Walking Wickendon

We paid a visit to ABE'S (302 Wickendon St, Providence  401-751-4900) the other night. It's a real bar, somewhere in the middle of bar territory, way to the right of dingy but to the left of consciously cool. Abe (no actual Abe; he just removed the B from Babe's) has a few events, music, trivia contests, book groups, but when we were there it was just tables of talkers drinking mostly from the excellent selection of beers. Really comfortable. NO FOOD but you can order out from Abe's UNITED BARBECUE (146 Ives St, Providence  401-751-9000 www.unitedbbq.com) and they'll bring the ribs, wings, slaw etc right to the bar.

COMFORT FOOD

For my money,  a perfect burger is available at a bar and grill in Westchester County, New York, entirely inconvenient to a Providence resident. The search is on in Rhode Island. LUXE BURGER BAR (5 Memorial Blvd, Providence  401-621-5893) is part of a small local chain, Chow Fun Food Group, which includes 10 Steak & Sushi, Cafe Noir and Rick's Roadhouse. Luxe is downtown, located in the garage wing of the Marriott Courtyard, across from Capital Grille at Union Station. A bar/grill style place, its business is burgers and you are given a checklist to fill out to build your own. There is also a menu of pre-designed burger options and items for that person in your party who doesn't want a burger (better to leave said person at home - his nose may be offended). Our build-a-burger results were pretty good though mine could have been just a little bigger and the cheese thick enough to actually see without glasses. Stick to the basic add-ons like cheese, raw onion and ketchup and your purist instincts won't be offended. The thought of a burger with most of the items on the list is not pleasant but then somebody out there must feel a need for spiced ketchup. Onion rings and french fries were big disappointments - onions, potatoes and batter all totally tasteless. The sweet potato fries were better. www.luxeburgerbar.com 

There's something kind of nostalgia-inducing about RUE DE L'ESPOIR (99 Hope St, Providence  401-751-8890). I want to like it and it does remind me, in a funny way, of an unglamorous Paris bistro in the 15th that always lures me back. But I also want to give it a good kick - add a little to the walls and edit the recipes. I'm grateful the Rue offers a range so you can sit among tables of students ordering burgers and more affluent forty-somethings spending lots. And it's nice to walk in on a cold crisp night and get cozy with a quiche and salad and duck risotto, as we did on a recent evening. But, the quiche didn't elicit any satisfying grunts and why have the old staple on the menu if it doesn't do that, if it doesn't give you soul-satisfying richness and warmth? The risotto contained too much duck, too little arborio and not enough seasoning. We'll try again (the burger?). The Rue has an actual barroom by the way. www.therue.com

TAKE-OUT

And if you don't already enjoy the olive bread (both baguette and full size) and an occasional sticky bun at SEVEN STARS BAKERY (820 Hope St and 342 Broadway in Providence; Rumford Center, 20 Newman Avenue in East Providence - 401-521-2200 for all) head there now. Personally, I have sworn off the sticky buns during a post-holiday lenten body-repair period but I'm still indulging in olive baguettes. The firm crust, salt and olives are just too good to miss. www.sevenstarsbakery.com  Go also to OLGA'S (103 Point St, Providence  401-831-6666) where the breads are excellent and the french-style macaroons a treat. Olga's sells it cornmeal and whole wheat pizza crusts, and some breads, in many local markets and I recommend the crusts as hosts to your left-over olives, shallots, etc. For me, the best part of Olga's is the cafe, especially in summer when you can sit outside for a leisurely lunch. The menu includes their little pizzas, a range of sandwiches from a Cuban paninini to a cheddar vegetable melt, and salads. Bring an appetite - hearty describes the fare. www.olgascupandsaucer.com NOTE: both Seven Stars and Olga's are at the Pawtucket Wintertime Market (1005 Main St, Pawtucket, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.)

A PLATTER OF FIGS

I was never going to purchase another cookbook, ever, and I've bought two since Christmas. A PLATTER OF FIGS (Artisan, 2008) is by David Tanis, co-chef at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, CA. He's co-chef because he splits the job, enabling him to spend half the year in Paris where he hosts a private dining club (something to dream about). I've decided to make everything in the book, not like Julie what's-her-name in her quest to find her inner Julia, but like an ordinary cook who has decided this is her kind of bible. I made my pledge a month ago and so far I've knocked off five from the index and success (mostly) greeted me so I'm game to continue. Here are my first three, made for one evening: 1) watercress, beet and egg salad - utterly terrific, what else can I say? (Think he's bossy because he tells you how to wash the watercress, cook the beets, even how to "soft" hard boil the eggs? Maybe, but he's right.); 2) braised beef - simply delicious. Here's where I confess - I used boxed chicken broth. Sorry Mr. Tanis; 3) roasted apples - like grown up applesauce with cognac. I did have a problem here in that my apples had an appearance issue - a couple burst open. And doing it again, I'd add a really good vanilla ice cream.

But are apples really dessert?

 

Around Town and ...

Restaurant Reviews for Providence & the Plantation
Ocean State Eats: On the search for perfect oysters, juicy burgers, heart-stopping doughnuts and just-right puttanesca in Providence and the whole plantation. The writer is restive and makes forays across nearby borders and side trips to New York and beyond.

Rhode Island is tiny. Breakfast at one end of the state and dinner at the other doesn't take a lot of driving. And, it seems, everyone in the state likes to eat. Since Providence is barely a footnote in Zagat's, Rhode Island is my Oyster thinks there's room for opinions. NOTES OF A COLD MONTH
Cold, windy weeks in January and February only made NEW RIVERS (7 Steeple St, Providence 401-751-0350) more appealing than ever. This tiny, charming restaurant has been reconfigured and the new bar (with many more seats) has a generous expanse of windows framing historic First Baptist Church. Service at New Rivers is just about perfect. The always-evolving menu is small, which I know can cause non-adventurous diners to worry (Will I have to eat a quail?) but really it's a pleasure. The special prix fixe menu is fine by me though a chain-stream eater might find it odd. One recent evening I ordered a wild mushroom and faro salad as a first course, delicious fall-off-the-bone pork ribs for the main, and a successful concoction of fruit and hannabells cheese (from nearby Westport) for dessert. The prix fixe is a bargain and I admit I am happy to enjoy a poirtini followed by a glass of red wine (by-the-glass choices are good here) to spend enough money to make the whole thing fair. www.newriversrestaurant.com

Lots of restaurants are offering prix fixe dinners to keep people coming in this iffy economic environment. Obviously, as an owner, you're happy if people skip over the prix fixe and order a la carte instead. But, BUT, if a restaurant offers a deal I think it should, figuratively and literally, smile while it's offering it. We haven't set foot in MILLS TAVERN (101 North Main St, Providence 401-272-3331) since last fall, when on three successive occasions we had to seek out the prix fixe menu even though the restaurant advertises it. The first night, our waiter hesitated, said "Oh," and reluctantly produced it. After we made our selections Mr. Haughty noted that people who ordered from the "value menu" often added side dishes. No kidding. True Story. Dinner was very good (no sides needed - except maybe to supplement one teeny dessert) all three nights. One colleague, however, refuses to return. www.millstavernrestaurant.com

While New Rivers and Mills Tavern offer warmly-designed rooms for winter, HEMENWAYS (121 South Main St, Providence 401-351-8570) is all crisp and bright. It is part of the small Newport Restaurant Group chain of restaurants. We recently went with a group of six for a late Sunday lunch. Not having visited since Hemenways changed hands (confession: I didn't much like it under the old owners - service was too loud and chatty for me) my friend thought we should check it out. I want it to be excellent because fish options in Providence are limited and the location is attractive. One of our party was being feted so I couldn't take a true pulse of the diners but here's my note: service was very, very very slow, making it even more of a disappointment when the seafood caesar salad was a tasteless clump of over-chilled and under-dressed shellfish and my partner's trio of fishes was part hit, more miss. Alas. But the oysters were met with high praise, especially the Poppaquash locals.


OUTSIDE CITY LIMITS
This is fun: two of us just visited GAVI (99 Hicks St, East Providence 401-490-0618), a small restaurant recently opened in the basement of the Sons of Italy hall. Less than successful in our search for a not-too-noisy trattoria with satisfying Italian comfort food, we read about Gavi and paid a visit. My friend had an appetizer of warm goat cheese sandwiched between slices of fried eggplant (enough to share) which got us off to a decent, if indulgent, start. Then came the spicy pasta with sausage and the utterly satisfying veal parmigiana. Happiness. Service is friendly, timely but not rushed. Don't look for a giant wine list - the liquor comes from the Sons of Italy bar, also in the basement - but the chianti works. Frank Sinatra, and maybe Dean Martin, croon on the mellow audio mix (played very softly, this is a quiet place - you can carry on a conversation). Hip it's not, so The Sons of Italy hall won't be everybody's idea of a swell location but I think it's perfect. www.gavitrattoria.com

ACROSS THE BORDERS
New Bedford needs all the dining action it can get so I'm cheering on the success of CORK (90 Front St, New Bedord, MA 508-914-9463), snug and good-looking in its historic building across from the Martha's Vineyard ferry. Its entire name is Cork Restaurant and Tapas Bar and it's the latter which best describes it. Think of it as a high-end bar. The tapas are where to focus - it's a long list of small dishes from olives to empanadas. The wine flights are well-priced and fun. In the cozy lower level you can have real conversation about the wine flights; upstairs the noise of exuberance can be overwhelming. www.corkwineandtapas.com
ALL TAKE-OUT SHOULD BE LIKE THIS
While visiting the winter farmer's market in Pawtucket one recent Saturday we paid a visit to CHEWTIN'S DOGS MOBILE, a venture of CHEZ PASCAL (960 Hope St, Providence 401-421-4422). My friend had a bacon-wrapped meatloaf sandwich and raved about it all day. And again the next day. The van goes way further than the summer hot dog stand in the park (across from Chez Pascal's) - the sandwich list is short and beautiful. For more information go to the Chez Pascal site (www.chez-pascal.com) and find out where the van is spending its weekdays. And the farmers' market, it's a must-do Saturday activity. I bought the practical (carrots, potatoes, sausage, spinach, pickles and a ham hock) and the frivolous (a grasshopper cupcake). It's fun and the selection is vast. WINTERTIME FARMERS MARKET at the Hope Artiste Village, 1005 Main St, Pawtucket, Saturdays 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Don't eat your heart out, eat oysters