Baring It All
The great John Elkhay seems to have outdone himself. His new Chinese Laundry is clearly the most outrageous - and perhaps one of the very best - restaurants in Providence. He has a total of five restaurants, all in Providence. Some might say that is just crazy, but with the successful opening of each of his new places, we all realized Elkhay was simply ahead of the curve. He's more daring than ever with the newest jewel in his restaurant crown.
You can't miss the Chinese Laundry with its bright red façade. It was once the Sam Sing Chinese laundry, which had been in business for 90 years before closing in 2002. Elkhay spent the past five years transforming that Chinese laundry into his Chinese Laundry, and he pays homage to that culture throughout his three-level restaurant. There are only 14 seats in the main dining room. Upstairs in the ultra lounge, there's seating for 32. Downstairs is the VIP dining room with its own private entrance and a custom-designed table for 10 people. That table, which features a larger-than-life photo of a naked woman embedded into the surface of the table, can be seen through the glass floor of the main dining room. That is, until privacy is requested and the thick glass is fogged in with the flick of a switch.
But enough about the sexy atmosphere. As unique as that is, it is the spectacular food that makes this daring restaurant soar above the rest. The menu offers Sashimi and Nigiri, cold and hot, as well as hot appetizers, salads, soups, noodles, rice and vegetable dishes, and only five main entrees. Nick Rabar, the corporate executive chef for Elkhay's Chow Fun Food Group, is back in the kitchen as the executive chef at the Chinese Laundry. It is simply astounding that this young man is so talented when it comes to the labor-intensive cuisine of the Orient.
We started off with two items from the Forbidden Nigiri section of the menu - the Seared Foie Gras ($7.99 each) and the Black Truffle ($8.50 each). The perfectly cooked foie gras was kissed with a fig balsamic, a mere two bites of divine food. The black truffle sat on a house-made potato chip with a dab of truffle aioli. I popped the entire thing into my mouth, closed my eyes, and sighed. To further whet our appetites, we next had the Crisp Wasabi Kumamoto Oysters ($10.99). The four precious fried oysters were placed back into their shells and served on a bed of salt. With just a smidge of lemongrass aioli, this was a wonderful hot appetizer.
The Alaskan Crab Pad Thai ($19.99), loaded with real crabmeat, is more than enough for two people to share, but I did wish for more crushed peanuts for the crunch I thought was missing. The Tempura Vegetables ($5.99) were all that I had hoped for. The delicately battered slices of onion and sweet potato were my favorites.
More of those tempura onions came with the Braised Prime Short Rib ($26.99), along with a ginger yam puree. I'm not clear on how Asian this dish is, but let me say this: it was the best short rib I have ever had. The Mahogany Glazed Tasmanian Salmon ($27.99) was almost as dazzling, sweet and tender, offset by crispy, bitter garlic pea tendrils. To go with all this, we enjoyed a Kirin Ichiban Light beer ($4.50) and the Miner Viognier wine ($14 a glass).
There are no desserts on the Chinese Laundry menu. After dinner, guests are encouraged to go next door to XO, known for its creative desserts. But our senses were still reeling from the exotic flavors we had just experienced. Dessert seemed silly and unnecessary.
The Chinese Laundry. Expensive? Yes. Exclusive? A bit. Extraordinary? Most definitely.
Linda Beaulieu is the author of The Providence and Rhode Island Cookbook, available in local bookstores.
CHINESE LAUNDRY
121 North Main Street, Providence • 272-8676 • Tues-Thurs 5-10pm, Lounge 10pm-1am • Fri & Sat 5-11pm Lounge 10pm-2am
