If the mission of CHOP doesn't draw you in, the food will. From classic Cubanos to Korean Cauliflower sandwiches to a Green Goddess "Caesar," the menu hits all the right notes. Breakfast can be simple with a croissant or breakfast sandwich or fancy with Shakshuka or a Smoked Salmon Scramble.
If you love books and libraries, the design will make you so comfortable, you might be tempted to stay a while. The barista will keep you caffeinated.
CHOP, short for Culinary Hub of Providence, was opened last week by the Genesis Center on the first floor of the Providence Public Library. It's in a corner space carved out during a library renovation project that began in 2018 and finished four years ago. With 30-foot ceilings and an eclectic and book-themed decor, it fits right in.
This Genesis Center cafe is a hybrid – a restaurant and and a training kitchen with apprentices working to grab their part of the American Dream.
CHOP is a winner, no matter how you look at it.
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How CHOP started
Jack Martin, executive director of The Providence Public Library, said PPL determined they had too much space. The idea for a restaurant on the first floor across from Trinity Rep had great appeal.
Shannon Carroll, president and CEO at the Genesis Center, saw the potential for creating a real-life classroom for their 30-plus culinary students. The Genesis Center has long trained low-income residents of Providence to work in restaurants and other kitchens and CHOP will elevate their education. Not only would they learn on the job, but coming from so many diverse ethnic backgrounds, could contribute to the richness of the menu with ideas for new dishes.
CHOP is an LLC and the Genesis Center, a non-profit, is its only partner. It took many grants to get where they are today.
Now that the restaurant is open, Carroll is thrilled to see the project that has been five years in the planning come alive. But she is also cognizant that the restaurant has to make money. Paying customers are now needed to make it survive.
Its location can't be much better, across from Trinity Rep and near the AMP, Convention Center and college campuses.
KITE Architects and designer Kyla Coburn did the work to create CHOP. Coburn has created a decor with stacks of books and other published art among tables, lounge chairs and the bar seating. You will see products displayed that come from Asian markets and bodegas which remind diners that the Genesis Center students come from 40 different countries.
Though it was founded in the 1980s to serve Cambodian refugees, the immigrant waves change with the times. Currently, 42% of those served by the Center come from Haiti due to the civil unrest in that nation.
The Genesis Center is about supporting individuals who are making families committed to living and working in Rhode Island, said Carroll. Taking a family approach means offering English as a second language classes, child care and programs that allow people to get matching grants if they save money for a car or to launch a business.
Hours, menu and more
For now, the cafe is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for brunch and lunch. They will probably introduce dinner come September. They not only have the coffee bar, but a full liquor license and seats at a long bar.
But make no mistake, it is a professional restaurant led by chef Josh Riazi, Genesis Center culinary director, and headed by chefs Josh Davis and Nick DeCamp, and Susan Pequero who was a student and is now an instructor.
To open, the menu is focused on breakfast pastries and sandwiches including butter, chocolate and hazelnut croissants, and ham and cheese croissants. Avocado Toast and egg dishes including Shakshuka are on the brunch menu.
The pastry case has dessert treats including giant chocolate chip cookies and the cookie of the day.
Salads include a Caribbean Cobb with jerk chicken, mango, avocado, jicama, black beans and a hard-boiled egg.
Entrees and sandwiches include spicy Chicken Tikka, Bombay Eggplant Parm in a roasted red pepper curry, an open faced BBQ pulled pork sandwich with pickled onions, a similar BBQ Pulled Shiitake sandwich and the Cubano with roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, mustard and pickles. Most of the lunches come with a nice mixed green salad. A side option are the delicious roasted Garlic Confit Potatoes.
No dish costs more than $17 with most in the $14 range.
Riazi calls CHOP, an extension of the Genesis Center mission, a learning lab. He said there is a state-of-the-art kitchen but no hood or open flames due to the location of the kitchen. That challenge will only help inspire more creative thoughts for cooking, he said.
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Students won't be the only ones to benefit. CHOP was designed with cameras so they can do demos and classes for the public. CHOP is also available for special events and functions.
The result
If you believe the struggle to find staff is one of the biggest challenges facing restaurants, you have to support CHOP, said Riazi. The training will help them place experienced cooks, not just prep staff, in restaurants. The idea is no one will stay too long in the CHOP kitchen. Rather they will be in demand for their experience that goes beyond entry level.
"If they (apprentices) see how a restaurant operates, they make a higher leap to their next job," he said. "The goal is to send them out into the community."
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