Name game

Blackstone's: an updated look for a downtown favorite

385 Main Street, Worcester 752-9688
Lunch Tues.-Fri. 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Dinner Sun. 5-9 p.m.
Tues.-Thurs. 5-9 p.m.
Fri.-Sat. 5-10:30 p.m.
Major credit cards
Full liquor license
Handicap Accessible

by Jim Johnson

Many people still remember P.T. Beanie's from the days of pinball machines and wieners. But a new chef and a new approach to "American Regional Cuisine" has changed that, and now a new name tries to get people to forget the outdated reputation.

The intriguing menu has stayed pretty much the same since my first visit nearly three years ago. The setting was also as I remembered it: ceiling fans whirled silently overhead, casting shadows on the checkerboard linoleum. Candles glowed on the tables, covered with white linen tablecloths and sheets of white paper. A rich, fully stocked dark-wood bar stretched much of the way down one wall.

The backroom offers an even more pleasant, warmer, quieter setting. Paintings on exhibit through ArtsWorcester decorate the walls, and tables are split over two levels. Most important, you can avoid the noise and revelry in the bar area.

Indeed, the only real change was higher prices. Entrées like fresh lamb jumped from $9.50 to $18, the fresh duckling from $14 to $18. While appetizers once cost as little as $3.50 for chicken tortillas, today's appetizers range from $7 for an eggplant sandwich to $12 for smoked salmon. Desserts have increased from a $6 average to $7.50.

Three years ago, dinner for two came to $50 or so. On my most recent visit, I spent $78. While I feel that my dinner was worth every penny, Blackstone's may soon come to the same realization that has boosted patronage at the Struck: to keep the tables full, you have to offer a variety of less expensive choices. (On Sunday and Wednesday evenings, there's a $9.95 special including salad, a small beer, vegetable, and a choice of chicken parmesan, steak tips, or tuna kebab.)

Regardless of price, everything we ordered during two recent visits -- one dinner, one lunch -- was outstanding. A friend and I shared two appetizers. The phyllo ($7.50) consisted of two "pies" filled with spinach, mushrooms, and gooey cheese and wrapped in crisp, paper-thin layers of dough and lying in a pool of pungent garlic sauce.

Three plump crab cakes ($9) were crammed with crab -- and flavor. Crabmeat chunks were mixed with breading, herbs, and red and green peppers. The accompanying rémoulade sauce, although tasty, seemed more like thousand islands dressing.

The two-way duckling ($18) was superb: flavorful with nary a hint of grease. Both the breast meat (sliced thin) and the dark meat were cooked just right -- totally moist with a thin layer of crispy skin. Peach chutney offered just the right offset in flavor, while kale drizzled with bacon grease was the "field green" of the day. Sweet red cabbage, boiled turnips, sliced carrots, and earthy wild rice rounded out the entrée.

Steak tips were priced reasonably at $13, a full 12 ounces of tender, moist, tasty meat that was skillet blackened with a hint of Cajun spices. Most of the same veggies came with the steak.

For dessert, the apple-cranberry crisp offered a fine balance of sweet and tart fruit, and berries mixed with oatmeal and topped with two scoops of vanilla ice cream and fresh whipped cream. The beautiful presentation also included swirls of chocolate, caramel, and strawberry sauces and a light dusting of confectioner's sugar.

The bananas Foster was even better: bananas sautéed with cinnamon, sugar, and a hint of brandy, poured into a crisp pastry shell, and likewise topped with ice cream and whipped cream.

A return visit for lunch was just as successful and, at $26 for two, a third the price of our dinner. Lunch, unlike dinner, also came with fresh bread and a bowl of oil with grilled garlic.

Our two appetizers were outstanding. The black-bean chili ($2) was dense with flavor, filled with firm beans, ground beef, and pork and topped with sour cream, chopped sweet peppers, and a rim of tortilla chips. The pizza hand-rolled, thin-crust pizza ($8) was just crisp enough, and the sundried tomatoes and eggplant topping offered wonderfully complementary flavors.

For entrées, the blackened turkey tips ($8) were moist and tender, served with fluffy, spiced rice and honey-mustard sauce. The Chinese chicken breast sandwich ($7) was also tasty and moist, a massive breast of chicken lightly coated with that ubiquitous red sparerib sauce. A citrusy dipping sauce came on the side.

Service on both visits was attentive, timed well, personable, and theatrical, thanks to our upbeat server who sang his way joyfully through most of his shift.