Sophisticated city dining in a comfortable suburban setting

Romaine's

by Margaret LeRoux

Romaine's 299 West Main St. Northboro 393-8889 Hours Tues.-Thurs., Sun 5-9 Fri.-Sat. 5-10 Full bar Major credit cards Handicapp accessible

Sometimes you don't want the weekend to end, especially when the work week looms with a calendar that's crammed. At times like these, I look around for someone to join me on a Sunday night dining escapade; I don't usually have to search very hard. My favorite dining companion and I both were raised in families where Sunday meant mid-day dinner followed by a long afternoon with the extended family. If you've ever had to play endless games of Parcheesi with cousins who cheat, you'll appreciate how deliciously decadent Sunday night dinner can be in a restaurant, even after all these years.

We extended the weekend recently with dinner at Romaine's, a restaurant I'd recommend to anyone who craves the sophistication of city dining with the casual warmth of a comfortable suburban setting. Romaine's is a big place with high ceilings, but carpeting, lots of oak accents and earthy colors give it warmth. So does the big, brick, wood-burning pizza oven, with a nice bar in front of it. You can sit and watch dinner bake, if you're in the mood for one of their thin-crust gourmet style pies. At $8.95 each, they include tomato prosciutto, roasted garlic and fresh mozzarella; wood-roasted portobello mushroom, caramelized onions and pancetta; and roasted chicken with hummus, broccoli and red peppers.

The staff works well as a team. When our waitress got caught up in requests from another table just as we were looking for our check, another stepped in to fetch it and offered to refill our coffee, sending us on our way with a smile.

A friend and I raved about Romaine's when we visited just after it opened two years ago; now I can report that it has gotten even better. The wine list has expanded to include lots of interesting by-the-glass selections -- Sancerre, for example -- and the menu has evolved to showcase seasonal items. You can still find evidence of chef/owner Richard Romaine's Cajun culinary roots in the gumbo and jalapeno pepper, cheddar cheese corn bread, but now he's added ingredients from other cuisines -- curry and wasabi, for example -- to expand his customers' dining experiences.

Appetizers are all mouth-wateringly appealing. Besides the gumbo ($4.95, or $9.95 for entrée size) there's a clam, corn and sweet potato chowder ($4.95). Maine crab cake ($8.95) vies for your attention with barbecued shrimp and chive aioli ($6.95), and curry-fried calamari and sweet Thai chili sauce ($5.95). The ubiquitous portobello mushroom here is served with fresh mozzarella and oven-dried tomato vinaigrette ($5.95). A sweet onion and brie tart ($5.95) could satisfy all but the biggest appetites. The two of us could have made a banquet from all of them, but this visit we were determined to pace ourselves. Last time we were too full for dessert, this time we wanted to sample the made-on-the-premises assortment.

We shared a salad of mesclun greens with stilton cheese, spiced pecans and roasted pear vinaigrette ($4.95) one of the best combination of ingredients I've enjoyed in a long time. Each table at Romaine's has its own pepper mill, so you don't have to endure that all too often half-hearted or hurried twist of the wrist by wait staff who have better things to do. With our salads came a basket of sliced homemade breads: a crusty white that held its own with olive oil for dipping and roasted garlic cloves for spreading; whole wheat with just a hint of sweetness, and a corn meal muffin jazzed up with bits of jalapeno pepper.

From the red wine offerings, we chose Bouchard, a light French pinot noir ($5.95) and Montes, a merlot ($5.50).

It's hard to choose only one entrée here when even a simple roast chicken ($15.95) gets a lengthy menu note that touts the as "raised in virtually stress free conditions." Lamb shanks ($17.95) are braised and served with creamy polenta, caramelized onions and orange gremolata; and there's a grilled double pork chop ($17.95) with ginger mashed sweet potato and apple braised mustard greens.

Several pasta dishes are offered in full and half portions, including wild mushroom ravioli ($14.95/$7.95); ricotta gnocchi and penne with veal-olive ragu (both ($13.95/$7.50)

A new addition to the menu is a selection of steaks priced from $16.95 for a 12 oz New York strip to $18.95 for a 10 oz tenderloin. Oddly, the steaks do not include any of the imaginative sides that are included with the other main courses. My companion ordered the rib eye ($16.95), as tender a steak as I've ever sampled, and added truffle scented mashed potato ($2) and the slightly bitter mustard greens ($2).

My selection was roasted duck with root vegetables, figs and port wine demiglace ($17.95). The duck skin was crisp and the meat a bit of a challenge to get off the bone, but well worth the effort. I devoured every last matchstick of carrot and parsnip soaked in the savory port wine sauce. With no starch included, I felt no guilt at ordering dessert.

Romaine's silky crème brulee ($4.95), served in a soup bowl and decorated with sliced fresh strawberries was an outstanding version of this classic. With a little help from my friend, I emptied the bowl. Our bill totaled $65.84 before tip.

Margaret LeRoux can be reached at
feedmefeedback@hotmail.com.

Margaret LeRoux can be reached at feedmefeedback@hotmail.com.