Going back to the future on the Hill

The number of restaurants on Providence’s Federal Hill has not changed very much in the last decade or two. But there is a resurgence on the Hill’s Restaurant Row these days that is noticeable. New places have started up, in spaces where restaurants had been and in a few spots where they had not.
Depending on what corner one stands on along Atwells Avenue or on Federal Street, DePasquale Square or America Street, the neighborhood flavor is not necessarily Italian. There is a diversity among the residents of the venerable tenements that reflects the changing face of Providence.
While, by a slim majority, the eateries along the row are Italian, next door there is just as likely to be a Middle Eastern sandwich shop, a Mexican restaurant or one of the ubiquitous hookah bars.
Many of the spots that serve food other than Italian are starting to become the older restaurants on the street, which says a lot about the proprietors’ business savvy as well as the quality of their food. Places such as Don Jose Tequilas and the Middle Eastern fine-dining spot Opa, which were mavericks back in the early days of the restaurant boom in Providence in the 1990’s, are still flourishing.
A review of one of the new places on Atwells begins, “the restaurant has an Italian-sounding name – Lucia’s. But look inside and the colorful sombreros on the wall signal that this is the city’s newest Mexican restaurant.”
The ownership of Lucia’s was quick to adopt one of the traditions of the Hill, that of including in names of menu items and just about anything having to do with the restaurant, the phrase, “on the Hill.”
Some of the newest places on the Hill have gone back to the roots of the neighborhood. These are family businesses with roots that go deep into the heart of Federal Hill.
Adesso on the Hill – there it is again – opened last March at 139 Acorn Street, right behind Tony’s Colonial. The restaurant is housed in a brand-new building constructed on the site of the Acorn Social Club, which was torn down in 2008. The current ownership has found success by bringing back the Italian side of the menu that made Adesso the talk of Providence foodies in the 1980s and ’90s. Andino Merola Jr. has been in the restaurant business most of his life. Known as Andy Jr., he started out on Atwells Avenue with his dad, Andino Merola Sr., at Andino’s Restaurant, where he spent 17 years.
Visitors to The Hill noticed Andy Jr’s restaurant at the other end of Atwells almost as soon as construction got under way in a former retail shop at the corner of Acorn. Andy now spends most of his time at his new place greeting customers and overseeing his unique menu, which he calls, “Appetizers Plus” – with dishes designed to encourage sharing and tasting.
Across the street on the corner of Atwells and America is Roma, one of the modern mainstays of Federal Hill. Chef proprietor Domenic Ierfino is one of the Hill’s young “old-timers,” along with Walter Potenza, the Tarro brothers of Siena, the present ownership of the Blue Grotto, Pane e Vino, the Gianfranco Marrocco group of Mediterraneo, Caffe Dolce Vita and Wise Guys Deli, Frank DiBiase’s Providence Oyster Bar and Zooma. Ierfino recently completed renovating the fine-dining side of his market-café-bistro, which advertises on my radio show.
Trattoria Roma and its attached R-Bar are serving both traditional Italian and a Neapolitan bar-appetizer menu with such favorites as arancini-risotto and mozzarella balls that are breaded and deep-fried.
Vincent “Buddy” Cianci Jr., the former mayor of Providence, always had an affection for the city’s culinary community and the Federal Hill of Joe Marzilli’s Old Canteen, Venda, Fed-Rick Veal, Camille’s, Gasbarro’s and Angelo’s, all still landmarks along Atwells Avenue. The restaurant scene in the city rose to prominence during his tenure.
We who dine out often are rediscovering traditions old and new and welcoming new places “on the Hill.” •


Bruce Newbury’s food and wine talk radio show is heard Saturdays and Sundays locally on WPRV-AM 790, mobile applications. He can be reached by email at bruce@brucenewbury.com.

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