Elkhay to reprise culinary hits in Newport

“We’re bringing back City Lights, Atomic Grill and even Café In The Barn!” exclaimed chef and self-styled “maestro” John Elkhay on a recent summer afternoon. And he was only just getting started, discussing his upcoming appearance as guest chef at The Revolving Door restaurant
Elkhay, who created the menu for the fundraiser that President Barack Obama was scheduled to host on Aug. 29 in Newport for Democrats in the U.S. House, is the founder of Chow Fun Food Group. The latter includes such Providence dining landmarks as Ten Prime Steak and Sushi, XO Café, Harry’s Bar and Burger, Rick’s Roadhouse, and Luxe Burger Bar.
Elkhay will take over the kitchen at Albert Bouchard’s fledgling Newport concept eatery for three nights, September 25-27. He is planning what he calls a “time capsule of food.” The menu will span the period from the early 1980’s when he was chef at the still-remembered Café In The Barn in Seekonk to City Lights, located in the then-promising Davol Square complex in Upper South Providence in the mid- to late 1980s, to the Atomic Grill, on the edge of what is now the city’s Knowledge District. The Atomic was one of the breakout new restaurants on the leading edge of the restaurant boom in the mid-1990s.
Not only will Elkhay recreate dishes from those days, but he plans to bring back the trappings such as plates and glassware. He even promises the return of some of the chefs who came of age in his kitchens in those days. “You’ll see Jules Ramos, who worked in my kitchen from 1988 to 2003,” he declared. Ramos went on to star in his own kitchen at 1149 in East Greenwich.
Elkhay has invited another local celebrity chef to join him. Nick Rabar – proprietor of Avenue N in East Providence – opened and ran 10 Prime Steak & Sushi, Big Fish and Luxe Burger Bar as a chef for Chow Fun for 11 years.
For all the memories and favorite foods that his guests will enjoy having back in the spotlight, chef Elkhay insists that the pop-up performance will not be just a retro dining experience. “Food is fashion, but you can’t just bring your bell bottoms out today,” he explained.
He is planning a different menu each night and letting his chef collaborators create some dishes. That said, the maestro is planning a makeover of one of his all-time favorites from his early years. “When I was in culinary school, green as a green pea, I worked at the Inn at Duck Creeke in Wellfleet on Cape Cod in the summer of 1976,” he recalled.
“You’ll see it on the menu as Duck Three Ways,” he said. “I’ll confit the legs (slow cooked in seasoned duck fat). Then I will serve the thigh on a bed of frisee (lettuce) with lardons (meaty chunks of pork-belly bacon).” He will then accent the dish with some of the confit dark meat in an Asian-style spring roll with coconut rice.
The chef is effusive in his praise of fellow restaurateur Albert Bouchard. “He and his wife are great people. This concept is really exciting,” enthused Elkhay. “To be able to have this outlet to … cook a lifetime of food with this all-star team is just incredible!”
At least one dish will be making its first appearance in nearly 40 years. At Café In The Barn, which was one of a very few local restaurants to offer a true culinary experience back in the early 80s, young chef Elkhay served a version of the Greek favorite spanakopita.
Nestled in the phyllo dough with the spinach, feta and garlic was a petite shrimp, tail out. “It was a mini baked, stuffed shrimp,” recalls the chef. It became wildly popular at the Seekonk eatery. Elkhay thinks as many as 40 percent of his guests on any given night would order it. But after a time and for reasons unknown to this day, the chef decided to take it off the menu. “The crowd was disappointed,” he recalled ruefully. “But I never brought it back. I have not served it since.” But Elkhay promises it will make its return at The Revolving Door.
A pop-up restaurant or guest chef appearance is hardly breaking news these days. But an event that brings back classic dishes and gives today’s foodies a taste of the roots of the city’s restaurant boom could only happen in a few places. This couldn’t be pulled off in a city of transplants. There has to be a sense of tradition of history as well as an institutional memory. We have both. John Elkhay’s guest appearance in Newport in September promises to be a memorable week in local dining circles.


Bruce Newbury’s “Dining Out” talk radio show is heard on WHJJ-AM (920), WADK-AM (1540) and online and through mobile applications. Email bruce@brucenewbury.com.

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