Candles light homey charm at Ruby's on Bainbridge

MomSeattle · DadSeattle · SPI · MySeattlePix · My account

Local

US/World

Sports

Business

A&E

Life

Comics

Photos

Opinion

Blogs

Buy Ads

NWsource

Candles light homey charm at Ruby's on Bainbridge

Saturday, December 11, 1999

By GREGORY ROBERTS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER FOOD WRITER

Husband-and-wife restaurateurs Aaron and Maura Crisp named Ruby's on Bainbridge after Maura's grandmother, paying tribute to her hospitality and the way she feeds them whenever they visit her house in Eastern Washington.

Their restaurant, tucked into the Tudor-style brick-and-timber commercial building in Lynwood Center, exudes its own homey charm, with walls of burgundy red, hunter green and peach in two dining rooms lighted softly by flickering votive candles and decorated with an array of art best described as eclectic.

After attending culinary school at South Seattle Community College, Aaron Crisp cooked in several local restaurants, including a stint as opening chef at Serafina in Eastlake, before he and Maura decided they wanted a place of their own. They searched throughout the Northwest before finding a place close at hand, and they opened Ruby's in 1994.

Crisp anchors his cooking in French technique, but there's considerable Italian influence on the modestly sized menu, and occasional accents of the Middle East or Southeast Asia. Preparations can be fairly elaborate, but they remain solidly rooted in the realm of comfort.

"I really enjoy country-style food," Crisp says.

RESTAURANT REVIEW
Ruby's. 4569 Lynwood Center Road N.E., Bainbridge Island; 206-780-9303.
Hours: lunch noon-2:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Sunday; dinner 5-9 Sunday-Thursday, 5-10 Friday-Saturday. Beer and wine. All major credits accepted. No obstacles to accessibility. Free parking in lot. Smoking in lounge only.

Dinner might begin with an appetizer of plump New Zealand mussels ($5.95) marinated in coconut milk, lime and green curry, sauteed in the shell and dressed up with basil, cilantro and jicama. The soft, warm and beguiling spinach and sorrel torta ($4.95) comes braced with a cool and lively cucumber-dill sauce.

Pastas account for half the dinner entrees. Ravioli Veronique ($14.95) started out as a crepe, but since its conversion has emerged as the restaurant's most popular item. To make it, Crisp stuffs two oversized handmade pillows of dough with a garlicky blend of chicken, mozzarella, parmesan and ricotta, then drenches them in a cream sauce studded with pistachios and grapes. The result mingles multiple textures and flavors in a dish of earthy appeal.

Warm fruit plays a role in other entrees. Crisp bakes pears with a meaty breast of chicken ($14.95) for saucing with a redolent reduction of jus laced with rosemary, apple juice, onion, balsamic vinegar and cream. Peach chutney tops pork tenderloin ($17.95) rubbed with mild spice and served with its own full-bodied sauce.

Ruby's mashes potatoes with the skins as a rustic accompaniment to the main courses. But the real scene stealer among the sides is the chiffonade of cabbage, the shredded leaves sauteed with nutmeg, parmesan and cream in an irresistible interplay of edgy and lush.

Desserts ($5) are made in house, and can strive pretty hard for effect. Whole oranges, soaked in simple syrup for five hours, are coated in chocolate and set on puff pastry; the contrast of cool fruit and hot sauce is intriguing, but hardly seems worth the effort. The chocolate in the stacked-tall take on mousse is closer to fudge than froth. The dense bread pudding, served in a pool of sweet caramel sauce, is a simpler, and safer, bet.

The wine list is Maura Crisp's domain, and she has assembled a relatively extensive lineup concentrating on Northwest and California wines, with a smattering of European imports. Prices on the reserve list top $100 a bottle. A dozen moderately prized wines are poured by the glass.