kate bramson

My husband and I moved from northern Minnesota to Providence 22 years ago, returning to the East Coast on a Saturday with our cat and a great book that inspired us to drive downtown for dinner in our new city. We struggled to find parking, but we persevered. “We’d like a table for two, please,” we said when we arrived. “That will be three hours,” the hostess replied. We gasped: “Is it always this busy?” “Yes,” she replied: “Always.” What had we done?! No one had warned us this city’s well-known restaurant scene offered hours-long ordeals just to get a table.