Long Island Restaurants

Prime

Three stars top the four-deep bar at Prime. They belong to the dining room.

Big and bold, Prime announces itself with sharp style, smooth service, enticing new American food and enough fanfare to rouse the whole town.

The ambitious, 200-seat restaurant rises smartly on the waterfront site once occupied by CoCo's.

Prime is a holiday spectacular from the Bohlsen family, which also owns Tellers Chophouse in Islip and H2O Seafood Grill in Smithtown. As fine as those establishments are, Prime is the peak.

From the mahogany doors and antique-wood ceiling to the rainbow sandstone, pale brickwork and white marble trim, the new place almost shines: glitter without glitz. The light, soft-hued dining area and the harder-edged bar are part of a deluxe boathouse design with windows on Huntington Bay. Expect alfresco dining in the spring.

Opposite the bar is the open kitchen, where executive chef Richard Farnabe, formerly of Montrachet in Manhattan and a disciple of French superstar Jacques Maximin, crosses borders with fare to suit the handsome surroundings.

He revisits and revives steakhouse staples and sushi bar standbys, adding rich riffs on American and continental classics and playful combinations.

His mellow lobster bisque carries an undercurrent of ginger and lemongrass. Lush Scottish langoustines arrive accented with pumpkin seeds, toasted almonds, pickled peach and sweet wine. Plump, seared sea scallops, on sliced roasted red beets, float along clementine-almond sauce. Miso-glazed cod with corn and jicama tastefully swings east-west. A wild mushroom risotto rivals your favorite Italian restaurant's.

Move east for a spicy lobster roll, vegetable spring roll, oyster tempura and a sashimi plate. Continue with an ample raw bar plateau loaded with lobster, crab, scallop, oysters and clams.

Farnabe's "trinity of lamb" brings together rosemary-crusted loin, barbecued rack and phyllo-wrapped shank meat, all flavorful. The "Tellers rib-eye chop" enters dramatically with a trimmed, foot-long bone nearly mimicking a ship's prow. It's a first-class steak. Exceptionally tender veal loin Parmesan skips the mozzarella in favor of a nutty crust of its namesake cheese.

"The Thermidor" translates into a good, lavish surf-and-turf of filet mignon and lobster. John Dory "Wellington" toys with the theme, layering the pastry-sheathed roulade of delicate fish with slightly overdone foie gras and chanterelles. Pan-roasted, moist Alaskan halibut rests on a union of chestnuts, porcini mushrooms and fingerling potatoes. The best seafood, however, is Dover sole grilled over hickory wood, with roasted fingerling potatoes and caramelized onions. Airy pommes soufflées lead the side dishes.

A milk chocolate-and-peanut butter fondue, served as much with a wink as with marshmallows and more, playfully heads the desserts. Skip the heavy bananas Foster crepes, apple fritters and crème brûlée Napoleon in favor of the pudding-like coffee pot de creme.

This is Prime's time.

Reviewed by Peter M. Gianotti, 12/3/06.

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