Long Island Restaurants

Fiddleheads

Fiddleheads goes after the big fish -- and usually lands it.

The seafood house recently changed owners. But the style is the same. And, more important, David Glatzerman continues to oversee the kitchen with fine results.

Finding a consistently good spot for seafood ironically is one of the perpetual quests for diners on Long Island. For years, you could count the recommendations on a pair of harpoons.

Under Glatzerman, the "American Fish House & Grill" enters the top tier of locals, with splashingly fresh and often refreshing food prepared with skill and imagination.

It's served unpretentiously in dining areas full of playful, sunny shades. The mood is as easygoing and casual as the cuisine is thoughtful and precise.

Glatzerman's clam chowder, a cousin of the New England variety, arrives generous, marine and mellow. His gumbo definitely delivers the heat as well as the layered flavors of the New Orleans favorite.

The chef turns New American with five-spice seasoned tuna, rare and paired with mango and seaweed salsas, shining under a soy-shallot vinaigrette; and a lively salad of lobster, goat cheese and asparagus, finished with a Dijon mustard-and-grapefruit vinaigrette.

Rock-shrimp tempura and the Louisiana "crab pancake" with fried tomatoes have less appeal, as do the lobster bisque and the semolina-dusted calamari.

Instead, consider the grilled seafood salad, brightened by a blood-orange vinaigrette; or the salad of Port-poached pears, with spinach, toasted pecans and Gorgonzola cheese, sparked by a black-currant vinaigrette.

Glatzerman sends out a lively spin on surf-and-turf, pairing a tender, grilled flatiron steak with sweet, sauteed skate wing. It's better than the overdone "bbq spiced" pork loin, with sweet potatoes and pineapple-macadamia nut slaw.

The tropical theme plays best with grilled swordfish, accented with banana salsa and flanked by grilled vegetables. Turn Asian with the artfully arranged, full-flavored chile-dusted yellowfin tuna, accompanied by udon noodles and vegetables in a red-miso pool with seaweed salad.

Crunchy soft-shell crabs get a boost from a bacon-infused vinaigrette. A spicy red sauce with a fistful of herbs juices up the satisfactory calamari atop linguine.

The six-layer coconut cake and the parfait-like triple chocolate mousse head the desserts. Skip the warm apple crisp cone, a collision of concepts. The updated s'more, with lush, dark chocolate-chunk ice cream, is fun.

Come aboard.

Reviewed by Peter M. Gianotti, 10/28/07.

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