Lot 401
44 Hospital Street
Providence, RI
by Bob Mariani
One hesitates to praise a place that is clearly trying so hard to be ultra hip, but in the case of Providence’s new Lot 401, they succeed so well they deserve to be congratulated. (In my lexicon, the term "hip" means knowing what the newest trend is and being with it and also slightly ahead of it. As a musical analogy, Miles Davis springs to mind.)
On a corner lot across from the Providence Children’s Museum, in the slowly re-vitalizing jewelry district, the interior of Lot 401 is sleek and stripped down to white walls with clean, industrial accents. The doors and windows open out onto the street when weather permits and on the blank wall alongside the bar, a video screen shows the hippest animated videos. A mixture of well-chosen jazz and new wave music plays in the background at an unobtrusive volume level. The term "fusion" is probably the best way to describe Executive Chef, Rachel Klein-Gates’s menu choices here-- but with a conscious effort to be totally hip and cutting edge. In the appetizer category you’ll find items like an aged "de-constructed goat cheese salad" with marinated bell peppers, cucumbers, Russian fingerling potatoes, beets, grape tomatoes, and herbs and balsamic vinegar ($10); a "torched" sashimi grade yellow-fin tuna tartar comes with almonds, pomegranate, cumber and a citrus vinaigrette dressing ($16): short rib dumplings are married with roasted beet carpaccio and scallions in a scallion and black vinegar reduction ($10).
I began with the lobster and wild mushroom pan roast ($18). It was an almost-meal-size lobster tail dressed to the nines with a miniature, truffle-soaked quail egg, hazelnuts, arugula and a crispy slice of brioche toast. I must say, I’d never tasted quite this combination of ingredients before and it was a delightful surprise. We also had the five-spiced duck confit millefeuille , rich, smoky and smartly accompanied by a small dollop of pear jam and some delicate watercress, all finished in a duck demi-glas. A hipper version of a great classic.
Our third appetizer was Lot 401’s take on prawns. Plump and juicy and coated in salt and pepper, they came with a micro green and daikon salad, a mushi basket, and a sweet chili sauce for dipping($16). The entrée list is equally eclectic here, with things like Asian braised pork with sweet and sour cabbage, a fingerling potato, and hot mustard jus; steak and eggs that feature a "BR3 filet mignon" in a sauce bordelaise with a truffle fried egg, asparagus and potato puree’; Black Pearl salmon with sesame rice, bundled cabbage and a candied ginger beurre blanc; also there is a lamb loin all the way from Australia with garlic custard, Chinese broccoli in a lamb jus and urfa pepper. We chose the roasted half chicken with wild mushroom vol au vent ($22). The chicken was tender and lightly sautéed and dressed with the wild mushrooms and an excellent smoky bacon and bay cream sauce.
We also sampled some of Lot 401’s original and artfully named "Kabocha firecrackers"— tender baby spinach ravioli topped with a mouth-watering Pecorino and brown butter sauce. ($20) The Atlantic cod entrée was a perfectly cooked piece of white fish garnished with flageolet beans, garlic chives, with a side of Chinese pork and kale ($24). These multi-global flavors were an inventive mix of a lot of familiar tastes "together again for the first time." My B3R sirloin ($25) was cooked to a turn, perfectly medium rare and juicy. It came with a side of mild, sweet yellow yams, some spicy long beans, and a sweet note of shallot-ginger jam. We also sampled the diver scallops ($25) and found them beautifully tender and perfectly partnered with the mild cauliflower puree’, a brown butter sauce, and a frisse garnish, all smartly parsed and punctuated with shaved red grapes (how, exactly does one shave a grape?) and a madras vinaigrette.
We were more than satisfied and quite a little dazzled. Dessert continued to impress with a very light and buttery petit pound cake served with a white chocolate/blueberry/lime sauce. We also sampled the very indulgent chocolate truffle "Lady Grey Sandwich" with lemon confit, plus a trio of delicious creme brule’s that included vanilla, almond and ginger.
Upstairs from the Lot 401 restaurant there’s a small bar and disco that mirrors the same pared-down, hip and happenin’ feel of the dinning room, with dazzling white walls and an ever-changing video screen. This latest addition to Providence’s downtown dinning/entertainment scene fits right into what’s going on in the jewelry district these days. The food, the feeling, the attitude is as ultra hip as it’s trying to be. Lot 401 has only been open for a few weeks now but already it’s creating a buzz. They’re open for lunch, dinner and late night fare. 490-3980.
Bob Mariani is a Southeastern New England freelance author. Besides his "Table for Two" restaurant reviews found here, he also writes jazz articles on allaboutjazz.com.
