Dinner in Douglas, MA

Can you imagine a Sunday meal any more perfect than potato-leek soup followed by roast beef, twice baked potatoes and green beans?! (And where did Dorothy find such exquisite beans this time of year is beyond me!)

Dorothy's potato-leek soup made with the last of the leeks from last year's garden!

French Tarte on February 23

After two weeks the French Tarte came roarin'back this past Saturday: a full table of goodies at 9am, by noon everything was gone; the croissants and pain au chocolate were gone by 10:15!

caramel nut tart

chausson aux pommes ready for the oven

bouchon, buttermilk cakes rolled in coriander-ginger sugar

apple berry tart

sugar buns

chocolate ganache tart

croissants

lemon madeleines

pear-ginger financier

cocoa hazelnut financier

Alsatian dinner at New Rivers

It's been nearly two months since we've eaten at New Rivers; and in fact, our last outing there was for New Year's Eve, a dinner that the four of us had somewhat mixed feelings about, if you must know.

That aside, we were looking forward to a return engagement and when I discovered on Tuesday last, quite by accident, that they were hosting an Alsatian dinner the next day, we had to snap up that opportunity.

 The party kicked off at 6:30 in the upstairs private dining room. We had no sooner gotten our coats off than we were handed a glass of tasty Cremant d'Alsace. (A "cremant" being any non-Champagne sparkling wine made in the Champagne style, so we were told.) It was a lively and friendly group of about 17 people seated around a u-shaped table. The wines for the evening were all white Alsatian (naturally) from Gerard Metz and presented by the wine rep, Steve Wynn of The Wine Bros. One of the most fascinating aspects of the dinner was the fact that such robust food was matched with white wines, and quite nicely matched, too, I might add.

For starters, matched with a gewurztraminer 2010 (quite dry):

bouchee a la suppepaschete, puff pastry cups with pork, vegetables and cream

bibeleskas, fresh ripened cheese with bacon, potatoes, herbs on toast

Next up, with a pinot blanc 2011 (nearly everyone was amazed at what an incredible wine this was):

flammekueche, thin rich "pizza", topped with bacon, onions and cream

presskopf & spaetzle, crispy lamb shoulder rillettes and spaetzle

For the "entre," and matched with a delicious riesling (lots of residual sugar but very dry nonetheless):

charcroute garni, saurkraut with sausages, smoked pork, potatoes, onions and mustards

For the dessert course, kougelhopf paired with a late-harvest gewurztraminer done in a dry style:

Every now and then Beau Vestal, chef-owner, would drop by and chat about the food. And speaking of the food, it was well-presented, scrumptious and, with the exception of the dessert course, superb. (We thought it odd to offer a traditional breakfast bread for a dessert course, but then the wine served with it  was a bit on the odd side as well, far too dry for a "dessert" wine, in my humble opinion.)

The company was congenial, and, as I said lively. It was a most pleasing couple of hours sharing experiences and ideas about such wonderful food and wines.

Fish night at Broadway Bistro

We missed out on a long-overdue dinner at Chez Pascal thanks to Nemo and then missed a special Valentine's Day dinner at the Duck and Bunny compliments of a raging infecttion following a root canal.

So, last evening we picked ourselves up and drove over to Broadway Bistro to see what Pat had on the menu for the evening.

Now, we usually spring for the ribs n' grits at the very least, but this time we were both feeling a need for something aquatic. Starting off with a brace of proseccos, Susie and I split an app of seared sea scallops (from New Bedford) and found ourselves sopping up the residue with bread to get every last bit of flavor into our mouths.

I had the Hake with roasted fennel over a bed of pea tendrils and oregano mashies.

Susie had the special for the evening: seared salmon on a bed of garlic mashies.

Susie washed her fish down with a Gavi and I had a backup prosecco with mine.

The menu may sound pedestrian but believe me, if anything, the food was, as always, tasty, with robust flavors and hands-down simply superb. It's a broken record by now, but with Ama's gone, Broadway Bistro is the best value around: great food at a decent price. You can't beat that.

Nick's on Broadway

Chef-owner Derek Wagner is one of the reasons Providence has become such a well-known food destination. His attention to detail, commitment to using to local resources, drive for culinary creativity, dedication to customer service and wonderful food packed with scrumptious flavors keeps us coming back again and again.

Nick's is only four blocks from our house and we often go there for Sunday brunch -- if you go, get there well before 8:30 am unless you want to wait a half or so because it's always jam packed. 

But the other evening my wife and I joined two friends there for dinner, something we had not had at Nick's for far too long. We started with a sparkling wine from the Loire and the evening just got better and better.

Roasted oysters and potato-parsnip gnocchi in a lamb ragout for starters followed by winter root vegetable soup and salad for one, more gnocchi for a second, salad and a side of roasted potatoes for a third and I had the pork shoulder on a bean cassoulet. Everyone agreed the food was truly delightful, loads of flavors, gorgeous colors and just the right portions.  All washed down with a bottle of Jermann chardonnay from Friuli.

Winter root vegetable soup

Potato-parsnip gnocchi with lamb ragout

Pork shoulder over bean cassoulet

salad

Although reasonably priced by Providence standards, Nick's is one of the pricier restaurants on the west side. Still,  we all agreed its a good value and we have now set our sights on returning more often.

Bacaro - nice but expensive

One of the finest "Italian" restaurants in Providence, Bacaro's on South Water Street is almost a stone's throw from that other fine Italian restaurant, Al Forno -- in fact the chef-owner of the former cut his culinary teeth at the latter (and his recipes occasionally show it).

Oddly, though, Bacaro's is often missed by those folks still hung up on Atwell's Avenue, those who love queuing up on a Saturday night waiting 30 minutes to crawl along "historic' Federal Hill looking for parking. Not at Bacaro's -- parking is free and plentiful, the view of the Providence River clean and open, and that's just the beginning.

Bacaro boasts an on-site cheese shop and their own saluminaria, and with seating on two floors we've never had to wait, although they are almost always busy -- indeed, only once in the several times we've gone there have we been turned away without a reservation.

The food is very good, tasty and well-prepared, leaning toward Italian of course but without any specific regional orientation. The portions are generous, and the service spot on: attentive, friendly and helpful. (Monica was our server and she gets a big thumbs up.) 

An extensive wine list with several options for quaffing a tasty wine. Bacaro is expensive, however (troppo caro) so bear that in mind, and it lacks that cozy atmosphere we appreciate so much of Chez Pascal or Broadway Bistro.

 

orrechiette with roasted brussell srpouts and pancetta

grilled sausages with roasted spaetzel and red wine braised red cabbage

Tini's closed

One of our favorite places in Providence over the past several years has been Tini's, a "food bar" with monitors subbing for menus, and  a U-shaped table where one shared food and ideas, or not, as the moment moved you.

Designed and built by George Germon and Johanne Killeen of Al Forno's fame, and run by the incredibly talented Darius Salko, Tini's was always a place to feel at home. With smooth cocktails, luscious wines (nicely priced I might add) and scrumptious food (homemade gnocchi with rabbit) it oozed warm conversation.

The good news is that Darius is alive and well living right across the state line in Massachusetts, readying himself for the next phase of his culinary career: becoming a farmer of ingredients he will then turn into product and who knows? maybe into a restaurant down in the wilds of Dartmouth.

We can't wait.