Long Island Restaurants

La Rotonda

Want pizza? You can find it on virtually any commercially zoned block in the metropolitan area, be it a slice of Neapolitan in a Formica-clad parlor or a Wolfgang Puck- ish designer disc in a faux Florentine trattoria.

Want truly great pizza? The search narrows. In fact, if you can name just five places offering a superb (not just very good) tomato-cheese-crust eating experience, you know more than most people.

La Rotonda, which opened three months ago in Great Neck, has joined my very short power-pizza list. In the restaurant's spare but tasteful quarters, you can get a lot more than pizza. No matter what else you order, though, pizza is an absolute requirement. Share a whole brick-oven-baked pie (available in 12- and 16-inch sizes) or devour one yourself. The crust -- its bottom flecked with cornmeal -- is crisp, thin, genuinely delicious.

Savor a simple margherite pie made with plum tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella and basil. On the fancier side, the pizza crowned with prosciutto, mozzarella, arugula and tomato sauce works beautifully, too. Try the Palermo pie fashioned of eggplant, mozzarella and tomatoes, or the Portobello topped with slices of mushroom, fontina and mozzarella. Keep in mind, though, that the lighter the topping, the crisper the crust.

If you're lucky, your bread basket will contain slices of focaccia or crusty peasant bread, both house-baked in the brick oven, to be dipped in olive oil. Skip the ordinary bakery Italian bread.

A Caesar salad is fashioned of crisp Romaine lettuce coated lightly with a dressing neither too creamy nor too cheesy, shards of freshly shaved Parmesan and fried croutons on top. Grilled eggplant rollatini -- layered eggplant, prosciutto and mozzarella -- is much better than the conventional fried variety, the ingredients imbued with a subtle smokiness.

La Rotonda's short list of pastas is augmented by a roster of daily specials. I was impressed with the linguine with white clam sauce made with very good olive oil, a plenitude of chopped clams and garlic. Shrimp scampi, enjoyed on another visit, featured lots of perfectly cooked crustaceans encircling a mountain of spaghetti sauteed with garlic and oil. A standout.

Penne alla vodka is hearty and spirited, the quill-shaped pasta bathed in a lush tomato cream sauce. I'm always skeptical of fettucine Alfredo, which often is pasty and cloyingly rich. The version served here was an indulgence, but a worthwhile one. Satisfying, too, was a sandwich with grilled chicken, red onion and tomato, served on bread made in-house, basil mayonnaise on the side.

Right now, the restaurant is offering only commercially made tartufo and spumoni for dessert. But the espresso and cappuccino are top-notch. Servers are young, friendly, solicitous. You leave feeling well cared for, wanting to return.

Thinking back on that pizza, you probably will.

Joan Reminick

Hours

Assessment

Cuisine

Major Credit Cards Accepted

Price Range

Reservations

Special Features

Wheelchair Access