When old friends and business partners Phyllis Arffa and Christine Edmond sold their bistro-style Haven Hill Café in Cranston in 2002, it was only a matter of time before they would be back in business.
“There is a romance to having a restaurant,” Edmond said. “I missed it.”
The 11-table, 30-seat Haven Hill Café was “the starter house,” Arffa said. Next, said Edmond, they wanted to go on the East Side, “and we were willing to wait for the right spot.”
Two years ago, they opened Blaze East Side in a “cozy little corner spot” on Hope Street. It had a similar menu to Haven Hill’s and a funky, earthy, inviting feel, with a warm color scheme and mellow music.
Initially, the regulars who missed Haven Hill were Blaze East Side’s best customers, but soon, “the neighborhood embraced us,” Edmond said. “The customers say they feel like they’re at home.”
And the price was right. “You can eat lunch in here for under $10 and dinner for $20,” she said. Blaze also offers “2 For 1 Tuesdays” from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and a free appetizer with any entrée Monday through Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m.
The staff also has been a big part of Blaze’s success, they said.
“We’re like family,” Edmond said. And in fact, Edmond’s mother, Carol Edmond, manages Blaze East Side.
Blaze’s chef de cuisine, Ashirwad Elhence, has been with them since the Haven Hill days. Arffa was at a gas station one day when someone noticed her chef’s coat and asked if she worked in a restaurant that might need help. The person said his friend was attending Johnson & Wales University and looking for work. That friend was Elhence.
“I asked him, ‘Can you come in tomorrow?’ ” Arffa said. “He said, ‘I’ll be there,’ and he’s been there ever since.”
Both owners agree that personality is first when it comes to their staff.
“If you have the right personality, you can be trained on the job,” Arffa said. “We look for somebody who smiles easily. You have to be a people person and have that sixth sense to be able to feel the customer out. Do they want to talk or be left alone? Every customer is a little different, and we want to give them what they want.”
All are welcome, and there’s something for everyone – just don’t call Blaze a barbecue restaurant. They call it hand-crafted American fusion cuisine, inspired by Arffa’s experiences in New England, Florida, Arizona and California, and influenced by Louisiana Creole, Italian and South American cooking.
“Phyllis likes to get very creative with the menu items,” Edmond said.
Blaze’s signature dish is a black pepper beef tenderloin, served with roasted garlic smashed potatoes and fresh green beans. This dish – and everything on the menu – is made from scratch, using the freshest ingredients available.
“We don’t open anything frozen and fry it,” Arffa said. “I try to use native ingredients. I never know what I’m going to do until I’m at the store and see what’s fresh.”
Lately, Arffa has been working with escalar, which she describes as a cross between Chilean sea bass and swordfish. “The response has been phenomenal,” she said.
All desserts, such as the popular chocolate mousse banana split cake, are homemade as well. Arffa developed a love for pastries and desserts working at Café Nuovo. “We use Belgian chocolate and butter,” she said. Blaze also has a full bar and serves specialty martinis.
With the success of Blaze East Side, Arffa and Edmond hoped to open a second location, when a space became available on Thayer Street, they couldn’t pass it up.
“It was on our radar,” Edmond said. “We knew we wanted to grow. When the opportunity presented itself, we jumped on it.”
At 4,000 square feet, Blaze on Thayer is more than twice the size of the 1,700-square-foot Hope Street location. It can take reservations, and it will be the base of operations for all catering.
Blaze on Thayer also hosted a successful Mother’s Day brunch, featuring housemade granola, biscuits and gravy, bagels and smoked salmon, Jambalaya, and made-to-order Belgian waffle and omelet stations. Brunch will be a regular offering on weekends, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The partners are also having wine tastings at the Thayer Street restaurant – the next one slated for June 18.
“About 20 people came to our first wine tasting,” Arffa recalled, “and the second was standing room only.”
Company Profile: Blaze
Owners: Phyllis Arffa and
Christine Edmond
Type of Business: American fusion
cuisine restaurant
Location: 776 Hope St., and 272 Thayer St., Providence
Employees: 25
Year Founded: 2005
Annual Sales: WND
