Nearly a Century Later, Crowd Pays Compliments to RI Lunch Chef

Compliments to the "Rhode Island Lunch" chef span three generations and nearly a century later, thanks to a family legacy led by 94-year-old Michael P. Janaros and his loyal Middletown peers who've turned two of the former Newport eatery's signature sandwiches into an annual feast day at the Middletown Senior Center.

"I do remember the cheese sandwiches. They were delicious," said Harold Perlingiero, 79, of Middletown, who had enjoyed the Rhode Island Lunch 30-40 years ago before it closed and was anticipating its brief but glorious return one recent Friday. "It'll bring back memories for me today, that's for sure."

Each year at the Middletown Senior Center, for one lunch in July, Janaros cooks up the two most memorable sandwiches from the tiny Rhode Island Lunch diner that his late father Peter Janaros had co-owned almost a century ago on a busy intersection on Broadway in Newport, where the menu of "standard American diner food" included everything from simple hamburgers and meatloaf to oxtail and lobster.

"They had everything on that menu. You name it—they had it. Everybody knew the Rhode Island Lunch. And this is just how he did it back then," explained Janaros , never lifting his expert gaze while churning away at the vat of thick and gooey melted cheese, cream and other "secret seasonings" that was to feed about 50 hungry seniors in the adjacent dining hall at promptly 1 pm.  "They called this 'get up and go' food because, believe you-me, it would get you going for the day."

Janaros had learned the restaurant business at his father's knee, first helping out around the Rhode Island Lunch at age eight. Later, between a 15-year stint as a lobsterman, he went on to own the Star Lunch and Satellite restaurants in Newport for almost 30 years. His last eatery, the Satellite, closed more than 20 years ago, but he was first called back into kitchen service three years ago at the suggestion of Arleen Kaull, Executive Director at the Middletown Senior Center.

"I kept hearing all these stories about the Rhode Island Lunch and how great the food was back then, so I just asked Mike if he might be interested in recreating that experience for us here," recalled Kaull, who had known Janaros as a senior center regular for years. "It just took a life of its own from there."

A recent rainy Friday in July was the third consecutive year when Janaros had re-created his father's signature Melted Cheese and Garden Fresh Vegetable sandwiches for his friends at the Middletown Senior Center.

And, once again, the art of sandwich-making became a Janaros family affair, with kitchen prep, table service and plating duty from Janaros 'oldest twin daughters, Tina Fowler and Sophie Cofield, daughter Joanne Cadenazzi, and son Peter Janaros and his wife Diane, all Newport residents. Their mother Mary, with whom Michael Janaros had been married for 65 years, had passed away six years ago.

Shortly after the culinary assembly-line was under way, warm memories of their late grandfather's beloved Rhode Island Lunch filled the room. "The Garden Vegetable sandwich was decades ahead of all the veggie wraps popular today," noted Cadenazzi. "And the cheese didn't have any meat in it, so both became so popular during lent, that people started demanding it year-round."

"These were the kinds of sandwiches that people would pick up on-the-go," Cadenazzi continued with great pride. "And they didn't have a lot of time to spare to come in on their way to work, so they'd come to the back door to pick up the sandwiches that were already made and waiting for them and they'd pay right there. It was fast and convenient, much like a drive-through you'd see today, but a lot better."

Truly, one sandwich is hearty and unapologetically loaded with carbs and protein and tangy rich flavor, while the other spills over with a flavor explosion of garden fresh locally grown summer vegetables.  It's no wonder why they're still talked about to this day.

The Melted Cheese sandwhich is served atop a fresh roll with optional condiments mustard, relish and diced onion.

The Garden Vegetable is served on a fresh bun, lightly coated with mayonaise, then layered with lettuce, beets, slice tomato, cucumber, red onion, peppers, and pickles. On Rhode Island Lunch Day at the Senior Center, both are served alongside hefty portions of home-baked beans and potato salad, then capped off with an old-fashioned root beer float for dessert.

Just how many more Melted Cheese and Vegetable sandwich orders are ahead for Middletown seniors?

"This has just been so great for everyone," said Kaull. "We'll keep doing this as long as Mike and his family would like to keep making us his Rhode Island lunch."