January 6, 2000
TRATTORIA SIMPATICO

From a wintry Jamestown, Simpatico's comfort beckons

By MERIDITH FORD
Journal Restaurant Reviewer
     JAMESTOWN -- Winter has come to this island town, its glorious summer long past. With winter's shortened days, lights from the nearby Newport Bridge shine earlier.
     Street activity is minimal; the sidewalks in front of the charming shops and restaurants on Narragansett Street have been all but rolled up.
     But drive past Trattoria Simpatico, and you'll find a glow of lights in the windows, beckoning you to come in.
     It's warm inside the walls of this late 1800s house that is now a restaurant. For seven years owner Phyllis Bedard has been quietly serving fine Italian food. Now, with new chef Mark Simon (since November), the menu has kept its Italian roots but added a few contemporary twists.
     It's delightful to sit in one of the two tiny dining rooms, each decorated with linen-clad tables glimmering in the candlelight. The decor is eclectic antique, with assorted mirrors and vases of flowers, fresh and dried. Menu items are served on a varied collection of china -- contemporary American to antique English.
     Dishes and dried flowers aren't the only attraction; the food was well worth our visit.
     Staying close to the restaurant's Italian origins, Simon continues the tradition with an appetizer of sliced Tuscan sausage served with grilled polenta. The polenta is two-toned, one part made with blue and another with yellow corn meal. Slices are seared in oil just before service to create a delicate, yet crispy, crust on the soft polenta.
     A tomato-and-wine reduction seasoned with a hint of horseradish frames the spiciness of the sausage and brings out the mild flavor of the polenta as well.
     Straying from Italy, Simon scores with a dish of fried wontons stuffed with Napa cabbage and duck confit. The wontons are delicately fried, then baked and served with a hot, hot Vietnamese table sauce and a sweetened soy sauce for dipping.
     The dish is delicately topped with fried cellophane noodles that spring to life when they hit the hot oil -- their spaghetti-like forms frozen in squiggly shapes. Underneath, we found a surprise of deep-fried spinach, the fresh leaves puffed to a beautiful, dainty crispiness full of a savory, almost chip-like flavor. I could have eaten a basket of them; coupled with the noodles, they create a crispy wonderland.
     Between appetizers, we delighted in a Caesar salad served beautifully with large, uncut leaves of romaine lettuce tossed in olive oil and set beside a slice of toasted French bread. With it came thin-sliced Parmesan crisps and anchovies in a real (not bottled) Caesar dressing, made with real egg yolks. It's served with a steak knife so you can cut the ingredients to your liking.
     This is not only the most innovative way I've ever seen a Caesar salad served, it was one of the best-tasting as well -- the fresh dressing is creamy, salty and sharp with the flavor of eggs, lemon and Parmesan cheese.
     Before I go further, I should mention the bread. Simon admits that it's not made in-house (very few restaurants make their own bread these days), but no matter. Large French-style loaves are served hot, with a service napkin wrapped around the center (I assume this is so the server doesn't touch the loaf). We were able to break bread, peasant style. 
     I rarely get hot bread in restaurants anymore. It appears to have replaced dessert as the forgotten course -- most comes cold, not even room temperature. But it's such a great way to begin a meal that when I do, I never forget it. The crunchy-crusted loaf is served with a rosemary-infused olive oil.
     Entrees didn't meet with the expectations constructed from what had come before. A shrimp-and-scallop cappellini served in a lobster broth with tiny slices of fennel and laced with tomatoes and calamata olives was sturdy, but lacked the luster of the appetizers and salad.
     The fine flavor of a tender veal scaloppine served with sauteed spinach and mashed potatoes faded with the taste of a  store-bought demiglace.
     The desserts (made by Simon's wife, Stephanie) are well worth a taste. A creamy marbled cheesecake is served with a smooth sauce of creme anglaise and raspberry.  The piece de resistance, though, is what is termed a gateaux Basque. It's a buttery single-layer cake similar to -- but not as heavy as -- a pound cake, served with an enormous dollop of whipped cream and a cold compote of berries.
     My server was apt (and patient) at explaining the menu (we had no idea we were eating fried spinach until she told us). She was serving an entire room by herself, with little apprehension. She used a familiar manner, something that seemed to place customers at ease.
     Appetizers are between $7 and $11. There are several innovative salads, such as roasted peppers and spinach and a chopped salad of romaine, smoked bacon and hard-boiled eggs on the menu for $7 and $8. Pastas are $17 to $21, with entrees between $17 and $25. A limited list of American and Italian wines offers bottles between $18 and $123. Desserts are $5.95 to $6.95.
     Jamestown may be sleeping for the winter, but Trattoria Simpatico is awake with flavor and comfort.