Grappa
(THIS RESTAURANT HAS CLOSED)
Grappa, distilled from the residue of last year's Mumbo Gumbo, delivers a bracing shot: the Hamptons' high-octane wine bar and restaurant. It's stocked with tall banquettes, a sharp wraparound bar, stylish lighting, Euro-buzz. And there are those Grecian urns loaded with grappa-in-progress: once firewater, now a colorless refined Italian spirit. Grappa elevates the bottom of the barrel. The latest recovery project from perpetual-motion restaurateur Ed Kleefield improves on places such as his Prime 103 in East Hampton and Madame Tong's in Southampton. The festive, renovated spot, with its vino imagery, snappy service and fine-tuned mood, becomes a carefully constructed perch for the seasonal send-off - just enough summer and a hint of autumn.
THE BEST
Nibble wild mushroom-covered bruschetta, made with good grilled bread, enriched with Gorgonzola cheese and white truffle oil. The appetizing salad of shaved orange, shaved fennel, ricotta salata and "micro basil" works, too. Toasty arancini, or rice balls, here with tomato ragout, complement that, and other salads. Rigatoni tossed with fennel sausage, broccoli rabe, white beans, pancetta and olive oil leads the pastas. Light local black bass, with more fennel; and crisp-skinned, snowy branzino cap the seafood. Creamed cavolo nero, the tangy Tuscan kale, provides the foil for a grilled strip steak, finished with roasted garlic and red-wine sauce. Or have the vegetable as a side dish. Desserts are simple and few: sauteed berries, with a bit of sugar and balsamic vinegar; respectable gelati and sorbets; postage-stamp-size "artisanal chocolates," the best of which hint at figs and nuts.
THE REST
Grilled pizzettes, either bland or overdone, just become company for drinks. The vegetable antipasti include satisfactory roasted cipollini onions and roasted peppers, also caponata-for-beginners, standard-issue artichokes and boring grilled zucchini. Unripe fruit wrecks a watermelon and grilled peach salad. The grilled yellowfin tuna shows up dreary and limp. Spaghettini with veal meatballs: almost hard and fully underseasoned, in that order.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Definitely not colorless.
Reviewed by Peter M. Gianotti, 8/29/08.
