then. But to host a president, that meant a lot to him, especially a vegetarian one who found foods he could enjoy. 

At 57 years old, Sacco can't use his Cranston restaurant to keep a dying business going in Providence. It's not good business.

Though he chokes up taking about it, he knows he has to leave Chalkstone Avenue. There is no longer anything there for him. But it hurts.

I'm sure there will be those who say he shouldn't close the original Tommy's, that the new restaurant isn't the same, that the pizza isn't the same.

But that's all about memories not food. 

More:Holding on for as long as possible, Tommy's Pizza in Providence has closed after 66 years

I've read complaints that people are sick of hearing about supply chain issues. They think it's a conspiracy to make them buy holiday gifts early.

After talking to grocery stores and pie makers, I'm convinced that it's quite real. If you don't feel it, it's because food businesses are working overtime to get all the goods they need. But I bet you feel it in your wallet. Food prices are up and dramatically so. It feels like everything costs a few bucks more. That adds up with a full grocery cart. 

Two of my kids ordered out last week and asked me why it cost $52 for two chicken dishes, lo mein noodles and fried rice. 

Prices are crazy high for everything chicken including wings and one purchaser said don't even ask about pork. The problems range from the price of grain, to lack of employees, no transportation and no warehouse workers.

You can read about the ramifications for Thanksgiving here. 

More:Supply chain shortage: Thanksgiving pies and turkeys may be hard to find. What you can do

On the other hand, I'm thrilled to report that PVD Vegan Restaurant Week is back on Oct. 29 with some 30 restaurants participating over two weekends. 

Yes, I'm big on vegetarian and vegan meals. Do you know why? When I'm at a function or dinner, I always choose the vegetarian option instead of the fish and chicken. I'm always the most happy person at the table with some amazing pasta and vegetable dish that sparkles color on the plate. 

Most of those meals aren't even that creative so you can imagine what they are doing at vegetarian restaurants or pizzerias that care about offering vegetarian and vegan pizza. 

There are two stories for you to read here. 

One has all the details for Vegan Restaurant Week. The other features a new vegan takeout restaurant PiANTA. It has a great story. 

More:30 restaurants to highlight vegan dishes and specials for Vegan Restaurant Week

More:Vegan and kosher offers plant based precision out of take-out kitchen

Till next week, dear readers, when we chat again. If you haven't adopted Meatless Monday, give it a try. It will make you more creative in your cooking or takeout.