Long Island Restaurants

Annona

Annona wheels in, cooking with gas. And it's premium.

The handsome new Italian restaurant sits atop the showroom of Manhattan Motorcars of the Hamptons, where your aperitif can be a yellow Lotus.

You'll also smile at the pinstriped-and-autographed Yankee edition Rolls Royce, the $460k Porsche and a stunning Saleen S7 that appears poised to race the space shuttle.

Upstairs, you'll find a smooth, contemporary establishment that's clearly running on all cylinders under chef Sara Jenkins, a veteran of 50 Carmine and I Coppi in Manhattan.

Her menu changes daily and it's a full-throttle affair, offered in a stylish, wheat-hued dining room with colorful artwork that would be just as comfortable in the city as it is in the country.

The windows allow a view of the garden, at a level that quickly transports you from Riverhead Road to a witty, little Italian fantasy. A lot of euros went into this place, and not just for the glass rotunda and the marbleized waterfall.

Annona's real show is on the plate, starting with Jenkins' delectable sweet corn pudding with grilled scallions, and plump seared sea scallops with cherry tomatoes and basil. Nibble on a prosciutto-Parmesan roll, or a square of well-oiled focaccia, and you've already got a savory meal.

Jenkins' heirloom tomato salad underscores summertime in red and yellow. Her roasted baby zucchini, with herbaceous salsa verde and shaved goat cheese, continue the theme.

The fine risotti may be briny-sweet with oysters one day, dotted with peas and squash blossoms the next. Spaghettini with crushed tomatoes and capers easily sparks the appetite. Tagiolini tangle tastefully with spicy mussels, white beans and saffron.

And Jenkins prepares an excellent version of pasta con le sarde, the Sicilian classic with fresh sardines, wild fennel pollen, pine nuts and raisins. It's Palermo on a plate.

Less inviting are the housemade sausages, an underseasoned trio of lamb, pork and chicken, on a hillock of polenta studded with kernels of crunchy corn. The wood-oven roasted lamb, however, is rosy and tender.

But Jenkins' top entree is wood-oven roasted swordfish, thick and moist, under a Mediterranean coverlet of capers, green olives, parsley and preserved lemon. The pan-roasted local striped bass also is elegantly in the swim, with roasted beets and fresh peas.

The housemade gelati and sorbets, with hazelnut biscotti, are the ideal finales. A fresh peach crostata with whipped cream and a wobbly panna cotta drizzled with 25-year balsamic vinegar rev up the competition; the chocolate-lemon tart with crème fraîche and the strawberry shortcake hit the brakes.

But you'll want to travel light.

Make that a Lamborghini -- to go.

Reviewed by Peter M. Gianotti, 8/21/05.

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