Five Things: Twist on Angell, Providence
Saturday, November 06, 2010
For retired ladies who lunch or girls and boys who crave cocktails, Twist on Angell is the smart and steady sister in the Marra Group’s Rhode Island restaurant family. Sean DeBobes nipped into the Wayland Square haunt to check out a new menu on the horizon. Here are the five things he wants you to know.
One. The New Menu.
Well, it’s not completely a new menu – those of you who frequent this cozy little Wayland Square haunt may now breathe a sigh of relief. But there are a dozen new additions that Chef Rob Pirnie will debut on this already sizeable menu on November 12. I was lucky enough to come on a night when they happened to be testing a few of them out. My favorite? The beef tenderloin au poive -- succulent, absolutely perfectly cooked beef with a crusty coating of black pepper, served alongside parmesan mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus and finished with a cognac demi-glaze cream sauce. For a moment, I had to remind myself I was in a neighborhood bistro and not a steak house.
Two. The Unfussy Cheese Plate.
On a cold fall evening, those of us who LOVE cheese appreciate a hearty serving, not tiny little slivers that we must reluctantly share with our tablemates. And while I am delighted as the next epicurean to slice into some Humboldt Fog or a Ewephoria, Twist’s amply-sized portions of goat, smoked mozzarella and brie, served with grilled-then-lightly-fried flatbread was a nice…well, twist, on the teeny-tiny cheese plate. This is a new offering as well – look for it starting next Friday.
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Chipotle, cracked black, banana, pepperoncini – Chef Pirnie knows peppers and he’s not afraid to use them. And what’s fun is that you might find them in the most unexpected places – the Twisted Popcorn appetizer features fluffy white popped kernels tossed with honey chipotle butter; the aforementioned cheese plate features a creamy goat cheese rolled in pungent cracked black pepper. Even the Twisted Wedge salad (yes, they over-use the pun) sports a delicious but fiery blue cheese dressing that left us reaching for the iced water. But we loved it.
Four. The Bar.
While the dining room here can occasionally be a bit too bright and open -- especially as winter sets in – the U-shaped bar is comfortable but intimate. I like the large menu of fruity concoctions, even if some of them were just versions of the clichéd cosmopolitan. Several of the appetizers, including the cheese plate and the Moroccan hummus platter are plentiful enough to keep you from getting too tipsy too fast. The convivial atmosphere reminded us that this is the East Side of Providence’s version of a neighborhood bar, which means that no one is out of place here.
Five. Reliability.
It’s not a sexy word, but for all but the top-tier fine dining establishments, it’s hard to come by in a restaurant. In my experience, Twist has consistently delivered fresh, well-prepared food at reasonable prices. It may not be earth-shattering and there’s an occasional miss – we’d skip the grilled pizza, for example, and a new butter- and vanilla-poached shrimp with a blood orange beurre blanc was too heavy and sweet a treatment. But overall everything, right down to the fruit in our cocktails, was fresh, colorful and tasty, and usually is.
Would I go back? Oh, twist my arm. Give me a chilly night, a good friend or two, and a hearty appetite and I’ll happily belly up to the bar for the evening.
Hit “Save”: Twist on Angell, 500 Angell St, Providence, 831-4500. Open Tues.-Sun. 4-9:30; Fri.-Sat. til 11.
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