22 Hours in Providence

Providence is a small but pretty town, much like the rest of the main "cities" of New England. I love it in these parts of the country, and my heart always skips a beat when I visit. Providence was no different.

Esquire just named De Wolf Tavern in Bristol, Providence, as one of the best restaurants in the country. We drove the 25 miles to see and taste for ourselves. Other restaurants we tried in the area were Rue de L'espoir and McCormick & Schmick's for brunch and seafood, respectively.

Walking around the Brown University and RISD grounds was a nice way to kill time the next day. The autumnal shades of brown, yellow, orange, and red were a good backdrop during our time in Providence.

Quick Tips:

If you're visiting and pressed for time, make sure you have a map to orient yourself before you start driving in Providence. We found ourselves driving by the City Hall a lot because we couldn't figure out the streets. Avoid the mall, because that street was a traffic jam magnet.

Don't skimp on the seafood. You're in New England, so a bowl of hot chowder (or "chow-dah") is a must, as well as crabs, lobsters, and mussels.

Best Way To Get Around:

There were a few road construction blocks when we were in Providence. I wish I could tell you that they have a subway to escape all the driving around, but they don't. There's plenty of paid parking spaces, though.

Edgewood Manor is usually not the type of place we'd stay in, but because we're in New England for only one night, we decided to spend it in an old mansion turned into a bed-and-breakfast inn complete with elaborate fireplaces and exquisite antiques. The Edgewood Manor has 18 guestrooms, each with a private bathroom, cable TV, and Internet access. A few come with their own fireplace and Jacuzzi tubs.

I booked the Colonial Room, the only room available for the Friday night we spent in Providence. It has a Victorian sofa by the foot of the king-size four-poster bed and an ornate lamp on the ceiling. The bathroom is as big as the bedroom. It has two pedestal sinks, a tiled shower, and of course, a Jacuzzi. It has a skylight that brightened the entire room when we woke up in the morning.

We didn't really experience any kind of guest service because our stay was short, but the cleanliness of our room and the quietness of the entire place were enough to make us feel comfortable. We slept like royalty, even if it was just for a night.

I missed my 5pm train ride to Providence from New York City. While waiting for the 6pm train, I called De Wolf Tavern to move our 9pm reservations to 9:30. The restaurant closes their kitchen at 10pm, and I was ready to receive a "no" from the maitre d'. To my surprise, she told me that they could still accommodate us at 9:30pm. De Wolf is in Bristol, about 25 miles from Providence, so the boy and I immediately got into his car and drove. I called the maitre d' again to let her know we were running late, and she seemed really polite about it. When we arrived, we were seated toward the back of the second floor, but I immediately requested to be transferred near the front by the fireplace. They happily obliged. This kind of service is rare in New York City, especially if you're tardy. I really appreciated that the staff did not give us any attitude when we finally sat down for our meal.

De Wolf is in a stone warehouse, beautifully renovated with booths on the first floor and a more formal dining room on the second floor. The interior looks like a log cabin found in the mountains. Its wooden beams and flooring warm up the entire space, surrounded by bricks. The chef, Sai Viswanath, has worked from New York City to Mumbai and has perfected the craft of American contemporary cuisine with Indian flavors.

Our meal was one of the most refreshing we've had in a long time. Almost every dish had an Indian influence--a nice break from the predictable French taste a lot of high-rated restaurants present. With our Glenlivets, Guinness beers, and sparkling wine with orange-spiced rum, we shared three appetizers and a main course. The tuna carpaccio was served with green mango salad in mustard oil and verjus chutney. Verjus, the tarty yet sweet juice of young grapes, was perfect for this. I love to eat unadorned raw fish, but it definitely made the tuna a little bit more exciting.

The tortellini was stuffed with king crab legs. A sauce made of fried curry leaves was drizzled all over them. It tasted deliciously nutty. This is one of the best appetizers I've ever had in my life. The pasta wasn't too heavy, and there was enough crab meat in it to make it savory. The quail legs were served with a pretty boring salad of iceberg lettuce, bacon, and ranch dressing, but the infused tandoori flavor in the roasted quail meat came out perfectly in every bite. The medium-rare ribeye steak completed our meal, with crunchy haricots verts and mashed potatoes. To end the night, we also split the cafe au lait ice cream on top of warm pumpkin bread.

Esquire magazine might have prematurely picked The Modern in New York City as its 2005 restaurant of the year, but they've hit the bullseye with De Wolf Tavern. Lucky Providence.

Driving around Providence looking for a brunch place, we came across Rue De L'espoir. It was such a nice autumn day when we walked in, sunlight bathed the entire restaurant and there was a happy buzz all around. We started our day at noon, and it was already extremely busy when we walked in, but we were seated promptly by one of the attentive waitresses.

Because we're in New England, I ordered the poached eggs on top of crab cakes. Poached eggs will always taste like poached eggs, and I would have preferred the crab cakes to be less soft. But the dish came with some flavorful potatoes that were very savory; I couldn't have enough of them.

Rue de L'espoir definitely gave us a nice start. It was the perfect morning to not have to ask for your coffee mug to be refilled.

When you enter Scialo Bakery, the bell on the door rings, and you're greeted by the pastry smell that wafts through the air. All of a sudden, you just want every piece of biscuit, tart, and cake in the store. (Un)fortunately, the boy prevented me from buying more than two tarts to take back with me to New York City.

I first heard of Scialo Bakery when Mario Batali, one of my favorite New York City chefs, presented it as one of the best in Rhode Island. When we finally made it to Providence this year, we drove to Federal Hill and stopped by to buy some of their delicious pastries.

Federal Hill became the Little Italy of Providence when about 54,000 Italian immigrants arrived from 1898 to 1932. Scialo Bakery has been family-owned and -operated since 1916. Two daughters of the Scialo family started running the business after their father and original owner, Luigi, died in 1993 at the age of 103.

Scialo is not just a bakery: it's an institution.

McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant is located in the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Providence, where co-owner Bill McCormick once parked cars as a young boy. We were looking for a seafood restaurant and left our car in another part of town, so when we turned the corner on Dorrance, we decided to just eat here.

Spontaneity isn't so bad. The menu at McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant features more than 30 varieties of fish and seafood from around the world. While we nursed Hoegaardens, we split the corn chowder soup and the baby arugula salad with goat cheese. We also ordered a big pot of mussels and half a dozen oysters.

The space reminds me of a huge steakhouse, carpet and gold trimings included. Sometimes, though, one can ignore the ambience and just enjoy the food.

Woods-Gerry Gallery is one of the primary exhibition spaces for Rhode Island School of Design (RISD, or better yet, "Reez-Dee") students and faculty. Throughout each semester, it exhibits a fine collection of works from every program.

When we visited, the gallery featured the works of the undergraduates of the Printmaking class. We viewed a whole range of items, from traditional lithograph and silkscreen prints to pieces created using computers and different photo processes.

The best thing about the gallery is that it's free and open to the public. They are open from Monday through Saturday, 10am to 4pm, and on Sunday, 2 to 5pm. Exhibits change every week, and every Thursday there is a reception from 6 to 7:30pm.