Positively Providence

Hotel Providence

Hotel

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If you are looking for someplace special to stay in downtown Providence the Hotel Providence is a very lovely choice. But first things first, the entrance of the hotel is not on Westminster it is on Mathewson. Westminster is a one way street, we had to drive around the block three times to find the entrance. Parking is valet, just drive up to the canopy and leave your car with the valet.I could write 500 words just about the Lobby, it is a work of art, or I guess I should say many works of art. It is in their own words “an opulent Belle Epoch salon” with antiques, fine art and gilt mirrors. There are flower arrangements and the feeling is of a haven in the midst of the city.Our roo...Read More

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on April 3, 2008

Hotel Providence
311 WESTINSTER STREET
Providence, Rhode Island 02903
1-401-8618000

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L'Epicureo Ristorante

Restaurant | "L'Epicureo"

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It is late March, when we woke up it was in the 20’s . We decided even knowing that as a captive audience we were going to pay for the privilege, to eat at the Hotel. Let me begin by saying this is a gorgeous restaurant. There is a magnificent chandelier as you enter the area between the bar and the restaurant. The wall facing the bar has a monumental mirror that reflects the light, it is just a stunner. Even the desk where the maitre de stands has painted flowers on glass. I felt very upper class.The dinning room gives you a view of Grace Episcopal Church and on the wall are four old Master paintings in a monumental size. Venus, Mona Lisa and more. The tables have crisp white ...Read More

It is late March, when we woke up it was in the 20’s . We decided even knowing that as a captive audience we were going to pay for the privilege, to eat at the Hotel.

Let me begin by saying this is a gorgeous restaurant. There is a magnificent chandelier as you enter the area between the bar and the restaurant. The wall facing the bar has a monumental mirror that reflects the light, it is just a stunner. Even the desk where the maitre de stands has painted flowers on glass. I felt very upper class.

The dinning room gives you a view of Grace Episcopal Church and on the wall are four old Master paintings in a monumental size. Venus, Mona Lisa and more. The tables have crisp white cloths and blue water glasses. The dishes the food was served on look like faience in blue and yellow.

The menu for breakfast is not immense but the choices cover the full range from cold cereal to omelets and Eggs Benedict.

Kasey opted to have a bowl of Special K and the fresh fruit bowl. I chose the French Vanilla Yogurt with granola and berries and the signature sticky buns.

We started with coffee, tea and I ordered a grapefruit juice. When it arrived it was that sickening sweet pink grapefruit cocktail. I hate that stuff so back it went; I expected fresh grapefruit at the least and fresh squeezed in a restaurant of this supposed quality.

Coffee arrived next but no little pot to pour my own; I was at the mercy of the wait-staff. Kasey got a small pot and got to choose her tea bag which she did, it was a fruit infusion. Check out the pretty color in the photo.

My yogurt came un-constructed with raspberries as the fruit. It was good, not homemade granola by any means but acceptable. The signature sticky buns were frosted first, that isn’t a sticky bun that is a cinnamon roll and they didn’t taste homemade to me, a lot what you get when you buy the Pillsbury in the dairy case. I was very under whelmed.

Kasey's cereal came with whole milk. They never asked if she preferred skim or 1 or 2 %. The fruit bowl was large and included raspberries, a strawberry, pineapple, cantaloupe and honeydew. It was attractively served.

All this cost me with tip $36. An outrageous price to be sure. Beyond that when I told our waitress that I didn’t want this grapefruit cocktail she said ‘I didn’t make it I just poured it from the jar" well yeh, but I am the customer and I don’t need any lip from you, a simple apology and I’m sorry it isn’t what you expected would have been sufficient.

Would I return to the restaurant, no. It’s a shame really it is beautiful but it just isn’t up to par. I am more than willing to spend even $50 for two for an outstanding breakfast but this wasn’t even close to that, it was pretty pedestrian. The service needs to rise to the level of the restaurant and stepping up the food wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

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Member Rating 2 out of 5 on April 3, 2008

L'Epicureo Ristorante
238 Atwells Ave
Providence, Rhode Island 02903
+1 401 454 8430

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Bravo Brasserie

Restaurant | "Brasserie Bravo"

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Following my best Rachael Ray tip we began a discussion on one of the shops on Westminster Street about where we were planning to have dinner. Our hotel has a very upscale restaurant but it was a bit too pricey for Kasey and me. I had decided that we would eat at Blakes Tavern a local pub. The menu looked reasonably priced and had things that we would both enjoy.The owner of the shop suggested that we try Brasserie Bravo. When she mentioned that they had mussels and frites, I was sold. Located on the corner of Washington St directly across from the Trinity Repertory Theater this restaurant couldn’t have a better location. Make sure that if there is anything showing at the Trini...Read More

Following my best Rachael Ray tip we began a discussion on one of the shops on Westminster Street about where we were planning to have dinner. Our hotel has a very upscale restaurant but it was a bit too pricey for Kasey and me. I had decided that we would eat at Blakes Tavern a local pub. The menu looked reasonably priced and had things that we would both enjoy.

The owner of the shop suggested that we try Brasserie Bravo. When she mentioned that they had mussels and frites, I was sold.

Located on the corner of Washington St directly across from the Trinity Repertory Theater this restaurant couldn’t have a better location. Make sure that if there is anything showing at the Trinity that you have reservations. We made sure we did and we actually arrived about 20 minutes early due to a fire alarm at our hotel. Since we had to be out of our room anyway we decided to go to dinner early. Just as well we did, y the time we left there were a lot of people standing waiting for a seat.

It is a very typical Brasserie, very club like with lots of wood, wine bottles as the décor and white tiles on the walls. Our waiter was very attentive but never hovered. I always felt as if he was only a moment away.

As we thought about what to order we feasted on a warm baguette served in a paper bag as if it had just arrived from the bakery. We decided to share a plate of French Cheese, artisan bread and fruit. It also had maple walnut butter. There were four small pieces of cheese all different and very pungent, 4 dates, a sliced strawberry and two pieces of bread. It was perfect to share.

I of course had the saffron mussels and frites. Kasey had a Croque Monsieur. Her sandwich was huge, she could only eat half. It was also served with the most delicious frites. My plate of mussels was enough for two people. I could not finish it, I did finish the frites though. The mussels were tender and no sand what so ever. The broth was delicate and a nice compliment to the mussels.

We were going to take a dessert back to the hotel with us, the profiterols seemed to fit the bill or the flourless chocolate cake. Kasey however decided we should share the sorbet plate. Smart Kasey. It was three balls of sorbet, lemon, mango and raspberry. Served with two cookies it was the perfect finish to a fantastic meal.

Among the specials on the day were there were short ribs that had cooked for nineteen hours. A lot of people seemed to be ordering them.
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Member Rating 5 out of 5 on April 3, 2008

Bravo Brasserie
123 Empire St.
Providence, Rhode Island
(401) 490-5112

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Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul

Attraction

Brownstone Cathedral Photo - Providence, Rhode Island

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The Cathedral is built in the Victorian Gothic Style. It has two very impressive towers over 156 feet high each. It is an impressive sight and even though we didn’t know exactly where it was we found it by finding the towers. The current Cathedral is the second one on the site. The first was too small for the growing catholic population and even splitting the parish wasn’t enough, it torn down to make way for it’s replacement. . Bishop Hendricken hired Patrick Keely as the architect of the new Cathedral. I am very familiar with Patrick Keely’s work since he also designed not only my own home parish of St John in 1849 but also St Mary’s Church in Newport and St Joseph in Providence. I w...Read More

The Cathedral is built in the Victorian Gothic Style. It has two very impressive towers over 156 feet high each. It is an impressive sight and even though we didn’t know exactly where it was we found it by finding the towers.

The current Cathedral is the second one on the site. The first was too small for the growing catholic population and even splitting the parish wasn’t enough, it torn down to make way for it’s replacement. . Bishop Hendricken hired Patrick Keely as the architect of the new Cathedral. I am very familiar with Patrick Keely’s work since he also designed not only my own home parish of St John in 1849 but also St Mary’s Church in Newport and St Joseph in Providence. I wondered when I saw the beautiful brownstone exterior if Patrick Keely was the Architect and if the brownstone came from the town where I live in Portland Ct. It does come from Ct so it is from Portland since we have the only brownstone quarries in the state.

It took 11 years to complete the project. The Bishop had promised the people that he would not go into debt to build the new Cathedral, He had to delay the dedication for a year to keep his promise. He was never strong in health only in spirit. The first Mass celebrated in the new Cathedral was his funeral Mass June 11, 1886. The cathedral was finally completed and consecrated in 1889.

The main altar is carved from marble quarried in the French Alps. What will hold you spell bound inside the church is the testa. It is a 3000 pound circle of bronze that hangs over the altar and holds lights that illuminate the altar. It is an amazing sight.

The organ in the north transept is massive and comes from St. Hyacinthe Quebec. It is 36 feet tall and has four keyboards. The rose window on the western side of the church is mostly blue in color and tells the stories from the life of the Virgin mother.

The great window behind the main altar depicts 13 scenes from the life and death of Jesus Christ. The rest of the windows along the aides of the cathedral are from antique Munich glass, the New Testament on one side and the Old Testament on the other.

The columns are beautiful and have carved capitals and even the ceiling is gorgeous. This is a very lovely church and well worth visiting even if you don’t need to attend Mass. They also have a choir that sings Gregorian chant and has performed all over the world including at St Peters in Rome.

They have a Saturday 5pm vigil Mass and on Sunday 10am (with Latin Chant) 1 and 6pm.

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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on April 3, 2008

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Multiple Shops

Attraction

Looking down Westminster Photo - Providence, Rhode Island

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Clover233 WestminsterThis is a very upscale shop with both men’s and women’s clothing that looks as if it belongs in New York City. Wow, we really loved some of the things that they had there. We wished we had the $5,000 credit card from ‘What not to Wear” because we could have put a serious dent in that card. For a list of the designers that they carry check out their web site http://www.cloverprovidence.com/Symposium Book Store240 WestminsterThis is a serious college style book store but they have a wonderful selection of really interesting books beyond just what might be on someone’s class list. They do have a small but excellent selection of children’s book...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on April 3, 2008

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Providence Journals

Positively Providence

Hotel Providence

L'Epicureo Ristorante

Bravo Brasserie

Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul

Multiple Shops

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