Rue De L'Espoir : 99 Hope St., Providence, RI

First impression: Quaint tucked away between larger more austere buildings the Rue De L'Espoir offers a warm inviting glow. Window boxes appointed for the season, minimal but tasteful decorations and lights add to the ambiance. The white linen table clothes juxtaposed with the wide plank floors and the art deco neon around the back of the bar make it hip and vibey without being too pretentious.

We went on line to check out the menu before we went as well as the hours of operation. Since it was a big holiday week we even called to make sure they were open. Some of the items on the menu offered a more upscale twist on regular American fair. The American burger sported cheddar cheese and apple wood smoked bacon. The cheese board comes with fruit bread a fig chutney. Fish and chips are champagne battered and the slaw is carrot and fennel. Not what you'd get at your local fry joint.

The website gave times: Breakfast & Weekend Brunch Monday-Friday 7:30-11:00 AM Saturday & Sunday 8:30 AM - 2:30 PM. Lunch Monday-Friday 11:30 AM - 5:00 PM Dinner Friday and Saturday 5:00-10:30 PMSunday-Thursday 5:00-9:00 PM. It was 3pm so we checked out the lunch menu. We entered the main part of the restaurant expecting to be seated. Instead we were informed they were no longer serving lunch, we were too early for dinner and we were welcome to sit in the bar and order "late lunch". We never realized there was also an abbreviated menu called late lunch for those of us who would prefer dining after 2:30 PM but before 5:00PM. This meant the lobster and mushroom Madeira crepe, which had been the item we were eyeing, was not available. Though we were disappointed we were there and by three we were starving so we took the mini menu and ordered.

The baked onion soup was good. Nice piece of bread under a cap of melted cheese in a light broth with a few onions hanging out at the bottom of the dish. I wasn't over whelmed with it but it was nice and warm and the seat by the window was a bit chilly so it worked out.

For the main dish I chose Annie's gooey grilled cheese, which consisted of fresh mozzarella and manchego cheese grilled with red tomato and baby spinach on multigrain bread for $9.95 (sans the baby spinach). The destiny of my heart ordered the all American hamburger with melted cheddar cheese, apple wood smoked bacon, red vine-ripe tomato, and red leaf lettuce on a bulky brioche roll for $10.95. Being the typical American eaters we both opted for chips rather than cucumber salad on the side.

I was at first excited to see homemade potato chips. They were waffle cut and each little square pierced into them held onto a little glistening droplet of the cooking oil. That got to be a little too much after about the third chip. The grilled cheese was thick and hot. It tasted good but a word of warning, the tomato being mostly water is about ten times hotter than the cheese. The bread was nicely toasted and the cheese was very gooey and tasty. The tomato coupled with the whole grain bread made me feel a little better about the pound of daring dairy goodness I was consuming. The burger came to the table open for assembly. A spackling of ketchup, a ruffled green lettuce leaf and it was time for the big bite. My husband is as easy going as they come. He eats everything. My first attempt at mashed potatoes that doubled as wallpaper glue and my first every garden tomato sauce complete with skins and seeds. God bless him. This is the first time he's sent something back. The burger was beyond well done. The waitress apologized and had the kitchen make another one. Forty minutes later it came out on a new plate with fresh chips and lettuce but no ketchup on the side this time. He ate it. It was medium. The waitress apologized for the wait again. While the atmosphere and ambiance are nice and the menu, the full menu, is spectacular I would suggest showing up closer to traditional dinning times. I would give our initial experience at Rue De L'Espoir 3 out of a possible 5 stars. I think it may have been a bit of bad timing on our part and I am looking forward to trying again.