LITTLE ROCK — The defunct Downtown Deli in the Tower Building’s Fourth Street frontage has been reborn as Bray Gourmet Deli & Catering.
The deli had a bit of a rough birth period - in our personal experience, some items took an extraordinary long time to come out of the open kitchen, and we heard tales from several disgruntled lunchers who reported getting back to their offices with incorrect orders.
But after a few months of operation it appears to be settling down considerably. And at least in our experience, the staff has been consistently friendly, eagerly, cheerfully and quickly fixing things that have gone wrong.
If you had taken a leave of absence from downtown Little Rock between the closing of the Downtown Deli (through a combination of the lousy economy, according to its former owner manager, and nonpayment of taxes, according to court filings) and the opening of Bray’s, you would probably not notice much difference. Perhaps some minor changes in the decor and the presence of eponymous owner Chris Bray on the premise.
Bray’s serves somewhat different ones than Downtown Deli did, but the prominent provender options arethe fancy sandwiches. Other menu similarities abound - soups, salads, right down to Bray’s $5.29 fully loaded spud (with butter, sour cream, chives, bacon bits and cheese).
Less obvious but significant differences: Bray’s puts its sandwiches on fresh-baked, locally produced bread (from Arkansas Fresh Breads, in fact). And everything is pretty much a la carte, including the chips ($1.19 a bag). That can make for some pretty scruffy plate presentations - order a sandwich and no side item and it looks awfully lonely sort of just thrown onto a piece of checkered paper ina plastic basket.
For to-go orders, the counter person at least asked if we wanted a pickle spear (they’re pre-packaged in little baggies ready to be thrown into your lunch sack); as eat-in customers, we didn’t even get that option.
The best Bray’s sandwich we tried: Bray’s Reuben, not on the menu but usually available as a $6.29 Thursday special. This is as good a version of this sandwich as we’ve had in a while - thinly sliced corned beef stacked fairly thick with a thicker, but actually justright, wad of sauerkraut anda barely perceptible layer of Thousand Island dressing on marbled rye. We’re not big Thousand Island fans, so less is better.
Another of our favorites: Bray’s Favorite ($5.59), smoked turkey with a mildto-moderate pesto, lettuce, tomato bruschetta and asiago and mozzarella cheeses melted on your choice of fresh bread (sourdough, marble rye, white or wheat; we recommend the sourdough).
Two other “Bray’s specialties” were a bit of a disappointment, however. TheSmoked Peppered Beef (subtitled “An Arkansas Favorite,” $5.59), with Swiss and a “homemade Dijon sauce,” was tasty, but insufficiently exciting to order again. This was the sandwich that looked most lonesome in the basket. Maybe, if we had not had the kitchen hold the lettuce and tomato, it may have had more texture.
Bray’s original Smoked Turkey Spread ($5.29) added a faint, vague smoky flavor to what is essentially turkey salad, but it, too, was not enough to perk up our taste buds. The Cajun, jalapeno or dill versions of the spread might have done better.
We’d say that $4.29 was a bit steep for a grilled cheese sandwich, even for as good a grilled cheese sandwich as is Bray’s Grilled Cheese Deluxe - a fairly generous thickness of blend-melted American, asiago and mozzarella. Sourdough was the right choice for this one as well.
We picked the right day to order the soup of the day ($3.29 cup, $4.79 bowl): The French onion was definitely worth the trip, rich in flavor with plenty of onions and topped with tangy melted cheese.
But there was one drawback: It’s nice to know that Bray’s recycles its unused bread into croutons, except that the ones in our soup were of a seeded variety, and finding chewy seeds in our onion soup was a bit of a shock.
We mentioned that if you want something other than just a sandwich on your plate, you’ll pay for it. The $1.59 mustard-based potato salad was a fine choice. Also available: baked potato salad, homemade coleslaw, sliced tomatoes (all $1.59), cottage cheese and berries ($1.79), fruit cup ($2.39) or a side salad ($2.99). A half sandwich and side salad or cup of soup combo ($6.49) excludes the Italian Club and Bray’s Favorite.
The main area of the deli includes the two order counters (front and to-go, though you can order either way at either register), the kitchen (prep kitchen areas are out of sight), salad bar, softdrink dispensers and the condiment-and-flatware dispensary.
Previous occupants of the space had extended their reach into the building to add dining rooms - two of them, to the rear of the kitchen area, with seating at two- and four-topped tables. Vivid sports, entertainment and Arkansas-scene artworks on the walls (including larger than life Muhammad Ali and Jimi Hendrix portraits and a panoramic Razorback Stadium triptych) and a single television tuned to CNN help enliven the atmosphere.
Bray Gourmet Deli & Catering
Address: Tower Build
ing, 323 Center St., Little
Rock
Hours: 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
Monday-Friday through
the end of the year, 7:30
a.m.-3 p.m. after Jan. 1
Cuisine: Soups, sandwich
es, salads, spuds, wraps
Credit cards: V, MC, D, AE
Alcoholic beverages: No
Reservations: No
Wheelchair accessible:
Yes
Carryout: Yes
(501) 353-1045
braygourmet.com
Weekend, Pages 39 on 12/20/2012