3 Steeple Street | 125 Canal St, Providence | Mon-Thurs, 11:30 am-10 pm; Fri, 11:30 am-11 pm; Sat, 5-11 pm; Sun, 1-9 pm | Major credit cards | Full bar | Not sidewalk-level accessible | 401.272.3620 |
Given its location, 3 Steeple Street has an edge in being successful. There it is at the bottom of College Hill, where gravity, if nothing else, brings them all those RISD and Brown students, and where parades of famished WaterFire trudgers pass by. Considering this, it would be a crime if it weren’t a good restaurant. But judging by a recent visit, there is no fear of that.
Regulars at a bistro and bar that’s been around for decades acquire a sort of co-proprietorship — nobody messes with loyal customers’ favorites. For the past five-and-a-half years, the owners have been Bill and Julie Nahas. And while the Billy’s Burger is now on the menu, with the boss’s gotta-have grilled onions, mushrooms, and Swiss cheese, they didn’t dare do away with the Raul Burger, with its Boursin cheese, sunflower seeds, and alfalfa sprouts. (The burgers and sandwiches, $8.95, come with your choice of side salad, German potato salad, or French fries — the sweet potato ones at no extra charge.)
Formerly the sous chef, Phil Lincoln heads the kitchen, and he has guided the change from a place that used to offer mainly sandwiches and salads. But preparations remain unpretentious — at dinner, somebody could be devouring a burger next to somebody daintily hewing a rack of lamb, when that’s a special.
The walls are filled with art, as befits the location, and many are made of roughly mortared stones repaired with brick. That goes along with this being the second oldest industrial building in the country, after Slater Mill.
Looking over the starters, we considered the hummus and tabbouleh platter ($7.95), which was put on as a public service for habitués of the late, great Leo’s. The Thai mussels ($11.95) were tempting, as we anticipated an aromatic broth of coconut milk, lemongrass, and ginger. Same for the French onion soup ($3.95/$6.95), a favorite of mine, and the seafood chowder, since we weren’t going to have the bouillabaisse.
But we chose the daily pizza ($10.95) and didn’t look back. The charcoal-grilled oval filled a large platter and was densely packed with so many complementing ingredients that our waiter couldn’t detail them all, such as the basil pesto and capers under the fresh baby spinach, artichoke hearts, and loads of calamata olives, and nicely browned mozzarella in addition to the impossible-to-brown feta. It tasted as wonderful as it sounds.
For main courses, signature dishes tend to tell a lot, and the description of the Salmon Steeple Street ($17.95) spoke of imagination, with its ginger and almond crust, sweet-and-salty honey and tamari, and particularly its lemongrass pesto. The dish is a regular on the menu, but its recipe changes three or four times a year.
Johnnie considered having the vegetable risotto ($15.95), but settled for something called Bird in a Nest ($15.95). The slow-roasted half-chicken was served with asparagus spears and over shoestring fries. She would have preferred a mashed potato option, although she enjoyed the moist meat, and I got to salvage some of the crisp skin, rubbed with lemon and sage, abandoned by Miss Cholesterol Conscious.
Somebody at the next table was enthusing over the flank steak ($18.95), which, the menu said, is served with marinated beef salad and French fries herbed for the occasion. The Moroccan lamb stew ($18.95) is also very popular, we were informed.
Johnnie assumed that I would choose the Karlsruhe sausage plate ($16.95), another house favorite, since she’s been accusing me lately of brushing my canines longer than my other teeth.
But what sounded more intriguing was the veal roulade ($22.95). I can see why it will be replaced by veal tenderloin on the next menu. Since it is cut thin and roasted with a port wine reduction, it’s difficult to rescue it from being on the dry side, as it was, without a sauce. More moist mushrooms in the stuffing might have helped and would have diluted the tartness of the sun-dried tomatoes, which dominated the taste, rather than just piquing the taste buds.
We almost got the pumpkin bread pudding ($7) just for its originality, but instead had the gingerbread cake ($7). It was a small, warm bundt cake with a tasty spiced apple compote, along with plenty of whipped cream. As with 3 Steeple Street in general, it kept us smiling.
On the Web
3steeplestreet.Com
Bill Rodriguez can be reached at bill@billrod.com.
