PULASKI — Pulaski isn't unlike many other small Northern New York villages — rundown homes, empty storefronts and a generally desolate downtown.
In the middle of it all, there's a beautiful new building that's home to the RiverHouse Restaurant. It's on the same corner that has housed eateries for more than 200 years. Most recently it was the Log Cabin, a boxy, unappealing structure destroyed by fire nearly a decade ago.
The inside is as inviting as the outside. A clean, quiet open bar with tall tables and wooden booths greets you at the main entrance. Twenty-one bottled beers and six on draft almost snagged us in.
Two separate carpeted dining rooms sport red oak wainscoting and warm, historic wall colors. Despite high ceilings, the sound level is remarkably in check.
We hit it at 6:30 on a recent Saturday night, "crunch time" in every restaurant, the time everyone wants to sit down and be served. It's also prom season, and a good number of tuxed guys and gowned gals were on their best behavior, perhaps wondering why there was no drive-up window.
Waitresses were sharply attired with black aprons emblazoned with the RiverHouse logo. Even the young buspeople were wearing clean, black pants and colorful tops. One of them filled our water glasses and left a small bowl of sliced lemon on the table for those who cared for some with their water.
Val, our waitress, was cool, calm, collected and confident. Our table of six didn't faze her in the least, even with nearly every table in the place filled. She actually offered to get us started with appetizers before deciding on dinner, often a nightmare for the system on a busy night.
Chicken quesadilla ($6.99) got us off to a spicy-good start; it was loaded with seasoned chicken and jack cheese in a crunchy flour tortilla and came with a big blob of sour cream topped with chopped tomatoes and green onions. Val even had the kitchen cut it in six pieces for us.
With our proximity to Canada, we tend to see the across-the-border favorite, poutine ($5.99), on north country restaurant menus. Crispy, seasoned french fries were doused with just the right amount of gravy and covered with melted provolone cheese — a heart-stopping international treat done right.
I have a theory: if a restaurant's soup is good, then the meal's gonna be good.
Their crock of French onion ($4.25) was as good as it gets, with a dark, savory stock, nicely caramelized onions and a perfect crouton supporting yummy, stringy melted cheese. A cup of the soup of the day ($2.50), Manhattan clam chowder with sausage, had a marvelous thyme-infused tomato broth with large pieces of clam and spicy sausage.
We enjoyed the soft, warm rolls. They were gone in a second, which Val noticed. She offered more, but we declined, knowing entrées and desserts lay ahead.
In an effort to keep costs in check, more and more restaurants are making salads an add-on, rather than including with dinner. RiverHouse offers a house salad for $1.99 or a side Caesar for $2.49. They also offer your choice of two sides with entrées.
Of course, I complicated matters by asking if a salad could be one of my sides. Val didn't have a problem with that: "Sure, we'll just charge you a dollar more, then."
I chose Caesar — fresh, bite-sized pieces of crisp Romaine lettuce doused with creamy Caesar dressing, shredded Parmesan and small homemade seasoned croutons. The dressing was just OK, and needed something to kick it up a little. Lemon? Garlic? Anchovy?
Entrées were excellent — every one of them.
Linguini with vodka sauce plus the "add shrimp" option ($14.50) was a huge plateful of perfectly cooked pasta, classic pink, creamy sauce and tail-on shrimp buried in the plentiful sauce.
Roast pork ($12.99) was a real down-home comfort dish, nicely cooked and served with cornbread-sausage stuffing (very nice), and red-eye gravy.
Val confirmed our suspicions about the gravy. It's a Southern thing, made with pan drippings and the unusual addition of black coffee, often served over ham.
We all agreed, we've never had a better filet mignon ($18.99). One person at the table commented, "Comparable to what I have paid three times as much for in a fancy steakhouse ..."
The beautiful 8-ounce hunk of tenderloin was wrapped in applewood-smoked bacon, touched with green peppercorn demi-glace and cooked to a perfect medium-rare. The char-gilled flavor came through with each bite.
Sautéed scallops ($16.99) were another winner, and not just any old ordinary sautéed scallops. The scallops were sweet and soft and cooked just right, presented in a sinfully rich, buttery cream sauce with peaches and bacon.
Crab-stuffed sole ($14.99) was most enjoyable. The stuffing utilized herbs that complemented the fish. Rosy hollandaise sauce was judiciously drizzled over the dish. (No idea what made the usually yellow hollandaise rose colored ... a dash of tomato paste, perhaps?)
Finally, an entrée that you'd expect in a fancy big-city restaurant: veal sautéed in Gorgonzola cream sauce ($15.99). It was a masterpiece — beautiful veal in a mellow cheese sauce with diced tomatoes, green onions and toasted pine nuts.
Sides were all good, prepared with care and not the least bit apologetic: fresh vegetables, rice pilaf, garlic mashed, cole slaw and applesauce.
Desserts? All homemade and a half-dozen to choose from. We narrowed it down to two ($4.50 each) to pass around the table: cheesecake was outstanding, lusciously creamy with a drizzle of raspberry sauce; three-layer carrot cake was about the best we've had in a long time.
Dinner for six — four appetizers, six entrées, two desserts, several raspberry iced teas and coffee and tea all around — cost $139 before tip.
A waitperson can sometimes make or break a meal. Val made it for us, one of the most caring and experienced servers we've experienced recently.
There was a slight delay before our entrées came from the kitchen, and she stopped by our table and reminded us that all their dishes are cooked to order.
She was right there with more paper napkins when she noticed we needed them. If a busperson didn't keep our water glasses filled, she found time to top them off.
The bar had a good crowd as we left, with most of the tables and booths filled.
RiverHouse Restaurant in Pulaski is a real find, and just a few minutes off Interstate 81 about halfway between Watertown and Syracuse.
We'll be heading back again soon.
You can contact Walter E. Siebel via e-mail: wsiebel@wdt.net.
RiverHouse Restaurant
4818 Salina St.
Pulaski
509-4281
Great food, great service, great ambiance.
Steak, seafood, chicken, veal, pork and pasta.
HOURS: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday
Noon to 7 p.m. Sunday
Bar/tavern stays open an additional hour during the week;
until midnight Friday and Saturday
Be sure to try: chicken quesadilla, French onion soup, sautéed scallops with peaches, bacon and cream, filet mignon with green peppercorn demi-glace,
Veal sautéed in Gorgonzola cream sauce. Carrot cake is wonderful.
RATING: 4 and one-half forks
