The Times' Long Island Dining once again takes note of the East End restaurant scene, this weekend trying to disprove the notion that the 'Zagat-slighted South Fork' has no good restaurants to offer. The Zagat guide to Long Island restaurants didn't give a top five rating to a single East End restaurant in its latest edition, and the paper's own Robin Finn was out to show Tim and Nina the error of their ways. Enlisting the help of Wölffer Wines' Roman Roth and newspaper-man-about-town Dan Rattiner, Finn began her culinary quest at Sag Harbor's Sen and ended it six meals later up the block at The American Hotel, where she proudly proclaimed 'I am available anytime to help the Zagats eat their words'. Touché.
· Sen, Sag Harbor: 'The sushi here is museum quality; even the water, tweaked by a Tensui system, is super pure.'
· Robert's, Water Mill: 'The loquacious Mr. Rattiner, who prefers his restaurants candlelit, buzz-free and conversation-friendly, selects Robert’s in Water Mill, an ultra-quaint yellow colonial on the site of the original Warren’s Stagecoach Stop, circa 1670.'
· Harvest on Fort Pond, Montauk: 'The portions are Schwarzeneggerian, the sound level Wagnerian. We opt for an entree special, pan roasted monkfish on a bed of baby arugula, lobster, corn and marsala, preceded by three ambitious appetizers.'
· The 1770 House, East Hampton: 'Two entrees are masterworks: the pan-roasted local fluke with asparagus and faro in a lemon caper brown butter and the roasted local sea trout — an impossible fish to find anymore — with chopped peas, braised mushrooms, and a truffle Madeira jus, which explains its $3 supplement.'
· Della Femina, East Hampton: 'Della Femina is to East Hampton every night what La Coupole once was to Paris every Sunday night: a festive see-and-be-seen grand salon decorated by nonstop food.'
· The American Hotel, Sag Habor: 'The special, a Montauk striped bass (has there ever been a bad fish from Montauk?), arrives in a savory lobster sauce. The scallop risotto aux champignons is caramelized to perfection.'
· Six Meals to Prove the Experts Wrong [NYT]