Restaurants: Bill Valentine's packs a first-inning wallop

By Jack Schnedler

Photo by Cantrell Gallery

Works by Virginia Williamson, includingthis painting titled All Dressed Up, go on display today at the Cantrell Gallery. An opening reception for the "Changing Visions" exhibit is 6-8 p.m. today.

ADVERSTISMENT

LITTLE ROCK — Bill Valentine's Ballpark Restaurant has hit the dining equivalent of a grand-slam home run in the first inning.

Open for just two weeks in the Arkansas Travelers' new Dickey-Stephens Park, the restaurant is already serving some of the best and most sophisticated Italian food in the state. It is also wowing patrons with an ambitious wine list that reflects the oenological passion of Valentine, the Travelers' impresario for more than three decades. And service is remarkably silken for a new operation.

The setting for this fast-starting enterprise may seem incongruous - a minor-league baseball stadium where Frito chili pie is about as creative as it gets at the concession stands.

According to Valentine, who is seldom at a loss for words, North Little Rock Mayor Patrick Hays first suggested putting something in the ballpark that might attract patronage on the nearly 300 evenings a year when no baseball is being played.

Valentine says he woke up one night with the idea of installing a restaurant, and that the park's senior designer, Dan Phillips, proposed naming it for him. Valentine enlisted Scott McGehee, mastermind of Boulevard Bread Company, as executive chef to oversee the operation. McGehee recruited Jason Neidhardt, a Little Rock native and Boulevard Bread alumnus, as chef de cuisine to be the hands-on presence in the kitchen.

The result is an Italian-focused menu of nine Small Plates (aka appetizers), eight Big Plates (entrees) and a half-dozen desserts. Small Plate prices range from $5 to $12, while Big Plates are $13 to $29, and desserts cost $6.

The wine list, assembled by Valentine after extensive tastings with other staff members, is strong on Italian and California reds. Of the six sparkling wines, 13 whites and 49 reds on the list, 18 are singled out as "Bill's Favorites." Twenty-three of the wines are available by the glass, and four half-bottles are on the list. The very fairly priced bottles run from $18 for Fourplay by Dievole (a Sicilian red) to $145 for a 2003 Opus One, Philippe de Rothschild/Robert Mondavi, a renowned Bordeaux-style blend from California.

Wife Marcia and I sampled nine dishes at two dinners last week; they ranged from quite good to really great. The three most terrific were the Steamed Mussels appetizer ($11), the Veal Chop alla Toscana ($29) and the Cannoli ($6).

The Prince Edward Island mussels, flown in from Maine, were plump and tender. Elevating them to an ambrosial level was Neidhardt's saffron cream sauce (a touch of cream, mostly chicken stock) flavored with San Marzano tomatoes, capers, basil and lemon.

Perched on the mussels came a long strip of grilled focaccia bread, which Marcia dipped into the sauce and ate bite by bite with a mussel on top for a counterpoint of texture and taste. At one point, the jolly maitre d' stopped by and urged us to mop up all the succulent sauce. We eventually asked for extra bread to complete that irresistible mission.

My 14-ounce veal chop, from a supplier in St. Louis, transported our memories fondly to a favorite restaurant in the Tuscan city of Lucca. Grilled bonein with a touch of rosemary, the thick medium-rare chop was garnished with garlic, lemon and tomato. Basil Linguine with Parmesan Cheese made a creative side dish.

The cannoli, which McGehee and Neidhardt import from Italy, arrived as a generously plump cylinder packed with melt-inthe-mouth ricotta cream, topped with warm chocolate sauce, and garnished with pistachios, pine nuts and candied citrus. It was adessert of World Series caliber.

Among our other appetizers, the Antipasto ($9) was a handsome and well-matched arrangement of gorgonzola and pecorino cheeses, prosciutto di Parma, soppressata salami, black and green olives, toasted almonds and another long strip of the toasted focaccia. The gorgonzola packed a knockout taste. The Calamari and Polenta Fritti ($10) paired properly crisp fried squid with crunchy squares of the Italian cornmeal staple.

The Traditional Caesar ($7), prepared with a vinaigrette-style dressing rather than the dish's traditional egg-based dressing, benefited from freshly shaved parmesan and top-drawer Boulevard Bread croutons. As an anchovy fan, I was disappointed to get only one of the promised marinated white anchovies. Later I learned that the kitchen had cut back on the anchovy portion because so many were being left uneaten. Next time, I'll swear my anchovy allegiance and ask for more.

On the entree front, Marcia enjoyed the Fresh Halibut ($21), served with a delicate lobster sauce, grilled asparagus and roasted new potatoes,and the Osso Buco ($22), a fine non-classical rendition of this ubiquitous veal-shank preparation. Peppercorn Risotto was an inventive accompaniment.

Having ordered the most expensive main course (the veal chop) first time around, I went for the least expensive at our second dinner. The Penne alla Puttanesca ($13) had the spicy zest called for in this pasta dish originally named for the prostitutes of Naples. The strips of prosciutto on top added to the flavor, but vegetarians can order the dish without the ham.

We drank two red wines from the "Bill's Favorites" selection, guided in part by the recommendations of waiters who seemed knowledgeable about the list. The Travaglini Gattinara ($41) from the Piedmont in Northern Italy was delightfully full-bodied. Even more robust and complicated was the 1998 Agriverde Montepulciano D'Abruzzo Plateo ($68).

Service was friendly but not overly so. The several flaws were minor, such as the failure to remove the unneeded third and fourth place settings for about 15 minutes after we were seated the second evening. Eventuallythe maitre d' discreetly instructed the waiter to take away the cutlery. Valentine made tablehopping appearances during both dinners.

The decor is understated and comfortable in shades of beige and gray with stylish hemisphere chandeliers; walls are festooned with photographs of Valentine, including his earlier career as an American League umpire.

A screen showing a closedcircuit telecast of the Travelers' game sits above the bar, but the set is blessedly mute. The dining room's overall noise level is somewhat high, perhaps not surprising at a ballpark. The volume tends to obscure the background music that brings into play Frank Sinatra and other Italian-tinged performers.

There's a separate restaurant entrance on the third-base side of Dickey-Stephens Park. After our two dinners, we walked through the inside door onto the stadium concourse without anyone asking whether we had tickets for the game. The restaurant offers free valet parking, a bonus on game evenings when street parking and paid lots around the park are full.

Weekend, Pages 93 on 05/04/2007