Osteria Salina in Bridgehampton: First bites
Grilled swordfish with caponata at Osteria Salina in Bridgehampton. (July 2012) Credit: Newsday/Peter M.Gianotti
The seductive Aeolian Island of Salina gives its name to this bright, buoyant new restaurant in Bridgehampton, where downtown dining could use a taste of Sicily.
Osteria Salina does offer some Sicilian dishes, which make the kitchen more interesting and less predictable than the basic Italianate Hamptonians. The noisy, sometimes brusque spot is worth a visit for much of the food, plus the snappy blue-and-yellow color scheme and abstract artwork.
This osteria took over the site formerly occupied by Copa, the tapas bar. The new executive chef is Cinzia Gaglio. Sample her fine fritto misto of shrimp, squid and zucchini and "timballo al tonno," an amplified tuna tartare.
Pasta con le sarde, or pasta with sardines, fennel and pine nuts, receives respectable treatment here, though it isn't the most vividly marine version. Grilled swordfish with warm caponata also is recommended; excellent fish, but the caponata keeps its sweet-sour personality in check.
You'll also find a commendable rendition of linguine with clams; and savory, oven-roasted chicken.
All these lead to good cannoli and chocolate cake.
In true Hamptons style, figure at least $50 to $100 per person.
Osteria Salina, 95 School St., Bridgehampton; 631-613-6469.
Grilled swordfish at Osteria Salina.
