“ I might be able to count on two hands the number of times I ’ ve been genuinely startled by a meal — and by that I mean bewilderment and joy in equal measure .”
Or let ’ s talk about the spaghetti squash with burnt seeds and parsley . Huh ? Is this another faux noodle dish in herb sauce ? Not even in the ballpark . It ’ s a lightly roasted , nearly raw swirl of squash dressed with burnt pumpkin seed vinaigrette , topped with pepitas and sprinkled with a dehydrated parsley powder that tastes like a slaw born out of the deep forest . Crunchy vegetables have always been fully in my wheelhouse and yet every bite of this was novel . Texture rules the plate but the flavor — three steps into umami — is good enough to drag your fingers through the remaining green ash .
Equally elusive is the bluefish confit with potato crackers , which appears as a bowl of dip sprinkled with herb oil and doused with what looks like cream — though served just warmer than room temp . I could not figure it out , even as I ravaged it . It took several attempts at charming ( unsuccessful ) and one more at desperation to finally get the kitchen to crack and tell me it was a whipped puree of potato that soaked the fish , a medley that eats like the most luscious rillettes you could find in some hidden corner of France .
Perhaps it ’ s just egotistical to stew in my own surprise . I have thrown my whole heart into food for thirty years ; everyone who knows me knows this . But I might be able to count on two hands the number of times I ’ ve been genuinely startled by a meal — and by that I mean bewilderment and joy in equal measure . It ’ s a bit like eating blindfolded , even though you can technically see .
Word of advice : If your goal is to place all your attention on the people at your table , choose another restaurant . Brown ’ s food dominates the senses to the exclusion of all else . Scallop crudo isn ’ t an uncommon dish , not even in a mile radius from Thick Neck . But served with chopped almonds and raw , thinly shaved matsutake mushrooms foraged on Cape Cod , it becomes a combination that ’ s all about warring consistency : the silkiness of the scallop juxtaposed with a mushroom that suddenly tastes fibrous and is quickly overshadowed by the aggressive crunch of the almonds .
Maybe the gnocchi with razor clams will be straightforward enough to actually talk to those around me ? Nope . Sitting in a ’ nduja butter that is both rich and sharp , the clams become so meaty that you can ’ t help but pick them out like prized medallions . Maybe the maitake and raclette lasagna was just a kitchen misstep , with nothing to cut through the monotony of mushroom ? Wrong again . It ’ s a vegetarian extravaganza , cut into a slab held together by the thinnest sheets of pasta and the sheer will of cheese .
There isn ’ t any common cultural thread that holds the menu together ; nor is there any approach or technique that dominates . If the crudo is a study in restraint , then the donut cheese en croute is an elevated version of holiday party brie . It does , however , give bitter greens a reason for living and preserved strawberries the opportunity to thumb their noses at simple jam .
There ’ s not really any rhyme or reason to Brown ’ s unadorned kitchen or the somewhat spartan space . And though there are some really compelling cocktails , they come in glasses small enough to conjure a fruity shot . So drinking isn ’ t the reason people are gathering around the two bars . The draw is the game Brown is playing with his customers : to confuse , to reveal and to reward . If only we were always young enough to discover food for the first time . If the opportunity arises that you can do so again — as it does here — grab it . It has nothing to do with pretension and everything to do with the pure pleasure of discovery .
Eric Brown and Sarah Watts will be opening Frank & Laurie ’ s at 110 Doyle St . in Providence sometime in spring 2024 . The new restaurant aspires to be a neighborhood retreat providing a wide range of daytime offerings centered around the cooking practices Brown has adopted over a decade of working in fine dining establishments and working closely with local farms . 🆁
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