CAV

For our one year "dating" anniversary, we decided to dine at CAV.  I had heard a million and one good things about CAV, and was anxious to see what all the fuss was about.

We arrived for our 7pm Reservation, it's a little tricky to find as it is located in the Jewelry district and located below a mill of loft apartments.  It appears to be a cute little area which I'm sure will be so nice to hang out  when the weather is warm.

The host showed us to our table, which was a little cramped on the dining room floor.  Each table is a different shape, different style, different chairs.  All the tables had original table cloths with glass over them to create a colorful atmosphere.

CAV is packed wall to wall with decorations which are available for purchase.  It's sort of a mix between an antique shop and an eastern asian, bohemian feel.   Very different, very cool, very interesting.  I had a hard time concentrating on our "date" as my eyes couldnt help but wonder around!

We started with:

Crostini with a mélange of wild mushrooms sautéed with wine, fresh herbs and a concasse of fresh plum tomatoes.  For Two $9.95 

and

Coconut Shrimp:  Large Shrimps with Thai Chile Dip $5.00  (is there such a thing as ShrimpS? Isn't shrimp plural already?!)

Both appetizers were delicious, the two of us were fighting over who could get more mushrooms on our forks!

Our Dinner entrée selections: 

His: Risotto with Wild mushrooms (Porcini, Portabellos, Shitakis and more) in a white truffle oil sauce with Sage flower $20.95  (more mushrooms!)

Mine: Fresh cut pasta, rolled and filled with chicken, spinach, walnut and cheese mousse served with a shallot cream sauce with sundried tomatoes and Parmesan Crisp Flower $16.95   Ahhhh-Mazzzzzz-ingggg omg....delish...I need to get myself a homemade pasta maker and try to re-create this dish at home!

We were too full for dessert, and opted to finish our wine instead :) 

The server was excellent, everything was excellent...I love a restaurant where every aspect deserves an A+

Next visit to CAV will definitely be for Brunch 

Served Saturdays 10am and Sundays 10:30am

Fred & Steve's at Twin River

My Boyfriends Holiday Party was at Fred & Steve's this year.     We started the evening with open bar drinks in the main entrance of the restaurant, and shortly thereafter were lead into the back private room for dinner.

As a Sales & Events Coordinator myself for a well known Providence Restaurant, I am always interested in seeing how other private events are run.  

There was a table of place cards setup as we entered with our names and our dinner choices.    I do that myself for plated dinner parties, but most of the time, I am given the meal choices by the party host, and the party guests are able to choose that night as they walk in a place card of their dinner choice and are to put their card at their seat.  Makes it much easier for the party host as they do not have to track down what people would like for dinner ahead of time, and for servers and runners to know where to place down a dinner plate if people are still mingling around the bar while dinner is (trying) to be served.

The private room looks as though during normal business hours it is part of the main dining room, with bench seating built in around two sides of the square room, and an arrangement of two tops pushed together, with round tables of various sizes in the middle of the room.  Our table was a long dining room like table that fit 8 people, so we sat with 3 other couples from his department.

Staff was very efficient in refilling drinks, delivering meals and clearing plates...good job!   The food was excellent, my choice--Filet...of course...how can you pass up a free Filet?!   Dessert looked more promising on paper than it did on my plate "smores pie" sounded like a good idea, but when put to fruition, not so much.  Oh well....can't win'em all!

Fred & Steve's: A

Andreas & Byblos

My Boss was in town from Charlotte, so after a long day of work, we decided to go out for some food and drink and entertainment.

We decided on dinner at Andreas...one of my absolute favorite restaurants in Providence.  I always get the Garden Souvlaki, no matter how hard I try to deviate and try another menu option, I always order the Garden Souvlaki!


We started with their Melitzanosalata appetizer:
This dip is a classic Greek appetizer, and our
variation combines our fresh baked eggplant
blended with roasted garlic, red peppers & mixed
herbs.  Served with our fresh, locally baked pita
bread. $7.25



My Choice: Garden Souvlaki $7.99
Organic baby spinach tossed with vine-ripened
tomato & mushrooms, topped with Swiss and
American cheese, served with cucumber sauc


My Boss chose: Andreas Signature Salad $8.99
Vine-ripened Roma tomatoes, capers, crumbled
Feta cheese, fresh artichoke hearts, Spanish onion
& Kalamata olives hand-tossed and drizzled with our
own Balsamic vinaigrette.

After dinner and a few drinks of red wine, we headed across the street to Byblos, a Hookah bar to visit a friend who was Bartending.      As the evening progressed and we had a few more drinks of wine, we opted to try Hookah.....it was interesting, we were given the grape flavor as that's what our friend suggested as the best tasting Hookah.  

All in all a good night out on the town :)   Thank you Providence.

Publick House (Boston, MA)

Publick House

Made the trek up to Boston (well technically Brookline, MA) to have a very belated birthday Dinner with Miss Britt....

She chose the Publick House on Beacon Street....

(thanks for the pic Britt!)

http://www.eatgoodfooddrinkbetterbeer.com/

I of course chose the most expensive, most alcoholic beer you could find on the menu, called total viscosity. It was delish, tasted a lot like wine, I wasn't drinking it fast enough for Britt and half way through my glass she took it from me to finish it. As for the rest of my beer choices, I allowed our server to make some suggestions based on my love of Guinness, Blue Moon and Sam Seasonal.

Brittany had a few La Chouffe, (8,5%) Brasserie d’Achouffe, Achouffe, Bel, and I sampled one myself.. Not sure what else I tried, but nonetheless, they were delish :)

For our meal Brittany chose: a heaping pot of p.e.i. mussels steamed in house-made fish stock served with grilled bread and small house Belgian frites; Pot 4: Smuttnose IPA, red curry, lime

I chose a Reuben Panini: in-house corned beef & sauerkraut, swiss cheese, russian dressing, dark rye.

Food was good, Beer was good, Company was good..all and all a good night with a visit to the cube to top it all off! Very cute :)

Everyman

Everyman is located in the American Locomotive Works newly refinished mill buildings on Valley Street in Providence, RI.  This is actually a hop, skip and a jump away from my house...How convenient for me :)

They recently joined the Restaurant.com family where you can print off a $25 gift certificate to use when you spend $50.  

We decided to go there on an off night when we didn't have any food in the house, nor the motivation to grocery shop, and/or cook.  

I opted for their Appetizer Mac and Cheese dish $5.50, with a side of Sweet Potato Fries $3.50 and a Brooklyn Lager (Healthy, I know!)

My better half chose the Baked Scallops with Marinated Grapefruit and Citrus Beurre Blanc, served with
his choice of potato and vegetable or pasta    $15.95

Needless to say, we didn't hit the $50 mark to use our Restaurant.com gift certificate, so we'll save it for another visit to Everyman :)

http://www.everymanri.com/
555 Valley StreetProvidence, RI 02908(401) 751-3630 ‎

Wicked Bad Bar and Grille

Myself and my co-workers attend the Twin River Bar Expo, and after taste testing a concoction of coconut, dark beer, chai alcohol, margarita martini samples....we desperately needed some food to fill our bellies!

We entered Wicked Good Bar and Grill (who should immediately change their name to Wicked bad awful terrible Bar and Grill) and told the hostess we had reservations for 12 people.   She said our reservation was not ready and we'd have to wait (OK, so much for reservations).  We asked if we could sit at the bar, and she said "well I don't really think there is any room at the bar"  as a bartender myself, the more the merrier...2, 3 people deep...bring it.    

As we made our way into the bar, miraculously 6 people all in a row on barstools got up!  Wow! Room for us! yay!   We told the bartender that the hostess was telling people there wasn't any room at the bar....I think it was only right of us to tell her that the hostess is impacting her tips!  We all had a(nother) beer or two while waiting for our table.

From then on, dinner spiraled terribly out of control.   Orders were wrong, some peoples food didn't come out till much later than others.

It's unfortunate we had such a bad experience, as the food was really tasty, but the personalities of the staff and the general demeanor of the place left a bad taste in my mouth.

Wicked BAD Bar and Grill: F

Cuban Revolution

As I've mentioned in other postings, I like to stay in my "neighborhood" when dining out....I know Rhode Island is small, but yes, I am a true Rhode Islander, and driving to Warwick sometimes is just too far! 


Another Valley Street treat is Cuban Revolution...located below the Rising Sun Mill Lofts, the restaurant itself is anything but lofty.    Again, we had in our pockets, a Restaurant.com gift certificate...spend $35 and get $25 off..you just can't beat it.

I always start with a Modelo Negra.....but when I'm feeling extra fruity their raspberry mojitos are delish!  Mmmm....Then I proceed by ordering a large array of tapas. 

CUBAN SAMPLER 12

NACHOS w sour cream and guac 8

beans, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, jalapenos

I am still on the hunt for the best nachos in the city...one of these days I am going to put together a Nacho bar crawl!!

MADUROS 4

ripe sweet plantains with sour cream

OMG Melt in your mouth deliciousness!

CHICKEN QUESADILLA 7

with onions, peppers, cheddar, guacamole

CROSTINI CON HUMMUS 4

hummus on toast, diced tomato, jack cheese

SO Mad they took the black bean dip off the menu :(

SWEET POTATO CHE FRIES 5

crunchy and sprinkled with adobo

GAMBAS AL AJILLO 8

three jumbo garlic shrimp with chipotle dip

CHORIZO AND SHRIMP 9

with sherry, garlic and spicy red pepper

EMPANADAS 4

beef | spinach and cheese | portobello mushroom and asiago | chicken

That usually does the trick....definitely always leave Cuban Revolution feeling fully satisfied :)

Cuban Revolution: A

Eleven Forty Nine--East Greenwich

1149

I recently submitted my review of Cafe Dolce Vita to www.theprovidencelife.com as one of Providence's best Al Fresco Dining spots. Lucky me, the Providence Life chose my review as their winner, and I received a $50 Gift Certificate to 1149! Whooo hooo :)

I dubbed this past Saturday night as "Date Night" and MB and I made 8pm reservations for Dinner at 1149 in East Greenwich.

We arrived around 7pm and sat at the bar for drinks and apps prior to dinner. We both decided on a fancy cosmo style drink to start...mine was a Pomegranate Cosmo, and MB a Strawberry Smash. Followed by an order of Calamari with Pepper Relish and Chipotle Scallion Mayo, and the Grilled Trio of Beef Tenderloin, Chicken and Shrimp. The bartender service was less than good. It took anyone way too long to even greet us once we seated ourselves, and they were basically non-existent the entire time we sat there.

We were then shown to our seats, a 4top against the back wall, white linens and comfy plus leather high back chairs. Our 2nd round of drinks consisted of Red Sangria, which arrived in these huge goblets and were delishhhhh....

Our server Brett was very "military-esq" in his greeting, speaking and dealings...(we later asked him and indeed, he is in the military...the Coast Guard stationed at Quonset).

I ordered the Pork Tenderloin Special served with Acorn Squash and a Raspberry compote...Mmmm...Absolutely Delish, and MB ordered...can you guess? Bingo...Chicken and Pasta.....Shocker! Haha...it was Cavallari pasta with Chicken in a tomato basil sauce....tasted good as well, but why am I gonna order chicken and pasta when I can make it and eat it at home for about $3! (MB claims he can't cook chicken!)

We finished our dinner experience with a sampling of "Cheesecake Lollypops" which were 4 bites of cheesecake on lollypop sticks arranged on a plate with caramel sauce and brown sugar. Just enough to satisfy that sweet tooth despite being sooo full!

1149 receives a B+....our entire bill came to $100 for 4 drinks, 2 apps, 2 entrees and a shared dessert...not too shabby considering $50 of that was on TheProvidenceLife.com. Thank you very much :) Hopefully 1149 will consider joining Restaurant.com!

Texas Roadhouse

Advertising Yum!

So, upon my return from my cousins wedding in Florida on Monday, I had to go and re-collect my poochies from their respective dog sitters. (3 dogs, 3 different dog sitters).

MB and I were driving along RT 6/10 to get to Cranston to pick up Brandy Boi....we had plans to grab a quick bite on the way

As a Sales and Marketing Major from University of Delaware, I have always been fascinated with advertising, and the ability for an ad (print, billboard, radio..etc) to actually MOVE you to buy the product it was advertising....I mean, how many times have you driven by a Dunkin

Donuts billboard? (btw, billboard ads cost an average of $8,000 for 3 months)

Do you really need a Dunkin billboard to drive you to get your ice coffee? No, there is a Dunk on every corner in RI and you're gonna go there to get your daily caffeine fix anyway!

As we were driving on Rt 6/10 there was a Billboard for Texas Roadhouse: 20 meals under $10.......Errrrrrrrr.....Pull over! So we quickly exited the highway and made our way to Texas Roadhouse.

As I had never eaten there before I have heard nothing but how awesome their fresh bread is. The hostess grabbed us a basket of bread from under the heat lamps as she showed us to our seats. I'll give the bread a "C" in the realm of restaurant bread rolls.....although the maple butter was delish...how can you go wrong with maple butter?

And the best part about the Billboard advertising, is though we planned on going in for 2 meals under $10, we both ended up choosing dishes that cost more than $10!

Bens had Sirloin Steak and BBQ Chicken and I had a half slab of FALL-OFF-THE-BONE RIBS

"Our "blue ribbon" winning ribs are slow cooked with a unique blend of seasonings and signature BBQ Sauce. Available in half slab or full slab."

Each of our dinners were served with a choice of two sides.

I chose house salad--yummo with cheese and hard boiled egg..light ranch dressing..delish and a Baked Potato (loaded with butter and sour cream...Mmm).MB had the house salad and a Sweet Potato.

All in all BRAVO to Texas Roadhouse's Advertising Team..not only did they "drive" us in there for a meal under $10, they achieved the ultimate advertising goal of making more $$!

Texas Roadhouse Received an A..We'll definitely be back..

Oh and our server, Jack Black's long lost twin, Matt, he was good too....good as servers go...not fabulous, but did his job...he received a 20% tip.

Duck and Bunny

Duck and Bunny

Ladies night last night --out with my mother--TR, and my girlies Britt & Mal.

Having been to The Duck and Bunny once before, my hopes were high for my 2nd visit. The critics thus far have given it high marks for it's super cozy atmosphere, hip setup, delicious crepes and cupcakes and their "high tea" service.

Service being the key word, and unfortunately last night they failed miserably. For me, service is #1 when I eat out at a restaurant. Your guests are the basis for the success of your business....their word of mouth could be your lifeline of whether you make it or break it. You're talking FREE marketing here business owners! Do you really want all that free marketing to go to waste when your former guests are badmouthing you in disgust and irritation?!

In the economy we're in today, and businesses folding left and right, it's imperative to offer your guests the best service, the best food, the best experience you can when they choose to dine at your establishment.

For the sake of my story, we'll call our server Louise--as she sighed "Geez Louise" a few times when we asked her questions about the menu. She did not have the answers to our (very simple) questions regarding the Restaurant Week Menu.

Duck & Bunny Restaurant Week Menu:

$29.95 per person

Drink included:

Choice of House White or Red Wine---

Me: which wines on the menu are included in the Restaurant week menu?

Louise: All of them....I think...let me check

Louise goes inside

Not lying about 15 minutes later, comes back out. Mind you there was only one person inside upon our arrival, and we were the only guests seated outside in the garden. (Sitting in the Garden was beautiful and peaceful might I add)

Lousie: The house wines are included in the Restaurant Week Menu

Me: Which wines are the house wines?

Louise: Um...I'm not sure, let me check

Back inside she goes

Another 10 minutes goes by

Louise: We have a Malbec and a Chardonnay

Us: We'll have 3 Malbec's and a Chardonnay please

Another 10 minutes later, out comes our wine. Thank god they were in the stemless glasses or for sure Louise would have dropped them. (Thank God we weren't in a hurry) Though we made sure to let Louise know we were starving so she wouldn't disappear inside to organize cupcakes in the display case for 20 minutes while we sat there with growling bellies.

Course One
-Brie with Fig Spread and Pecans on Olga’s multigrain bread --TR and Britt
-Bacon Wrapped Dates with balsamic honey glaze--Me

-Hand-stretched local Mozzarella wrapped Olive and Tomato, chiffonade basil--Mal
Course Two: Crepes
-The Wyatt-Reuben Crepe: Smoked turkey, mozzarella, spinach, cranberry coulis --Me
-The Distinguished Lincoln Crepe: Black forest ham, Gruyere, caramel mustard --Britt
-The Mazzy Star Crepe: Portobello mushroom, fontina cheese, rosemary, truffle essence --Mal
-NY System Hot Wieners Crepe: Homemade meat sauce, chopped onions, yellow mustard and, of course, celery salt--TR

All of our Appetizers and Entrees were wonderful...and nice that we all chose a different offering we were able to try a bite of each others. Surprisingly, Louise got our orders correct, having given them to her all at once...Good Job Louise!

Intermezzo: Raspberry Sorbet--agreed by all as delicious, refreshing, and presented in these really cute tiny flutes.
Course Three: Three of our House-made Mini Cupcakes and Choice of Coffee or Tea--presented on a pretty cake stand---Banana with Nutella frosting, Red Velvet, Mocha and Chocolate mint...all deliciously satisfying.

Louise never offered us coffee or tea and we forgot it was included. Louise also didn't ask us if we would like to order another glass of wine. (Hello....up-selling, and little did Louise know that us ladies LIKE TO DRINK :)

While The Duck & Bunny received an A+ for their menu choices, particulars and presentation of the food, as well as the Garden ambiance, the service received an F....and unfortunately, that only amounts to a C for a final grade.

I know in school B's and C's get degrees, but with all the other dining options out there (snuggery or not) this girl will not be dining at the Duck & Bunny again, as the irritation and anxiety over the terrible service is just not worth it.

Duck & Bunny: C

Is there a statistic out there that correlates people who received F's in school earn less income in the real world? Poor Louise received a mere 10% tip :(

Restaurant Week-Cafe Dolce Villa

Providence Restaurant Week

After living in NYC for a year, I was totally spoiled by all of the individual, authentic and real restaurants that littered every city block. That is probably one of the things I miss most about NYC.

Providence is on the up and up with new quaint restaurants opening up throughout the city. Providence restaurant weekhttp://www.goprovidence.com/RestaurantWeek/ provides the opportunity to try new places with a prefixe menu and prefixed prices! $29.95 per person (hello Ruths Chris!) or some offer 2 for 1 at $29.95.

My honey (MB) and I went to Dolce Vita for Dinner on Sunday. The weather was beautiful and a perfect evening to sit out in the courtyard as we were serenaded by Rhode Islands own Michael Buble wannabe Steven Palumbo.

Dolce Vita offers any appetizer, any entree and any dessert of choice for the prefixed menu, and we opted to add a pitcher of Sangria for an additional $20 (well worth it--delicious and full of alcohol :)

Our Choices:

BAKED EGGPLANT ROLLATINI

Baked eggplant rollups stuffed with a savory blend of ricotta and mozzarella cheeses, served piping hot in our fresh marinara sauce.

GNOCCHI RIPIENI CON SPINACI

Potato dumplings filled with ricotta and spinach. Tossed in a plum tomato sauce.

MB chose a chicken and pasta dish with peppers, mushrooms and onions (he always chooses some sort of combo of chicken and pasta no matter where we go!)

and we finished with:

BANANAS WAFFLES FOSTER

Belgian waffle topped with sliced bananas, and sautéed with butter, brown sugar, fresh squeezed lemon and orange juice, cinnamon, dark rum and banana liquor. Topped with a scoop of vanilla gelato and whipped cream. Mmmm Delish!

Our Server was excellent....(MB knows how particular I am with servers being in the biz myself), the food was delicious with more than generous portions, and the final price was nice as well....$53....plus a nice fat tip for our server :)

Dolce Vita = A+