| Three Rivers | 401.289.2067 | 267 Water St, Warren | Wed-Sat, 7 am-2 pm, | Breakfast/Lunch; Sun, 7 am-2 pm, Breakfast only | Major credit cards | Beer + wine | Sidewalk-level accessible |
We’d been hearing about the Three Rivers café since it first opened three years ago, primarily because of the cachet of having Phoebe Dunn’s pies served there. Dunn owned the dear, departed Phoebe’s, in Seekonk, for 20 years, and fortunately for Rhode Islanders, her son Eli paid close attention as a kid to her super-special way with seafood and with desserts.
He’s now heading up the kitchen at Three Rivers, after apprenticeships out West and at Julian’s, in Providence. Alas, Phoebe no longer supplies him with pies, but the loss can be overlooked in light of Eli’s inventive menu, with its panoply of wonderful choices.
Kudos must also go to landlord Paul Bullock, long-time Warren restaurateur, for refurbishing what had been a screened-in porch on the back of his own popular Tav-Vino Restau-rant. That space is now Three Rivers, with cottage-style windows on two sides, skylights up above and a glorious view of boats on the Warren River from any table.
If you’d like to be even closer to the water, you can choose one of the eight outside tables, weather permitting, that are under a large, permanent canopy. Or you can even arrive by boat and tie up at the restaurant’s dock to indulge in a leisurely Sunday brunch.
We cruised over to Warren in our ole reliable Camry, but the effect was similar: we were damp from the rain and eager to nestle into this warm and welcoming café. It was bustling but not boisterous — such a change from other eateries that feel compelled to crank up the music and boost the overall sound level. Here, what we heard were the clatter of dishes and utensils from the open kitchen just a few steps away and an occasional call for a waitress to pick up an order.
The first problem with the menu is that there are so many great options, from both the regular menu and the daily specials. The other issue, of course, is that if you arrive to-ward the end of Three Rivers’ day, you’re apt to find that some items are sold out. The whole wheat pumpkin pancakes with spiced native apples, and the huevos rancheros on two locally made blue corn tortillas, were two such dishes on our visit. Also while we were there, the Ducktrap River smoked salmon Benedict ran out.
Those descriptions point to one of Eli Dunn’s priorities: using local ingredients whenever possible: the salmon is from Maine; the apples and peaches come from Rhode Island orchards; the sausage from A.J. Martin, in Warwick. All of the bread at Three Rivers (including the walnut and fig babka) is from Bristol Bakery. The turkey is house-roasted; the strawberry-rhubarb jam is made in-house; the veggies are local, when in season; the granola is Dunn’s own homemade.
The fillings for three-egg, folded omelets are more than two dozen items, including eight cheeses and six meats. “House-pan” omelets, not folded, are offered with grilled veggies and goat cheese on top, or chouriço, potatoes, and cheddar. The spinach, pesto, and scrambled-egg-stuffed portabella is a customer favorite, as are the corn and black bean fritters ($9.95), which Bill settled on, with a side of sausage ($2.95).
I picked from the specials menu — cod cakes with poached eggs and Hollandaise ($14.95) — but later discovered that they are a “special” every Sunday. Lucky me! The cod cakes had a slight sweetness — from the fish itself, and the bit of mayo and Ritz cracker crumbs in the batter.
Their crustiness was like a good croquette; their chunkiness like the best crab cakes. The eggs were poached perfectly, the Hollandaise just the right thickness to stay put atop the slippery eggs. The home fries, from red bliss potatoes, were plentiful and neither scorched nor underdone, as happens in so many breakfast spots.
The corn-and-bean fritters, more like patties actually, were tasty with plenty of cumin. The scrambled eggs with cheddar were nice and fluffy, the slices of avocado generous (to this snitcher’s benefit), the home-made salsa a nice complement to everything else on the plate. The home-made jam made a nice dessert on our wheat and oatmeal toast.
I saw a giant arugula salad leave the kitchen, with honey-roasted walnuts, Great Hill blue cheese, native peaches and red onion. I’m sure some latecomers may have chosen one of the sandwiches — turkey with apple sausage stuffing and cranberry/onion jam, or grilled chicken with roasted peppers, pesto and provolone.
If this review seems like an overly detailed listing of Three Rivers’ menu, it’s because everything is so darned appealing. Did I mention the cheddar grits? The Sunday mimosas? The homemade hash? Do I need to move closer to Warren? Do you?
Johnette Rodriguez can be reached at johnette.rodriguez@cox.net.
