Al Forno in Providence, Dante's Kitchen in East Greenwich, Boat House in Tiverton and Sofra in Cambridge

One of the longtime stalwarts in Providence, Al Forno is upscale with a wonderful menu and decent wine list.

zucchini blossoms

pan-seared sea bass

Caesar Salad

A much more casual place, Dante's Kitchen in East Greenwich has real potential: imaginative menu, a cool space, good service, but the food was a mixed bag and the very small space was way too loud.

Susie had the fried green tomato BLT with hand-cut fries, which was tasty.

I had pulled pork hash with poached eggs and a grilled buttermilk biscuit (homemade of course. The BLT with hand-cut fresh fries was spot on but the hash was basically shredded pork on top of a handful of small, diced fried potatoes. Hmmmm. And then the eggs were small with very little yolk (an odd thing I thought).

The Boat House in Tiverton serves up fairly standard fare in a gorgeous location overlooking Narragansett Bay. I had the tuna salad (flavorless) with their own handmade chips (tasteless and oily). Susie had the Jens & Marie veggie burger, which was also bland. Not an exciting meal to be sure but it was a gorgeous day to sip a glass of Rose by the water.

Then there is Sofra Bakery & Cafe in Cambridge. We'd been here once before and after a stroll through nearby Mount Auburn Cemetery Sofra is just the place to have a delicious lunch. It's chaotic to be sure and the seating can be interesting to say the least. But it's worth the wait and patience.

Even if you don't want lunch you have to try one of their incredible and incredibly delicious pastries, most of which are Middle Eastern in origin, like the twice baked brioche (left below) with custard actually baked into the filling (how'd they do that?). I had the chicken Shwarma stuffed flat bread and Susie had a concoction of three cheeses with grated fresh squash on top wrapped in a burrito-like hint of dough.

Al Forno

We met up with Andrea for an early dinner at Al Forno in Providence. Located just over the Point Street Bridge from where we work at Davol Square, it was certainly an easy drive. The restaurant doesn't participate in Restaurant Weeks, now underway in Providence, but that didn't seem to slow business in the least. By the time we left the place was packed with hungry eyes searching here and there for a spot to land.

We decided to skip going indoors for dinner, choosing instead to sit amidst the warmth of a green arbor that seemed to nearly envelop everyone as they walked inside. Notwithstanding the rush of traffic on nearby I-195 it was a real treat to sit outside and relax over what would be a very tasty meal indeed.

An aperitif followed by a bottle of Gavi helped speed things along and make the warm evening air seem just a tiny bit cooler. First things first, as they say, and kicked the evening off by sharing the corn fritter app. . .

. . . and while Susie and Andrea split a Caesar salad  I had zucchini blossoms:

While several things on the menu looked tempting, we gravitated toward their classic grilled pizzas: Andrea and Susie each had the fresh corn pizza and I had the calamari with arrabiata sauce.

Frankly, the squid was some of the best I've eaten eaten, the breading was just about perfect I thought and the arrabiata sauce deliciously piccante, sparking each mouthful of food.

The service was quite good, the table bread scrumptious although they seemed reluctant to provide more than a drip or two of olive oil in a tiny pitcher. Odd.  And the prices are a bit steep we thought, hovering around Gracie's and Bacaro's, but the food was wonderful, with nothing but glowing reports from all quarters.  There you have it.

Life is full of tradeoffs.