A little past noon on a Wednesday, the interior of Track 15, a new food hall in an 1848 train station in Providence, R.I., hums with activity. Young professionals to families with small children and a group of senior men all queue under the departure board-style menus to choose from seven local vendors serving Middle Eastern, Indian, New England, Italian and Mexican cuisine.
Given the state’s reputation for culinary oddities — clam cakes, “party pizza,” oyster vodka, Del’s frozen lemonade — Track 15’s popularity isn’t surprising. Gastronomy in the Rhode Island capital has grown by leaps and bounds in terms of diversity and business infrastructure.
Providence ranks 12th in ethnic diversity for midsize cities and 25th overall, according to a WalletHub analysis of demographic data. And Johnson & Wales University, rated second among culinary programs in the United States, has been nurturing top industry talent since 1973. The school’s rigorous program, which includes the country’s only sustainable food systems major, has “created a think tank on food that is really well matched to our geographical and agricultural advantages here in New England,” JWU professor Branden Lewis said…