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Jody Adams and Ken Rivard

Jody Adams and Ken Rivard have been cooking together since first meeting at Provender, a gourmet food store in Tiverton, Rhode Island, almost thirty years ago.  One marriage and two kids later, Jody is a professional chef who lists her mother and Julia Child as her greatest cooking influences.  Along the way she’s had the opportunity to work with a pair of other great chefs, Lydia Shire and Gordon Hamersley.  She is currently the chef and owner of RIALTO in Cambridge, Massachusetts and TRADE, in Boston.  Ken is a freelance writer (one of the three Ken Rivard’s currently listed on Amazon.com), former ghost writer, and amateur photographer.  He also does most of the cooking at home.  With the exception of the picture above, taken by their son Oliver, all of the photographs on this site are Ken’s work.  During Jody’s travels he’s the guy holding down the fort.

73 thoughts

  3. Hi Jody and Ken, I am checking back in and let Ken know I listened to the Patinkin interview he told me about after reading my responses to Fresh Air’s interview with Maurice Sendak. Thanks for directing me to this – it was both moving and inspiring. It seems that doing what you love (regardless of whether one is an artist or actor or just a person doing work he or she is passionate about) leads to universal truths and the Well of Inspiration. It also leads to that interesting place where one is both in the moment and flowing with Eternity.

    I’ve reread your description of Sendak’s books on your sofa several times and love the phrase “as though gravity were much heavier in Sendak’s world”. Indeed.

    A note to Jody: my mother had the original first edition Julia Child Mastering French Cooking cookbook; I inherited it, complete with tomato seed and butter stains and burnt page corners from resting too close to the burners. Each time I open it, I reconnect with her.

    All the best to you both.
    Jadi

    Reply

    • Thank you for getting back in touch, Jadi. I’m glad you connected with the Patinkin interview on Q – it truly is inspirational. I’ve recommended it to several people since our exchange. I think you’d have to made of stone not to be moved by MP’s description of his own wrestling match with the angel. Sendak still arouses alternating feelings of joy and sadness in me. I can’t help but feel he found his own way to keep darkness at bay, sharing much of it with the rest of us through his drawings. The sadness comes from imagining his childhood, and the recognition that for so long he had to keep the love of his life under wraps. Isn’t it amazing to discover the Proustian glop on a loved one’s cookbook, recalling dishes, remembering when someone made a particular treat? Every time I see I a 1st edition of Julia’s MTAFC I’m always shocked by its size – it was so big by comparison to later editions (the exact opposite of the way things usually go). When I page through it now the person I meet most often is myself, as a young man in love with good food, studying in Europe. I re-experience the delight of first reading Julia’s instructions for paté, remembering my awe at the steps, and the aha of feeling like a great secret had been revealed. It’s kind of touching–like going back and looking at a poem in the Norton Anthology with a word circled and linked to an handwritten explanatory note in the margin: “symbol.” Ha! Be well. Ken

      Ken

      Reply

  7. HI, Ken! I’m updating my “Blogs I Follow” and would like to include an image from each blog to link through to the respective sites. Do you have an definitive Garum Factory image you’d be okay with me adding to my blog page?

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  8. Hi Jody & Ken! Beautifully presented blog, love the photographs and recipes! There is a Tiverton in Devon, not too far from us here in the West Country in the UK…small world eh?! I have always wanted to visit Rhode Island, one of these days…wonderful photo of you both too :-) I hope you will be back to visit my blog, I will certainly be back here and have signed up to follow you. Lovely to meet you both.

    Reply

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  12. Wow, I just came across your blog from http://buckwheathealth.wordpress.com/ and I’m so thrilled that I did, not only because your photography and your food are both absolutely stunning, but also because I’m so tickled to find out that you own Rialto! I just graduated from law school in Cambridge and have been to Rialto quite a few times. It was lovely every time (so no surprise that your blog is equally so). What a happy coincidence and I’m so glad to have found you. Looking forward to seeing more of your gorgeous creations.

    Reply

  13. Julia Child and my mother are also my greatest inspirations! Your site makes me hungry and I love that it is run by such a sweet happy couple!
    I can’t wait to start trying out some of your recipes. Your guys’ site is the only other thing I check frequently besides the news and my email…so thank you for adding some enjoyment to my morning coffee time. :)
    -Lana

    Reply

  17. You have a gorgeous site – so striking and unusual! It’s a lovely discovery and I can’t wait to try some of your recipes (I’ve fallen for the ginger biscuits already!) :)

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  25. Your blog looks absolutely divine! I’ll be back for more inspirational posts – I’m your new follower! :-)
    Greetings from the North, Dina

    Reply

  31. Random:

    Dear Mr. Rivard,

    I am one of Bob Cornelison’s former Fordham students. Recently, when Googling Dr. Cornelison yet again, hoping I would be able to find a new glimpse of him besides an obituary, I came across your writings of him for your High School reunion. Now, easily a year or two later, I just can’t help myself, and I just wanted to reach out and say, I miss him too. (and I’m really hoping you are the same person, but I suspect you are).

    I was one of his Freshman students and then I think I took 2 more classes, because I loved that man and what he was teaching. If I ever wanted to debate a grade with a teacher it was him, and it saddens me more that I’ll never have that conversation with him. Funny. It’s been over 20 years.

    Now, I find myself married into a Finnish Family of a random/obscure faith community (a sect of Laestadian Lutherans), and almost daily I think, Dr. Cornelison would LOVE this… I could be a guest speaker every semester! I’ll drop the law career – we’ll write a book.

    So when I read about your friendship with him, I just had to reach out and share.

    I am sure I am not the only one, although I may be the only one sleeping with the conversation I want to have with him.

    I miss him too.
    Rebecca Liubakka

    Reply

    • Hello Rebby–I am indeed the right Ken Rivard. Bob Cornelison and I grew up together and remained close friends until his death, and he would have been pleased to know how deeply he touched you. People glide into and out of our lives, most leaving only a modest wake. But isn’t it amazing how some of the people and events of our youth remain with us for the rest of our lives? I’ve been fortunate enough to travel, most recently in Greece and Turkey, and whether I’m visiting Olympos or Aya Sofia, or eating green baklava or handmade bougatsa, the thought “Bob would have loved this,” or “THAT would have cracked Bob up,” has become some such a frequent internal verbalization that I no longer hear it–I’m just aware it’s there. And I’m happy to have him along. Thanks for getting in touch. If you’re ever in Boston, give me some advance notice and we can meet for a drink… something else he enjoyed. Ken

      Reply

  33. I’ve been missing your recipes – I guess I fell off the blog list (is that even possible?). How to preserve all those lovely farm tomatoes ?

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    • Hi, Marianne–We’ve been running around doing other stuff. We just got back from Haiti, where Jody was working with some PIH hospital hospitality programs (hospitals feeding their patients is a new thing in Haiti) and I was photographing her, school kids and street life. We will be posting more frequently as things settle down. Ken

      Reply

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