Long Island Restaurants

Zoe

AMERICAN. For nearly nine years, Zoe has been successfully turning out contemporary American food with strong Asian flavors at its popular SoHo location.

The butter-colored stools at the newly designed bar weren't built for comfort, but offered a place to park ourselves while waiting for dinner guests to join us. A specialty drink called The Reggae was a refreshing mix of pineapple juice, light rum, bitters and orange curacao, but came without the freshly grated nutmeg the menu promised. We passed on the bar menu that offered clever individual noshes such as a "spoonful" of seared tuna.

After we were shown to a table in the middle of traffic and asked to be moved, the hostess obliged. We were tucked into a corner of the tiled dining room with a full view of the open kitchen and the large wood-burning oven. While scanning our menus, a woman next to us sang the praises of the roasted butternut squash soup. It proved rich and delicious, topped with a crisp goat cheese wonton. The Vietnamese dipping sauce served alongside Zoe's fried calamari was a welcome diversion from traditional spicy marinara sauce, but the battered calamari were too brittle.

An entree of wood oven-roasted Scottish salmon came with a smoky chanterelle chutney and an earthy mix of faro (a grain similar to barley), jasmine rice, sweet-ish adzuki beans and chopped pistachios. Grilled rare tuna steak was perfectly cooked, accompanied by a vegetable-cashew pancake and tender, miso-glazed Japanese eggplant. The chef's vegetarian offering was delicate, housemade ricotta gnocchi with mushrooms and baby spinach in a truffled Parmesan broth.

Our waiter recommended the cheesecake for dessert and also told us all the sorbets and ice creams were "hand-whipped." White chocolate cheesecake topped with a cranberry compote and a scoop of cranberry sorbet was a favorite finale. A French classic was prepared with a tropical twist: mango-ginger creme brulee with passion fruit-coconut sorbet. For those who indulge in digestifs or spirits, a multi-page list includes brandies, dessert wines, single-malt Scotches and vodkas "served from the freezer."

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