August 4, 2009

Mezzaluna

Amagansett has become what East Hampton was about 15 years ago. A handful of restaurants, galleries, a book store, a yoga studio, bakery, etc. It is still one of the more mellow towns out on the East End of Long Island, IMHO, but has become more of a destination location. Like it or not, the choices that the town has made has been probably good for the tax base.

Mezzaluna opened a few weeks ago taking over the old space of Gordon's that had become a permanent fixture where people used to actually dress for dinner. I believe the Mezzaluna in Soho (as well as the UES) is related to the new one in Amagansett. The first time I had dinner at the Mezzaluna in Soho was when it first opened some 20 years ago. At that point, it was a cash only situation which I was not aware of. I took a few clients there for dinner and when the bill came and I put out my card and they said cash only, I freaked. At this point, ATM's were not abundant as they are now in every deli corner. I gave them my card, apologized for the mistake and told them I would be back tomorrow with the cash. They couldn't have been nicer, I returned the next day, and gave them the cash. After that, I did go back a few times, how could I not?

I figured I should check out the new Mezzaluna in town, Amagansett. Granted the joke between everyone out here is I hope it isn't the same as every other restaurant, just okay, but lets have high hopes. We were not the only people giving the place a try last night. I went with a friend and there was a bunch of people we both knew there last night who were trying it out for the first time too.

They did a great job with the decor. Simple, light woods, airy, clean. Nice station from the bar to the restaurant where the guy is flipping pizza dough and you can see the wood burning oven. The menu is pricey but what isn't out here. The guy running the place is a bit overwhelmed and that is not a pretty sight on a weekend night. They have also opened up a club/hotel around the corner. A nice bonus is that the art in the place is from local artists. Our friend, Matt Satz, who is a local artist has a group of pieces around the pizza station. Really nice that they supported the arts here which is such a big part of this community.

The bread basket came out first. All the bread was stale, inedible. I put that aside because the couple we were sitting next to, I actually knew, and they told us the bread was going to be stale so my disappointment was already past. The food, actually pretty good. We split the grilled calamari that was rolled up with jalapenos and a small salad of arugula and sliced tomatoes on the side. The salad wasn't great but the calamari was really tasty and cooked perfectly. For dinner, I had the fish special. A piece of swordfish, cooked in the wood burning oven over grilled asparagus sitting in a classic Italian sauce with capers and cherry tomatoes. It was also really tasty and well cooked. My friend went with the veal that had been pounded, breaded and then a mixed salad over the top. Well done. The pizzas coming out of the oven looked quite good too.

Bottom line, I will return but based on the insanity in the summer month of August, I will probably either go early in the week or in the off-season.