July 11, 2002
AGORA
Agora is impressive, yet uninspired
By MERIDITH FORD
Journal Restaurant Critic

• See the menu.

PROVIDENCE -- Expectation has a lot to do with satisfaction. It's easy to expect too much and walk away disappointed.

I'm not sure what I was expecting from a dinner at Agora. This flagship restaurant for the Westin has garnered much praise -- when it first opened in 1996, it made Esquire magazine's top 25 best new restaurants list. With talented Casey Riley at the helm in Agora's kitchen, I applauded the restaurant in 1999 for his inventive approach to New England cuisine.

Then he left, early in 2000, to take over at Castle Hill Inn & Resort in Newport. Talented -- and young -- Derek Wagner managed to keep the flagship afloat for another year. Then, when Wagner left in the summer of 2001 to open his own place, Derek's on Broadway, Daniel Rios took over as chef de cuisine.

Sound confusing? It is. I'm exhausted thinking about all the clackety-clack of chef's clogs coming and going. And this kind of kitchen chaos can take its toll.

Perhaps so many changes in so little time are what has knocked this restaurant off the "It" list. Agora, once a destination restaurant for Providence, has some work to do to get itself back to its original splendor.

Rios, who previously was chef at a Westin in Colorado, has a great eye for presentation and is obviously talented -- his seafood offerings are well made and beautiful to look at. But many of the restaurant's selections, once an innovative mix of eclectic Americana, have fallen to generic level. The menu reads like one at a steak and seafood house -- lots of classics mixed with large cuts of meat.

(Rios said later in a phone interview that within a few weeks, he'll put in his summer menu, featuring seasonal greens.)

Agora boasts one of the prettiest dining rooms in Providence -- its cherry-colored woods blend well with ecru-colored ceilings -- with an inset of trompe l'oeil of sky and clouds that reflects a larger one in the hotel's lobby.

A rich, wooden floor-to-ceiling wine rack provides the perfect backdrop for an atrium-like space in the center of the dining room.

And the service remains friendly, formal and prompt most of the time -- although I admit that on two consecutive weekend visits, there were not very many people to wait on.

Talent for seafood

Starting with clams casino is a sure bet -- Rios offers a very nice rendition of a tired classic. The dish is fresh and lively, with large clams served in the shell over rock salt, drizzled with butter and a light, herbed breading dotted with salty bits of bacon.

Even better are the crab cakes. Here is where Rios's talents are allowed to shine: Two plump, meaty cakes chock full of feathery crab, pan seared to make a nice, crisp outer layer. They are stacked with the flavorful colors of an avocado-and-papaya salsa dotted with chopped tomatoes. Swirls of curly, deep-red raw beets off set the amber tones of the dish, giving it a fresh garden crunch as well.

The splendidly smooth texture of tuna sashimi layered with mouth-puckering pickled ginger and a dab of monkfish caviar with creme fraiche was exquisite -- elegantly served in a martini glass.

It's when Rios veers from seafood that he gets into trouble. Osso buco, finely arranged with caramelized celeriac (celery root) and bacon, was completely flavorless. A skillet roasted foie gras was pretty, plump and pink, but lacked flavor and was mealy textured. It was the truffle mashed potatoes, along with sauteed spinach and waffled potato crisps layered on top, that I relished. Raspberries and black berries were dotted around the plate with a deep-flavored Port reduction sauce.

Steak au poivre was nicely cooked but had no flavor other than that of the peppercorns -- and the flavor of this dish's classic brandy sauce had the aftertaste of something from the can, not the pan. Truffle mashed potatoes, a side dish, were loaded with rustic mushroom flavor and butter and the sauteed forest mushrooms proved a tasty accompaniment.

Large shrimp wrapped in prosciutto were a little too tough. They were pretty enough, though, placed around a musky saffron risotto and a smoky-flavored tomato salsa. A sweet, creamy saffron sauce came close to overpowering the nice subtleness of the dish's other flavors -- even the much-needed saltiness of the proscuitto.

A Chilean sea bass -- beautifully arrayed in a large bowl -- was a scrumptious piece of fish -- white, flaky, but not dry. Served over mashed potatoes swimming in a bright orange saffron sauce with sweet, plump green peas and sprigs of fresh asparagus, it was easily the best dish of the house.

Very good desserts

Rios, who was first trained as a pastry chef, acts as dessert chef as well, and the results are very good. Here, he has a knack for making things taste as good as they look. A sweet, soft-yet-crunchy peanut butter brittle was layered with smooth, richly flavored chocolate mousse. A scoop of mixed nuts in a creamy peanut butter concoction -- salty and sweet at the same time -- provided an added crunchy backdrop.

A fabulous rendition of bananas Foster, the New Orleans classic, was served cleverly in a square bowl -- slices of bananas placed down the sides swimming in brown sugar and butter sauce with creamy, rich vanilla ice cream.

The apple pie was a folded purse of buttery puff pastry filled with a sweet custard and layered with slices of tart apples in sugar and traces of cinnamon, served with vanilla ice cream and smooth caramel sauce.

Agora interprets American classics in clever ways and dishes are beautifully presented with a well-tuned flair.

But something is missing -- that certain indescribable spark that puts a restaurant's offerings into the winner's circle instead of placing with the also rans. Agora impresses, but is ultimately uninspired.

Agora, in the Westin Hotel, One West Exchange St., Providence. 598-8011. Casually upscale. Reservations accepted. Wheelchair accessible. Open Monday-Friday 6:30 a.m.-4 p.m. for breakfast and lunch; Monday-Thursday 5:30-9:30 p.m. for dinner; Friday 5:30-10 p.m. for dinner; Saturday 6:30-11 a.m. for breakfast, 5:30-10 p.m. for dinner; Sunday 6:30 a.m.-11 a.m. for breakfast, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. for brunch. Smoking at bar area only. Parking available in the hotel garage or through valet parking; both are free with a validated ticket for dinner only. V, MC, AM, DC, DIS. Highchairs available.

Appetizers and salads are $7 to $64 (for a "grande" version of the New England seafood sampler); entrees are $24 to $36. Desserts are $8. The wine list has a wide and impressive array of bottles, especially from California, from $30 to $310.