
DATE: Sunday, May 25, 1997                  TAG: 9705230286

SECTION: CAROLINA COAST          PAGE: 14   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: EATING OUT 

TYPE: RESTAURANT REVIEW 

SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: COLINGTON ISLAND                  LENGTH:  101 lines

BRIDGES' HAS EXTENSIVE MENU ALL THE FOOD, EXCEPT THE BREAD, IS PREPARED AT THE RESTAURANT.

About two miles west of the Wright Brothers Monument, nestled between rose gardens and wooden crab shedders, a little eatery awaits discovery way off the well-beaten beach path.

Bridges Restaurant has been open for years. But this winter, former Chilli Peppers restaurant owner Bryan Oroson bought the 48-seat building on Colington Road. Oroson and his father remodeled Bridges - inside and out. They added a bar on the screened porch where folks can wind down after work or wait for dinner. And Chef Kevin Walsh, who has been at Bridges for seven years, rewrote the restaurant's entire menu.

Old favorites like soft shell crabs and sauteed shrimp are still offered. But Walsh is dressing them up differently now. And he's added an array of Black Angus beef, racks of spare ribs and even specials including American lamb.

``We want to get away from the seafood connotation,'' Oroson said. ``About a third of our menu is still seafood. But we're trying to provide our customers with really good steaks - and we're moving aggressively in that direction.''

Bridges' menu is three pages long - not including the 30 wine selections. Offerings are diverse, from sauteed wild mushroom cake appetizers to a veggie enchilada tower layered with cheese, smoked pepper coulis and green chile.

``We have different appetizer, salad and dinner specials each night, too,'' Walsh said.

``And the potatoes change nightly. There's a million things you can do with a potato - so why always bake it?''

The walls inside Bridges have been whitewashed with a sea blue stripe stretching along the bottom. Each table is covered in white linen, with a single blush rose in a crystal-stemmed wine glass in the center. Big plants brush against the wide windows. And unframed paintings and mirrors play for attention around the rectangular room. Simple elegance prevails.

While dining at Bridges recently with some friends, I was excited to find my favorite appetizer: she crab soup ($3.75). Loaded with hand-picked lump crabmeat and lightly seasoned, the soup was creamy - but thinner than most she crab stock. The bowl - like all portions at Bridges - was big.

My friend Russell decided to sample the soup of the day: a rich portabello mushroom with pesto ($3.25). It was marvelous. A creamy mushroom base was accented and augmented by the pesto's basil flavor - and the slight hint of minced garlic that lingered on the pallate.

We ordered a bottle of 1994 St. Supery Merlot with dinner ($26). The California wine was silky and great for sipping. An oaky flavor floated through.

For supper, I selected a seafood platter of the day ($16.95) and my husband tried grilled rainbow trout ($15.95). Each came with two hushpuppies, a mountain of buttery mashed potatoes adorned with a sprig of fresh basil, and a colorful medley of steamed strips of yellow and green squash and yellow and red peppers.

``All the food we serve here is made here - except the bread,'' Oroson said. We could tell. That was the only part of the meal we didn't like. Sourdough rolls were stacked in a basket - still cold. When we ordered a second basket, hoping for buns warm enough to melt the butter, we got cold rolls again.

But the dinners were delicious. My platter contained a saucer-sized, pan-seared crab cake - light, not too bready and chock-full of crab. Three big blackened shrimp, with their tails still on, circled the sides of the plate. And a dolphin fillet the size of my hand was crusted in corn and pan sauteed.

The crowning glory of the group, however, was the sauce. A key lime beurre blanc made of white wine, butter, shallots, lemon juice and, of course, the zesty key lime was drizzled on the plate - not the food. It brought the white, flaky dolphin meat to life and also tasted great on the potatoes.

My only complaint was that there wasn't enough - I could have eaten an entire bucket of that sauce.

Dan's trout tasted as fresh as the ones we catch and cook when we're camping. Tender, smoky and grilled to perfection, it was prepared simply.

Dessert was to die for.

Walsh specializes in homemade ice cream. And I never need any convincing to try chocolate anything. So the nightly dessert offering of homemade tollhouse chocolate chip ice cream covered with fudge and cinnamon whipped cream ($3.50) sounded like it had been churned up just for me. Served in a tall parfait glass with fresh mint leaves perched atop the cinnamon-dusted whipped cream, it also had candied walnuts and - for once - plenty of chocolate.

We left Bridges full and happy - and glad that we'd found such a sweet little spot tucked into the trees on Colington Island. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON

Bryan Oroson, owner, and Kevin Walsh, chef, of Bridges Restaurant in

Colington.

Graphic

AT A GLANCE

What: Bridges Restaurant

Where: Colington Road, about 2 miles west of the bypass

When: Dinner 5 to 10:30 p.m. nightly

Cost: Entrees from $10.95 to $19.95

Drinks: Beer, wine, sodas, tea, coffee, espresso, cappuccino

Credit Cards: MasterCard, VISA, American Express, Discover

Handicapped accessible: Ramp to front door, lip on doorframe,

bathrooms with wide doors and rails