East End Eats: James Lane Cafe

At the Hedges Inn

James Lane, East Hampton

324-7100

Open for dinner daily

As we arrived at the James Lane Cafe on Sunday night, there were two deep tire marks running from Woods Lane across the grass at the end of Town Pond, across James Lane, over the fence, across the restaurant's lawn, and through beds of honeybell hostas right up to the edge of the dining terrace.

Someone had been in a real hurry! Was this, we wondered, an omen that a good meal was ahead of us? And, even though we discreetly used the parking lot instead of driving directly into the dining room, the answer was yes.

The wine list at James Lane Cafe has a lot of variety, but prices are high. Wines by the glass also tend to be pricey - buying by the bottle is the way to go - but there was a very pleasant Chilean merlot for $6.50.

Asbestos Fingers

Appetizers range from $6 for chilled seafood gazpacho to $12 for sauteed shrimp. Entrees start at $16 for crab cakes, are under $25 for most dishes, then jump to $28 to $30 for steaks, veal and lamb chops, and lobster.

While there was a bit of a wait between courses, the service was efficient and thoughtful. The James Lane Cafe, unlike many places, serves hot food on extremely hot plates. Too hot to touch, in fact.

But our waitress carried them to the table without gloves. How did she do it? We award her the 1999 Asbestos Fingers prize.

Memorable Dish

In the summer, the restaurant doubles its size by opening an outdoor dining tent, a romantic space with a stone-flagged floor and a pleasant breeze. There were four of us sitting at a rather large round table and the room was full, but we could carry on a conversation without raising our voices.

We started our meal with an excellent $7 Caesar salad with nice crunchy garlic croutons and some excellent fried calamari with a light, crisp batter coating. This dish is memorable for having received the only criticism we could come up with all evening -the tomato dipping sauce was rather bland.

One of the evening's specials was a plate of sashimi-style tuna and scallops, topped with caviar. The tuna and scallops had the consistency and oily translucency of gravlax and a wonderful flavor, which was enhanced by the salty roe. Lovely.

Sweet, Zingy Gazpacho

But for real value, we recommend the seafood gazpacho. If you grow your own tomatoes, you may feel by now that if you see another one you'll scream, but the divine, ripe, late summer tomato is only with us for a short while and in January you'll look back on missed opportunities with regret.

This gazpacho is one such opportunity - sweet, zingingly fresh, with just a little peppery punch, and laced with shrimp, scallops, and crabmeat.

We doubted that the entrees could be as good. The rack of lamb, at $29, was the most expensive dish we tried. It came with a delicious herb crust and some of the best garlic mashed potatoes around.

Subtle, Delicate Salmon

On the less expensive end of the meal, a large dish of penne with asparagus, fresh and sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and lots of shrimp was worth every penny of $18.

With salmon being served in all sorts of fancy ways these days, James Lane chooses to serve it poached in an herb broth. Sound dull? Don't you believe it - it was subtly, delicately wonderful.

And as for the lobster corn cakes, another of the specials, they were bliss.

Dreamy Desserts

Well, now it was time for dessert, which is where many restaurants flag and collapse just before they reach the finish line. We were going to catch them here, we were certain.

We ordered a creme brulee and a Key lime pie. The creme brulee had just the lightest of caramelized coatings (too many creme brulees look like that scene from "Alexander Nevsky" when the German invaders fall through the foot-thick ice). The underlying custard was cool and smooth and suffused with just the right amount of vanilla.

The Key lime pie had a wonderful crumbly crust (and this on a very damp evening) and a filling that was an edible song. Do I wax poetic? You bet.

"Everything is wonderful. I almost feel like ordering another dish to see if we can't find something wrong," said one of our guests. But we knew that it was game, set, and match to the James Lane Cafe.

"I know - tell them that the water was very run-of-the-mill."