The Dish
DINING REVIEW
The Franklin Dinner at this new French bistro in Bristol transports guests to Paris.
ONE WOULD EXPECT DAVID FIERABEND ABOVE: Duck confit with The to build a beautiful restaurant.
Franklin Manhattan; tuna nicoise. OPPOSITE PAGE FROM TOP:
He’ s the owner / principal of Groundswell
The interior is furnished with
Design Group, known to Rhode Islanders vintage finds; roasted half chicken;
as the company that transformed the center of Tiverton into a four-cornered ode to shrimp cocktail.
France, delivered in verses made of butter and gardening urns. So it’ s hardly a shock that Groundswell moved north to Bristol to open a restaurant that models itself on a classic Parisian bistro.
The location of The Franklin( on its namesake street), however, is a little surprising. It sits on the perimeter of the Unity Park complex in a residential area that often necessitates parking on the fringes of someone’ s lawn. But walking through the doors of the restaurant is an all-encompassing transformation driven by aesthetics.
Part of what makes the Groundswell vision work is that it exudes charm in a way that never feels hackneyed and that’ s certainly true here. The small dining room is centered around a ten-person communal table covered in moody vintage market finds. The center candelabra, which drips wax with abandon, is flanked by sparkling votives, cut glassware, copious floral arrangements and small seasonal sprigs of fresh blackberry plants in vases.
Fierabend’ s vision speaks proficiently in setting the mood, and while there are swaths of ornate wallpaper and lush paint, the dominant color sits somewhere between caramel and amber. It’ s the spectrum of a burning candle: warm and intimate. The room holds about forty-two people( including the bar) but feels smaller, like a European living room— complete with settee— that happened to open itself to the public.
The soundtrack is somewhat amorphous:
128 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I OCTOBER 2025