Any time a new local restaurant opens in the Toledo area it's cause for celebration, no matter how grand or modest the decor, no matter the range and diversity of food, no matter anything beyond the fact that someone local is still willing to take a chance in a market where local restaurants continue to be crowded out by chains.
For that reason alone, Red River, which opened in Perrysburg's Levis Commons in February, deserves attention. It's a fairly small place whose every wall is splashed with paintings that enliven the experience of eating there - kinetic images of jazz performers, abstracts, still lifes of pears, flowers, and martini glasses, and tabletops that glitter with colorful shards of stained glass. The menu, though limited, attempts to satisfy a variety of tastes, and the owners and staff obviously try hard to please.
That said, it pains me to say that Red River at this point is more art gallery than restaurant. However pleasurable it is to sit amid the dazzling works created by three local artists, the emphasis seems to be more visual than gustatory. In other words, if the food came closer to the adventurous spirit of the artwork, it would be a restaurant worth trumpeting.
It may happen yet, of course. You can tell that the owners, Luke and Maggie Chipman, are still fussing with the possibilities. (Maggie previously owned the former Alex Hamilton's restaurant on Adams Street in downtown Toledo.)
The original Red River menu, for instance, has been tweaked and trimmed since the grand opening. A variety of items have been added and removed, and the restaurant recently expanded its hours to include lunch.
Some of the other signs of unsureness appear in the tentative or rushed service, and in the rather offhand presentation of the food. As examples, the Red River filet ($20.85) was overshadowed by a Berlin Wall of whipped sweet potatoes, while the New York Strip with bourbon sauce ($21.95) took second fiddle to a landfill of "smashed" redskin potatoes, thrown alongside the steak in an unattractive clump.
There are bright spots, however. What rose above the ordinary on our recent visits were a couple of appetizers: crunchy bruschetta ($7.99) with a terrific mix of garlic, tomatoes, Asiago cheese, and artichoke slices, and a delectable smoked salmon salad ($8.95) that blended dill, capers, celery, onions, and toast points.
Among the entrees, the Red River serves a memorable sauted shrimp ($17.95) that boasts nine tiger shrimp amid lemon, garlic, and green onions, with an imaginative house salad and one of several sides, from vegetables to wild rice. The tomato basil pasta ($14.99) puts chicken breast strips into a tangy combination of red-ripe canned tomatoes, bits of deli ham, and "hand-crafted" (read thicker-than-usual) noodles.
But it was difficult to account for the indifferent steaks which, though advertised as certified angus beef, were bland and, at 10 ounces a cut, more slender that we expected considering the $22-$24 average cost. The New York strip in particular was ringed with gristle, and the gorgonzola and bourbon sauces that adorned two of the steaks should have offered more than a thin drA final quibble: servers were earnest beyond fault, but they need more seasoning. In one seating, for instance, we got the salads meant for an adjacent table. Another time, the appetizer arrived after the salad, and the entrees were delivered just as we were tackling the preliminaries.
Still in all, I'd like to think that the missteps we encountered are merely signs of growing pains, and that in time, the Red River will live up to its own ambitions.
Contact Bill of Fare at fare@theblade.com
First Published June 16, 2005, 11:19 a.m.
