New Restaurants on the Block While history proves the East Side has a tradition of success and quality, when searching for a location, restaurateurs have varied needs. Champe Speidel of Persimmon (99 Hope Street, Providence. 432-7422, PersimmonRI.com) was wondering where to go after achieving all there was to achieve in Bristol. He wanted to own a space that provided more creative freedom and he wanted something central and visible. When the owners of Ebisu, Chef X Premwatt, and Chef Kazu Kondo began plotting a second restaurant, they were hunting for a place that would embrace a different style of Japanese restaurant, with customers that are adventurous and inquisitive. Lori Kettelle of PVDonuts was ready to jump in the deep end after her food startup enjoyed success. She needed a place she could afford to run as a family business, accessible to eager donut fiends of all ages who appreciate quality. Places like Pasta Beach seem to agree, with designs on siting their third location in Wayland Square soon. The answer to all of these different questions was the same: this is the vibrancy of the East Side.
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(Above) Roasted rabbit saddle and shoulder, glazed carrots, smoked bacon and light rabbit jus from Persimmon. (Below) Chef Champe Speidel
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at times indecisive search. Speidel said he’d been in love with the standalone building for years, which was home to another East Side founder, Deborah Norman’s Rue de L’Espoir for the last 39 years. He describes it as a perfect restaurant location, “You feel like you are totally in the middle of a neighborhood. It’s not some stone or brick building at the bottom floor of a tower, yet you are only a minute away from the city. It’s a nice oasis up here.” With twice the seats, Speidel can finally do walk-ins, as well as have room for a 15-seat bar. This is much more fun for his talented bartenders and allows Speidel to design a larger menu with smaller plates. This makes for a restaurant that can accommodate a more casual after-work crowd who want a couple quick bites, as well as those who want to have a more indulgent dining experience. More room on the menu allows Persimmon to explore microseasons, for instance the flush of Saskatchewan chanterelles they just got in thanks to some rain in the dry Canadian province. These mushrooms are renowned for their unmatched intensity of flavor. Speidel’s speech becomes more animated as the topic turns to food: “they’re the best chanterelles you can find. Right now we are featuring them with the sweetbreads. We can really highlight two or three ingredients and make them shine.”
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(Above) X Premwatt, co-owner of Wara Wara. (Below) Lobster Tacos with Hitachino White Ale
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A six-time James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef Northeast, Champe Speidel certainly hasn’t been starved for success at Persimmon in Bristol. So why the much anticipated move? Some of the defining characteristics of the Bristol location – its intimacy and feeling of occasion – had begun to feel stifling. Due to its small size and big reputation, Persimmon became all reservations, often even including the tiny bar. While a good problem to have, this model of fine dining is not what Speidel originally envisioned. He explains, “I think our crew was starting to get restless, I was getting restless creatively, there was nowhere to go in our space. We were stuck.” Now, Speidel and his talented staff have room to breathe. When Speidel and wife Lisa had the opportunity to own rather than rent, they jumped on it, ending a protracted and
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When the owners of Ebisu on the far south side of Providence looked to spawn another restaurant, they brought in Nick Mazonowicz of Salted Slate and played a cold-sake-sipping, noodle-slurping version of Goldilocks. What they found 5, 2016 - East Side Monthly, September Is August to be just right was a familiar conclusion, Fox Point or Hope. August 9, 2016 - Providence Monthly, September Is When Blaze closed on Hope, they seized the opportunity and August 16, 2015 - SO Rhode Island, September Is opened Wara Wara (776 Hope Street, Providence. 831-9272, WaraWaraRI.com). They wanted to introduce Providence to their take on Izakaya, an informal, drink-centered, small-plate www.CityEstateGardener.com fixture of Japanese nightlife. Izakaya has slowly made its way across the country, starting all along the West Coast. Co-chef and co-owner Kazu Kondo echoes Johanne Killeen about the well-travelled taste buds of East Side customers: “When you
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