Scenes From Camille's in Providence, a Chianti-Soaked Italian Restaurant | Bon Appétit

"Housed since 1914 in a former mansion on Federal Hill in Providence, this venerable restaurant is one of the city's oldest and most iconic institutions, known for a permanent menu that features gnocchi alla vodka and veal Parmesan. The dining room—windowless and decorated with mirrors and bright glass sculptures—pairs a long dark-wood bar (topped by a showy bust) and white leather booths with a lively lounge where an eight-piece band and dancing keep Friday nights bustling. Regulars and rites of passage abound: longtime guests come for birthdays, communions, anniversaries and weekly rituals, staffers like George Kilborn Jr. and maître d' John Conti preside over a familial front-of-house, and Cynthia Henley recalls breaking barriers as a longtime coat-check attendant. The kitchen and bar service lean classic and comforting (zuppa di cozze, shrimp cocktail, veal Parm and other traditional plates), and the place carries a patina of glamour and rumor—celebrity sightings, whispered mob connections and memories of private booths where deals were made—while having gradually relaxed its formerly formal dress code. Overall it reads as a neighborhood landmark that blends theatricality, nostalgia, steady service, and strong community ties." - ByMolly Birnbaum