Restaurant Insider: Where the JWU Chefs Eat
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Thanks to Johnson and Wales, Rhode Island is home to some masterful, award-winning chefs. These "chef-instructors" are normally tasked with teaching the next generation of chef; however this week their job is to tell us their favorite local restaurants. We gave them little guidance and told them to pick from lower priced everyday places to the best of the best and here are some of their faves....
The majority of people in Rhode Island are blissfully unaware of the master bread maker who resides at J+W. If the general public was aware of how talented chef Ciril Hitz is with bread dough, there would be a riot on the Providence waterfront. We love our bread around here and a bunch of culinary students are eating the best of the best. Chef Hitz has won nearly every bread distinction a chef can win and he gave us two terrific places he really loves: Loie Fuller's and Nick's on Broadway.
Nick's on Broadway, Providence
Not really going to get many arguments here. Chef/Owner Derek Wagner has been killing it almost since day one. This is a restaurant where the best compliment we can give is that everything is complementary. The flavors of the food are complementary; the drinks and food are complementary; the decor complements it all. All of this leads to a restaurant with few flaws. Since we can't start a fight about the quality of food, how about this....is Nick's better for breakfast or dinner? That should do it. At breakfast/brunch you have the incredible egg dishes, the house cured meats, the epic oatmeal. Dinner features one of the best tasting menu experiences in the state. It features resposonsibly-caught local seafood and meats atrfully prepared and some great wines. We really don't know what to tell you other than go for brunch AND go back for dinner and you try to decide, we're tired and full. 500 Broadway, 421-0286, www.nicksonbroadway.com
Loie Fuller's, Providence
We stay on the West Side for Loie Fuller. One step inside and you are taken by the artwork in the dining room. This is one of the most unique rooms in the state, walking in feels like going through a time machine to the turn of the 19th century Paris. It really gives you that bistro feel. This is another spot that features both weekend brunch and dinner all week. Aparently, dual pupose restaurants are the most attractive to Chef Hitz! The superstar of the brunch are the incredible beignets. We honeymooned in New Orleans and have had the ones from Cafe du Monde and Fuller are a very good, local option. Light, crisp and covered in powdered sugar, they will make you forget that donut place that's on every corner. For dinner, we always seem to start with the polenta fries and the smoke of the day which features charcuterie with house made pickles. Two mainstays on the menu are Benno's skirt steak and the amazing green onion and pistachio ravioli with brown butter and balsamic. You will, usually, be happy with either. 1455 Westminster St. 273-4375, www.loiefullers.com
There are few chefs more locally recognizable than Frank Terranova. His "Cooking with Class" segments on local TV Have made him a true Rhode Island icon. Chef Terranova has been at Johnson and Wales for years and he is one of the students favorite chef-instructors because of his wealth of knowledge and his frank--no pun intended--and sometimes "salty" kitchen language. Chef was nice enough to give us two picks that truly run the gamut of tastes...Thames Street Kitchen, in Newport and Wein-o-Rama in Cranston.
Wein-O-Rama, Cranston
We give Chef Terranova huge credit here...not trying to impress his buddies....instead, an honest to goodness classic Rhody pick. Wein-O-Rama is that place on Oaklawn Avenue in Cranston that normally you would drive right by on your way to another place. But do us a favor, as you're driving by take notice of how crowded the parking lot is all the time. This is classic diner food with few ammenities but tasty, fill your belly food, and of course N.Y. system weiners. We admit that we, like Chef Terranova, get the ocasional craving for gaggers and often find ourselves at Wein-O-Rama to satisfy the craving. Nicely steamed buns give way to the snap of the dog and the meat sauce and onions and celery salt all combine into weiner goodness. Of course you could get a nice breakfast or some very good comfort food, but then you would still be craving the weiners! 1009 Oaklawn Ave. 943-4990.
Thames Street Kitchen, Newport
When chefs Tyler Burnley and Chad Hoffer--and their lovely wives--decided to settle in Newport, it was futher affirmation that Newport had returned to it's heyday as a dining destination. Some of the best chefs in the state are plying their trade in the city by the sea, and the food coming out of the kitchen is a testament to that. This is a field-to fork-restaurant that features fresh local produce, locally farm raised meats and of course...incredibly fresh seafood. (Being located like 50 feet from the water insures that.) The chefs then show wonderful skill and restraint in letting these ingredients sing. The menu is small and changes often but you can expect to find seasonally appropriate food that is well prepared. A recent visit reminded us of how good a short rib can be, with TSK's being nice and tender and juicy. It was well glazed with the braising liquid and the pearl onions had absorbed all that tasty goodness. 677 Thames St. 846-9100, www.thamesstreetkitchen.com
The Distinguished Visiting Chef program at Johnson and Wales is run by Dr. Stanley Nicas and has featured some of the greatest men and women to ever don a chef coat. These talented chefs give demonstrations in whatever their type of cuisine focuses on and they help to educate the next generation. What these young chefs learn is that the main ingredient to being a successful chef is passion. A January visit by Chef David Burke, he of 8 restaurants nationwide, included a demo of 9 dishes and was a true master class in passion. Chef Burke also ventured out to check out our little culinary scene and came away very impressed with one local haunt in particular--Persimmon, in Bristol.
Persimmon, Bristol
Chef Champe Speidel himself is a J+W graduate and has long displayed the passion of one of the greats. Starting at Gracie's, Champe has been helping to redefine and shape our culinary scene. With Persimmon, Chef Speidel has made the most of this passion, recently garnering a nomination for a James Beard Foundation award--the restaurant Academy Awards--and making countless friends with his honest, well-thought-out food. When he found himself buying whole animals to ensure the best cuts he started one of the state's best butcher shops, Persimmon Provisions, to help use up the other parts of the animal and garnered a whole new fan base. The coolest thing about Chef Burke being impressed by Persimmon was the fact that Champe was not in the kitchen for the unannounced visit. That is one of the marks of a great chef...having a team so well trained and talented that there is never a dropoff in food or service. If the chefs were that impressed we're sure you will be too! 31 State St. 254-7474, www.persimmonbristol.com
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