Long Island Restaurants

Tweeds Restaurant & Buffalo Bar

An enormous buffalo head lords over the bar at Tweed's, a relatively new Riverhead restaurant that feels like a very old one. Located in the historic J.J. Sullivan Hotel, Tweed's is named for New York City machine politician Boss Tweed; John J. Sullivan, the hotel's original owner and namesake, was a member of Tammany Hall.

The restaurant is decorated in a clubby American Victorian style, reflecting the background of its first owner and the occupation of present-day proprietor Edwin Fishel Tuccio, who owns a nearby bison farm. (It's not Tuccio's bison you'll be eating, however, since he raises his herd for breeding purposes only.)

Unlike many other red meats, bison is low in fat and calories, and extremely lean. That's why it's important to order it on the rare side. It can come overcooked, but if the kitchen is careful, you'll have something succulent and flavorsome. A bison burger, available midday, is a juicy treat. So is an evening entree of grilled bison with a mushroom cognac cream sauce, although it can lose both heat and juices since it comes to table already sliced.

In the realm of non-bison items, an appetizer of crab cakes is savory enough, if a trifle bready, accompanied by a terrific roasted red pepper tartar sauce. Mesclun salad with Gorgonzola cheese and dried cherries is sabotaged by a lollipop-sweet raspberry vinaigrette, but Caesar salad is garlicky, creamy and fine.

You'll be impressed with an entree of sauteed chicken, juicy bone-in quarters, with a lusty green peppercorn mustard sauce. Grilled salmon perched atop a fragrant tomato orange beurre blanc, works well. A pasta special of lobster ravioli with grilled shrimp in shallot cream sauce tastes assertively of lobster.

For dessert, a house-made chocolate creme brule is deeply chocolaty and luxurious. Apple strudel, served warm, satisfies. Best, though, is a square-shaped piece of pecan pie.

From the rather noisy weekend crowd, it's easy to deduce that Tweed's is a popular local gathering place. Hotel rooms upstairs have been refurbished and restored. J.J. Sullivan would be pleased.

-- Joan Reminick

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