Mosaic - Latin American Bistro [Providence, RI]
Chimichurri lovers of the world, unite! Mosaic is putting up some delicious food inspired by the varied cuisines of Latin America and the Caribbean, and is a welcome addition to the Providence scene.
Unfortunately, the Wild Boar Ribs (!!!) with a black bean pupusa were 86'd by the time we got there last night, but we still had a great meal which included:
Matambre - a marinated flank steak, rolled and stuffed with spinach, red peppers, and a hard-boiled egg, drizzled with fragrant chimichurri and balsamic vinegar. Mmm. I want to go to Argentina.
Pernil - slow-cooked smoked pork shoulder, torn and served on slider buns with a pickles, ham, melted gruyere cheese and mustard, Cuban-sandwich style. I ordered the mango and jicama slaw with this, and it was tangy and crunchy.
Chivito - a sandwich of Uruguayan origin, marinated flank steak with a fried egg, lettuce, tomato, and pickled red onions, and smoked bacon. My wife had the house-made potato chips, which were paper thin and piping hot - perhaps a little too oily.
They even comped us a taste of their Ajiaco soup, a creamy Colombian chicken soup with potatoes, avacado, roasted corn, and a little zing from a cilantro relish. Hearty and quite good.
The owners, who are the head chef and the FOH manager, are related (brothers?) and both came over and greeted us - very friendly, and looking for feedback. We like things spicy, so they said next time just order it with some extra kick and the kitchen will comply!
They are Colombian, so I asked about arrepas - I guess I missed it on the menu, but there is a shrimp dish served with arrepas. And the chef said he does his eggs benedict over arrepas on the days that they do brunch (Saturday and Sunday).
While we stuck with an appetizer and sandwiches, their menu includes a few entrees, and the owners said they would be continuing to expand the number and variety of entrees over the coming months.
We will DEFINITELY be back. Their facebook page shows photos of their opening - they served lechon (a roast suckling pig) - so sorry we missed it!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Provide...
They are closed on Tuesdays. All other days, I believe they are open 11:30am to 1am.
Last note: for a small spot with only a couple of tap handles, I was happy to see some craft beers (Hennepin being one) and bottles on their drink menu. Though next time we go, we'll probably get into some Argentinian/Uruguayan wine, if I recall they had both Tannat and Malbec varieties on the list.
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Mosaic - Latin American Bistro
166 Valley St, Providence, RI 02909
