'A fine idea'

RIVER VALLEY and OZARK AREA — F.R. "Red" Porterfield has what you might call a "can-do" attitude.

After 30 years in the Navy, 18 of which he spent working on submarines during and after World War II, Porterfield can list a couple more careers, places and lives he's lived. Ask him where he's from and he'll answer, "all over the world."

The 92-year-old figures he can do just about whatever he puts his mind to.

However, few would have guessed - including Porterfield - that his latest venture would be opening a restaurant and inn in Heber Springs, but that's exactly what has happened. After standing empty for a few years and undergoing a top-to-bottomrenovation under Porterfield's watchful eye, the historical Anderson House Inn is once again open for business.

"People keep telling me, 'Red, you've spent an awful lot of money trying to find a nice place to eat,'" he said.

To explain how it all happened, Porterfield recalled watching a waitress hastily wipe down his table at a Heber Springs diner, basically smearing everything around in a circle before rushing off to the next task. While almost everyone loves a quick, cheap burger, Porterfield wished for something more - without having to necessarily go to the country club every time he gets a hankering for something different.

"I just wanted to have a nice place to take my friends when they come to town to visit," Porterfield said. "I started mentioning it around to people in Heber Springs, and everyone thought it was a fine idea, so I went ahead and did it."

Porterfield moved to Heber Springs a little over a year and a half ago. He bought the Anderson House at 201 E. Main St. and hired a local contractor and decorator for its renovation just over a year ago.

"It wasn't in what I would call run-down shape, but it wasn't nice anymore either," Porterfield said. "We've completely renovated it.Everybody that's come in thinks it looks much better than it did ... I'd have to say that with all the 'oohs' and 'ahhs' I've been hearing every day."

There are seven rooms to rent in the upstairs part of the old house - decorated in a sort of country, antique style - and seven rooms in an adjoining facility, decorated like typical, nice hotel rooms, Porterfield said. While the Anderson House Inn isn't exactly a bed and breakfast, because there's no breakfast, Porterfield said that's probably the best way to characterize its feel.

The oldest part of the house was built in the 1880s, and Max Frauenthal, one of the earliest community figures in Conway and Heber Springs history, lived there. As for all the things that came after that - movie theater, doctor's office, church and more - everyone seems to come in with a story, Porterfield said.

"It has a real interesting history if the half of what I've heard is true," Porterfield said.

Setting the stage was step one for Porterfield, step two was the food, which he has entrusted to the hands of chef Ira Mittelman. A fellow globetrotter, Mittelman has cooked for restaurants in everywhere from Napa Valley, Calif .,to the Bahamas, Savannah, Ga., Portland, Ore., and more. In Arkansas, he ran the Lone Rider restaurant in Mountain View before moving to Heber Springs, where he opened the Twenty Five 10 restaurant a little over a year ago.

Mittelman loves food, and he loves being able to pair it with wine for an even finer dining experience. He said he wasn't able to get a liquor license at Twenty Five 10, so when the Anderson Inn restaurant "caused such an explosion of interest" and got its license, Mittelman decide to join Porterfield's operation.

"Now I get to match food and wine, so I'm having a blast," Mittelman said. "When I first saw a bottle of win on a table in a restaurant in Heber Springs at Red's, I almost cried. That's how happy I was."

Mittelman likes to experiment and said the menu will change three or four times a year, with plenty of specials to mix things up. He uses localingredients when he can, but flies in special items like fresh fish. He likes to take traditional dishes, like spaghetti, and make them special by making his own sauce the old-fashioned way.

"And I like to do crazy things, like my poblano-pepper cheese cake, which is one of our appetizers," Mittelman said. "You know it's spicy, it's crazy, but it's one of our most popular items. People just taste it and go 'wow.'"

Porterfield said he'll stay out of the day-to-day operation of the Anderson House, preferringto leave that to Mittelman and the rest of the staff.

"They'll be running everything," Porterfield said. "Pretty soon you won't even see me," - that is, except for in the dining room, where there won't be any difference between him and the rest of the customers settled down to one of those nice meals he's been dreaming about - except that he happens to own the place.

The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday. Porterfield said they will start offering Sunday brunch soon and may make other changes to the schedule as they work out all the kinks: "Right now, nothing is set in cement," he said.

The restaurant is open to the public, but alcohol can only be sold to club members.

- awidner@ arkansasonline.com