11.22.2001
SPAIN
It's always summer in Spain


By MERIDITH FORD
Journal Restaurant Reviewer

• Read the menu.

NARRAGANSETT -- I've driven by Spain in Narragansett so many times -- always on my way to the beach or another restaurant.

The building is an enticing Mediterranean mix of stucco and trimmed topiaries, with a large patio for outdoor dining. Each time I pass it, I think of warm summer days, cocktails on rolling summer lawns and lavish seafood dishes.

It's odd, then, that I would choose to visit it on a chilly autumn evening. Even stranger that once inside, it's like summer here (aside from the view of the empty patio).

The cozy bar has lots of tables and chairs. The spacious dining room strikes a sensuous chord; it's a large open room with arched enclaves lining both sides that draw your eye to the room's focal point -- a tiled fountain where the water trickles like thin, silver honey from ceiling to floor.

We had started the evening in the bar -- as does everyone, I presume, since Spain doesn't take reservations for small parties, and regardless of the time of year seems to always be very busy.

Once in the dining room, our evening came to life mainly because of our affable waiter. Spain's wait staff works on the tried-and-true method of a brigade, where the waiters work in a tiered system of responsibility -- the whole of which begins and ends with the captain. The result is that the service is usually accurate and prompt. Ours was.

Our captain was as much stand-up comedian as waiter; a cross between Andy Kaufman and Jeeves the butler. The staff that worked under him seemed to react to his every sigh, and consequently we had excellent service. He was honest about menu selections, giving disdainful nods or approving glances, depending on what he did or did not approve of.

Appetizers and entrees

One selection that evoked a particularly positive response was the soup of the day -- a lobster bisque that deserved his thumbs-up. Rich and emollient with the flavor of butter, it was happily thinner than most bisques and teeming with large shreds of sweet lobster meat.

An appetizer of stuffed artichokes really won my heart, though. Stuffed with a creamy, cheesy mixture of the salty, woodsy flavor of smoked ham and spinach, the artichokes had so much astringent flavor they almost bit me back when eating them. Peppered with mild herbs, the dish was the perfect balance of salty, sweet and savory.

A lobster stuffing drizzled with Bearnaise and piled into a puff pastry shell got a mild, disapproving glance from Jeeves, who reminded me that neither Bearnaise (a classic tarragon-laced French sauce) or puff pastry are exactly Spanish. In the end, he was right: the lobster filling was a little gummy, and the puff pastry (often used in desserts) tasted like a little like cinnamon and sugar had been sprinkled over it by accident.

For dinner, I wanted to try a seafood dish, since the restaurant, and Spanish cooking, highlight seafood so well. Mariscada salsa verde, a house specialty, is a large dish of seafood stew -- a sort of smorgasbord of the sea: tender, succulent bits of lobster, clams, plump mussels, shrimp and fat, half-dollar-sized scallops -- all swimming in a light, butter-laced white wine sauce over penne pasta.

Veal Jerez got my taste buds back on dry land. Thin, tender fillets were sauteed and piled high with spinach, tiny, tender sprigs of asparagus, buttery prosciutto and lots of oozing provolone cheese. The highlight, though, was the fragrant, tawny flavor of the sherry (Jerez is the Spanish region famed for its sherry) sauce with which it was served.

Desserts

Desserts are disappointingly not from Spain's kitchen, excluding a delightfully jiggly creme caramel I tried. An apricot roulade (like a jelly roll), made with a light sponge cake and filled with a concoction that made it hard to tell where apricot left off and almond began, made a good case for flash-frozen desserts imported from Italy: It was, I reluctantly must admit, scrumptious.

Appetizers are all $7.95; soups and salads (there are several interesting salads on the menu) are $3.95 to $5.95. Entrees, including Spanish specialties such as pollo ajillo (chicken with garlic) and paella are $11.95 to $18.95. Desserts are $4.95. The restaurant is closed today for the Thanksgiving holiday, but open for the rest of the weekend.

The wine list carries a few interesting Spanish selections, as well as a range of Italian reds, with bottles from $17 to $140.

I can understand why in summer throngs of people wait to eat at Spain; there was a decent-sized mob in November. The attraction is simple: The food, the setting -- and even Jeeves the butler -- make it seem like a balmy summer afternoon all the time.