November 21, 2004

DINING OUT; Good Meals, Better Prices

By JOANNE STARKEY

''LET'S eat out tonight'' is a phrase that has always thrilled me. The diversity of restaurants on Long Island makes dining out especially rewarding, whether it's at a spur-of-the-moment midweek pick-me-up or a gathering of friends on a Saturday night. It can, however, be an expensive habit.

But it doesn't have to break the bank. Here are eight strategies for eating well at good restaurants without having to take out a second mortgage. Strategy No.1: find an inexpensive dish at a restaurant you love and go for it; skip the other courses.

Cittanuova in East Hampton is a stylish Milan-inspired cafe that's great for people-watching. Its flatbread ranks as one of the Island's best pizzas: a grilled, crackly, thin-crusted beauty. Both the sausage, spiked with red pepper flakes, and the wild mushroom, anointed with truffle oil, are first rate.

Aqua Blue in Roslyn has two super pastas at this white-tablecloth Italian. The stars are spaghetti alla nonna laced with black olives, garlic and olive oil, covered with terrific crisply fried zucchini chips and crunchy bread crumbs, and spaghetti with meatballs, a winner with fresh-tasting tomato sauce and dense with small meatballs.

The best Caesar salad on the Island is served at the North Shore Steak House in Great Neck. This made-at-tableside treat costs for two people or $9 for one. With the salad as a main course, sharing a shrimp cocktail ($17), four truly colossal jumbos, and a slice of banana cream pie () still brings the tab to under $20 a person. (More on where to share below.) Steaks are also reasonable and of good quality.

Strategy No.2: choose a place that gives free appetizers and desserts. Italian restaurants lead this list, none more generous than Stresa in Manhasset and Stresa East in Woodbury. Pastas are $17.50 to $19.50; most meat entrees are $20 to $25. The mini-appetizers might be a baby artichoke, stuffed mushroom, eggplant in a light tomato sauce or bruschetta. There's also a dandy basket of warm rolls and reed-thin breadsticks and a relish tray with carrot and celery sticks and olives. Meals end with housemade biscotti.

Strategy No.3: Just as fashion designers offer casual lines, some superstar chefs have a second, more casual restaurant. Such is the case at Panini Cafe at Diane's in Roslyn. John Durkin is the chef of both the more expensive Trattoria Diane and the casual cafe behind the bakery, where no entree is more than . Winners include lamb shank, Tuscan pot roast and roast chicken. My favorite appetizer there is the bruschetta ( to ) with toppings like fava beans or wild mushrooms. Each platter holds four big pieces and could double as an entree.

Strategy No.4: go to lunch instead of dinner. Panama Hatties in Huntington Station, one of the Island's premier restaurants, serves a $21 three-course lunch Monday through Friday. The offerings are not second-stringers, like omelets and wraps, so often found on lunch menus, but dishes also found at dinner. The latest menu has five appetizer choices including a half-dozen oysters or a seared diver scallop with shaved fennel, picholine olives, white grits and mussel broth. The five entrees include seared organic salmon and quinoa-crusted pork tenderloin with porcini mushroom risotto and crisp pancetta. Desserts change daily, but recent offerings included a milk chocolate mousse Napoleon and a roasted apple tart with vanilla ice cream.

The Mill Pond House in Centerport, a stunning steakhouse on the water, also has a memorable lunch deal: a $17 three-course meal that includes a choice of salad or soup (lobster bisque and New England clam chowder among them), 12 entrees (sesame-crusted tuna, lobster ravioli and pan-seared sea scallops in a lemon-caper berry sauce all sound good) and 5 desserts, including apple crisp, chocolate mousse and great gelati.

The Mill Pond House brings up strategy No.5: sharing dishes. It's possible to pass up the three-course lunch and split a lobster roll ($14) when dining here. It comes with great French fries, a small ramekin of cole slaw and a diverse breadbasket with Italian bread and addictive cracker-like flatbreads. The sandwich is divided in the kitchen (at no charge) and each person receives a plate. One time the lobster salad was on a toasted roll, another on grilled Italian bread. Add water views year round and you have a fantastic lunch.

Sharing is a problem at some restaurants, coming with an extra charge (usually $2 to ). Some of these places don't even divide the meal in the kitchen or give you anything for the extra money. Maureen & Daughters Kitchen in Smithtown isn't like that. This breakfast-and-lunch-only spot, famous for huge portions, charges a modest $2.25 sharing fee and gives each person a half sandwich, a pickle and a full portion of bacon-laced potato salad.

Then there are the places where the menu proclaims that dishes are designed to be shared. Baang Cafe in Woodbury has a marvelous crackling calamari salad ($14) with hot chili, lime and miso that towers about eight inches high and makes a great lunch for two.

Strategy No.6: seek out deals. Many restaurants advertise two entrees for the price of one, pasta nights and early birds. But there are early birds and early birds. Two of the best are at the West End Cafe in Carle Place and Pacific East in Amagansett. They are special because diners don't have to eat at 4:30 p.m. Plus, both are top-drawer places with exceptional food. The West End Cafe has a $25 three-course meal served from 5 to 6:45 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 5 to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and all night Sunday (5 to 9 p.m.. The choices are wide and wonderful: seven appetizers including mussels and a Southwestern seafood salad, six entrees with sirloin of lamb, pork chops and lobster and shrimp ravioli and six desserts, which might include bourbon pecan pie, raspberry cheesecake and apple pie.

Pacific East offers a $22 three-course meal all night Thursday, Friday, Sunday and Monday and 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday. There are six appetizers, six entrees and six desserts. Many dishes are pan-Asian, including Bangkok fish cakes with Thai fish sauce and Cambodian cole slaw, an entree of grilled black Angus flank steak with tamarind barbecue sauce and Pacific spiced fries, and sweet sticky rice pudding for dessert.

Strategy No.7: go off-season. Pacific East's early bird special is available more hours at this time of year and is but one example of the deals to be had on the East End out of season. One Ocean in Bridgehampton has a $22 three-course menu offered Monday through Thursday. I recently enjoyed a terrific chicken-barley soup, a flavorful marinated skirt steak and a creamy tiramisù.

Nick & Toni's in East Hampton and the Plaza Cafe in Southampton both offer dinner and a ticket to be used at anytime to a nearby movie house for a set (and reasonable) price. At Nick & Toni's, there is a $25 two-course meal. Diners start with salad and go on to a choice of pasta, risotto, pizza or wood-roasted free-range chicken. At the Plaza Cafe, the tab is $35 but is for a three-course meal. The openers are salad or seafood chowder. Main courses include horseradish-crusted cod, penne Bolognese and herb-marinated chicken. For dessert it's apple-pecan cake or crème brûlée.

Strategy No.8: choose two appetizers. It is rare that appetizers are more than , and they're often the most creative and appealing dishes on the menu. It's a good way to test a restaurant without making a big investment.

Bargain Hunters' Delights

Aqua Blue, 1401 Old Northern Boulevard, Roslyn. (516)484-8860.
Baang Cafe, Woodbury Commons, 8285 Jericho Turnpike (Route 25), Woodbury. (516)692-0809.
Cittanuova, 29 Newtown Lane, East Hampton. (631) 324-6300.
Maureen & Daughters Kitchen, 108 Terry Road, Smithtown. (631)360-9227.
Mill Pond House, 437 Main Street (Route 25A), Centerport. (631)261-7663.
Nick & Toni's, 136 North Main Street, East Hampton. (631)324-3550.
North Shore Steak House, 611 Northern Boulevard (Route 25A), Great Neck. (516)482-3133.
One Ocean, 1 Ocean Road, Bridgehampton. (631)537-5665.
Pacific East, 415 Main Street, Amagansett. (631)267-7770.
Panama Hatties, 872 East Jericho Turnpike (Route 25), South Huntington. (631)351-1727.
Panini Cafe at Diane's, 23 Bryant Ave, Roslyn. (516)621-2522.
Plaza Cafe, 61 Hill Street, Southampton. (631)283-9223.
Stresa, 1524 Northern Boulevard (Route 25A), Manhasset. (516)365-6956.
Stresa East, 7940 Jericho Turnpike (Route 25), Woodbury. (516)364-1565.
West End Cafe, Clocktower Shopping Center, 187 Glen Cove Road, Carle Place. (516)294-5608.