Review: Antonio's

Antonio's Restaurant
267 Coggeshall Street, New Bedford, MA
(508) 990-3636

On our way down to Providence, we thought we'd take a swing through New Bedford to check out Antonio's. I had read about it on Bitten and thought this was a good opportunity to visit. We are not really big eaters of Portuguese food, so we used past reviews to guide our food selections. Antonio's is a hop-skip and a jump off Route 195; it was less than 30 minutes (no traffic) to Providence.

We arrived a little before noon on Friday and the place was pretty empty, but by the time we left about an hour later Antonio's was packed. It's clear that they have a really good group of regular diners.

We started with the littleneck clams steamed with garlic and lemon. They were delicious and briny and garlicky. The steaming liquid was delicious and I just wish the bread had been better. The broth was begging to be sopped up with a crusty loaf of bread. What we got was soft and doughy and didn't really hold up to dunking. So, I had to use a spoon to eat it like soup. :-)

We also had some croquettes and cod cakes. They are sold by the piece and we agreed that if this was our local bar, we'd order the shrimp croquettes by the half-dozen. The shrimp croquettes reminded me (in a good way) of the fried ravioli I used to get as a bar snack. The tomato-shrimp mixture was creamy and encased in a pasta-like wrapper, lightly crumbed and fried. The cod cakes were much milder, but had a good taste of cod, without being too fishy.

I had the grilled sardines as my main dish. They were served super-hot and straight from the grill. They were whole sardines, heads and bones intact, and so they were really moist. For my palate, they needed a lot of lemon squeezed over them, and that addition made the dish for me.

Dave had the cacoila (braised pork shoulder). It was served with rice and(!) fries. The pork was really tender and flavorful. I am not sure what's in the braising liquid at Antonio's, but traditional recipes call for some kind of acid (orange juice, vinegar, wine) and lots of spice. This is a dish I going to try to recreate at home.

We spent $42 on our food and a half-bottle of Vinho Verde (Portuguese white wine). We ordered way too much food and had to leave about half of each of our entrees behind (we were off to a hotel for two nights, so carrying leftovers along would have been hazardous). Were we to go again, we'd probably get one appetizer and one entree. Crowd favorites appeared to be shrimp (looked like it was served in a butter, garlic and lemon sauce) and fish and chips.

We don't eat at Portuguese restaurants very often and one of things I am always disappointed about is the dearth of vegetables on the menu. I was given a green salad as a side with my sardines at Antonio's. It was a standard iceberg/romaine mix and was nice to have. But, why are the side dishes always so starchy? Don't get me wrong, I love french fries, but ... Has anyone ever found some neat vegetable side dishes in a Portuguese restaurant? The only place I have ever seen veggies is in kale and chorizo soup. Does anyone know of any dishes we should try next time?

Review: Chez Pascal

Chez Pascal
960 Hope Street, Providence, RI
401-421-4422 (reservations recommended)
www.chez-pascal.com

Chez Pascal is owned and operated by Matthew (chef) and Kristin (front of house) Gennuso. I was really excited to eat here for several reasons: the chef's focus on fresh and local ingredients (the menu changes weekly), the house-made charcuterie, and the fact that Chez Pascal also runs a hot dog cart during the day (not everyone wants diver scallops, y'know?). We never made it to the hot dog cart, but we really liked dinner.

Our first courses were a soup and a salad. Our salad was a local heirloom tomato salad with a corn flan. The tomatoes were perfectly ripe and a nice assortment of varieties was presented. The flan was served cool and really let the corn's flavor shine. I was surprised by the cool temp at first but it was a nice change. We had a Gratineed Onion Soup (think French Onion Soup) that was, without a doubt, the best version of that soup I have ever eaten. It was rich and beefy and cheesy and oniony, and surprisingly, perfect for a slightly cool summer evening.

For mains, we had a scallop dish and a knockwurst special. The large (U-10) scallops were seared and served with a tomato relish. The crispy potato cake was really interesting (and good). The potato was sliced thinly and compressed into a cake. The cake was then sliced and sauteed on the cut edge (on its "side"). It made for a nice contrast between crisp and roasted potato flavor and texture. This is a technique I am going to recreate at home.

The knockwurst was actually an appetizer special. We had eaten so much, that I knew an appetizer would be plenty. The knockwurst was a grilled half link served over cranberry beans. The sausage was seasoned well: not too salty, with good spicing. The grilling gave it a slighty smoky edge. The beans were perfect: cooked to a melting consistency, but not mushy. (If you haven't guessed yet, I do not like al dente beans (they are underdone in my book) . But it can hard to get beans to that right point of tenderness without them falling into mushy territory. Providence seems to be a city of excellent bean-cookers.)

We finished up our meal with a selection of cheeses from Farmstead. We had fresh ricotta with berries, a triple creme with a blueberry compote and a cheddar-like (forgot to write down these names) cheese from Neals Yard Dairy which was served with a tomato relish with mustard seeds (like a mostarda of tomatoes).

We spent $120 (before tip) for two cocktails, two glasses of wine, three starters, an entree and the cheeses. It's worth noting that Chez Pascal offers a very reasonable prix-fixe menu Tuesday through Thursday and a vegetarian tasting menu ($30!) all week long.

Our server was very friendly and every one there, both the waitstaff and the customers, seemed very cheerful. The room was cozy with tables close (but not too close) together. There were a few large groups and a lot of couples.

Review: The Troup House Restaurant

Troup House Restaurant
477 Broadway, Providence, RI
401-228-8500
www.trouphouserestaurant.com

Tom and Rozann Buckner are famous on the Providence restaurant scene for their restaurant L'Epicureo. When we started planning our trip, I knew we had to eat there. Then I found out they had closed L'Epicureo and had just opened the Troup House Restaurant (and that Tom was the one doing the cooking) and there was no question that we'd have to go. We ended up there for dinner and couldn't have been happier.

The restaurant is housed in the Italo-American Club building on Broadway. It's a little off the beaten path and is about a 10 minute walk from Federal Hill. When we visited there was no restaurant sign in front of the building (hopefully that will be remedied soon) but press on and don't fear.

The building is a gorgeous old Victorian. The interior finishings are phenomenal: stained glass, gorgeous carved wood, Arts and Crafts tiles and William Morris wallpaper.

We ate in the upstairs dining room which was bright (at least while the sun was up) and airy. The menu offered a lot of great options, and we followed our server's guidance for most of our selections. Their full menu is on their website, so take a look if you're curious.

Our first courses were a seared scallop salad (special) and a scungilli salad. The scallop salad had thin slices of perfectly seared scallop served over sliced oranges and shaved fennel. The plate was garnished with capers and oil-cured olives. The salad was dressed with olive oil and maybe a little more orange juice. It was well-balanced dish: the crisp-tender scallop, the tanginess of the fruit, the salty olives.

The scungilli was chewy, but not unpleasantly so. It was a simple salad: sliced scungilli was dressed in a very lemony dressing and served on a lettuce leaf.

Our main courses were both specials. We had the marscapone polenta with sausage and white beans and a fried striped bass over corn risotto. Both were fantastic. Their seasoning was perfect, not too salty but the flavors were very bright. The polenta was super creamy from the marscapone and the nuttiness of the cornmeal was a great foil to the sausage and perfectly cooked white beans that were served on top.

The striped bass was cooked just right. It was dredged in a slightly crumbly layer of fine crumbs (Wondra? Cornmeal?) and served over sweet corn risotto with a rosemary cream. The sweetness of the corn highlighted the sweetness of the fish. The rosemary cream was a rich fillip for what was a simple dish.

We shared a ricotta cake for dessert. I hadn't had anything like it before. There was a bottom cake layer, and then a cheesecake-like layer of ricotta on the top. It was a lighter (all relative with dessert isn't it?) finish to the meal.

Dinner for two with two glasses of wine, before tip was $94.50. The only quibbles we had were about the [lack of] signage outside (it did make the start of the evening extra exciting) and the rather steep pricing of the cocktails ($25 pre-tip for a Scotch and a Negroni).

That said, I can't recommend Troup House strongly enough. The setting and service are formal enough for The Troup House to be a great spot for an elegant night on the town, but the vibe is so inviting, you should feel comfortable about coming in for a plate of pasta or a sandwich (at lunch).

Week of August 10

So many vegetables, so little time! We were away for the weekend, so I wasn't sure just what we'd have for dinner. Fortunately, we bought some eggplant at a farmstand and my garden is overflowing with certain vegetables.

So we dug potatoes, cut Red Russian Kale, picked some tomatoes and squash and we pulled together a pretty spiffy supper after all.

Menu for the Week
Sunday
Caponata (from Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food)
Garlic-roasted new potato salad (from the Dean and Deluca Cookbook)
Sauteed kale with lemon

Monday
Spicy summer squash soup with yogurt and mint (from Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food)
Green salad
Toasts with herb oil

Tuesday
Grilled halloumi cheese
Trio of salads:

• Tomato salad
• Cabbage and carrot slaw
• Coucous and squash salad

Wednesday
Onion and greens custard pie (from Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food)
Beet salad

Thursday
Poached egg on endive salad with lardons (with home-cured bacon!)

Friday
Hot dogs (Maybe NY System style? Picked up a seasoning packet in Providence.)
Cole slaw

Review: Nick's on Broadway

Nick's on Broadway
500 Broadway, Providence, RI
401-421-0286
www.nicksonbroadway.com

From what I could tell while reading up on Providence brunch spots, Nick's serves an (if not the) ideal brunch. It's out on Broadway, which means that if you're staying in a hotel in the downtown area, you'll need to take a cab or walk (it's a little less than 1 1/2 miles from downtown). We walked and on a nice morning it was the ideal way to work up an appetite.

Nick's is a small place (8-10 seats at the bar, 8 or so tables) and I had read that it filled up quickly. But we made it there before 9:00 when we visited and walked right on in.

We really liked Nick's. The service staff was so friendly and welcoming. We sat at the bar overlooking the kitchen area - watching a brunch service can be exhausting, but the chef kept things moving and while the pace may have increased, the rhythm of the line's cooking stayed even. It was a pleasure to watch. We ended up going to Nick's on both Saturday and Sunday, so we got to try a few different things.

On Saturday, we had huevos rancheros and a breakfast sandwich of egg, tomato, prosciutto, pesto and provolone. The beans on the huevos were cooked just right; nice and saucy and well-seasoned and perfectly soft and tender (I have a thing about undercooked beans). They were topped with tomato salsa and cilantro cream. I prefer my huevos a little spicier, so I doctored my plate with a little hot sauce. The tortilla had been heated on the grill, so there were little charred crispy sections to provide a nice counterpoint to the creamy beans and egg.

The breakfast sandwich was grilled on multi-grain bread and was remarkably satisfying for its seemingly small size.

We also ordered a side of duck sausage. We got three links of plump, juicy, ducky sausages. Alas, not made in-house, but we overlooked that (and appreciated the kitchen's honesty). They were orangey and well-spiced and really fantastic. (I am going to have to do my own duck sausage experimentation, that's clear.)

On Sunday, we both had a breakfast special that was described by our server. Sweet corn and potato cakes, topped with eggs and hollandaise sauce. A potato cake Benedict? You bet. We each got two potato cakes, topped with fresh spinach, poached eggs and delightfully lemony hollandaise sauce. This was clearly a popular special as they ran out of it while we were eating ours. Go early!

Without tip, we spent about $36 each day for two "entrees", a side dish, coffees and juice. Prices on breakfast basics like pancakes and eggs are much lower than on the special items we ordered. We were really impressed with the freshness of the food, and with the care the staff took. (Nick's is one of the only I've ever been to that asked me how I wanted my bacon cooked.)