FOOD & DRINK
Expe r i e nc e | By Abb ie Lahmers
Raising the Bar Renowned downtown bar delights with craft cocktails, build-your-own charcuterie, and sliders Tucked away off Westminster – just around the corner from Queen of Hearts and Modern Love – with glowing blue letters signaling you’ve arrived, The Eddy is everything you’d want from a bar with a handwritten cocktail list. Flickering candles provide mood lighting against an exposed brick wall, and Old Fashioneds are poured on draft. There’s the promise of creativity in the expansive collection of bottles behind the bar, but the vibe in no way feels pretentious. Though the communal experience of sitting at the bar speaks to me, this foggy winter evening my partner and I opted for a table. There’s only a handful of them, which makes the choice all the more cozy. Then the difficult task of deciding on our first round began. “It’s not often I end up at a place where almost all the drinks are new to me,” my boyfriend remarked on the cocktail menu’s originality. From tea-infused spirits to mulled wine syrup and quince liqueur, there
are few flavors these mixologists aren’t willing to experiment with. Grapes of Wrath was certainly a first for me – this mouthwatering study of grapes found a balance of sweetness and acidity in a blend of Singani 63 (brandy distilled with Muscat of Alexandria grapes), manzanilla sherry, verjus, cava, and Concord grape. My boyfriend’s Pineapple Skies was equally satisfying, adding a little smoky roastiness to the citrus of pineapple juice with a Mezcal Amarás base, plus spices like cinnamon and cardamom. We were pleased for the bright, sweet sipping once we chose our snacks. A sort of build-your-own charcuterie menu, we were given a pencil to check off meats, cheeses, and pickles. But first, sliders. Each order comes with two, perfect for swapping. The Cuban Sliders are made of irresistibly juicy pork and beef patties with crispy potato sticks between buns baked by nearby Oberlin, but the Halloumi Sliders stole the show
Cuban Sliders
Must-Try Items Halloumi Sliders ($12): Halloumi patty, pickled veggies, lettuce, cilantro, and harissa mayo Amaras mezcal, St. George Bruto Americano, charred pineapple, cinnamon, cardamom, and lime
for me. A substitute for meat patties, the grilling cheese was charred to perfection on the outside while holding its form on the inside – no oozy, stringiness here. For added crunch, pickled veggies and lettuce came together with harissa mayo to create a lightly
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ProvidenceOnline.com • February 2022
Photos courtesy of The Eddy
Pineapple Skies ($13):
