Long Island Restaurants

Tellers Chophouse

Tellers Chophouse, the South Shore's palace of porterhouse and rib-eye, has an imaginative, new chef who's updated the menu. Don't worry.

Alan Kwan, whose experience includes stints at Gary Danko in San Francisco and Picasso in Las Vegas, comes bearing mango sauce and red pepper romesco, hoisin and saffron aioli. But the energetic Kwan knows his meat and potatoes.

The gingerly changes at Tellers are in subtle additions and clever twists, broadening the repertoire without forgetting the restaurant's basics.

Neither the look nor the style has been altered. The reborn bank building boasts a dramatic, three-story-high dining room, art deco friezes, six-foot sconces, appropriately tall windows. And those pricey, well-chosen wines remain in the vault.

Kwan playfully gets going with a steakhouse-size version of yellowtail ceviche, with each half-moon piece a hefty rebuke to all those mini-choppings elsewhere. His excellent crab cakes arrive with that mango sauce and green papaya rather than fennel and red pepper sauce.

Tingling wasabi-infused creme fraiche threatens to overwhelm the lush tuna sashimi. Use it sparingly. Roquefort "fondue" and a riff on Catalan romesco accompany the skewers of sometimes chewy beef tenderloin. Chipotle pepper sauce and avocado-cilantro salad flank the lobster quesadilla.

To traditionalists who haven't stopped reading by now: the crabmeat, lobster and shrimp cocktails are still big and good, the seafood tower rises high, and the tomato-and-onion combo isn't undone by goat cheese.

Moreover, Tellers sends out its knockout, bone-in rib-eye steak, generous porterhouse and velvety filet mignon with very satisfying results. The Tellers Delmonico benefits from truffle-butter sauce; the strip steak au poivre, less so from a modest au poivre.

An updated surf-and-turf pairs a petit filet mignon with shrimps and cavatappi pasta, in a mozzarella-driven, creamy tomato sauce.

The "millennium lobster," a hit here and at Smithtown's H2O, also owned by the Bohlsen family, is a spicy, pan-fried spectacle on whipped potatoes. More subtle choices: halibut "bouillabaisse," with the right hint of anise; and sauteed black bass, with chanterelles and thyme-onion jus. Dover sole meuniere: bye.

On the side, the winners range from creamed spinach and macaroni-and-cheese to root vegetables and hash browns, better without than with pieces of lobster.

These days, Grand Marnier enhances the crème brûlée; Häagen-Dazs vanilla, the warm chocolate cake. But that's as inspired as it gets. Skip the candy-like chocolate-caramel mousse and the overheated apple-berry crisp in favor of cheesecake. Or share a big, messy ice cream sundae for two.

Kwan must be working on something else.

Reviewed by Peter M. Gianotti, 3/18/07.

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