Aug 29, 2008
| Search | NASSAU: North Shore | South Shore | SUFFOLK: North Shore | South Shore | Hamptons | North Fork | Pine Barrens | Weather |
Aug 29, 2008 |
| ||||||
| |||||||
|
If you like Michaels' at the Boardwalk, you also may want to try:
George Martin
65 N. Park Ave. Rockville Centre 516-678-7272
Wild Fin
|
The stellar chef's new restaurant already is a magnet for diners. Enjoy the relaxed spot, the confident kitchen, the next wave.
Michaels' continues using the misplaced apostrophe, an idiosyncratic tribute to its related eatery, Michaels' at Maidstone Beach in East Hampton. But Meehan, who starred at Mill River Inn in Oyster Bay and Tupelo Honey in Sea Cliff, among others, prepares very satisfying food punctuated with precision.
Comfortable and unpretentious, Michaels' embodies the American bistro style: light walls, dark banquettes, hardwood floor, framed mirrors, oversize black-and-white photos both personal and local, a handsome bar.
Meehan's menu begins with a delectable, barely bound crab cake, flanked by a black-eyed pea salad and a lemon-mustard riff on remoulade. Plump, fried local oysters are crisp, drizzled with tomato-lime tartar sauce, set on their corn relish-filled shells.
His "Buffalo-style" rock shrimp offer crunch, tender shellfish and blue-cheese dressing, all of which could make you forget about chicken wings.
Meehan playfully adds a husky opener of grilled "Polish Town Kielbasa" paired with warm potato salad. Lighten up with the excellent salad of Satur Farm baby spinach, goat cheese, roasted red peppers and toasted pumpkin seeds.
Spring pea bisque with white truffle oil arrives as a generous cupful of the season, a little grainy, but true. Skip the pizzette. If you want an Italian turn, try the ideal linguine with white clam sauce, a very flavorful number with tender local shellfish.
Meehan's "free range chicken potpie" is loaded with tender meat and vegetables, under a floating chive biscuit crust that gives the homey affair a savory finish. The chef's meatloaf-and-mashed potatoes continues the theme, pleasantly enough.
Among the photos decorating Michaels' is one of the Big Duck. Meehan's own is a roasted Crescent Farm bird, juicy and meaty, boosted by cranberry-pear conserve, wild rice, and a lush merlot sauce. Fine, cedar-planked Atlantic salmon glistens with lemon-chive beurre blanc.
Shell steak, bone-in rib-eye, filet mignon and a Berkshire pork chop also vie for your attention, along with the white Cheddar-topped "Main Street burger."
After all this Americana, Meehan sends out a variation on tarte Tatin and an outstanding maple creme brulee. Or, you can stick with a cupcake-like flourless chocolate cake, tangy Key lime pie or a sweet pecan square with vanilla ice cream.
Currently, Michaels' backs onto a parking lot. Close by is the Peconic River. And the future.
Reviewed by Peter M. Gianotti, 4/15/07.
Hours: Dinner every day, from 5 to 10 p.m. Lunch, Monday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Sunday brunch 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday Brunch 11 to 3. Weekend dinner reservations recommended.