Les Flâneurs

Back alley off of Union Street in Providence

Located just off of Union Street across from the park in Grant's Block is this unassuming, rather dreary back alley. Unnoticed and unappealing the alley nevertheless caught my eye and so here it is.

Birch in Providence

pierogie app

Located in downtown Providence, right next door to Gracie's along Washington Street was Tini's, one of our favorite eateries. Launched by George Germon and Johanne Killeen (of Al Forno fame), Tini's was small and unique in design (a food bar really) but under the culinary direction of Darius Salko you could always count on not just good food but great food.

When Tini's closed earlier this year it left a big question mark in the minds of local foodies: what is going in to that tiny niche across from Trinity Rep Theater. Well, now we know.

Ben Sukle, who helmed the opening of the Dorrance Restaurant in downtown Providence, and his wife Heidi have taken over the space and, keeping the same design (not much choice there!), launched "Birch" last month.

Susie, Andrea, Matt and I met up there the other day to taste test the food and get a sense of the new space. While we miss Darius' incredibly creative and tasty comfort food (my God his gnocchi and rabbit!!), still we found the food at Birch quite nice: imaginative, flavorful and priced to sell. A very nicely rounded wine list as well.

The space only seats about 15 people so I suspect that there will be standing room only before long. Oh, and parking is a challenge of course, it being Providence, so be prepared to be creative on a busy weekend.

Matt always has a way to make people smile

Tini's layout is still pretty much the same: u-shaped bar; kitchen is to the right rear

no, that's not sausage but a roasted carrot with Point Judith Fluke!

shredded crab with potatoes, quinoa, green tomatoes and an egg yolk

Point Judith striped sea bass with Hakurei turnips, mussels, Escarole and lovage

crispy Vermont quail

triple chocolate pudding with rhubarb sorbet, peanuts and oat snaps

unique take on cheesecake with glazed strawberries, sorrel and wild rose ice cream

raspberries with almonds

Sunday trip to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston

Looking for something to do in this part of New England is not much of a challenge: Three hours in any direction and you've got a wide range of interesting opportunities for exploration: ocean, mountains, major cities. On a recent Sunday Susie and I opted for the latter, Boston to be exact, or at least a small part of it, the Museum of Fine Arts.

We couldn't recall with any degree of accuracy the last time we were in this Boston cultural icon; it was many years ago although we do recall going to see an exhibit of photographs by Alfred Steiglitz.

Anyway, we pointed the Mini north up I-95 and in less than an hour found a parking space just around the corner from the museum (lucky us, apparently) and found our way into the Huntington Avenue entrance. The is the one you really do want to see first, believe me; the rotunda is nothing short of magnificent -- and for $25 a head it should be great.

the Huntington Avenue entrance

Before you walk inside, take a moment and get up close to Cyrus Dallin's incredible "Appeal to the Great Spirit":

"Appeal to the Great Spirit" 1909 by Cyrus Dallin (1861-1944)

Once inside, with map in hand we stumbled our way through a maze of corridors and galleries looking for the 19th Century French Impressionists.

After about 10 minutes we both concluded that museums have become rather like hospital complexes today: a warren of spaces that seem to be only tentatively connected with one another. We also concluded that with practice, and repeat visits we would undoubtedly be able to find our way around with ease. But how many tourists have the luxury of living barely an hour away?

the Renoir corner

Near the Renoirs we came across one of Susie's favorite sculptures, La Petite Danseuse by Degas. We have now seen 4 of the 14 existing copies of this lovely and moving work at The Clark (Williamstown, MA), the Met (NYC), the Orsay (Paris) and now the MFA.

Susie and La Petite Danseuse

Nearby was a painting that struck me straightaway, "Grotto by the Seaside in the Kingdom of Naples with Banditti, Sunset" (1778) by Joseph Wright (1734-1797). I don't know if it was the color, the scene itself or the depth of field but I thought this piece fantastic:

detail

And then there was the fabulous "Picture Gallery with Views of Modern Rome" (1775) by Giovanni Paolo Pannini (1691-1765). What incredible detail and workmanship to replicate all those views into one "gallery":

detail

We then stumbled across a very nice collection of work by Dutch and Flemish painters, and one in particular, "Winter Landscape Near a Village" (1610-15) by Hendrik Avercamp (1585-1634) really caught our eye:

The MFA is also home to one of the largest collections of the American impressionist and portraitist, John Singer Sargent. There were at least two pieces where he used the same young female model, Rosina Ferrara, on the island of Capri:

"Rosina - Capri" by John Singer Sargent

The featured exhibition right now is a collection of Samurai armor -- fascinating, especially as they had tricked out not only "foot soldiers" but even men on life-size horses as well (and yes, the horses were wearing masks, too).

Looking for and at so much wonderful art really builds an appetite so we opted for a light lunch at the New American Cafe, one of four eateries in the museum.

The service was indifferent, the prices so-so but the food wasn't too bad and the company outstanding; plus it was a cool location to be sure.

corn chowder

And then there was artwork (of a sort) that was striking but tended to leave us cold, although not uninspired.

what coming to a museum is all about, I suppose: sitting, looking, reflecting

Nick's on Broadway

The other day after worked Susie and I walked the four blocks from our apartment over to Nick's on Broadway, ostensibly just to have a drink. But, one thing led to another and we ended up eating for dinner. One of those last-minute decisions we've been making a lot of in our lives and so be it.

The service, like the food was worth it.