Vandana , including Kabob and Curry , Rasoi in Pawtucket , Rasa in East Greenwich , and Chaska in Cranston ’ s Garden City Center , but this will be the Dhars ’ first foray into counter-service street food .
They plan to highlight the most popular items from their restaurants , including samosas and chicken tikka masala , and handheld , snack-like items like kathi rolls , which involve thick whole wheat bread that ’ s grilled and stuffed with meats like lamb or chicken kabob , and saag paneer , a housemade soft cheese served with spinach . “ What we are trying to do is establish this menu as something that you may enjoy at any time of the day , and not necessarily just for lunch or dinner ,” Dhar says . “ You can come in and have a cocktail with a snack .”
Dhar is excited to see Providence ’ s food hall come to fruition . “ It ’ s perfectly located for those who may come here for a convention . I think it ’ ll add to the vitality of the downtown ,” he says , “ Personally , I ’ m very excited about this because I ’ ve always wanted to do a quick-service concept , and this will be a great learning experience for me . The team that ’ s handling it is very well equipped to tell us what we are doing wrong or right . So we ’ ll get a lot of help from the management . It ’ s wonderful to know that there ’ s a great team behind it .” chaska-usa . com
Tolia
Middle Eastern street food specialities .
Middle Eastern cuisine will have a place at Track 15 with Tolia , the first restaurant concept by husband-and-wife partners Alp Gumuscu and Tarci-Lee Galarza . Gumuscu grew up in Turkey cooking Middle Eastern cuisine from the Anatolia region that surrounds Turkey , Greece and other parts of the Middle East . The name Tolia is derived from Anatolia , which means “ the land of the sunrise .”
Gumuscu started out in Turkey as a food engineer , then realized his interest in cooking by working with other chefs and cooks . He applied to culinary school and graduated from the Culinary Arts Academy in Istanbul , then worked in five-star hotels and restaurants in Istanbul . He traveled all over the world learning about cuisine , but ultimately returned to his family ’ s cultural roots .
Kibbeh from Tolia .
“ I grew up eating street foods , like the kebabs on the street after school . Home cooking is important in our culture , because when we have family gatherings , the mother of the home makes a bunch of different-style foods , especially olive oil-braised vegetables that they call zeytinyagli and puts it on the table ,” Gumuscu says . “ For family gatherings , the table is covered with mezzes , hot and cold appetizers , breads , pilaf and the main course is meat . That type of cooking was always part of my history .”
Gumuscu came to the United States in 2018 , and started working at the Newport Harbor Hotel , then moved on to the restaurant at the Chanler at Cliff Walk , also in Newport . Alp and Tarci met while working at the Chanler , and then Gumuscu went on to work for Yagi Noodles when it first opened and continued running the food truck .
When Turkey experienced a devastating earthquake in early 2023 , Gumuscu turned Yagi Noodles into a popup Turkish restaurant for the night to raise money for World Central Kitchen to help feed those who had experienced tragic loss , including friends and family who lost their homes and loved ones . The Newport community loved the Turkish food so much , Gumuscu realized he could create a restaurant here serving cuisine from his homeland .
Tolia will be their first venture . They will serve mezzes , zeytinyagli vegetables , shawarma , falafel and roasted chicken and lamb kebabs from Hopkins Southdowns farm grilled on the spitfire rotisserie installed in the food hall , served with fresh herbs , charcoal-grilled vegetables and pita or lavash bread . “ The most important parts are the spices like urfa isot pepper , sumac , za ’ atar , dukkah , advieh [ a combination of rose petals , golpar spice , cinnamon , nutmeg , coriander , cumin , cardamom and cloves ],” Gumuscu says . “ The spices and fresh herbs are the main part of the cuisine .” toliarestaurant . com
Dolores
Mexican cuisine representing the Mixteca region .
The Meza family is culinary royalty in Providence . The matriarch and self-trained cook Maria Meza , and sons , Joaquin and Marco Meza , began their journey in the local hospitality scene in 2007 with the revered El Rancho Grande in Providence . El Rancho Grande closed due to a fire and the results of COVID in 2020 . But the family launched Dolores , a more traditional Mexican restaurant that represents the food they grew up eating , in 2019 on the East Side of Providence .
Chef Maria Meza was acknowledged as a 2024 James Beard Foundation Awards finalist for Best Chef : Northeast . It ’ s a big accomplishment for the family that wasn ’ t quite sure how the community would react to more authentic Mexican cuisine representing the Mixteca region of Puebla and Oaxaca .
While they focused on running Dolores , ingredients like maize , Mexican peppers , herbs and seeds became more accessible from Mexico into the United States . Chef Maria Meza ’ s cooking represents their culture rather than Americanized tacos and quesadillas .
60 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I FEBRUARY 2025