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