Fall River's sleek, classy, sophisticated Cinderella

By MICHAEL JANUSONIS
Journal Arts Writer

FALL RIVER -- A co-worker who lives in the Spindle City had been speaking so highly of the food and decor of the oddly named Cinderella Coffee Shop that I was not the only Journal staff member intrigued enough to make the trek across the Braga Bridge in recent weeks.

Who could resist the name, after all? Nor the whimsy of the big sign over the place, which has Prince Charming fitting the glass slipper onto Cinderella's foot.

Best of all, as it turned out, the Cinderella Coffee Shop isn't a coffee shop at all, but a trendy, very contemporary, very Euro-bistro-like Portuguese restaurant which looks as though it would be more at home in Lisbon or Madrid or Milan than on a bustling street in downtown Fall River.

The sign declaring it a coffee shop was in the process of being removed, according to Renata Reis, our very accomplished waitress, who happened to answer the phone when I called a few days after our visit. However, she added that Cinderella, the prince and the glass slipper would remain.

Reis explained that although it had been a coffee shop and popular bar for the nearly two decades chef Rosa Fernandes had owned it, she decided to "make it nicer" and reincarnate it as a restaurant, reopening in June 2003. Fernandes has succeeded admirably.

It's sleek, classy, sophisticated, with lots of tile on the floors and walls. Yet it's immediately warm, too, because the walls glow in a warm pumpkin hue accented by coral-colored tablecloths.

Enter the dining room and there's a catch-your-breath moment when your eyes are instantly drawn to the dining room's centerpiece -- a tile-filled wall depicting Lisbon's waterfront in 1693. Imposing royal buildings (which, I can attest, in real life still look impressive more than three centuries later) fill the right two-thirds of the artist's work, called Terreiro do Paco. In the left third, 17th-century ships in full billowing sail cross a mesmerizingly blue sea.

Imported from Lisbon, it's not the only impressive design element. A huge circle-shaped window, which looks vaguely Japanese, gives the dining room a dramatic touch, even from the outside. A recessed dome over the dining room is lit in its three steps. In the center of the dome floats one of those old-fashioned compass symbols that turn up on old maps.

Big wine list

Nearly the entire back wall is taken up by an enormous wine rack that's lit tantalizingly, while other tall wine racks stand nearby. (The office oenophile, who'd also visited recently, declared that "the nearly all-Portuguese wine list is the most extensive and sophisticated I have ever seen." A bargain, too.)

Through arches you can look into the cozy barroom at the front of the house. There's more impressive tile work on three long panels behind the bar.

One appears to be a pensive hunter who, curiously, seems to be writing a letter on a boulder. Over the phone, Reis set me straight. It's actually famed Portuguese poet Luis Vaz de Camoes, she said, perhaps writing his epic Lusiavas.

The middle panel is a head-and-shoulders portrait of Portuguese Queen Dona Maria (1826-1853), while the third is a full-length King D. Afonso Henriques (1111-1185) in full armor. All three panels are reprinted on pages of the menu.

There's also a knight's armor at the Cinderella's entrance and a tile panel commemorating the voyage of 16th-century navigator Vasco da Gama, who discovered the sea route from Portugal around Africa to India. To complete the Old World mood, the sound system featured a singer warbling a string of Portuguese songs.

Happily, our meals were as prettily served and as tempting as the Cinderella's design.

Portuguese pleasures

We bypassed the chicken wings and raw littlenecks on the appetizer menu in favor of items that sounded, well, Portuguese.

The Ameijoas a Cinderella ($9.95) -- littlnecks with a porto wine sauce -- arrived in a brown ceramic baking dish, 10 in their shells, in a spicy, garlicky sauce with parsley. A bit salty, too, though fine for the seafood. Good thing we had big chunks of fluffy Portuguese bread to sop up the tangy juices.

The bread basket also contained thin, toasted, Melba-like breads that had a nice crunchiness. And there were plump green olives with their pits, too, on the side as a starter dish.

We loved the Carne de Carangueijo ($12.95) -- crabmeat with Grand Marnier -- which was not quite what was expected . . . but better. Big pieces of crabmeat rested on a lettuce leaf, accompanied by dipping sauce in a hollowed-out lemon. Thanks to the Grand Marnier (and, Reis hinted, a touch of ketchup and a squeeze of orange juice), the mayonnaise-based pink sauce was a sweet accompaniment to the seaside tastes of the crab.

I couldn't resist a Portuguese signature dish -- Carne de Porco a Alentejana ($13.95) -- especially since this pork with littlenecks was served with "square potatoes."

Square potatoes?

They really were cubes of potatoes, though they tasted like French fries. No, not just French fries. Like the BEST French fries you've ever had, with a rich potato-ey taste.

They weren't overwhelmed by the sauce, a heady blend of olive oil, margarine, parsley, lots and lots of garlic and what our helpful waitress said was a secret homemade steak sauce. The robust sauce clung to the slices of pan-sauteed tender pork, to four in-the-shell littlenecks and especially to the potatoes, although, curiously, it didn't seem oily at all. But it did have a bit of a bite, something not immediately apparent.

Reis, who was born in Portugal, assures that the dish is prepared "just like they do in Portugal," with none of the shrimp and other items some restaurants add.

My dining companion chose the Camarao Tigre ($19.95), but paused because it was served "diablo style" and it might be overly spicy. Not at all, assured Reis, and she was right. In fact, it was actually sweet, possibly thanks to the Grand Marnier in the sauce. (Who knew that French liqueurs would play such a big role in Portuguese cooking? But then there seem to be French fries or some variation as part of almost every meal.)

The Camarao was an impressive sight in its brown ceramic bowl -- five butterflied jumbo shrimp, still clinging to their shells, with four littlenecks over a mound of linguine. The sauce proved a gentle boost to the mild flavors of the shrimp and clams.

And a glass of port Desserts were limited on the weeknight we dined, though as I'd anticipated, one of them was flan. I've never developed much of a taste for this custardy concoction ($3.95), but fortunately my dining companion loves it, declaring this very high, very light housemade version with its traditional caramelized sauce perfection.

I was impressed with the velvety, very chocolatey housemade chocolate mousse pudding ($3.95) with a creamy topping that was just the right finishing touch.

While we fumbled to select an after-dinner coffee, our waitress told us that meals are completed here with a glass of port wine. She soon arrived with little glasses which were the perfect topper for a memorable meal.

****

Details, details .º.º.

Cinderella Restaurant, 85 Columbia St., Fall River, (508) 675-0002. Casual. Reservations accepted. Wheelchair accessible. Highchairs available. Open 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sun.-Thurs.; 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fri.-Sat. V, MC, AE, DIS. On-street parking.

Appetizers cost $8.95 to $12.95. Entrees are $12.95 to $24.95. At lunch -- 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays -- entrees range from $6 to $9.95. The wine list is $5 by the glass; $15 to $95 for a bottle.

****

If you like Sagres, Madeira or Gertrude's Galley, you'll like the Cinderella Restaurant.

****

Bill of fare

Dinner for two at the Cinderella Coffee Shop might look something like this:

Glass of Lancer's rose . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5

Ameijoas a Cinderella . . . . .. . . . . . . . . $9.95

Carne de Carangueijo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $12.95

Carne de porco Alentejana . . . . .. . . . . . . $13.95

Camarao tigre . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . $19.95

Flan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3.95

Chocolate mousse pudding . . . . . . . . . . . . $3.95

Tax . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . $3.49

Tip . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . $14

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . $87.19

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Cinderella Restaurant