Food News

Life is Like a Bucket of Fried Chicken

Bucktown fries up poultry perfection on the West Side

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If there’s one thing Providence needs more of it’s Southern-inspired restaurants. With a few peppered throughout the city limits, it’s refreshing to see new ones pop up, like Bucktown on the West Side.

Bucktown is the brainchild of owner Adam Mir along with Southern recipes from Chef Ashley Faulkner, also a partner at Bucktown. “The Southern influence comes from her,” explains Adam. “Many of our recipes are versions of her mother’s and grandmother’s cooking.” Take the fried chicken for instance, there’s no batter for it, but it gets a heavy spice rub and is then brined overnight. Afterwards, they dredge it in flour and cook the pieces to order.

But why choose the West Side to set up shop? “We love the West Side and thought Bucktown would fit in well with the existing scene,” says Adam. “It’s great to be in a space and community with such a rich history. It’s a beautiful neighborhood, but what really makes it exciting for us is the mix of people that live and work here.” 

And where does a name like Bucktown come from? Well, Adam visited Bucktown, Louisiana last year. It’s a small shrimping village with a few seafood markets and restaurants. Also, Adam just thinks it’s fun to say “Bucktown,” and who are we to argue? To him the name sound casual and rustic, and he hopes that folks will have the same association.

In addition to fried chicken, there’s also fried fish on the menu. The chefs use a lot of local and underutilized fish like fluke, skate, hake, cusk, king whiting and monkfish. They love porgies (scup) and will be introducing that very soon. A lot of these come from Point Judith as well as from other New England ports. Also look forward to shrimp or oyster Po’ Boys, burgers, fried green tomatoes and hush puppies, to name a few.

No meal would be complete without dessert, and currently Dee’s Banana Pudding is their go-to suggestion. “The Banana Pudding is a very traditional recipe,” says Adam. “We do fold in some whipped cream to lighten the mixture. Dee is our friend Danielle who showed us this version. It’s likely that we’ll add more sweets over time, perhaps a cobbler.”

Another special touch at Bucktown is their whimsically designed menu, complete with illustrations of each item. Desgined by Corkboard Creative Agency, the menu descriptions are very simple and bring life to what would be a standard menu. “They also serve as a reminder to not take ourselves too seriously,” says Adam. 

Bucktown

471 West Fountain Street, Providence

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