Long Island Restaurants

Scrimshaw

Scrimshaw carves an artful niche on the North Fork waterfront.

Jutting like a ship's prow into Preston's Wharf, with the bay lapping on three sides, the new restaurant handsomely embodies Greenport's updated style.

Chef-owner Rosa Ross makes certain that the food matches the prime site, with a delicately turned new American kitchen that stresses local produce. Her Asian and European accents harmonize.

It's a vintage location, at the end of Long Island's wine country. The old, wide-plank floors aren't entirely level, but they do glisten. And they're among the hard surfaces with which voices collide. Scrimshaw gets noisy in a hurry, especially in the barroom.

The more attractive, main dining room naturally keeps to a white-ivory hue, a backdrop for weathered figureheads and illustrations of scrimshaw.

Recommended: For dessert, the panna cotta at Scrimshaw in Greenport with a lid of aged balsamic. (Photo by Gordon M. Grant)

Chef Ross' own intricate handiwork begins with pork, shrimp and bean-curd dumplings in a two-level bamboo steamer. They're a light, satisfying play on dim sum. The crisp spring roll of duck also is very good, accompanied by a snappy tomato chutney.

Well-seasoned tartares of salmon, tuna and snapper arrive wrapped in a ribbon of cucumber, three neat, open-topped packages forming a pyramid around microgreens.

The minimalist roasted-beet and green-lentil salad is refreshing and right; likewise, the combination of shaved fennel and pecorino cheese. The pea- shoot salad hints of the season, with a peppery edge; and an orange-ginger vinaigrette enlivens the union of bitter field greens.

"Scrimshaw chowder" is the thin, white variety, floating mussels, tiny clams, flaky finfish, leeks and potatoes. An alternative: gazpacho to welcome summer with color. The daily pasta may be a lush production of orecchiette in a mellow sauce of eggplant or with a heartier lamb ragout. The thick, apple-stuffed pork chop is moist and delicious, finished with a Calvados-cream sauce that doesn't overdo it.

The fibrous, dry-aged strip steak benefits from a modest spice rub, zesty onion jam and plenty of first-class frites. A plump, juicy duck breast boasts a pleasing undercurrent of Asian spice.

Indian flavoring threads through the diverting salmon curry, atop black rice and organic baby carrots. Sea bass steamed in a leaf of bok choy is the purist's choice, its taste boosted a bit by a tomato and pepper coulis. Kaffir-lime coconut broth elevates a slightly overcooked seafood course, which brings together finfish and shellfish.

Cheese plates are chosen with care and recommended. Nutty Parmigiano-Reggiano with droplets of sweet-pungent, syrup-rich balsamic vinegar is terrific. So's the aged pecorino Toscano drizzled casually with wildflower honey.

Of course, there's Stilton with toasted walnuts. And creamy d'Affinois, melted on fingerling potatoes. Each cheese may be ordered with or without an apropos beverage -- fino sherry for the pecorino, oloroso for the d'Affinois, Port for Stilton and Macari Vineyards' ice wine with the Parmesan.

A singular dessert here is the panna cotta, with a trembling lid of the aged balsamic, which works to cut, contrast and complement. You won't think again of the silky custard simply with chocolate or with fruit.

Or try a disc of warm, Valrhona chocolate cake under a dollop of sweet whipped cream. Poppyseed angel food cake is covered with sake-macerated pineapple and banana; ginger-plum bread pudding, with spiced rum sauce. All delectable.

"Scarlet orange" cheesecake with chocolate sauce seems almost chaste by comparison. Rice pudding with caramelized fruit is on the chunky side and a little dry. A modest cloud of ginger mousse rolls in via a wine glass.

Engraving scrimshaw took lots of leisure time. Enjoy spending yours here.

Reviewed by Peter M. Gianotti, 5/30/03.

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