Montauk, New York

fishbar

In the course of an evening on the deck at fishbar, I watched the sky go from azure to twilight blue. Because it was a windy night, the marina view was filtered through plastic flaps. Even so, it was a tableau fit for a picture postcard.

Chef Marco Martelli hails from Florence, but the restaurant comes off as pure Montauk. It's staffed almost entirely by summer people, many of them cheerful college students from Ireland.

Much of the dinner felt like a missed opportunity. Our fritto misto - fried shellfish and zucchini - arrived crisp but lukewarm. A Caprese salad was composed of fresh mozzarella, basil oil and pale icy tomatoes. I was most let down by a watery house-made chitarra pasta with fava beans, peas, basil and Parmesan.

The chef staged a comeback with a special of al dente house-made pappardelle with crabmeat, shrimp and heirloom tomato sauce. Crispy flounder meuniere proved ideal, the fish fresh and delicate. I liked the thick, tender, Tuscan herbed pork chop as well as a plate of lovely grilled sea scallops with lemon and rosemary.

We concluded with a fine trio of house-made desserts: flourless chocolate cake, cheesecake and Key lime pie, all satisfying, if not especially Italian.

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