East End Eats: Mirko's

Location, location, location. On the South Fork, where there is ever-increasing competition among restaurants for the diner's dollar, the old real estate cliche rings as true as ever. If your restaurant overlooks the water, the battle is already half won; if it is in some obscure back street, you're going to have to work a lot harder.

That Mirko's, a small restaurant buried behind the Water Mill shopping plaza, has thrived for so many years in what might be called dining Siberia is a sign that it must be doing something right.

A call on a hot, muggy day last weekend revealed that the restaurant was fully booked at 8 p.m., but there was room for us on the covered patio. Thinking that it might be a last chance to eat outside, we jumped at the suggestion.

The Rains Came

But no sooner had we sat down at a table by the open door of the patio than, as if at the command of some celestial stage manager, there was a clap of thunder and rain crashed onto the plastic roof and the outer patio with the force of the opening of the Hoover Dam.

The water rose; our spirits sank. Eileen Zabar, the dynamic ball of energy who manages the front of the house while her husband cooks, summed up the situation in a glance and immediately found us a table inside. We were so grateful we would have eaten straw for the rest of the evening and enjoyed it.

But straw was luckily not on the menu.

Robust Beginning

A robust onion soup, homemade from scratch, was one of the soups of the day, the other being carrot and fennel. The crab cakes, which were exceptionally good, were served with yellow tomato coulis and red tomato oil that set off the crisp golden disks of peppery and moist crab quintessence to perfection.

The Caesar salad is listed on the menu as being for two people, but when one of our party asked if it was possible to have a single serving, the waiter agreed without hesitation. And a fine salad it was, only failing to get a perfect 10 rating from our Caesar salad maven because the leaves were chopped and not served whole.

An interesting dish - portobello mushroom "pizza" with caramelized onion, fresh tomato, prosciutto, and pecorino Romano cheese - could have been served hotter.

Simple, But Flawless

As to prices, Mirko's is toward the high end of the scale but, it was agreed, it gives you your money's worth. Appetizers range from $9.25 to $12.50 (salads and soups are less) and entrees are from $18.95 for pasta dishes to $31.95 for a grilled veal chop.

The decor is simple and attractive and manages to convey a sense of the restaurant's personality without hitting you over the head with it. The dining room is small but you do not feel crowded and you don't have to shout to make yourself heard. The service was flawless and invisible - Mrs. Zabar, a warm and welcoming presence, runs a tight ship.

The wine list is impressive, with a wide range and abundance of choice, from the modest to the very expensive. A fresh, crisp Gristina chardonnay is recommended at about $26.

Exceptional Dishes

The entrees we tried could not be faulted. It's hard to pick one as being better than another, but the Moroccan spiced grilled salmon, which came with charred tomato compote, curry oil, and wonderful basil mashed potatoes, was exceptional.

You can tell from the accompaniments that this is labor-intensive cooking. No corners are cut here.

The perfect rack of lamb in an herb crust, for instance, came with little sealed envelopes of caraway mashed potato and mustard and mint vinaigrettes, and the meltingly tender pork tenderloin, also herb-roasted, was served with a green apple compote, sweet and sour shallots, and a balsamic sage sauce.

Painstakingly Made

All the sauces and vinaigrettes and chutneys must be painstakingly made and the vegetables are not repeated in any two dishes.

Veal scaloppini is a dish that carries with it high expectations, which are more often than not dashed to the ground upon the first bite. Mirko's, served with gruyere cheese, prosciutto hash, spinach, beefsteak tomato, and a reduced veal broth, more than hit the mark.

We had with us on this occasion a professional New York City pastry chef, and he judged the desserts a little more stringently than the rest of us.

Right Up There

He was critical of the creme brulee, saying that, being done under the broiler, the crust was too thick and not caramelized enough and the custard, though perfect in itself, was too warm.

In the old days, an iron tool was heated in the fire and held close to the surface of fine sugar until it caramelized. This resulted in a hot, paper-thin crust of sugar on top of custard that remained cold. Today, believe it or not, most New York City restaurants use a blowtorch. One has visions of harried chefs burning down the whole kitchen, but maybe perfection calls for drastic measures.

Caramelized oranges in Grand Marnier also disappointed. Although they tasted great, their caramel had melted. It's the crunch that makes them special.

But then there was a lovely peach crisp (though our critic said it should have been juicier) and a rich chocolate cake with an intense flavor.

Looking back at a summer of weekly restaurant meals, from Montauk to Shelter Island, from the merely okay to the excellent, Mirko's is up there with the very best.