Lot 401 in Providence is a new club and restaurantwith a Chinese flair

10:57 AM EDT on Wednesday, May 12, 2004

BY GAIL CIAMPA
Journal Food Editor

Journal photo / Kathy Borchers Wall-sized LED light panels continuously change color at the Lot 401 bar. Technology inspires the hip styling, and the ancient cultures of Asia inspire the food.

Lights, food, action!

Providence's newest restaurant and club, Lot 401, manages to stimulate several senses at one time. With groundbreaking design technology, it pairs hip surroundings with amazing food.

The restaurant, at 44 Hospital St., with nightclub upstairs, is in the city's jewelry district, right across from the Providence Children's Museum. The name comes from the fact that the land was designated as lot 44 on a subdivision plan. But since the number 44 is unlucky according to Chinese folklore, the owners, Po Chiu and Henry Mu, both of Chinese-American ancestry, didn't want to tempt fate. So they substituted Rhode Island's area code, 401, for the lot number and they had their restaurant's name.

Po, 30, has the local connection. He grew up in North Providence, has business degrees from both Bryant College and the University of Connecticut. He successfully opened Epiphany, a restaurant and lounge in Boston a year ago.

Mu, 31, hails from Massachusetts. He thrives on starting up businesses and handled the nightclub part of Lot 401. The two met through mutual friends.

What they've put together is a restaurant and club on two levels with state-of-the-art design. The walls on both levels feature LED panels that change color all day long, from purple to blue to green to pink to yellow to red. They are most dramatic once the sun goes down. The floors are resin and reflect the light up.

Opening a place like Lot 401 in his home state was a dream for Chiu.

"It's always right to do something special in your hometown," he said.

The LED light show is a mark at being different, but so, too, is the menu.

"We wanted to offer a dining experience, not just the opportunity to get full on something," Chiu said.

While Po and Mu did the design, they entrusted chef Rachel Klein-Gates, most recently of XO Cafe, to create a menu to match their vision. She has stretched her repertoire to create an Asian inspired line-up for both lunch and dinner. She spent months researching authentic Chinese cuisine to create dishes that blend flavors, textures and design in a dramatic way.

Once she wrote the menu, she tweaked it, and then tweaked it again.

There are Asian fusion dishes such as kabocha firecrackers, pumpkin filled raviolis shaped long and thin, as their name implies, in a pecorino and brown butter sauce. She also offers Asian braised pork, a dish of flavorful pork bellies served in a in a sweet sauce with star anise and contrasted with a hot Chinese mustard.

There are largely contemporary American dishes as well. Diver scallops delight in a cauliflower puree. Sashimi-grade yellow-fin tuna is served with a sauce of tapioca pearls. Black Pearl salmon (farm-raised organic) is served on a bundle of cabbage.

"Steak and Eggs" is Klein-Gates' interpretation of filet mignon with truffle fried egg, paired with asparagus, potato puree and bordelaise sauce.

Other menu highlights include a de-constructed goat cheese salad appetizer that is a thing of beauty, as the plate not only features the cheese but marinated bell peppers, cucumber, fingerling potatoes, beets and grape tomatoes. A chicken curry soup bursts with layers of flavor. She also has a seasonal heirloom tomato salad.

For lunch, there are wraps. Like many things on the menu, these are inspired by a Chinese dish -- moo shu -- only updated into cone-shaped delights. A winner is one with crispy pork, greens and hot Chinese mustard. There are also noodle bowls, including one with udon noodles, ginger and beef.

Klein-Gates' dishes are served on the first floor in the restaurant and bar. There are about 35 seats at tables, most at the full-length glass door and window combinations, which open up in warm weather.

A wall of clear glass separates the bar from the dining area. It hangs beyond the banquette seating for larger parties.

The bar is black and contrasts with all the white in the room. There are about a dozen seats at the bar. At the bar, a television image is projected on white space between the rows of artfully arranged bottles. It was tuned to the the Food Network one night, the History Channel another day.

Upstairs in the lounge, everything is minimalist, sleek and modern. The club is almost stark by the light of day. Even though it has just opened, is crowded with lots of warm bodies late into the night. There is music, jazz or even Cuban jazz.

"We want people to relax and keep it loungy," said Mu.

Downstairs they will keep it current. The menu will change seasonally.

Twenty-one wines are available by the glass, and the wine list includes more than 90 bottles. There's a five-course tasting menu available for $68. Entrees are in the $20 to $32 range.

The pastry chef is Clarissa Palmer. Her amazing menu includes a trio of creme brulee, almond, ginger and vanilla; and a tasting of strawberries with a strawberry and rhubarb cheesecake, strawberry tartar and strawberry and cream trifle. She also does a sorbet and seasonal fruit of the day, but not just any fruit. Think mango and papayas.

All this makes Lot 401 a place where attitude, style and fab food intersect.

Details: Lot 401, 44 Hospital St., Providence, (401) 490-3980.