LEFT: Spicy calamari with ‘Nduja butter
and Lit Juice. RIGHT: Biscuits and gravy
with a coffee milk cocktail.
EXPERIENCE CAV
Monday - Wednesday
Bistro Menu
Tuesday
Half Priced Bottles of Wine
Wednesday
Martini Specials
Saturday and Sunday
Brunch
14 Imperial Place • Providence, RI
401.751.9164
cavrestaurant.com
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
Beef patties have been replaced by
tartare ($18), coarsely chopped and
coated in an egg-heavy gribiche with
minced cornichons, a tangle of watercress
and darkly grilled bread. (Few
dishes have survived the ’70s with as
much staying power as a good tartare
and thank god for that.)
The most controversial dish is the
calamari ($15), in which the kitchen
swaps out banana peppers for little puffs
of butter made with ’Nduja, a spreadable
salami from Calabria. Even the servers
confess to cajoling diners into giving it a
shot but a college kid in the corner is
game and shouts out that he loves old
school calamari and loves this one more.
In fact, the salty, spicy taste of salami is
so good with fried squid that it should go
mainstream. The full evolution to
modernity, however, comes in a tender
slice of fish: fluke crudo is plated like an
Atomic starburst design ($15), dollops of
date and avocado resting on a pool of
grassy olive oil. Sweet and simple, it
embodies the restaurant’s goals to get
diners back to a time with less angst and
more aspiration.
Entrees don’t stick quite as close to
their progenitors but there’s still a
recognizable current running through
the menu. Chicken is roasted in harissa
($25) and draped with strips of candied
lemon — too bold for toddlers, perhaps,
but delicious. Burgers are a more linear
interpretation but, covered in manchego
cheese and arugula ($18), they are both
reassuring and intriguing. Lobster salad
is piled into a buttered bun but topped
with trout roe for a bit of twenty-first
century drama ($28). Fluke makes
another appearance, seared and served
with turnips and a bright citrus
vinaigrette ($28), not quite fish and
chips but the shock of lemon is there.
Even off the plate, Nomi Park is a
pretty sunny place. Servers are young
and move easily between serving
drinks, running behind the espresso bar
and asking a kid in pajamas where they
might find a pair in their own size.
Drinks are just a vehicle for conversation
— “I totally bet you were a ‘Lit
Juice’ guy! It’s so obvious!” — and that
chatter, as trite as it may appear in the
moment, has a profound impact on
people still worried about being in
public spaces. Who would have thought
that going back fifty years might bring
some stability to current events?
If the small talk fails, there’s always a
plate of warm chocolate chip cookies
sprinkled with salt or a deep glass of pot
de creme to remind you of simpler days.
There’s an ice cream sundae as well,
though a thick puree of rhubarb and
several meringues are enough to force a
certain maturity into dessert time. All
of them can be eaten while lounging, as
many of the tables are low and surrounded
by couches. It’s a bit like eating
in a West Elm showroom on steroids
though your grandmother’s crazy
collectibles — carved wooden owls,
amber glass jars, a ship in a bottle — are
also scattered about to remind you of
years past (even if your own past is long
after the Pontiac GTO was on the road).
The Wayfinder feels like a family
slideshow but a welcome one tinged
with revelry as well as memories. It may
be sitting on a highway in a parking lot
but it feels, with communal gratitude, a
world away. �
82 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l SEPTEMBER 2020