Irish ayes

Have a jigger at RiRa, laddie

By Jill Strauss

RIRA: a good place to score some craic.

When Irish-born and raised Alan McGrath, former chef at Fore Street and Commissary, visited RiRa in Providence, Rhode Island a year ago, he became so spellbound by the Irish ambience he encountered, he almost forgot he was in America. “I thought when I stepped out of that pub I would be walking on O’Connell Street in Dublin,” McGrath confessed to me recently. That wonderfully disorienting experience convinced McGrath to join the RiRa family and become executive chef of the newest link in the growing chain. There are two RiRas in the south and, with the addition of RiRa on 72 Commercial Street in Portland, three in New England. Each RiRa is somewhat unique since the pubs are one-of-a-kind and the chefs are encouraged to use local produce and adjust the menu somewhat to appeal to local tastes. But all five RiRas adhere to the same Irish Pub Criteria: incorporate genuine Irish pub architecture; hire friendly and (whenever practical) Irish staff; and feature Irish tunes, Irish food, and last, but not least, Irish drink.

When you open the cobalt blue doors of RiRa you have some choices. You can go right into the dark and dingy ‘shop pub,’ accented with rusty tin beer and cigarette posters. This pub reminds McGrath of the more rural bars he likes to frequent in his hometown of Cork. “That’s where you see a local farmer having his pint and his whiskey while his tractor’s out front with his sheep dogs.”

If rural doesn’t really appeal to you, however, turn left when you walk in and frequent the brighter and brassier Victorian area. The paneling used in the bar counter is circa 1880, originally part of the cashier counter at Allied Irish Bank in Dublin. The back bar fixture came from Fallon’s, a chemist whose place of business was on Dublin’s Grafton Street.

While you’re waiting for your Guinness to settle and darken, feast your eyes on the tea cups and crock pots, model ships and lanterns, apothecary bottles and baby buggies, old clocks, and mounted game animals that fill up every available nook and cranny. Listen to Terry explain why he, unlike other bartenders at RiRa, does not shape a shamrock in the foam of your perfect pint: “Shamrocks belong in the field, love.” But really the most important thing you should do if you pull up a stool at the bar of RiRa is indulge in the “craic.” That’s pronounced, “crack” and it’s an Irish expression for good, fun conversation amongst equals — “the gift of the gab” — “the Blarney.” Make sure you go early, however. I got there one Thursday evening at 5:30 and every stool at every bar, even every plush leather seat by the real roaring fireplace upstairs, was taken.

All of this ri-ra (devilment or good fun) will whet your appetite, and if you’re partial to traditional Irish comfort food such as Irish Lamb Stew or Braised Beef, you will be more than satisfied. The Braised Beef recipe comes from McGrath’s mother and it is one of the most labor-intensive dishes on the menu. After the kitchen staff trims all the meat it is seared and then braised with roasted veal stock and Guinness.

If you enjoy fish as I do, I suggest you forgo the seared smoked salmon appetizer. It is a thick square of Duck Trap’s finest, which, I suppose, must be cut thick if it is to be seared. This treatment is wasted on me, however, since searing a fat piece of smoked salmon brings out a strong flavor and a chewy texture that is both weird and unpleasant. You can’t go wrong with the crispy fish and chips, however. McGrath uses fresh hake (which is a more delicate tasting fish than haddock) that he coats lightly in beer batter and fries quickly in vegetable oil.

A most innovative and attractive entree that is served upstairs — where you can request a table by the patio doors and take in the views of the working harbor — is seared scallops with arugula pesto couscous. McGrath uses large grain couscous and after cooking it separately, adds it to a mixture of reduced cream, arugula pesto, a dash of lemon juice, salt, and pepper. The couscous mixture actually tastes more like risotto and the contrasting flavors and textures (bitter greens, creamy grains, and caramelized scallops) are delightful.

You don’t have to rely solely on Guinness to wash down all this food. There are 17 other beers and 14 (primarily Californian) wines to choose from. Desserts are not terribly exciting (apple crisp and pots de crème, for example) but simple pleasures can be rewarding.

“Not all that long ago, it wasn’t cool to be associated with Irish culture,” says David Kelly, a native of Ireland, a former Guinness employee, and one of the owners of RiRa. Part of what contributed to Irish culture’s unpopularity, Kelly notes, was the creation of cheap and poorly executed imitations of Irish pubs that are still rampant in Europe. Kelly and his partner Ciaran Sheehan strive for “the other extreme.” They say they want to serve Americans high quality and fairly priced Irish food and drink in the context of authentic Irish atmosphere. Certainly, they have achieved their goal.

Jill Strauss can be reached at straussj@adelphia.net.