Talented Local Chefs Turn Former Union Station into a Hot New Food Destination

It’s the calm before the storm on a quiet Saturday morning at Track 15 in downtown Providence. I’m standing in the brand-new kitchen of Tolia, where husband-and-wife team Alp Gumuscu and Tarci-Lee Galarza serve up Middle Eastern food inspired by the bold flavors of ancient Anatolia.

“There were three different empires located in that region with trade routes going through from Europe to China, so it’s very diverse,” Alp explains. “Layer by layer, all these cultures were mixing. There are some recipes we are still using from, like, 3,000 years ago.”

A vertical spit, stacked high with layers of lamb and Angus top-round beef, slowly rotates on the back wall of the kitchen. The meat—to be sliced up and served with sumac onions, toum (Lebanese garlic sauce) and pickles on lavash bread—begins to sizzle and drip.

“It’s seasoned with onion, salt and white pepper,” says Alp. “It marinates for two days. The onion juice really helps to tenderize the meat.” He’s leaning over a metal prep table while Tarci fills and labels deli containers with a fresh batch of ezme, a spicy roasted tomato salad made with onions, parsley, peppers and olive oil.

“This goes with our lamb shish,” she says, adding that Tolia sources its lamb from “Farmer Don” of Hopkins Southdowns farm in North Scituate. “It’s always good to have a lamb guy.”

Tolia is one of seven restaurants at the new food hall that is a showcase of culinary success around Rhode Island. Little Chaska, Delores, Dune Brothers, Giusto, Mother Pizzeria and There, There are all well-established with popular sister restaurants from Providence to Newport. For Alp and Tarci, who both have long culinary resumes in Rhode Island and around the world, this is their first brick-and-mortar.

“We’re kind of the new kids on the block,” says Tarci.

Other restaurants have been on board Track 15 since the first murmurings of it in 2020. “We were involved from the early days,” says Monica Gillespie, who owns and operates three locations of Dune Brothers with her husband, Nicholas Gillespie. While the menu at Track 15 is a little more standardized than at their Ives Street shop, which offers daily specials depending on availability, Dune Brothers’ “pier-to-plate” approach is still at the heart of the operation.

“We’re doing a whole roasted fish, like scup, bone-in fluke. That’s been doing surprisingly well at Track 15,” says Monica. “We have the raw bar, and our best seller is probably the OG fish sandwich. That’s the one that catches people’s attention when they see it passing by.”

Representatives from the development company behind Track 15 were tight-lipped about what other vendors would be involved in the food hall until only a few months before opening.

“Then the big reveal happened and it was, like, ‘Oh, that’s awesome; these people are all super solid,’” says Monica. “A camaraderie really developed in the months leading up to it. It’s always a good vibe.”

Some restaurant owners have more at stake at the new food hall than others. Chef Kevin O’Donnell owns and operates Giusto with his brother Brian, while also helming Mother Pizzeria along with Lauren Schaefer and Kyle Stamps. Both have locations in Newport.

“It’s been a wild ride,” says Kevin. “The timing worked out well for us. We were able to work out some kinks in Newport and get the pizza [at Mother] to a really great place that we’re proud of.”

Kevin echoed sentiments of camaraderie at the new food hall. “Some people were already good friends; other people we just knew,” he says. “You know, the restaurant community here in Rhode Island is pretty tight.”

DINNERTIME

It’s the following night and I’ve just received a text message: “Your order at Track 15—Giusto—is now ready.”

After picking up an enticing plate of gnocchi with asparagus, black truffle and parmesan from Giusto, I make a triumphant return to the table where my wife, her brother and family await. Everyone has their selections and it’s a hell of a spread: Jonah crab claws from Dune Brothers; a near-flawless cheeseburger from There, There; a variety of tacos from Dolores; shish tavuk, a spiced chicken dish from Tolia; a flakey kathi roll from Little Chaska; fried ricotta from Guisto, and a simple but well-executed cheese pizza from Mother.

I was worried dinner would be disjointed, and we’d all be passing ships, but the text-message system provides a certain freedom and the steady flow of new dishes arriving at the table was a thrill ride.

Everything was for the table and I was happy to have reinforcements to help sample the offerings.

“There’s so many flavors happening on this table right now,” my brother-in-law said during the festivities.

The open-kitchen concept makes for an entertaining experience while you walk around Track 15 and peruse the options. It’s common to see Chef Maria Meza making fresh tortillas at Delores, or There, There owner Brandon Teachout overseeing an assembly line of burgers and chicken sandwiches. Shuckers at Dune Brothers display their skills while pizzas are expertly slid into an impressive bronze Marra Forni oven on the other side of the hall at Mother.

“It’s a little chaotic in there, but they don’t seem to lose anything in terms of the quality of the food,” my wife said later that evening.

A SATISFYING BITE

Back in the kitchen at Tolia, everything is in motion. Aromas from the spit-roasted lamb and beef fill the air, while line cook Samuel Harwood begins to slap dough onto a rotating pita oven. The dough is hit with heat as it spins and puffs into a ball before being pulled off.

“We do the bread every morning,” says Tarci. “It’s the base of everything we do here.”

Employees continue to arrive while all seven restaurants are in full prep mode. There’s a buzz in the air as another busy Saturday approaches.

Before leaving, Alp and Tarci give me a sample of their mucver, a football-shaped fritter filled with grated zucchini, labneh, feta, parsley and dill. Served with garlic yogurt and herb oil, it was crisp yet gooey, light, but satisfying.

“It’s a feelings dish,” says Tarci. “We want it to be a transportive bite where you’re just feeling and identifying the smells and the taste and the texture and everything is on point.”

Eric C. Voorhis is a Providence-based journalist who likes to find himself in the middle of stories about food, arts and culture. A native of Long Island, he’s now on a mission to find the best food in New England and hang out with the people who make it.