Persimmon Restaurant
31 State Street
Bristol
by Bob Mariani
Just how the heck did Bristol get so lucky? The quaint little waterfront town has attracted not one, but two of the Ocean State’s best chefs: Chef Sai Viswantath (whom I’ve raved about in previous articles) of DeWolf’s Tavern, and now, the well-known Chef Champe Speidel of Persimmon, formerly known as The Hot Point.
Chef Speidel first caught my attention a while back at Gracie’s on Federal Hill. I, along with many other food writers, recognized Chef Speidel’s special talents for sharply focused flavors and creative mixings of various ingredients. Nothing has changed in that regard. His talents continue to blossom.
When Persimmon was The Hot Point, its popularity was based on a menu of well-prepared favorites. Now under Speidel’s guidance, you can expect some truly innovative fare; but with nothing eccentric or "experimental" and evidently, word’s already gotten out about Persimmon. On the Tuesday night we went, diners were already tightly packed into the compact, unassuming little space on State Street.
Before they brought our main order, they surprised us first with a very delicate sliver of sushi-style sea bass, and then, with an absolutely heavenly sample of a creamy soup of morel mushrooms, spring peas, and chive blossoms. Every note of this wonderful, silky broth was perfectly struck.
Next I began in earnest with the crispy Maryland Soft-Shelled Crab appetizer ($10). The lightly breaded crab came with an herbed mayonnaise and what’s referred to on the menu as "Old Bay and lemon emulsion." Let me just say that this was not your right-out-of-the-Hellmann’s-jar mayo. It was filled with subtle little flavor accents, some peppery, some piquant, and all very well-thought out, to go with the crunchy crabmeat. This appetizer, by the way, is enough to serve as an entrée.
My wife decided to explore "the Persimmon Cheese Experience with treats and surprises"($12). The plate arrived looking a lot like an artist’s pallet, which is just what it turned out to be. Arranged so that you can taste from the very mild and firm cow’s milk cheese to a slightly sharper blue, and then finally to an incredibly intense goat and cow’s milk cheese, this was a miniature masterpiece. In between the mouthfuls of cheese samples were a wide range of dainty accompanying tastes such as figs puree, leechie nuts, and marinated cherries – a cheese-lover’s orgy!
Other starters this night included Crispy Calamari with spicy tomato condiment; butter-basted Lobster Risotto with sweet peas and creamy lobster froth; a warm salad of roasted beets, camembert cheese, pickled fennel, navel oranges, and baby arugula in an African roasted peanut oil, honey and Banyuls vinegar; and Pan-Seared Foi Gras with duck confit ravioli.
My main dish was a Maple and Soy Glazed Pork Porterhouse ($24). Cooked perfectly medium rare as I’d requested, this most-tender of pork cuts was infused with a very subtle but perfectly matched sweet and sour rhubarb condiment. The maple sweetness was beautifully balanced by the subtler soy, and the rhubarb condiment just kept tasting better and better with every mouthful. The accompanying veggies were also a treat: little broccoli flowerlets, oyster mushrooms, and some wonderful tidbits of potato gnocchi the size of your thumbnail.
Jan’s entrée was the Braised Spring Lamb Shank ($24). It came in a dark, dark "calaminth-infused sauce" accompanied by a tantalizingly soft/sweet puree of spring parsnips, and an array of tiny but really tasty spring veggies. The lamb was on the bone and it fell away at the touch of a fork. It should be noted here that because of Chef Speidel’s devotion to fresh ingredients, the menu is slightly different every night, depending on what the best items available that day might be.
Other entrees at Persimmon were the Herb-Crusted R.I. Fluke with a creamy shellfish ragout ($24); Beef Sirloin with Yukon Gold potato pancakes in a Sauce Bordelaise ($26); Crispy Young BBQ Half-Chicken with warm fingerling potato salad ($22); Pan-Roasted Long Island Duck Breast with ravioli of leg confit in a tarragon-infused sauce ($24); and Bowtie Pasta Carbonara with smokehouse bacon, sweet peas, and parmigianno-reggianno ($20).
The desserts are all house-made. I chose the Warm Banana Sponge Cake. It was a soft, spongy slice of cake, with a small dollop of banana ice cream on top. The sauce was a really interesting mixture of chocolate and salty peanut praline. Jan’s desert was the Yogurt and Vanilla Panna Cotta which was served with fresh strawberries and sweet pie dough - remarkably light and loaded with soft spring flavors.
As downtown Bristol continues to evolve with its new million-dollar, waterfront condos, Chef Speidel’s sophisticated brand of cuisine is going to be a perfect fit. The prices struck me as extremely reasonable in light of the finesse and quality of the cooking here. Hidden message: go now while the prices are still geared towards the average diner.
Persimmon Restaurant is open for dinner every night except Mondays. Reservations are strongly recommended. Call 401-254-7474.
Bob Mariani is a Southeastern New England freelance author. Besides his "Your Table is Ready" restaurant reviews found here, he also writes jazz articles on allaboutjazz.com.
