Long Island Restaurants

The Delano Mansion

The classic and the new have taken up residence in The Delano Mansion. You should move in tonight, too.

Go up the curving, marble staircase to the second floor of the big old house, where veteran restaurateurs and chefs have created a polished dining room for grown-ups.

Sorry, Miley; later, Lindsay.

That alone makes The Delano Mansion almost seem cutting-edge while eateries are announced with a shout and a squeal, only to be a flash in the frying pan.

But this isn't a musty set from "Masterpiece Theatre," either. It's a comfortable, confident spot, unfussy and unpretentious, full of good taste, usually in the surroundings and especially on the plate.

The newcomer had been The Mansion at the Woodlands, Passionfish and a few others over the last two decades. Lots of catering went on, and you still may arrive just before a bridal party.

But the occasional strain of baroque music is about all the catering rooms and the restaurant share.

The Delano Mansion is overseen by Joseph Scalice, whose gracious professionalism diners might remember from March and La Colombe d'Or in Manhattan. Service is attentive but not intrusive, accommodating but not overbearing.

In the kitchen, John DeLoach, whose resumé includes La C"te Basque, is chef de cuisine, joining executive chef Dave Salony.

Their establishment offers a triptych menu: New American dishes, "simply prepared" fare, and a center section devoted to regional cuisine. In April it was Provencal; this month, Tuscan.

And you could get the flavor of authenticity in a mellow combination of eggplant, goat cheese, ripe tomato and basil; or in the gratin of scallops, with capers, peppers and tomatoes.

But the kitchen is equally adept with crab cakes, meaty ones flanked by sauce rémoulade; a satisfying shrimp cocktail; or a frisee-and-fennel salad juiced up with pink grapefruit, roasted shiitake mushrooms and citrus vinaigrette.

There are a few letdowns: overdone mussels in basil butter; bland fettuccine with scallops and fava beans; a tough mini-baguette.

Then, main courses jump-start with bacon-wrapped monkfish finished in a vermouth-peppercorn sauce; and walnut-crusted rack of lamb with au gratin potatoes.

Stuffed, roasted and sliced chicken byaldi turns French with ratatouille and a spin on sauce Grenobloise. Chilean sea bass "bouillabaisse" and saffron risotto come together for an aromatic, continental duet.

Wild rice risotto complements the pan-roasted Muscovy duck breast, fashioned a l'orange but with a hint of Thai spice. The strip steak and "cowboy" rib-eye are tender, either béarnaise or au poivre.

You'll be sipping varied, well-chosen and fairly priced wines, by the glass or the bottle, from aperitif to dessert.

The finales range from an exceptional crème brûlée and an updated chocolate-mousse Napoleon to a dry, cakelike blueberry cobbler and a peanut-butter milkshake pie that only broadens the repertoire.

Chocolate truffles arrive on cue. You depart ready to return.

Reviewed by Peter M. Gianotti, 6/5/08.

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