Yesterdays Review: October 20, 2006
Gastropubs are, supposedly, one of the newest and hottest trends in the American restaurant industry.
Defined as “a pub that serves high-quality food,” these were traditional pubs and bars in Ireland and England that were influenced by the food served in French bistros. They kept the traditional look and feel of their bars, but upscaled the food to creative new levels, while retaining reasonable prices. They also tend to be small and always busy.
So lo and behold, what are we doing in a modern-day phenomenon in little ol’ Warwick? We’re sitting at a table in the tiny dining room of Yesterday’s, a gastropub that probably doesn’t know it’s a gastropub. At least not yet.
The exterior can’t be missed. Beautiful wooden windows with etched glass are most attractive. Inside, the room couldn’t be more comfortable. The room is divided evenly down the middle by a wooden partition finished with stained-glass panels. The bar’s to the left, the dining room’s to the right. Overhead fans spin lazily while two TVs at the bar keep us caught up on the baseball playoffs.
Every inch of the wall, and most of the red tin ceiling, seem to be hung with pictures or some other knickknack. There are model airplanes, mirrors, bicycle pumps, tons of both old pictures and photos of customers. Paneled wooden walls, mirrors and beautiful glass light fixtures give the room a sense of history and warmth that can’t be forged. This place is the real deal, an old-school bar here more than 20 years, and it looks like it.
The regular menu is a disgrace. Torn and matted, it’s barely readable. It features old standards like fish and chips, burgers and sandwiches, but is in dismal shape. Management should remedy this problem as soon as possible.
But the second menu, what the waitress tells us is the “specials menu,” is most interesting and where the kitchen’s prowess and ambitions lie. A lengthy list of both appetizers and entrees, it is a creative and interesting mix of traditional and modern dishes.
Take our first appetizer, Crab and Shrimp Cakes With Dill Mustard Sauce ($7.95). Two chunky cakes arrive on a tiny plate covered in a creamy white sauce. The crab is bountiful, not mostly bread crumbs like others of this species, and there are big, juicy chunks of shrimp mixed in. The sauce is fairly mild and lets the shellfish take center stage. These are some of the best crab cakes I’ve had in years.
The second appetizer is a new age version of a traditional Italian dish. Eggplant Roulade ($6.95) features thin slices of eggplant barely marked on the grill and rolled with prosciutto and mozzarella. Served on a bed of fresh and crisp arugula with a balsamic vinaigrette, it forms a lovely coupling of flavors and textures.
House salads are served in small wooden bowls and are notable for the freshness of the romaine, carrots, cucumber and ripe, yes ripe, tomato. The dressings, creamy garlic and blue cheese for my guest, are homemade and taste it.
Entrees are also impressive. My guest tries the Rib Eye Steak With Mozzarella and Red Pepper ($19.95). The steak, a nice thick cut, arrives smothered in a coating of creamy white cheese and is criss-crossed with long strips of red pepper. The steak is perfectly cooked, tender and meaty, and could very well stand on its own. In fact, the cheese and pepper are probably overkill. Good fries and bright green broccoli are served alongside.
I try Honey Almond Roast Duck ($14.95). A huge half-duckling arrives on a crowded oval plate with decent rice pilaf and the same broccoli. The duck is crisp-skinned outside, moist and tasty. It’s topped with sliced almonds and somewhat drowned in a sweet honey sauce, but is still pretty good.
One issue here is the dinnerware. All the plates and bowls here seem to be decades old, they’re generally too small and do not do justice to the quality of the food. The same could be said of the silverware, but, after all, this place is a bar.
Dessert is an amazing Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Pie ($4.95). It’s a superlight filling of peanut butter mousse served between layers of chocolate and covered in chocolate sauce. Almost cloudlike in texture, it packs a serious punch of peanutty flavor and, coupled with the chocolate, is a wonderful finale.
Service is provided by a functional young lady who seems to be allergic to smiling, unfortunate in this happy space. She also removes our dirty silverware from our plates, puts them on the paper place mat, and clears the plates without replacing the dirty silver. It is most distasteful, even for a casual place like this. Also, as the place gets crowded, service becomes slower and slower.
With dinner, we drink a half-carafe of Kendall Jackson Chardonnay ($12) and half of Rosemount Shiraz ($12), both very decent wines. There is no wine list here, but they have an extensive selection of interesting beers and ales.
Dinner comes to $81.25 without tax and tip, a very good value.
This place is most interesting and somewhat deceiving in appearance: a casual bar with a small dining room. It surprised us with the amount of skill, creativity and care in the kitchen. The chefs here, Thomas Luna and Esteban Javier, should be recognized for their efforts, and the quirky room provides an interesting setting for this food. And the prices here are very reasonable. A few improvements, in service, silver and dinnerware, and this place becomes a four-star gastropub in little ol’ Warwick.
Restaurant critic Bill Guilfoyle has more than 25 years experience in the restaurant industry as a sommelier, manager and chef/owner. He is an associate professor at a local college.
Yesterday’s
Where: 29 Main St., Warwick
Phone: 989-1904
Web: www.yesterdaysnet.com
Entree price range: $11.95-$22.95
Hours/days: lunch — 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Sun.; dinner — 4:30-10 p.m. Sun.-Thurs., 4:30-11 p.m. Fri.-Sat.
Children’s menu: on request
Parking: nearby public parking
Reservations: no
Full bar
Handicapped-accessible: limited
Low-fat/vegetarian menu: vegetarian on the menu, low-fat on request
Other amenities: catering, takeout and private parties
Signature dishes: Shrimp and Crab Cakes, Shepherd’s Pie, Beef Rollatini
Credit cards: American Express, MasterCard, Visa
The Dish rating
Decor: ***
Service: **
Food: ***½
Value: ***
Overall: ***
Story by The Dish (The Times-Herald Record). Original Article Appears Here.
