The Alva Restaurant at Vanderbilt Hall

Live like a baron, if just for dinner

by Johnette Rodriguez

41 Mary St., Newport, 846-6200
Open Mon-Thurs, 6-9:30 p.m; Fri., Sat until 10 p.m.; Sun, 5-7:30 p.m.
Major credit cards
Access upon request

If your excursion to Newport includes a trip to the Breakers or Marble House, and you're in the mood for dining with the Vanderbilts, so to speak, head for the Alva Restaurant at Vanderbilt Hall. This mini-mansion was built in1909 by Alfred Vanderbilt, in honor of his father Cornelius, and was donated to Newport as a YMCA, complete with subterranean swimming pool and gymnasium. In recent years, it had languished as a storage house for Newport's Restoration Foundation until a partnership, headed by Grant Howlett, bought the building in 1996 and began to restore it in the manner of a country house hotel.

Each step of your entrance into Vanderbilt Hall takes you back to the Gilded Age in Newport: the double curving stairways in the lobby (leading up to rooms in the inn portion of the hall), the burled walnut grand piano in the music room, the comfortable couches and easy chairs in the lounge, the tiger-oak paneling and large fireplace in the main dining room. Wait, are we still on the mansion tour? No, a waiter is helping me into an upholstered high-backed chair, removing a brass napkin ring and expertly flicking a soft linen napkin into my lap and handing me a menu. We settle into the plushness of dining at Alva (the first two letters of Albert's first and last names).

Chefs Lee Hillson and Sean Chayer offer a prix fixe seasonal menu for $55, which includes canapes, soup, a fish course, sorbet, a main course, dessert and coffee with petit fours -- the complete line-up. Items from the a la carte menu may be substituted into the courses of the prix fixe, or your entire dinner can be ordered a la carte, which is what my husband Bill and I opted to do.

Compliments of the chef, we were served a delicious oyster gratinee, baked with leeks, champagne and a sprinkle of bread crumbs. Next, we shared a lobster bisque, which had been nicely divided into two separate portions and was unlike any of its pale New England cousins. We savored this deep bronze soup with our Reed & Barton silver spoons, from Wedgewood china bowls. The bisque's strong seafood stock, with a hint of brandy and pieces of fresh lobster, tickled our palates in many different ways.

Other appetizers at Alva currently include foie gras, crab timbale, scallop ravioli and wild mushroom risotto, and the between-course sorbets are gin and tonic or pink champagne and grape.

From the nine classic entrees, which ranged from lobster thermidor ($29) and roast halibut ($19.50) to Newport bouillabaisse ($28.50) and Chateaubriand ($52 for two), we picked out the tagliatelle noodles with Alfredo sauce ($12.50) and the pan-fried red snapper ($22). The tagliatelle was rich and creamy, sprinkled with diced sweet red and yellow peppers. Bill was well-satisfied with his choice.

The snapper was swimming atop a molded mound of saffron potato puree with sauteed peapods and cherry tomatoes in the moat below. The latter were garlicky and sweet, a nice accent to the mild potatoes and fish. For me, this dish was marred somewhat by the lukewarm temperature of the potato puree.

Three of the six desserts, which are housemade, were creatively tipsy: carmelized apples with Calvados ice cream; a brandy basket of sorbets; and blackberry and Pernod tart. I went for the ginger and lime parfait, wrapped in a lace tuile biscuit.

This turned out to be the French incarnation of "parfait," not the American layered style. A frozen custard made with egg yolks, sugar whipped cream and flavorings, this molded cylinder perched inside a lacy cookie, topped with slivered candied ginger, orange peel and lime peel. Decorating the plate were triangles of raspberry sauce outlined with chocolate syrup.

The waitstaff showed a nice blend of formal serving and friendly repartee, though the progress of the meal slowed to a halt at times. Instead of leaving the size of the tip to diners, Alva's includes an 18 percent gratuity in your bill.

For another glimpse at life with the Vanderbilts before you leave, check out the glassed-in conservatory, the trompe d'oeil in a corner of the dining room, the billiard room and muraled pool room downstairs. The latter, especially, transport you to a time of taken-for-granted luxury, even in what was once a YMCA.