Long Island Restaurants

PeraBell Food Bar

You might also want to check out: Horace & Sylvia's Publick House 100 Deer Park Ave. Babylon, 631-587-5081 American Cafe 5 School St. Glen Cove 516-656-0003

It means something when the waitstaff at a restaurant - especially a new one - has eaten just about everything on its menu.

"What's your opinion of the ahi tuna tartare?" a member of our party asked the waitress at PeraBell Food Bar.

"I may be addicted to it; it's that good," she said.

Another friend was torn between ordering shrimp New Orleans and tilapia almondine.

"Tilapia, for sure," came the unequivocal response.

It would be one thing if the recommendations didn't pan out. But they all did.

Which doesn't mean that PeraBell is perfect. On a busy weekend evening, the bar area in front can be jam-packed and noisy. In the cramped rear dining space, tables are small (don't even think of coming without a reservation), and if you're near the window, chilly, too. I found no lack of warmth, however, from the staff.

It's a tightly knit crew, according to chef and co-owner John Peragine, whose partner, manager Scottie Campbell, has been a pal since high school. Peragine, who cooked under chef Pino Luongo at Coco Pazzo in New York and Philadelphia, brings a sure hand to an eclectic American menu.

His ahi tuna and mango tartare is one case in point. Topped with seaweed salad and surrounded by wonton chips, the fresh cubes of fish and tropical fruit virtually sparkled on the tongue. Peragine put an Asian spin on softly braised short ribs finished with a Thai glaze. His chicken and zucchini lettuce wraps, unlike the classical Chinese version, made with iceberg, use leaves of hydroponic Bibb lettuce, pliable as tortillas.

He also knows how to feed the yen for something unabashedly American. Juicy char-grilled "pop" mini-burgers, topped with pickle, tomato and scallions, come on little brioche rolls, accompanied by crisp shoestring fries. I enjoyed them almost as much as the baked mac and cheese, crunchy on top and laced with bacon and chives. Is there anything bacon doesn't elevate?

Peragine's only flub turned out to be pan-seared tuna that had lingered in the pan too long to qualify as rare, glazed with a pedestrian "Oriental" sauce. Compensation came in the accompanying vegetable and rock shrimp-studded fried rice. I was more partial to a special of seared sea bass with a chive beurre blanc and lobster and sweet pea risotto. Salmon, wearing a topcoat of horseradish and mashed potatoes, was plated over a piquant mustard sauce and sauteed spinach.

Garlic spinach accompanied the simple and successful crisp-crusted roasted chicken with rosemary and shallot mashed potatoes. A grilled pork chop, ridiculously thick and juicy, came with a Thanksgiving-y stuffed apple and roasted potatoes, good on a wintry night. And, as the waitress had predicted, the nut-crusted tilapia almondine, sauteed in brown butter and served with a sweet potato puree, was gratifying.

As a finale, a warm brownie sundae would have been infinitely better had it come with freshly whipped cream instead of squirts from an aerosol can. I preferred the crackle-topped vanilla crème brûlée.

It was late when we left the place. A band was playing in the bar, an appreciative crowd just settling in. In a town whose once-sleepy restaurant scene is seriously heating up, this newcomer looks to be a real firecracker.

Reviewed by Joan Reminick, 1/26/07.

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