I remember staring at the menu with trepidation. The most appealing sandwich was portobello, and ringing in my ears was the woeful lament of a buddy about that very sandwich he'd had a few days earlier at another restaurant: mushroom rubbery, focaccia as dry as two shingles baking on a Tuscan roof. But when my sandwich arrived and I took a bite, I knew I was a world away from culinary disasters. A big, juicy mushroom cap with roasted red peppers, tomato slices, and mixed baby greens, between soft, herbed focaccia. Even the accompanying French fries were special, flour-coated for extra crunch, and the price was $6.95. Why, I asked myself, did I forget how much I'd enjoyed that humongous heap of nachos at Yesterday's years before?

This was last summer. This year at the film festival in Newport, once again looking for a quick and informal place to eat near the theaters, the Washington Square restaurant beckoned. The Place, a small and pricey upscale restaurant, is upstairs, past the wine bar. But to your left is Yesterday's. The décor includes enlarged photographs of Woodrow Wilson and lesser-known gentlemen of a century ago, as well as frosted designs on mirrors, dark-wood booths, philodendrons, and ficus. As you might expect from the saloon atmosphere, three dozen beers are offered, nearly two dozen on tap. Considering the wine bar of the fancy restaurant a few steps away, wine selections are more than adequate.

Sandwiches and salads are the mainstay. Some of the latter ($6.95-$9.95) show originality, such as one with marinated grilled lamb and a Cobb salad with barbecued chicken and a buttermilk-cayenne dressing. A small side salad is only a buck and a half.

Sandwiches and Black Angus burgers are also prominent and numerous, to go along with those mugs of suds. Again, more than the usual suspects are available. The Yesterday's signature chicken sandwich ($6.50) is served in a pita pocket with spinach and herbed mayo as well as bacon and Swiss cheese. Their turkey wrap ($6.50) is slathered with red pepper jam. You can order your roast beef sandwich with this intriguing condiment and Boursin cheese ($7.25), or open-faced under Szechuan sauce ($7.95).

Yesterday's also wants to do things its own way where you'd least expect it. This can work both ways. Get a cup of their spicy chili ($3.25) and atop the kidney beans and ground meat you'll find the Monterey jack cheese baked golden. Nice touch. However, unaccountably, the menu declares that the French onion soup au gratin ($3.25) is not, as is usually done, baked. Go figure.

Though there are only nine entrées, the category is not an afterthought. The prices are reasonable -- and not just for Newport. The most expensive item is New York sirloin at $17.95. Ten ounces, in a Cajun marinade and with a barbecued shrimp skewer as a lagniappe. Other dishes are done with imagination as well. The lamb loin ($16.95) has a mint demi-glace -- so far, so conventional -- but it's served en croûte, in a puff pastry shell. Unusually, there's only one pasta on the menu, a "pasta of the evening." (On our two visits, it came with grilled pork and mushrooms one time, and scallops the other.)

Johnnie chose the sea scallops ($15.95), which were baked with a crust of those coarse Japanese panko breadcrumbs, in white wine and butter. She enjoyed them but wished that the accompanying rice pilaf had been warmer. Both our dishes came with a medley of vegetables that included snow peas and baby carrots.

I didn't do as well with an entrée that sounded appealing from every announced element: pistachio-crusted pork tenderloin with Asian plum sauce ($14.95). The sweet and spicy sauce was tangy but mostly sweet, overwhelming the quieter taste of the pistachios -- maybe ground walnuts would have worked better. But the main disappointment was how much I had to work on the two cutlets, which were pretty chewy for something with "tender" in their description.

For dessert, we considered the three that were kitchen-made: warm pecan tart ($5.25), hot apple cake ($3.50), and bread pudding ($3.50). Our waiter's favorite was the Mississippi Mud "Chubbie" cake, which is topped with fudge chunks as well as chocolate ganache. (Trust this waitstaff: even at fancy-schmancy restaurants that are as overstaffed as they are overpriced, I haven't witnessed swifter spotting and removing of dirty dishes.) Our choice of their delicious bread pudding ($3.50) was a good one. My counterpart was amazed at how light it was.

Which is to say that we returned for lunch the next day. Yep. We both had portobello sandwiches.

Bill Rodriguez can be reached at billrod@reporters.net.

Issue Date: June 21 - 27, 2002