East End Eats: A Creative New Venture in Wolffer Kitchen

Wolffer Kitchen

29 Main Street

Sag Harbor, NY

725-0101

Dinner, Tuesday through Sunday

It’s not often I get such a gaggle of friends to come along on a restaurant review. My preferred number of guinea pigs is three or four. On this night we were seven, which made for much frivolity, wildly differing opinions on the food, and me trying to grab at dishes to try them before they were inhaled by my guests.

We arrived at the very moment the doors opened, or more accurately, the moment the doors were kept locked. At 5:30 on a recent Sunday evening, the staff was scurrying around inside as an angry, hungry mob waited perplexed outside. Okay, it wasn’t really an angry mob, just a bunch of New Yorkers, and one woman who pushed us all out of the way announcing it was her birthday.

This space next to Sen in Sag Harbor has changed cuisines and decor quite a bit over the last few years. Phao was Thai, I think there was an Indian restaurant briefly, and there was the Cuddy, a gastro pub. Now it is Wolffer Kitchen, the first restaurant on Long Island connected to a winery.

While the P.R. company for Wolffer describes it as “a bright, Bohemian spot,” and “inspired by Mallorca, where the Wolffer family also has a vineyard,” it is actually a bit more industrial-chic. The front patio has steel plates separating diners from the sidewalk and a steep, gray painted cement step. The interior has pale wood floors, a muted gold, gilt ceiling, bentwood chairs, and smoky mirrors everywhere. The most eye-catching feature is a huge print of the colorful silkscreen found on Wolffer’s Summer in a Bottle rosé. There is a bar to the left and a few banquettes on the right. A back wall is all Wolffer wine bottles. This is a lot of hard surfaces for sound to bounce off of, so be prepared for a happy, noisy din.

A basket of whole grain and crusty white bread was delivered after we were seated. We began our meal with the house-made ricotta, an artichoke special, lobster deviled eggs, lamb skewers, calamari, and mussels. The ricotta was delicious — a small dollop on the plate sprinkled with hazelnut praline, tart, grilled slices of plum, and some peppery arugula.

The artichoke special was also very good. The two halves were topped with plenty of Parmesan cheese and herbs and were served with a zesty, garlicky aioli. My only suggestion would be to provide a discard bowl for leaves and chokes and perhaps some lemon wedges and extra napkins to clean messy fingers afterward.

The lobster deviled eggs were a disappointment. The portion was three egg halves for $12. My half of a half bit had no discernible lobster meat, it was just a pretty good, run-of-the-mill deviled egg. The lamb skewer, however, was excellent. The chunks of tender meat were topped with a salty black olive tapenade, crispy roasted chickpeas, and a refreshing salad of diced cucumbers on arugula. The calamari (a special this evening) was quite pale but had good crunch nonetheless. We would have appreciated a few more tentacles with the dainty rings, but it was well seasoned, tender, and had a nice, lemony aioli served alongside.

The mussels were exceptionally good. They were served in a slightly Thai broth, with a bit of coconut milk and red curry paste, along with superb bits of house-made veal chorizo and a big slab of grilled bread for sopping up the broth.

For entrees we tried the grilled scallops, a tuna special, house-made gemelli pasta with sugar snap peas, house-made campanelle with braised duck, and two side dishes, green beans and potato gratin. The grilled scallops were perfectly cooked, as in just enough, and the citrus butter drizzled on top was an inspired tart-sweet note with the caramelized scallops. They were served on a bed of toasted quinoa and wilted baby spinach.

The tuna special was also a success. Several big wedges of seared yellowfin were topped with aioli, surrounded by chunks of roasted potatoes, and perched on an arugula salad with pickled red onions and bacon bits. I love bacon combined with rich fish like salmon and tuna. It’s a somewhat bold and very successful marriage. Most of us enjoyed the two pasta dishes, but one guest did not find her gemelli very distinctive. I found it to be light and well balanced, the slices of sugar snap peas barely blanched and super sweet, and there was a generous amount of golden chanterelles. The campanelle pasta with braised duck was absolutely divine. The duck was tender and tasty, the sauce had a bit of marjoram or oregano, lots of escarole, chunks of fresh tomatoes, and plenty of Parmesan.

The side dishes were both superb. The string beans were buttery and sweet with a bit of heat from chili pepper flakes. And who doesn’t appreciate a perfectly made potato gratin? This one could have come directly from a bistro in France, bubbling in its own ramekin and rich with Parmesan and bits of pancetta.

The service on the night of our visit was very good, especially considering how new this restaurant is. We arrived early, and the place filled up quickly. The hostesses wear Hamptons-skimpy ensembles, and the waiters are outfitted in smart-looking black and white checked shirts with heavy denim aprons garnished with lots of leather gewgaws. Kind of Amish butcher-meets-bartender at the Wythe Hotel rooftop bar in Williamsburg.

Obviously, wine is an important feature here, and we just happened to have the knowledgeable Michael Cinque of Amagansett Wines as one of our guests. He declared the list excellent and reasonable. We enjoyed Wolffer’s Summer in a Bottle rosé and Bedell’s Cabernet Franc, both fairly priced.

The prices at Wolffer Kitchen are moderate to expensive. Starters are $9 to $17, main courses and pastas are $25 to $35, sides are $10, and desserts are $12.

For dessert we tried the dark chocolate tart, crispy polenta, and fresh lemon curd phyllo crisp. Here, again, opinions varied wildly.

I found the chocolate tart to be exactly like the Marie Claude Gracias flourless chocolate cake from Patricia Wells’s “Bistro Cookbook.” It was dense but light, a bit crumbly but moist, and made with very high quality bittersweet chocolate. It was drizzled with a salted caramel creme anglaise. I loved it. The guest who disagreed said “it shouldn’t be this way.” Whah? Sigh. The crispy polenta was a bit disappointing. It was a square of firm polenta, warm but not crisped, topped with olive oil and vanilla ice cream.

The lemon curd dessert was the best of all. The fresh, tart, and tangy curd was sandwiched between round discs of crisp phyllo dough dusted with confectioner’s sugar.

The menu at Wolffer Kitchen is short, but it is not simple. The signs of a talented chef (Deena Chafetz) are evident: House-made pastas, chorizo, garlic-piquillo dressing, confits, exotic mushrooms, pralines, smoked almonds, mild homemade ricotta, and more, make this an intriguing and creative menu.

I am grateful I live in Sag Harbor!