O P E N F O R
T A K E - O U T , D I N E - I N
& P A T I O S E A T I N G
DINNER • SUNDAY BRUNCH
CRAFT BEER & COCKTAILS
4 0 1 . 4 3 4 . 8 7 0 3
B L A C K D U C K T A V E R N . C O M
STEAK & PIZZA
A Rhode Island Original
Hours: MON-THURS: 11AM-10PM
FRI-SAT: 11AM-11PM • SUN 11AM-8PM
208 Taunton Ave
East Providence 02914
SERVING EAST
PROVIDENCE
FOR OVER
50 YEARS
401-434-3523
401-434-3130
Cocktails are poured like nectar
into ruby goblets and given monikers
like Santosha (contentment), Tripti
(satisfaction) and, the ultimate goal,
Nirvana (liberation). Is it opportunistic
to appeal to one’s soul when considering
what to drink? Not here. There’s simply
not a whiff of insincerity in this colorful
bizarrerie of a restaurant: affection for
food and community spills so regularly
that each meal eats like a Whitman
poem, overflowing with euphoria.
Servers walk gracefully around tables
and, in barely more than a whisper,
offer their “best wishes on your flavor
journey” while pouring water out of
ornate sky blue carafes. Even the bar
— intricately carved and catering to a
lucky dozen — is serious in its tranquility.
Above the bottles are dozens of
delicately cut glass vessels, massive
pendant lights that conjure temple bells
and shelves of pastel painted teapots.
The lone television is often turned to
nature documentaries that fill the
corner with silent images of watchful
frogs and densely soaked forest. Chaska
opened under a ceremonious Hindu
blessing and it glides through each
evening in earnest pursuit of grace.
And that brings us back to the
ubiquitous bowl of stew. The journey to
nirvana is not a foreign one. We forge it
every day in small increments, aided by
the things that bring us comfort: a bowl
of rice, a spiced tomato sauce, a bowl of
chicken braised to its most tender form
($20). Chaska is so attuned to that daily
passage, intent on proving that a
departure — even in small doses — from
the familiar will prove most enlightening.
Chicken biryani, a special, is served
in bowls with a dramatic dome of
dough; avocado and sweet potato are
molded into a sweet tamarind salad; and
paneer is presented like a pan-seared
cheesesteak with apricot chutney. It’s
tradition revisited, reworked and
revitalized to Eden-like perspectives.
If the staff is uniform in its youthful
buoyancy, however, customers have no
particular demographic other than
being ardent fans of India. Toddlers
chew on naan in highchairs, grandparents
settle into high-tops with jackfruit
tacos and couples spread through the
room with their cocktails in obvious
reverie. Of course, every celebration
inevitably ends in sugar and Chaska
offers a trinity of dairy-laden desserts
($8). Creme brulee is bright with an
infusion of mango and red chili and
cardamom cheesecake is sandwiched
between two Parle-G biscuits (the
Indian equivalent of arrowroot
cookies). But the centerpiece is a cube
of chocolate banana bread pudding
drizzled in caramel — the very
manifestation of comfort food in its
finest form.
There may still be a few inadvertent
wanderers, disappointed to find that
Dhar hasn’t cloned his earlier establishments.
Yet, inevitably, they too will be
lured by the kitchen’s aggressively
ebullient approach. More than twenty
years ago, Kabob and Curry may have
relied on the wanderlust of university
students to incorporate Indian food into
the daily vernacular of New England
cuisine. But having long since secured a
standing in the local culinary world, Dhar
proves he’s keenly aware of the illimitable
boundaries of Indian cuisine — and the
invitation to hop a ride on the coattails
of his vision is impossible to pass up. �
76 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l AUGUST 2020