CHOP – Great Food, Community, and Training All in One Innovative Space

CHOP (Culinary Hub of Providence) is now open for dinner. Located at the corner of Washington and Empire Streets inside the Providence Public Library, CHOP offers visitors a delicious, mission-driven dining experience in a stylish, welcoming space. High, open ceilings and dark gray concrete flooring are given warm, cozy touches like artfully arranged stacks of books next to patterned, comfy cushions atop leather seating. Roomy rustic wood tables offer plenty of room to hold tasty orders from the kitchen.

CHOP is the latest venture from the Genesis Center, a non-profit that has been providing education and job skills training to people of diverse cultures for over 40 years. “CHOP was a natural progression for Genesis Center’s Culinary Arts job training program,” says Shannon Carroll, Genesis Center President and Chief Executive Officer. Culinary Arts was Genesis Center’s first job training program and has been around for about three decades. Carroll said that the program teaches everything from proper knife cutting techniques, to kitchen safety and sanitation.  They even provide ServSafe training which allows trainees to work in any restaurant or manage their own kitchen.

Trainees from the Culinary Arts program go through an apprenticeship at CHOP and receive paid, on-the-job training. “It’s a learn and earn model,” says Carroll. They receive robust and well-rounded restaurant experience spanning the front and back of house. Carroll noted a woman currently working in the kitchen who a few months ago had never had any front of house experience. Despite this, she learned to be successful in the role and is now a complete natural, even mentoring new trainees. “She could probably run her own restaurant right now if she wanted to,” smiles Carroll.

At the ordering counter at lunchtime, tempting stacks of hefty chocolate chip cookies stood out in the pastry case. When a woman at the front of the line ordered two full boxes of them, leaving only a few, I knew I had to order one. It was one of the best cookies I have ever had (my husband enthusiastically agreed). It achieved the ever elusive goal of a perfectly textured cookie – a little soft in the middle, slightly chewy, with a delicate crisp outer shell that crackles when you bite into it. In addition to semisweet chocolate chips on the inside, it was also generously crowned with them, which nicely complemented the caramelized, vanilla-y, butteriness of the dough.

We also ordered a smoked salmon toast and the special, which was a tuna poke tostada. The tuna poke tostada was bewitchingly scrumptious. Large chunks of raw ahi tuna were seasoned in a savory, slightly spicy marinade that paired with a thin, crunchy tostada crisp. The smoked salmon toast was slathered with an everything bagel cream cheese, elevated with toppings of pickled onions, roasted tomatoes, capers, and freshly dressed greens on the side.

If there is a misconception that food produced from a training program or a non-profit may not be as refined as a typical restaurant, CHOP certainly dispels that. The food is as good as any notable dining establishment anywhere else in the city.

When talking about the food, Chef Joshua Riazi, CHOP’s Chief Operating Officer, shared that one of the biggest sources of inspiration for the food is the students, themselves. “We want to allow our students to showcase their cultural identity through food,” says Riazi. He noted that CHOP seeks to balance familiar dishes and diverse flavors, such as the Cobb salad with Jamaican jerk chicken.

In a tough industry where restaurants come and go and face many headwinds, Riazi is confident CHOP has what it takes to succeed. “Our concept is offering a really great restaurant that people will want to come to for the food, cocktails, and service,” says Riazi. He also describes CHOP’s value proposition is what helps it stand out and give it staying power. “We’re hoping to create a culinary hub that is a service to the city and the people that live here,” says Riazi. As an example, one of CHOP’s goals is to work with restauranteurs looking for high-quality employees by matching them with CHOP’s own apprentices.

CHOP Trainees Photo courtesy of Genesis Center

Riazi’s desire is for CHOP to become an integral community space in the city by offering a chef demo bar for public workshops and using the restaurant as a place to host events. He shared plans for their robust wine and cocktail service that will source distinctive selections that have a compelling story. Even with so many ideas and developments in the pike, Riazi is barely scratching the surface of what his team at CHOP will bring to Providence. On my way out after finishing lunch, he hinted that he may build off the popularity of their chocolate chip cookies by adding some more types of cookies to the pastry case.

CHOP is located on 211 Washington Street in Providence. Their hours are currently 9am – 4pm Monday through Friday, and 5-8pm Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. They are hoping to add Saturday dinner service within the next couple months. Check the website and Instagram for the most updated hours and menu.

 

Amber Ma lives on the west end of Providence with her husband and two cats. She loves gardening, shopping at farmers markets, and cooking with local and homegrown ingredients. She is also passionate about transit, sustainability, and pollinators. She is a volunteer at the Community Cat Center in Johnston. She and her husband went car-free in 2022 and are always exploring new restaurants in the city by foot, bike, or bus.