Jennifer Luxmoore's Profile
Ivy Tavern open? - Providence
Someone told me that the owner "was given an offer he couldn't refuse" so he sold the place. Not sure to who, or why, or what they're planning on doing to it. Hopefully not much, but it was always a busy place, I'm confused why it's been shut for so long.
Seeking caterer rec's for appetizer only wedding Sept 2012 in South County, RI
Pranzi is good... I don't know the others. As a cake person, food and photography are what we usually run into... The ones I see the most are Russel Morin, Blackstone Catering, the Marra group, and Plantation catering. Hope that helps!
My pecan pie did not set up properly.
It wasn't cooked long enough. Sugar needs to get to a certain temp to gel. I combine the sugars (brown, corn) in a sauce pan and heat till a boil to dissolve the brown sugar and to get the temp up, I then let it cool a little and slowly temper the eggs into the mixture, then add in the nuts and it all goes into the oven. I start at 400, then reduce to 350 when the pie goes in. I bake for about 30-40 minutes. Middle should be slightly puffed, and bubbly.
Cake pans and stand mixers
Go with the biggest Kitchen Aid you can get. You'll need it. You will still be making multiple batches, but the larger the better. I get my pans here.... http://www.countrykitchensa.com/. They pretty much have everything you'll ever need. Have them send you a catalog. Good luck!
New Restaurant - Rumford RI
We went and had a great experience. It was a few weeks ago, so I don't remember what everyone got, but I do remember the Mac and Cheese, I want to say it was an app. It was probably the best mac and cheese I've had.. they'll need to make it a main course during the winter!
Stag's Leap Artermis Cabarnet Sauvignon
I've had Chimney Rock and it was excellent. I highly recommend it!
Heathsville/Northern Neck of VA
(I'm not sure if this is the right board... but)
We're going to Heathsville/Reedsville for vacation and will be celebrating our 5th anniversary while we're there. Are there any restaurants nearby? I know the area is a bit isolated. Any help would be appreciated!
Macaroni and cheese
I'm pretty sure that's Nick's on Broadway in Providence. He was on the food network, and it was because of his mac and cheese.
Food Trucks Rhode Island?
Julians has a food truck, The hewtin's dog truck (ie Chez Pascal), and there's a cupcake truck... sugar rush, which would be cute for dessert!
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Chez Pascal Restaurant
960 Hope St, Providence, RI 02906
Providence-Downcity-Kitchen Nightmares
We were there for one of the tapings of the show. It was the "before" show. It is tv, so they did their best to set them up to fail by seating the entire dining room in within a half hour or so. My friends, seated across from me, said that Chef Ramsey kept sending items back to the kitchen, so the kitchen was basically making everything twice. We got a salad, which was good, and calamari which was a bit greasy and the sauce was boring. Dinner never came out. We were there for about 2 hours before we asked for the check and went to another restaurant. We're planning on going back in January to see the transformation.
We rarely went before this, because they just didn't seem to stand out in any way. Food was mediocre and service was slow. We'll see how they do after the transformation.
Providence Area Miscellaneous...
Anyone know what's going in next to the Wayland Bakery?
Providence Area Miscellaneous...
Jac's did close the original location. I didn't realize they had opened a second. Wildflour is a vegan and gluten free bakery from the owners of garden grille.
Top Ten Restaurants in RI
Chez Pascal - I guess it's pretty good, but for me the one time we went, it was so-so.
New Rivers - always excellent
Castle Hill - haven't been
Bouchard - never heard of it, where is it.
Al Forno - good, but over rated
Gracie's - THE BEST. Love it, always have a great meal.
10 Steak and Sushi - Nothing special about the steak and if I want sushi I go to Haruki... much better
Capital Grille - Really? For me it's just another steak house.
Mill's Tavern - ditto
Local 121 - Want to love it, but it's always up and down.One visit is terrific, then the next is mediocre.
I'd agree with adding Rasoi, and where the hell is La Laiterie? That's one of the best in Providence right after Gracies.
So my list is...
Gracies
La Laiterie
Red Fez
Rasoi
New Rivers
Haruki
Al Forno
The bar at Local 121 and the bar at Cook and Brown... food in both is a bit all over the place.
Julians
Nicks
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Red Fez
49 Peck St, Providence, RI 02903
Chez Pascal Restaurant
960 Hope St, Providence, RI 02906
Local 121
121 Washington St, Providence, RI 02903
La Laiterie
184-188 Wayland Avenue, Providence, RI 02906
Haruki Restaurant
1210 Oaklawn Ave, Cranston, RI 02920
Rasoi Restaurant
855 Worcester Rd Ste 24, Framingham, MA 01701
Capital Grille
1 Union Sta Ste 1, Providence, RI 02903
Cook and Brown anyone? Providence, RI
Bar drinks are awesome. Food is just ok. It seems like they try to hard.
Sloe Gin and Creme de Violette...
sorry, I tried the Aviation and it sucked. I went to a really good bar and ordered one, so I would know what it was supposed to taste like, and I hated it. Any other Vreme de Violette ideas, or should I just give the bottle away?
Sloe Gin and Creme de Violette...
No, not together! 2 separate questions...
I just tried Sloe Gin the other night and loved it, though it seems hard to find. What else can you do with it besides Sloe Gin Fizz?
Also purchased the Violette because a friend mentioned it in passing how it's coming back etc. But I have no idea what to do with it... It's not good with tonic and kind of boring with soda. Any ideas? Most of the recipes I've found on line require a lot of strange mixing items that I don't have or have never heard of!
Loie Fuller... FAIL (long)
TAKE 2.... so we had to go back this Sunday for a surprise birthday brunch. Bar was great, one of the best bloody mary's I've had. This waitress was much better, especially since she was dealing with a large table and people joining and leaving through out the meal. Food... I had eggs with blue cheese on toast with pork belly, it was fine, though it would be hard to screw that one up. My husband had the crouque madam (sp?) poached egg, ham and hollandaise sauce. Again it was fine. We were also able to try the beignets. They were a bit heavy, but nice flavor. The food wait was still awhile. Over all, a a much better experience, but still a bit pricy for what we had and with so many other good restaurants in the area, we probably won't go back because of the first experience.
wedding venues
I'd have to agree with the Newport suggestion... 1 hour from Boston, many many places to stay and lots of things to see for your guest, on the water, and tons of beautiful venues. Belle Mer, Ocean Cliff, Castle Hill, Rose Cliff Manor, Fort Adams... so many places! Good Luck!
Loie Fuller... FAIL (long)
No, we didn't say anything. The waitress did come back about 8-10 minutes after dropping the food. By that time we were so hungry we were just eating what was in front of us. When we were done (none of the plates were clean, we both left food) she took the plates and we asked for the check. She dropped the check right away and we immediately put in a credit card and slid it to the end of the table. She passed by our table 4 times, without looking at us, without picking up the check, until we said something. We were actually looking in our wallets to see if we had enough cash on us, so we could just pay and get out of there. I wasn't going to bring up the service with her at that point. She made us feel like an annoyance. But (and this sounds petty, I know) the customers that were sat after us, that appeared to have gone there before, she greeted warmly, went into detail about the menu and joked with them (they weren't friends, she wasn't that friendly with then, but it seemed like they might be semi-regulars) Apparently you have to go there a few times before you're treated nicely. I don't expect 100% perfection, no one's perfect. I do expect you to try to give the best service and food you can. It didn't seem like they tried.
Loie Fuller... FAIL (long)
Loie Fuller
1455 Westminster Street, Providence
Date of Visit: Saturday October 17th
Website: www.loiefullers.com
Price: $$$$
Loie Fuller is a beautiful restaurant that serves what seems to be upscale American food. We’ve heard wonderful things about it and were excited to try it!
We didn’t decide to go out to eat until 8:10, so we arrived at 8:20 on a Saturday night. We were told that a few tables were finishing dinner and that if they didn’t have dessert we’d be sat soon, but if they did it would be about a 30 minute wait. We were fine with that and sat at the bar and ordered a Framboise Lambic…a light fruity red beer.
About 20 minutes into our wait a table of 4 left. We were excited that we were going to be seated, or so we thought. We weren’t. Apparently Loie won’t seat 2 people at a 4 top. We waited another 30 minutes for a 2 top to open up while that one sat empty and 2 other couples came in and were also waiting.
When we were sat, no apology for the wait. The waitress came over and asked about drinks and we said we were all set; we just had one at the bar and needed food first before another drink. Then she said with an attitude, “We have a (?clam?) soup tonight. So you want to order?” Uh.. We did. I ordered the spring onion ravioli in a brown butter and balsamic reduction with a side of sautéed spinach and my husband ordered the lamb cassoulet. Some bread was brought to the table and then we didn’t see anyone or any food for another 35 minutes. Cassoulet is a stew… not a made to order item. Ravioli is prepped ahead of time and quickly boiled. Sautéed spinach… a couple of minutes… there is no way on earth that these dishes should have taken 35 minutes to make. They only have 12 tables in the restaurant and most of the tables were either eating or on dessert!
My husband said he would have forgiven the time span if the food were any good. It wasn’t. His stew…was dry. He was picking hard beans out of his mouth and it looked like the stew came from the bottom of the pot. My ravioli was good, but the texture of the pasta was slightly hard, like it had been sitting for a while. The spinach was bad… I like salt, I’m a salter… but this was really salty and sitting in a pool of oil.
We were really disappointed and will not be going back. We left there 2 hours after we arrived had really bad service and really bad food.
Price: The entire meal, for 2, was $48, drinks at the bar was $14 plus tip.
