Adeline’s Speakeasy head chef wins annual poutine contest – for the fourth year in a row
WOONSOCKET — If there’s ever a Hall of Fame for poutine, they’re going to have to find a spot in it for Phil Giguere.
The head chef of Adeline’s Speakeasy Kitchen Bar in Cumberland has won – again – the Poutine Indulgence and Competition. This was the fifth annual installment of the event, in which Giguere has now taken home top honors in each of the last four years.
Sponsored by the Museum of Work & Culture as a fundraiser, the restaurant cookoff calls attention to the signature dish of rural Quebec – a comforting concoction of french fries, topped with brown gravy and curd cheese. Winners were picked by patrons who sampled different versions of poutine at seven restaurants in Rhode Island and then cast online ballots for their favorites over a period of several weeks.
The museum announced the winner on Sunday during its Salute to Spring, an event that’s usually an outdoor festival with music and prizes that switched to virtual for the second year in a row due to the pandemic.
“Congratulations Adeline’s, this is yours,” MOWC Director Anne Conway announced, displaying the gold-limned, trophy dinner plate that was later delivered to Giguere at Adeline’s, 2352 Mendon Road. “I’m really, really happy to thank you and congratulate you for your participation.”
In addition to crowning the winner, Conway announced that there was a tie for second place between the competition newcomers, KG Kitchen Bar of Providence and Ming’s Asian Street Food of Pawtucket.
The other participants included Bywater in Warren; Ciro’s of Woonsocket; Durk’s Bar-B-Q, Providence; and Friskie Fries, with locations in Providence and Johnston.
Asked for comment, Giguere replied by text that he’d simply like to thank all the restaurateurs for participating and MOWC for providing the opportunity to compete. But it’s plain from his Facebook post, accompanied by a photo of him with a growing collection of trophy plates, that he’s proud of his achievements in the kitchen.
“Our 2021 Poutine Trophy arrived to Adeline’s today,” he wrote. “It joins its friends, 2018, 2019 & 2020. Hail, the Holy Poutine King!”
A couple of weeks before the competition, Giguere told The Call that the secret of his success is making poutine with fresh ingredients and that he had no plans of changing his approach for this year’s cookoff.
Normally, the poutine throwdown would have offered patrons a chance to sample the iconic treat outdoors at its Market Square location, accompanied by live French-Canadian music, with a celebratory raffle to cap the event. This year, however, the closest some of the 300 people who bought tickets to the Salute to Spring came to the museum was to pick up a box of pastries supplied by Wright’s Dairy Farm in North Smithfield, one of the lead sponsors of the Salute to Spring.
Along with announcing the poutine winners, Conway shared some good news about the museum, which
chronicles the epic story of the 19th century migration of French-Canadians who abandoned the hardscrabble farms of rural Quebec in search of a better life working in the mills along the Blackstone River. After a year of highly restricted operations due to the pandemic, Conway said the museum is open again on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
And she’s got her fingers crossed that next year’s Salute to Spring will be celebrated live, just like the old days.
“Even though this event is not held in person again this year, more than 300 people have bought tickets to Salute to Spring,” she said. “An amazing event, even though it was not in person. One thing we know, almost for sure, is that we will be back next year for our Salute to Spring.”