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Bravo Brasserie
123 Empire Street
Providence RI 02903
401 490 5112
www.bravobrasserie.com
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Bravo Brasserie was the site of a television pilot for a show named I Am Paige Wilson for the
CW Network (formerly WB). The technical crew arrived at Bravo on a Monday night after
hours, worked through the night and the following day, and at around five o’clock the cast
arrived and shot their scene in which Bravo was set up as a Washington D.C. brasserie. The
shooting finished a little before midnight and by morning there was no trace of the cameras or
crew. No word of when it will air, but we’ll let you know when we do. One other celebrity note,
owner Higginbotham was filled up downstairs last week, when he got a request for a table of
five for a Gordon Sumner. He accommodated the guests by opening up the upstairs dining
room, and when they arrived he was thrilled to learn the group of five was the singer Sting and
his family.
Bravo has started serving from the new spring menu which includes nightly specials like Cioppino
on Friday’s. Other new entries on the menu are a roasted beet salad, a new signature
Mussels dish, Duck Confit with Licorice–Infused Red Cabbage. Pistachio and Goat Cheese
Crusted Rack of Lamb and Cod Basquaise. As always, fresh oysters are available, including
owner Robert Higginbotham’s personal favorite, the local Poppasquash oyster.
Bravo will be serving a Mother’s Day Brunch and Lunch from 10a.m. until 3:00 p.m. on
Mother’s Day. Several dinner specials will be offered on the brunch menu like a spring leg
of lamb. Each mother will receive complimentary mimosa for her special day.
Bravo is also accepting reservations of any size group for graduation parties in their upstairs
dining room. |
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Hon
790 Reservoir Avenue
Cranston RI 02910
401 946 2188
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On the one hand there is nothing new at HON (House of Noodles). On the other hand, with a
menu of over 100 items, there is always something new to try. And disappointment is rare.
The chef Quyen Lee is inventive, creating a rice batter with chopped scallions and a hint of
curry for her Vietnamese crepe. She is accomplished, offering a pho, or soup, of chicken and
noodles that could win any chicken noodle soup competition. The broth is complex and rich,
the noodles are simultaneously tender and textured, and when the basil and bean sprouts and
jalapenos are added in, the lime juice squeezed into the bowl, the result is so fresh and
fragrant, wholesome and satisfying that you cannot omit the pho in any future order. That
alone is a problem, because the curried lemongrass chicken soup is equally fresh and sublime.
Beyond the soups, there is a wide range of available tastes. The Banh Hoi, which combines
rice vermicelli pancakes, with either steak or chicken or fish, is bathed in a delicate sauce,
wrapped in a large rice noodle, accompanied by lettuce, cucumbers, basil, carrots, and cilantro,
is a guiltless pleasure. Hon’s Crispy Fish is a whole fresh striped bass or flounder, pan
fried. It is presented with a crunchy exterior, sprinkled with cilantro served with a spicy sauce.
Pork Kho To is a casserole of pork tenderloin, roasted in a caramelized peppercorn sauce.
Quyen Lee is hoping to redecorate her Cranston restaurant in the next few months, but until
then, the diners will return for her most notable offering, her authentic and exquisite food. |
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Mill's Tavern
109 N. Main Street
Providence RI 02903
401 272 3331
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Mother’s Day, Mill’s Tavern will be open from noon until seven. The regular menu will be
offered, and each mother will be offered a complimentary dessert.
Chef Christian Pieper has created a new spring menu at Mill’s Tavern offering English Pea
Bisque with Caviar Vanilla Crème Fraiche. Paella with Chorizo, Rock Shrimp and PEI Mussels
has been added to the Pantry Menu, along with Pan Seared Scallops with English Pea Puree
and a Chilled Eggplant and Spring Vegetable Salad. From the Wood Burning Oven there is a
Lavender Honey Glazed Roasted Goose Breast with Thyme-Infused Purple Potatoes and
Spring Vegetables. Another Poultry item is Oven Roasted Duck Breast with a Bamboo Rice
Medley, Spring Fava Beans and Foie Gras Blueberry Gastrique. The price range on the dinner
entrees is from $14 to $29.00.
The dessert menu boasts some tempting offers like a Warm Devils Food Cake with Chapagne
Sabayon and Orange Ganache, Orange Ginger Syrup and Seasonal Berries. Another mouthwatering
selection is a Raspberry and White Peach Chiboust Mousse with Grilled Peaches,
Pecans and Raspberry Caramel. |
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New Japan
145 Washington Street
Providence RI 02903
401 351 6300
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One of the services owner Yukio Hiyama offers his customers is to arrange private sake tastings.
Sake is a Japanese wine made from rice which has gained tremendous popularity in the
United States in the last decade. While the size of his tiny restaurant prevents him from holding
tastings during regular hours, Mr. Hiyama is able to offer them on afternoons or evenings when
the restaurant is closed. Recently a sake tasting was held for the owner of a new Downcity
wine store named Eno. Mr. Hiyama offered seven different sakes, nearly all bearing the gold
and blue circular label that identifies them as “Japanese Premier Sake Association” products.
The sakes are served at various temperatures from cool to warm. The traditional way to serve
sake is slightly warmed but it has become fashionable to serve many of the rice wines at
between 40 and 50 degrees. The price of the sakes ranged from about $8.00 for a small bottle
to $34 for a larger bottle. Mr. Hiyama served several dishes with the sake including beefwrapped
asparagus, eel and salmon roe, as well as flying fish roe on cucumber. The diners
responded to the sakes with descriptions of “floral scents”, “a hint of persimmon, or orange
blossom” as well as “briney” or “earthy”. Many of the sakes would be well paired with French
or grilled food. There was one Nigori sake, which had a slight sparkle and was a bit sour, that
went particularly well with the Japanese food. A second Nigori was viscous, porridge like, and
a great compliment to salty food like sardines. Otokoyama is pure rice sake, often served in a
cedar box with salt on the rim.
In Japan there are over 300 sake brewers and, today, sake is being brewed in California and
the Northwest. As always, Mr. Hiyama brings the tremendous knowledge he has acquired in
his 40 year restaurant experience. The fate of his restaurant is still unknown. |
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New Rivers
7 Steeple Street
Providence, RI 02903
401 751 0350
www.newriversrestaurant.com
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New Rivers is expecting to reopen by May 1, if all goes as planned on the cleanup from the
April 9th kitchen fire. Owner Bruce Tillinghast reports that there was no damage to the front
of the restaurant, although the kitchen was significantly damaged in the effort to extinguish the
fire. The fire began when charcoal was poured into the grill and sparks flew up into the duct
system.
Tillinghast says the fire will not inhibit their plans to compete in the May 7, 2nd Annual Rhode
Island Chef Smackdown. New Rivers will be part of a Providence team that includes Chez
Pascal, Gracie’s, La Laiterie, and Nicks on Broadway. They will team up against five Newport
chefs on a ten-course, wine-included dinner. Tickets for the event, which begins at 6:00 p.m.
at the Belle Mer on Goat Island are $125. Proceeds for the event will go the benefit American
Insititute of Wine and Food Rhode Island Chapter’s Days of Taste. For more information called
401 369 7260 or email kkaiwf@aol.com.
Before the fire, Bruce Tillinghast was lamenting the slowness of spring produce, so perhaps
when New Rivers is ready to reopen, spring greens and asparagus will be there to greet him. |
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Nicks on Broadway
500 Broadway
Providence RI 02903
401 421 0286
www.nicksonbroadway.com
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Derek Wagner flew out at the end of April to the Television Food Network Food Challenge in
the TVFN Colorado studios. Wagner competed against five other chefs in a 6-7 hour competition.
The footage will be edited down for a show to air this summer. Wagner, who has been
picked again and again as one of Providence’s top chefs, is also one of the participants of the
American Institute of Wine and Food’s 2nd Annual Chef Smackdown. Wagner will represent
Providence along with Beau Vestal of New Rivers, La Laiterie, Gracie’s and Chez Pascal. They
will compete against Newport restaurants, the Belle Mer on Goat Island, Café Zelda, One
Bellevue at the Hotel Viking, Bliss Natural Market and Café, and the Vanderbilt Hotel. Patrons
attending the event will get a ten-course dinner with wine for a ticket price of $125. All
proceeds go to the AIWF. For more information call 401 369 7260, or email: kkaiwf@aol.com.
Nicks will be open on Mother’s Day from 8 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. offering their regular menu,
along with special Mother’s Day creations. Reservations are available. |
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Red Stripe
465 Angell Street
Providence RI 02906
401 437 6950
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Red Stripe will be open for Mother’s Day serving their brunch menu and later in the day
offering the dinner menu. Reservations are recommended. Brunch is served 9:00 a.m. until
3:00 p.m.; a late lunch menu is available between 3-5, and the dinner menu is in place from 5
on. |
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Restaurant Oak
959 Hope Street
Providence RI 02906
401 273 7275
www.restaurantoak.com
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Restaurant Oak is please to welcome back Erik Bianca, the original chef, who cooked alongside
Paul Shire when the restaurant opened. Bianca had moved to his family’s Vermont town
for a year, working at Hunter’s American Grill, but he has come back to Rhode Island and Oak.
He has already launched a spring menu which includes a grilled cheese and fig sandwich at
lunch, a salad nicoise with seared tuna, a house-cured brisket with chive horseradish dumplings
and a salmon with green tea rice and a smoked plum sauce.
On Mother’s Day, Oak will be open from 9-2 for brunch and 4-7 for dinner, with special
Easter dishes on each menu. |
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Vintage
4 South Main Street
Woonsocket, RI 02895
401 765 1234
www.vintageri.com
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Vintage Restaurant has a new chef, Matthew Thomsen. Thomsen, who is the 25-year-old
sous-chef who has worked with Brian Counihan since the restaurant opened. Brian Counihan
has left Vintage to open his own restaurant in Salem, Massachusetts, which is much closer to
his home town. Vintage owners Brian McGroarty and Larry Lovejoy felt Thomsen would be
more than able to slide gracefully into Counihan’s shoes. Thomsen graduated from the New
England Culinary Institute in Vermont, and has an impressive resume, having worked at Daniel
in New York City and Restaurant L in Boston.
Vintage will be open for Mother’s Day from 11:30-6:00m offering their regular menu and a
rose for each mother. |
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