In a former hole-in-the-wall joint just over the Providence border in Pawtucket, a Cape Verdean-inspired tapas bar called Ten Rocks is quietly flipping a lot of scripts. It’s a bit more upscale than what its neighborhood was used to, for one, after transforming a dingy nook into something brighter and finer. Second, it’s mainstreaming Cape Verdean culture in a place that still bears its very blue collar, very blue-plate-special roots. And, last but not least, it’s garnered the first endorsement of a flavored martini that this column has ever put on record. Let’s pause while that sinks in.
Some background: Most cocktail enthusiasts and, ahem, booze columnists wince at “martinis” that bedazzle the drink’s classic formula of gin or vodka, vermouth and bitters. (See for reference: Chocolate-tini) The proper reaction is almost always a shudder – and yet, somehow, Ten Rocks serves up a tamarind rum-based version that totally charms. Named for Brava, one of the ten Cape Verdean Islands where tamarind grows wild, the cocktail is a heady mix of sweet, sour and a little sticky. Ginger and lemon keep it this side of treacly, and the homage to home is hard to resist. Even hardened-liver, hard-nosed critics can be swayed, it seems.
Brava
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