Meritage

In restaurants, it now means "very good."

Meritage of Bellport has transformed itself from a trattoria and pizza haven to a snappy, ambitious niche for new American cuisine.

The earth-toned, 50-seater combines old and new: pressed-metal ceiling, silk flowers in wall vases, a curving bar, streamlined fixtures overhead. Sometimes, there's live music of the moment. Recordings veer to standards.

There are a couple of tables for alfresco aficionados. Given the overall popularity of the festive place, outdoor seats are coveted even during the humidity du jour. Everybody seems happy. It's easy to become a regular, thanks to the attentive and accommodating staff, and the lively kitchen.

Skewers of tender chicken satay are paired with sesame-peanut sauce, positioned atop black rice and frisée. A summery salad sports a caramelized peach, endive, daikon and Roquefort. Sweet baby back ribs add an Italianate accent with a grilled, corn-studded polenta cake.

But the house's crab cakes are underseasoned and overcooked, refreshed only slightly by the company of mango and guacamole. The "crispy Thai calamari" downplays the crunch. And the ravioli filled with Creole-seasoned chicken, black beans and corn in a cream-white wine sauce sends out an APB for salt.

You're better off with the barbecued chicken salad, which includes the same ingredients plus jicama and tostada triangles. It's big enough to be a satisfying lunch. The "crispy rare" salmon maki plays on a Japanese theme, and is respectable, with a spark from wasabi cream. New England clam chowder: creamy, bland.

Crabmeat-stuffed shrimp, however, are plump, moist and surprisingly flavorful compared with countless renditions elsewhere. And sole with crabmeat also improves dramatically on the continental staple, both in taste and its winding, Guggenheim Museum architecture.

Sauteed halibut benefits from a verdant, but not spicy, riff on mole sauce. The thick cut of fish is flanked by dueling fried plantains and caramelized bananas.

"Sesame gingered" tuna is an ample, rosy triangle coated with seeds, aground on black rice and wilted spinach. Try it instead of the anonymous, pan-seared Chilean sea bass with toasted almond butter, or the excitement-in-check, pan-seared salmon paillard.

Roast duck flies in meaty and hefty, but a bit overdone. But the dish is aided mightily by a goat cheese-onion update on risotto. The barbecued chicken, with corn-and-sweet potato salsa, is Meritage's big bird, juicy and right.

Horseradish-crusted filet mignon has velvety texture and some bite, complemented by a shallot-mushroom-potato puree. The fine tenderloin of lamb really doesn't need its pastry coat. A dab of the arugula-pine nut pesto will suffice.

Desserts are homey but designed with panache. The sweet, mellow rice pudding stars in an oversize coffee cup with good chocolate biscotti. Spun-sugar antennae, domes, butterflies and the like adorn finales ranging from a deft blueberry-peach cobbler to exceedingly creamy cheesecake.

Peanut butter pie smoothly seduces; chocolate cake makes more demands. The boozy Jack Daniels-pecan pie and the metallic lemon tart underscore the virtues of the others. Or you may revel in the simplicity of fresh berries and whipped cream.

Raise that glass to Meritage.

Reviewed by Peter M. Gianotti, 8/31/03.