Step to the Beet

A Savory Sour

Your thirsts, both culinary and aesthetic, will be quenched at The Slow Rhode, a gastropub on Providence’s West End. The restaurant is a gustatory collaboration between chef Pat Lowney of Broadway Bistro and local designer James Dean, a technical instructor in the Architecture department at RISD.

The result is a cool, comfortable atmosphere that inspires conversation and rolled up sleeves. The menu inspires cravings days after the fact: from the no-nonsense burger (lettuce, cheddar, sweet onion) to the cocktail list to seven venerable riffs on classic cocktails. The champion of the bar menu is an autumnal, earthy spin on a gin sour with fresh beet juice and a spiced sugar rim.

Bartender Emily Costa designates Caledonia Spirits Barr Hill Gin as the base of the cocktail, an artful spirit distilled in Vermont by beekeepers who nurture a philosophy that happy pollinators produce healthy crops, culminating in better distilled spirits. In The Beat, fresh lemon juice brightens the honeyed contours of Cocchi Americano vermouth and botanical gin, all which provide a gentle cradle for the fresh beet juice. The taste of the Five-Spice-sugared rim on the glass underscores the autumnal associations with white pepper, star anise, fennel, cinnamon and clove.