Pot Au Feu---Providence's great French restaurant

www.potaufeuri.com

Pot Au Feu

44 Custom House Road

Providence, RI

(401) 273-8953

Recently did a day trip to Providence, Rhode Island to check out Waterfire and the sights with two friends. Of course we had to eat well and opted for the Pot Au Feu Bistro (lower level of this beloved French Bistro). At the RISD Art Museum, we got effusive and loving praise of this restaurant! We were pretty excited! We knew to arrive early as reservations are not accepted.

We arrived at 5:35pm and already there were 6 tables seated inside the lower bistro

space. We loved the wine bottle lined walls with white Christmas lights giving the room a festive but soft glow. Our server was attentive and we always had a change of silverware, our glasses of water were filled and she had great suggestions when we were choosing our menu items.

Escargots a la Bourguignonne-Snails broiled in their shells with garlic-parsley butter. 9
Foie Gras de Canard Veronique -Fresh duck liver pan seared with white wine & grapes. 20
Boeuf a la Bourguignon-Beef marinated in red wine and spices, braised until tender, served with potatoes gratinee. 22.95
Bouillabaisse Marseilles - From Provence, a variety of fin fish and shellfish, potatoes and onions poached in a saffron and tomato broth. Served with aoili. 23.95
Pot au Feu - Beef and chicken braised with a melange of fresh vegetables including onions, leeks, carrots, celery, cabbage and potato served with traditional garnishes of coarse salt, cornichons and warm horseradish and mustard sauce. 22.95

Pomegrante Sorbet $7
Mousse Au Citron -A mousse with a hint of tartness and lemon-lime zest whisked to airy perfection. $6

As a party of three, we each had two big escargot and were given tongs to use to eat them with (which I found hard to handle). The garlic parsley butter was delicious. The Foie Gras I had to convince the two newbies and once they tasted "heaven" we finished the dish and used all our bride to soak up all the sauce and demi glaze from the plate. The white wine and grapes and foie were just a perfect meld of flavors, fat and we were all content.

Our salads were a nice fresh mesclun mix with delightful bits of chevre cheese served with two homemade dressings-mustard and balsamic vinegarettes. I enjoyed the balsamic a bit more.

My Bouillabaisse Marseilles was good. I have only had it here and there and I am not an expert. I liked the seafood broth and though it looked like alot of food, it was not actually that much. I felt I had more potatoes than anything. I got 2/3 pieces of mussels, shrimp and scallops and fish sprinkled through out my plate. Though it was very flavorful and I used my bread to finish the broth up with it. The Pot Au Feu was a huge plate of protein my poor friend could not finish. A simple but beef and chicken braised with delicious veggies that were flavorful and not dry at all.
Boeuf a la Bourguignon good with the wine sauce but we all attacked the potatoes gratinee with more gusto! (The waitress confided in us it was the only menu item that had it!) The layers of potato with creamy cheese sauce was delectable and lovely!

We topped out meal with pomegrante sorbet (very refreshing and light) as well as the mousse au citron which was quickly finished. The lemon-lin zest in the mousse created a welcome tart zing to the luscious, airy confection of a dessert! (I would love to have it again!)

Atmosphere and service 9.5
Food 9.5
Prices 9.5

Score of 9.5 forks out of 10 forks for the Pot Au Feu Bistro.