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Heidi Sukle

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chefs & restaurantsnews

Oberlin set to open in Providence in December 2015 from Heidi and Benjamin Sukle, owners of birch

by David Dadekian October 27, 2015
written by David Dadekian

A Neighborhood Restaurant from the birch Team Set to Open in Downtown Providence.

Oberlin, a relaxed, neighborhood restaurant from the husband and wife team of birch, will open in December in the heart of downtown Providence.

Oberlin

The 49-seat restaurant is an ode to the strong relationships birch owners Heidi and Benjamin Sukle have forged with Rhode Island farmers and fishermen over the years. “We felt a genuine desire and obligation to create an outlet that would give us the means to utilize ALL of the product our friends and purveyors grow, raise and catch,” says Benjamin. This will mean an emphasis on simple, seasonal and local product meant to complement a short, curated list of small-batch, organic and natural beer and wine.

A MENU WITH FREE REIGN

Heidi and Benjamin’s first restaurant, birch, opened in 2013 to regional and national acclaim. The intimate 18-seat restaurant boasts an ever-changing menu of elevated cuisine that celebrates the best of the Rhode Island. The Sukles found, however, that there is so much more these farms and fishermen have to offer that birch’s menu simply did not have room for. Thus, Oberlin’s concept came about. “birch has a specifically focused cuisine, a shorter menu and a very curated list of produce,” says Benjamin, “whereas Oberlin will be a utilization and celebration of the whole farm and boat.”

To this end, Benjamin along with Chef de Cuisine Edward Davis have created a menu for Oberlin that will showcase a mix of smaller and larger plates of simply prepared local produce, a short selection of handmade pastas and feature a separate component for raw and cured seafood and shellfish. It will also be an ultimate companion to the beverage list, overseen by Heidi, Benjamin and General Manager Victoria Canel. “When we created the beverage list for birch, it opened up a whole new world to us,” says Heidi. “We were able to put the same energy into sourcing beer and wine as we do other aspects of the restaurant, which led to building relationships akin to the ones Benjamin and Edward have with local farmers and fishermen. Oberlin will give us a second, larger platform to showcase these importers and producers.”

A RESTAURANT THAT IS PERSONAL

Heidi and Benjamin named birch after their nostalgic fondness for birch beer growing up in Pennsylvania. Oberlin is a continuation of that personal connection, named after the town where Benjamin’s father grew up and where he still has family today. The same intimacy and hospitality found at birch will carry over into Oberlin. The team has been hard at work transforming the former Flan/Bodega Malasaña space in the Alice Building into another restaurant they would want to eat and drink at themselves.

“Oberlin will have a relaxed, comfortable vibe,” says Heidi. “Most importantly, we want everyone to see it as a welcoming place to eat and drink regularly.”

Oberlin will be open Thursday through Monday serving food from 4 pm until midnight, wine and beer until 1 am. No reservations. The restaurant is located at 186 Union Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02903. Visit Oberlin online at www.oberlinrestaurant.com, like on Facebook at facebook.com/oberlinprovidence and follow on Twitter and Instagram at @oberlin_pvd.

~~~

Contact: Benjamin Sukle, info@oberlinrestaurant.com 401.588.8755 www.oberlinrestaurant.com

October 27, 2015 0 comment
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chefs & restaurantsnews

Three Rhode Island Chefs and a Restaurant Named to 2014 James Beard Foundation Awards Semifinalists List

by David Dadekian February 19, 2014
written by David Dadekian
Best Chef Northeast semifinalist Benjamin Sukle of birch in Providence

Best Chef Northeast semifinalist Benjamin Sukle of birch in Providence

The 2014  James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards Semifinalists were announced today and a number of Rhode Island chefs and restaurants are included on this year’s list. The semifinalists, in two categories, for our area are:

Best Chef: Northeast:

  • Matt Jennings of Farmstead Inc.
  • Champe Speidel of Persimmon
  • Benjamin Sukle of birch

Outstanding Service: Persimmon

The Semifinalists will be narrowed down to a list of finalists on Tuesday, March 18 and then winners will be announced at the Awards Gala in New York City on May 5 at what is essentially the Oscars® ceremony of the food world. View the complete list of semifinalists here.

Eat Drink RI has thoughts from all the semifinalists below. Congratulations to all the Rhode Island semifinalists!

Matt Jennings, Chef/Co-Owner at Farmstead Inc. (Best Chef: Northeast): “Great list this year. [I’m] Perpetually honored and eternally grateful to chase my dreams. Very thankful to the Foundation for recognizing the amount of hard work my crew puts in everyday. Kate and I feel blessed.”

Lisa & Champe Speidel, Owners and Chef at Persimmon (Outstanding Service and Best Chef: Northeast): “It’s such an honor to be included and we’re grateful for the opportunity to do what we love—together. We work alongside such a dedicated and talented team, both front-of-house and back, so it’s really special to have both crews recognized. Congratulations to all the semifinalists and especially Ben and Matt from Rhode Island—we’re in great company, for sure.”

Benjamin Sukle, Chef/Co-Owner at birch  (Best Chef: Northeast): “I know it’s my name listed and I’m the food but my wife, Heidi, is the restaurant’s soul—without her, I/we would be nothing. Everyone who works their asses off day-to-day and those who were essential in our opening deserve just as much of this recognition: Ed Davis, Alec Herrera, Julianna Sukle, Ed & Linda Dagen, Joe & Louise Sukle, Derrick Teh, Victor Toj, Edgar Moreno, Tessa Calderon, Mike Birkenheier, James Pyecroft, Ian Single, Heena Song, Brian Eckert, Cristina Capriglione, Keith Corbett and to all of the stages who were willing to give us their time. And last but not least, Rhode Island. Rhode Island makes this possible. We’ll never take any of this for granted.”

February 19, 2014 0 comment
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chefs & restaurantsnews

birch Restaurant Review

by Adam Baffoni July 9, 2013
written by Adam Baffoni

birchThe past year has brought some great changes into Providence, including some of our best restaurants yet. Among these are new favorites such as north and The Grange. Luckily for us, the list doesn’t end there. Recently, two well-seasoned hospitality professionals, Heidi and Benjamin Sukle, have taken the initiative to fill the space formerly occupied by Tini (200 Washington Street) and open the newest addition to Providence’s upscale dining scene: birch.

Birch is a New England inspired restaurant, focusing on the beauty and natural bounty that comes from the region’s seasonal agriculture. With a menu based around the absolute freshest ingredients, carefully sourced from the very best farmers throughout the region, birch is raising the bar on what it means to eat local.

Upon walking into birch, we were greeted by Heidi Sukle, the co-owner and general manager, who had two seats waiting for our reservation. With only 20 seats to work with, efficiently booking reservations to maximize turn-over while keeping no customer waiting is a difficult feat, but Heidi seemed to have the perfect formula as every seat was filled within 10 minutes of the previous diners leaving.

The look and feel of the dining room is elegant and chic, with one exposed brick wall, and a painted wall which had beautiful pictures of the Rhode Island coast, taken by Chef Benjamin Sukle. They certainly did a good job of making the space their own, changing the décor from Tini’s silver-and-black to wood and soft lighting, which give the room a warm, gentle glow after the sun goes down.

The seating at birch is bar-only, which sounds strange for a high-end restaurant, but birch—with it’s list of well-thought-out and unique cocktails—is more of a half-bar-half-restaurant, and once you’re settled in, the bar seating is actually quite enjoyable. There is always a server right there when you need anything, and the seats are just far enough apart to allow for a somewhat intimate dining experience if you’re coming with a party of two. Due in part to the tiny room and limited seating, but mostly to the experience and skills of the waitstaff, the service throughout our time at birch was wonderful. The staff really knows the food, and can tell you what’s in almost every dish.

birch with Trinity Repertory Company theater across Washington Street

birch with Trinity Repertory Company theater across Washington Street

We made two visits to birch; one on the second day they were open, and one the next week. While the service was very nice on our first visit, there were, inevitably, some aspects that needed to be fine-tuned. On our second trip to birch, however, it was clear that throughout the opening weekend, the staff had pinpointed every tiny kink in the service experience and taken measures to perfect their techniques. The staff was very helpful when ordering, explaining each dish we asked about, and even offering suggestions based on their favorites and the kitchen staff’s favorites.

The kitchen at birch is headed by nationally acclaimed chef and Johnson & Wales University graduate Benjamin Sukle. Benjamin has been the chef at Providence’s The Dorrance and became well known for his beautiful, creative plating and fresh, seasonally inspired cooking style. The seasonings and cooking techniques that are used in this kitchen are completely and utterly unobtrusive to the natural flavors of each ingredient. Ben has spent a long time carefully sourcing these ingredients and treats them gently, making sure that the work put into sourcing them does not go unnoticed.

Among all of the food we ordered at birch, the first plate to come was the pierogies. They were served over a bed of summer onions, garnished with house-made potato chips and mustard flowers, and accompanied by a quenelle of a spicy mustard sauce. When it comes to me and the food at birch it was love at first sight, and in-love at first bite. The filling in the pierogies was velvety and smooth, which was a perfect contrast to the grainy texture of the Kenyon’s Cornmeal Hushpuppies, another of the appetizers we ordered. The hushpuppies were warm and comforting, with a sweet and tangy honey ranch sauce.

My favorite appetizer—and possibly my favorite dish that I ate at birch—was the Shaved Scallop. This was sweet scallops, which tasted like they had been plucked from the sea to order, dressed in a house-made mayonnaise, topped with sliced radishes, avocado, fennel, and toasted sesame. While normally, the idea of dressing beautiful fresh scallops with mayonnaise seems heavy and overpowering, this was no Miracle Whip. The house-made mayonnaise at birch is light and smooth—almost frothy—with gentle flavors of lemon juice and melted butter. The mayonnaise had just enough flavor to bring out the sweetness of the scallops, but not enough to overpower or hide the flavors of any other component. To me, this dish is the perfect example of Benjamin Sukle’s culinary style. He did the perfect thing with each of these ingredients: absolutely nothing. Every single ingredient that went into this plate was left alone and added it’s own flavor-idiosyncrasy to the dish. This was truly simplicity at its finest.

The main courses at birch seem to all be prepared with a similar formula: a very simply prepared, remarkably fresh protein, accompanied by an extremely creative side, usually focused around one specific vegetable, and a lack of starch—or very small starch—which can make the portions a bit small, but it’s a fair trade off for the amount of elegance and simplicity that really make these dishes. The Rhode Island Berkshire Pork is a perfect example, braised and served with an assortment of raw and charred cucumbers, and sofrito (an aromatic mixture of minced vegetables). The pork braise was just right; tender yet textural. All too often, braised pork can become mushy from being left to cook for too long, but this pork had a nice balance of textures.

Another delicious main course was the Pt. Judith Fluke, which was steamed in verbena. The fluke had a mild flavor, which paired well with the floral essence of the verbena. The almond sauce which was served with the fish was creamy, nutty, and slightly earthy, which acted as a nice contrast and added more substance to the small portion. The vegetable that accompanied the fluke was one of my favorites; carrots, prepared three ways. There was a quartered carrot that was charred until one side was black and the entire carrot was cooked through. This brought out a mild butternut squash-esque flavor from the carrot, which was also surrounded with sliced carrots, and dusted with carrot powder. This powder was one of the most creative ways I’ve ever seen a carrot prepared, made from the dehydrated pulp of juiced carrots. Another excellent main course was the Block Island Striped Bass. The bass was seared, and served with wilted escarole and lovage, as well as turnips and a slightly briny sauce made from fermented turnip juice.

We finished off the night with a decadent trio of chocolate puddings (milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and caramelized white chocolate) topped with crumbled oat crisp, and a sweet-and-sour rhubarb sorbet. This creative dessert was an excellent ending to an elegant and innovative meal. The team at birch have obviously put a lot of effort into creating a unique experience, certain to please the adventurous diner in all of us. If you’re looking for something different, then this new Providence food destination is a must.

July 9, 2013 0 comment
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chefs & restaurantsnews

birch in Providence Opens Thursday, June 20, 2013

by David Dadekian June 19, 2013
written by David Dadekian
birch with Trinity Repertory Company theater across Washington Street

birch with Trinity Repertory Company theater across Washington Street

birch, Heidi and Benjamin Sukle’s first restaurant venture, “serving modern American cuisine rooted in classical technique,” opens on Thursday, June 20th at 5 p.m. The Sukles kindly invited Eat Drink RI‘s David Dadekian to their pre-opening where he made a few exclusive first photographs of the 200 Washington Street space. Reservations are now being accepted online for this much anticipated new spot. birch will be open Thursday through Tuesday from 5 p.m. to midnight, closed on Wednesdays. The full birch press release can be found here. Congratulations to the Sukles on their beautiful new restaurant.

exterior of 200 Washington Street in Providence

exterior of 200 Washington Street in Providence

birch interior

birch interior

birch kitchen, Chef Benjamin Sukle in center

birch kitchen, Chef Benjamin Sukle in center

June 19, 2013 0 comment
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