CAV Restaurant – Providence, Rhode Island 

If you’re planning a trip to Providence and looking for a truly unique dining experience, consider booking your dinner reservations at CAV.

Are you ready for some place really special?

In a sea of sameness, every once in a while you will happen upon a truly unique restaurant. A restaurant that from the very first moment you enter it, will be unlike any other you’ve ever been in. There is an eclectic array of art, furnishings, wall hangings and chandeliers that will bring instant warmth to your soul. It is as though, if only for a moment, you step into world of fantasy. A world that is CAV.

You almost feel like you are having dinner in a museum, or an art gallery. It’s really something you need to experience to fully appreciate.

About CAV and it’s owner…

It was in 1989 that CAV first opened it’s doors on Imperial Street in Providence, Rhode Island in the heart of Rhode Island’s jewelry district. This restaurant was the brainchild of the late Sylvia Moubayed. Sylvia was an avid world traveler and collected many antiques and artifacts from her journeys. There is even a bar dates back to the late eighteen hundreds form a place called Pete’s Tavern in New York City. So many of her antiques are displayed in the restaurant today. 

Recently, I met a woman who recanted a wonderful story of one of Sylvia’s trips. A doctor she knew was celebrating a birthday while on Safari with Sylvia. As a result of her culinary prowess, Sylvia crafted a makeshift oven in the dirt and baked him a chocolate cake! That’s right, in the dirt! Who does that? Sylvia was beaming when we spoke about this at her restaurant. She told me that she baked daily bread this way. 

And now, a little bit about the cuisine…

Fresh out of the oven, warmed bread would start the evening’s meal. There’s something to be said for warm bread with house whipped butter. Additionally, it has been my experience that if the bread is good, the meal will be good. 

At my server’s suggestion, my second course this evening, the Crostini. This is a mix of wild mushrooms Sautéed in wine with fresh herbs and plum tomatoes. This was such a wonderful dish.

Wanting to try something different for a main course, I had the seared rainbow trout drizzled with ginger pear glace served with Himalayan red rice and glazed baby carrots. It’s not often I find trout on the menu at other restaurants. I don’t believe I’ve seen red rice at another restaurant either. This dish was light and delicious! 

So in my usual fashion, I finished with a frothy cappuccino. 

In conclusion, I’ve been here numerous times and have had many of the menu offerings from the coconut shrimp, lobster bisque, bruschetta, duck confit and seared duck breast to the seared north Atlantic salmon and filet. The cuisine and service have always been good. It’s one of my go-to restaurants whenever i’m in the providence, Rhode Island area.