08:20 PM EDT on Thursday, August 19, 2004

BY KATHERINE IMBRIE
Journal Staff Writer

Three Providence restaurants serve up breakfast in fine style: Downcity (the veteran of the three, on Weybosset Street downtown), Julian's (recently reopened following extensive renovations and livelier and funkier than ever), and Nicks, the newest kid on the busy Broadway block and already planning a move to larger quarters just down the street.

Nicks on Broadway

With seating for just 16 people inside, and room for only a few tables outside in good weather, Nicks is one of Providence's smallest restaurants, but it's the proving ground for the considerable culinary talents of its young chef/owner, Derek Wagner. (The name Nicks is a holdover from the spot's previous incarnation as a neighborhood diner.)

In the two and a half years since Wagner opened his updated version of Nick's, it has found a steady clientele of students and other locals who appreciate its unique combination of uptown flair and down-home friendliness.

This is a place where you can sit on a counter stool and watch as Wagner and his sous chef (Frenchman Daniel Rouvrais) whip up a weekend special such as lobster fritatta with smoked bacon, vine-ripe tomato, baby spinach and Brie cheese ($13.95), or turn out a grilled polenta with red onion and cheddar topped with poached eggs ($8.95).

Journal photo / Sandor Bodo Nicks on Broadway is one of Providence's smallest restaurants, but it's the proving ground for the considerable culinary talents of its young chef / owner Derek Wagner.

Fresh seafood -- scallops, halibut, and yellowfin tuna are favorites -- often finds its way into specials, but the regular menu is noteworthy as well. Breakfast sandwiches are made with prosciutto, provolone, fresh slices of tomato, basil leaves and egg between slices of Italian bread, gourmet English muffins, bagels, or in a French baguette ($4.75).

Nicks has no liquor license, so Mimosas and Bloody Marys are out, but Wagner makes up for it by offering fresh-squeezed juices and the terrific imported Illy coffee, including espresso-based drinks such as cappuccino.

A house-baked special granola is a great treat mixed with French vanilla yogurt and fresh fruit, topped with a sprig of fresh mint ($4.75).

Explaining his decision to open a small breakfast-and-lunch place rather than a full-scale restaurant, Wagner said that, having worked in dinner restaurants for years, "one of the few meals that I was able to go out for was breakfast, so when it came to opening my own place, I wanted to change the notion that breakfast was not taken seriously as a meal."

Nicks on Broadway, 259 Broadway, Providence. (401) 421-0286; www.nicksonbroadway.com. Breakfast Wed.-Sun. 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. except from 8 a.m. Sun. No smoking. Credit cards accepted: MC, V, DS, AX.

Breakfast entrees priced from around $5.50 to $14.

Wheelchair accessible; no high chairs. Street parking; no reservations except for Friday night dinner, 6 to 10 p.m.

Journal photo / Bill Murphy Kate Sparaco and Larry Sellers at Julian's in Providence.

Julian's

Just down the street and on the opposite side of Broadway from Nicks is Julian's, a restaurant of unusual quirkiness, even by Providence standards.

Its unique style derives directly from its owner/chef, Julian Forge, a self-taught chef and restaurant designer whose present course on the culinary side of life follows "a long and illustrious career in professional paintball."

After opening in what he describes as hit-or-miss fashion in 1996, Julian's began serving dinners and breakfasts for real a couple of years later, after its owner decided to leave the erratic road life of paintball behind and put himself seriously behind the restaurant that bears his name everywhere except its exterior, where the public might actually see it.

Instead, the restaurant is identifiable to passersby only by a subtle J inside a star. (Forge explains that, in his view, the modern world is flooded with too many signs, and he wanted "to prove that you could eliminate all signage and still stick out and attract customers.")

Following the Station fire in West Warwick, Julian's was closed for months while Forge met new state fire-safety regulations. Earlier this year he reopened, albeit without what he describes as "the world's greatest patio" for seating out back. (There are several attractive tables in front, on the Broadway sidewalk.)

The new kitchen is more open than it was before, but the rest of the restaurant has the same artsy funkiness that it used to have, with creatively decorated table-tops, Warhol-esque wall art, and a sign in the bathroom that reads not the expected "Employees must wash hands," but "Hygiene is keen."

You never know what you'll find for specials at Julian's. Recently, the blackboard listed Pistachio Goat Cheese French Toast with Strawberry Puree, and White Chocolate Pancakes with Strawberry Cardamom Cream.

From the regular menu -- if anything about Julian's can be called regular -- are a half-dozen hash combinations, a Forge signature dish, along with his bone-in thick slices of smoky Virginia ham. He takes credit for originating a blue cheese and spinach hash combo. Others include mushroom/bousin; sweet potato, broccoli and Swiss; and pork, black beans and pepperjack cheese ($3 or $4).

All are delicious and hearty meals in themselves. Topped with a couple of poached eggs, they will set you up for an entire day.

Julian's does have a liquor license, so you can pair your breakfast with a generously sized Mimosa or Bloody Mary.

Julian's, 318 Broadway, Providence. (401) 861-1770; www.juliansprovidence.com. Open for breakfast daily, Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sat. and Sun. 9 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. (Dinner served nightly, 5 to 11 p.m.)

Breakfast entrees priced from around $6 to $12.

No smoking, except outdoors. Credit cards accepted: MC, V, AX, DS. Street parking; no reservations. Wheelchair accessible. As for high chair availability, Forge says, "We might have a donated collapsible booster chair somewhere, but sometimes we can't find it."

Journal photo / Bill Murphy Down City Food & Cocktails in Providence.

Downcity

An all-around favorite for any meal of the day is Downcity, already a dozen years old and just getting better and better in a still otherwise fairly desolate section of Weybosset Street.

Owner Anthony Salemme calls his weekend morning meal a brunch, but to my mind it is a breakfast, too. For one thing, it starts earlier (9 a.m.) than "brunch" places do, and for another, you can get the full range of breakfast options -- plain cooked eggs, with home fries and coffee for $5.50 -- not just the more creative specials.

Benedicts at Downcity are among the best around, with smooth, fresh-tasting Hollandaise sauce covering intriguing combinations including crab or lobster cakes. Some are served on slightly sweet Portuguese bolos.

Some days, the buttermilk pancakes are ethereal; others, they are not -- but they are never less than okay by my high standard. You can get real maple syrup for a small extra charge.

Fresh fruit to top pancakes or waffles is excellent. In spring, you'll get real fresh strawberries, at other times, classic cooked combinations such as Bananas Foster.

A Breakfast Quesadilla ($8) is a hearty combination of scrambled eggs, grilled fresh vegetables, cheddar, salsa, and refried beans.

Fruit-filled muffins -- made on the premises -- are light as air yet dense with flavor, their spreading tops crusted with sugar.

Downcity has a liquor license, so you can get all the brunch drink classics, but the one thing I do miss there is a good cup of coffee. I find the house brew below par.

Downcity, 151 Weybosset St., Providence. (401) 331-9217; www.downcityfood.com. Saturday and Sunday breakfast, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Also open for lunch Mon.-Fri. and for dinner Tue.-Sun.)

Breakfast entrees priced from around $5.50 to $9.50.

Smoking permitted at the bar. Wheelchair accessible; booster seats. Street parking; reservations for large parties only. Credit cards: AX, V, DS, MC.