FiRE + iCE PROVIDENCE (restaurant review)

Review by Stefan Blitz

I’ve always been a fan of the restaurant Fire & Ice, a small chain with locations in Boston and Cambridge, Massacusetts; Lake Tahoe and Anaheim, California; and my hometown, Providence, RI.

The concept is pretty simple, a create-your-own meal menu that allows you to choose from a large number of vegetables and proteins, add rice and pasta and a sauce and have it cooked in front of you at a large open grill by the chefs on duty.  Included is an open salad bar (with three soup options) and unlimited return trips to the grill. 

The only limit is literally your imagination.

I’m serious.

The night I went recently, the proteins included hamburgers, turkey burgers, meatballs, hot dogs, several varieties of sausage, ribs, several varieties of beef, pork, chicken, turkey, as well as several fish selections (including tilapia, salmon, shrimp, scallops, clams and more).  Waitstaff take your order, bring you drinks (there’s also a pretty extensive cocktail menu) and regularly check in, but other than that, you’re on your own.

Last week, I had the opportunity to try the Providence location’s newest menu offering, Lava Rock Dining, which features your choice of six new volcanic themed entrées that you cook at your own table on a slab of volcanic rock heated to 600 degrees.

The choices were:

• Scallops Vesuvius

• Sesame Wasabi Ahi Tuna Oyama 

• Shrimp Takana 

• 16-ounce, bone-in, Dark Mountain Ribeye 

• Private Reserve Filet Mignon

• Surf & Turf (Filet Mignon and shrimp or scallops)

I sampled the Surf & Turf (my dining companion had the Shrimp Takana). It took a few minutes to cook through to medium rare (they provide tongs to turn the protein to ensure even cooking) and less for the shrimp. It arrived with garlic butter to season the entrée and two sides (I had a spicy cucumber salad and steak fries) and also a serving of rice.

And inherently, there’s the problem. The food was delicious, but frankly, when going out to dinner, I don’t necessarily want to do the cooking. The Lava Rock selections are the priciest items on the menu averaging $24.99 to $29.99, and it shouldn’t be my responsibility to make sure that my steak is cooked to my liking. Attempting to use the ice cold garlic butter was also a challenge.

The other problem is that the sides are brought to you with the protein, which means that they’re sitting there several minutes for the rest of your meal to cook. The timing’s a little off (and the rice that was unexpectedly delivered arrived ice cold, perhaps it’s intent was more decorative than for consumption).

The Lava menu also includes the full buffet (if you aren’t already stuffed to the gills) and there’s a fairly unimpressive ice cream bar which was an additional five dollars (which in my opinion, should be included especially since unlike the rest of the menu it only includes one trip).

The cooks were personable and fun and the waitress, although very sweet and attentive, kept attempting to upsell us several times.  The food was great and hopefully the kinks in the Lava Rock menu will get worked out, but overall it was a great experience and I recommend Fire + Ice enthusiastically.