A pleasant surprise in Providence

New England's best new restaurant?

Apart from a summer program at Brown, I’ve spent little to no time in Providence, RI. Heading into a weekend there, I had zero expectations outside of maybe some good seafood for eating. On the drive up, I browsed around at what the dinner options looked like and stumbled upon an exciting menu. Chef Benjamin Sukle recently opened in second concept in the city, Gifthorse. okay, YUM.

Burnt onion Dijonaise?!? Me in a sauce. The memorable bites are as follows. The nori chip with smoked fish dip. This chip reminded me of my current snack obsession. Next were the two crudos. Too often am I paying $28 for a tasteless lukewarm fish with a bad finishing oil. This was NOT the case hear. The scallop crudo with shiso kombu was outstanding. God, I love shiso. The crudo plate was caper-heavy (automatic yes) and was lathered in a scrumptious oil. The chilled lobster was also a must. Dip it in the burnt onion Dijonaise instead of the aioli. The pickle plate was so good we got three. Obviously, the oysters were divine and had a yummy wasabi minionette.

Lastly, the whole fish special was a gorgeous tuna with pickled beans and ssamjang. Ssamjang is like a gochujang peanut butter. I love a lettuce cup make-your'-own situation.

I sadly don’t have a picture but the dessert was DEVINE. We had a pistachio pudding and a blueberry and black sesame brioche. It was the best take on a blueberry pie I’ve ever had. Nothing was overly sweet.

One last thing! The coffee. I’m a post-dinner cappuccino girl. They only had drip. It was perfect. It reminded me of Tandem Coffee Roasters, which is always good. Enjoy Coffee Roasters, which are new and doing great things.

TTYIP!!! (talk to you in Paris!)

xoxox Walk