Jefferson House

Arturo is cooking in Holden

by Jim Johnson

Jefferson House
1 Princeton Road, Holden
829-9090
Lunch Tues.-Fri. 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Dinner Sun. 4 p.m.-8 p.m. Tues.-Thurs. 5 p.m.-9 p.m. Fri.-Sat. 5 p.m.-10 p.m.
Sunday Brunch 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Major credit cards
Full bar
Handicap accessible

Arturo -- the restaurateur who has raised the bar on class and culinary achievement in Worcester -- is now making his mark in the suburbs. Looking perhaps for a new challenge after the longtime success of Arturo's Ristorante and its adjacent pizzeria, Arturo has taken on the Jefferson House as his latest project. How hands-on is he? The last time I saw him, he was walking through the foyer with a picture frame, nail, and hammer.

His touch is evident in the kitchen as well. It's not that the popular Holden eatery and watering hole has gone Italian, though there are nice touches. It's more the quality of the overall experience. While it's every bit as casual and relaxed as it was as the Jefferson House Grille, the re-done restaurant has more panache and imagination in its cuisine and presentation and more attention to detail in its service.

When a friend and I arrived, the nonsmoking area was full. We opted to skip the 15-minute wait and headed to the well-ventilated smoking section and bar. A fireplace was set in one wall, while booths with parlor-chairs lined another. (The other room has cathedral ceilings and World War I-era prints.) Much of the character of the historic building still remains.

Our server arrived with water and a cookie bin filled with rolls and pumpkin-raisin bread. She was right on the money answering our questions. For example, even though I spent almost my entire life in Rhode Island, I'd never heard of fried calamari "Rhode Island style." Our server explained that it meant "tossed with garlic and hot peppers." Other appetizers included buffalo wings, baked stuffed onion, and onion strings and less pub-like stuff like sweet-potato fries served with maple syrup, quesadillas, and crab cakes.

We went with the calamari ($5.75) and crab cakes ($5.95), two excellent choices. The calamari were fried golden brown and tossed, as we've learned, with garlic and hot peppers. Lots of garlic and lots of hot peppers. So good, I'm proud to say I'm a Rhode Islandah.

The three crab cakes were moist, plump, and meaty and served with an oven-roasted tomato sauce studded with garlic and olives. Red cabbage, lemon, and lettuce added to the presentation.

In addition to familiar Caesar and antipasto salads, the Jefferson House also offers pasta salad with grilled shrimp, and root salad -- a mixture of potatoes, carrots, turnips, beets, and barley tossed with greens, goat cheese, and roasted tomatoes.

The menu also features a section called "Comfort Food" that makes me relax just reading it: "homemade" meatloaf, fish and chips, turkey dinner, pasta and cheese, shepherd's pie. (This shepherd's pie is made with chili, however, perhaps to provide an early warning system to vulnerable sheep.)

Main entrees include a variety of grilled, broiled, and fried fish; hefty meats like center-cut sirloin, one-pound delmonico, roast lamb, and baby-back ribs; and Italian selections like chicken parmesan, chicken with artichokes, linguine Alfredo, and linguine fra diavolo.

Assured by our server that it was "outstanding," I ordered the portobello "filet mignon" ($10.95). It was both outstanding and unusual. It looked like two hamburgers served on buns. But instead of buns, they were moist, meaty mushroom caps. And instead of burgers, they were duxelles -- a delicious, rich mixture of chopped mushrooms, shallots, herbs, butter, and cheese. Grilled carrots, tomatoes, and zucchini came on the side.

My dining companion chose grilled mahi mahi ($11.95), which came in large but tender pieces. We both found it a bit bland; some doctoring with salt and pepper, however, made all the difference. It was served with broccoli and tomatoes.

Our friendly server tempted us with the dessert tray but didn't warn us that it carried miniature portions. Thank goodness, the pumpkin cheesecake was light -- and tasted like creamy pumpkin pie. The apple crisp had lots of crunchy oatmeal, though the apple slices tasted processed.

I also tried Sunday brunch. While it's not in the same league as places like the Beechwood or Maxwell Silverman's, for $9.95 it's a great value. I enjoyed a fine buffet of hot eggs, sausage, bacon, and French toast, as well as chicken, fish, stuffed shells, and potatoes. Pastries, breads, and muffins tasted fresh from the oven.

And now an announcement. After more than five years of writing this weekly column, I must reluctantly give it up. In a few weeks, I'll be leaving New England, which has been my home since birth, for Chattanooga, Tennessee. I'll leave behind four decades of friends, and my eyes turn salty at thoughts of saying good-bye.

This is not my farewell -- yet -- but it is an open invitation for my replacement to step forward. If you like to eat and know how to write about it, send a letter and a writing sample to Melissa Houston, editor, Worcester Phoenix, 314 Washington Street, Auburn 01501.