East End Eats: Refined Dining at Sant Ambroeus

Sant Ambroeus

30 Main Street Southampton

631-283-1233

Thursday through Monday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.

The village of Southampton feels different. The streets are wider, the houses are bigger, the inhabitants smooth and groomed. The shops on Main Street are predictably peppered with high-end real estate offices that have glowing, interactive features in the windows. Press a button and stare at your Water Mill McMansion pipe dream. There are still pockets of charm, the Village Cheese Shop, Silvers, and the Japanese antique store that never seems to be open.

Dining options are few and far between and woefully bereft of ethnic choices. There are now three or four restaurants transplanted from the big city so you can comfortably dine on the same agnolotti that you had on Thursday night on the Upper East Side. You could say that Sant Ambroeus is the pa- tron saint of these European outposts.

Sant Ambroeus plays different roles throughout the day. In the late morning pastries and coffee drinks are available in the front of the long, railroad-car-like building. It is as sleek and glossy and shiny as the glistening gelato in the front cases. Walk toward the back for lunch or dinner and you enter a carpeted dining room divided in half. There is a lot of polished wood, comfortable button-tufted, cream-colored leather banquettes, and cafe chairs. You do not feel like you are in a beach town anymore.

On a recent visit we were greeted warmly, from the young ladies behind the gelato counter to the hostess who accommodated our request for a more comfortable table. I would suggest, however, that the employees probably shouldn’t be idly playing with an electric fly zapper in front of guests coming in for dinner. This gave us a start.

Diners are offered a wide array of breads in a basket after taking their

seats: crusty baguettes, earthy olive bread, and chewy focaccia, all delicious and fresh.

We began our meal with arugula salad, artichoke salad, and a caramelized onion tart with Parmesan gelato. The salads were simple and straightforward, super fresh and light. The arugula was barely dressed, so my guest asked for a bit of lemon. Within 30 seconds our waiter,

Jorge, brought out a plate with a generous amount of lemon and lime slices and a bottle of olive oil. Very nice. The artichoke salad had paperthin slices of raw baby artichokes sprinkled with lemon and olive oil and shavings of aged Parmesan cheese. It was absolutely delicious.

The caramelized onion tart appetizer was a delightful surprise. A large, sweet onion half was baked into a thin crisp pate brisee shell. On the side was a baked Parmesan cup filled with Parmesan gelato, which sounded a bit weird to me but worked. The tart was warm, salty, sweet, and crunchy. The gelato was creamy, moderately salty, and perfectly smooth, not gritty from the cheese. It was pretty darned soigné.

Next we sampled some pastas — the agnolotti Bolognese and ravioli stuffed with spinach. These are the kinds of food you don’t even need teeth for. The agnolotti was filled with a delicate veal mousse and topped with a mild tomato veal ragout. Dainty and delicious. The spinach raviolis were five paperthin

house-made pasta pillows filled with spinach puree. They were swimming in a rich, brown butter sage sauce.

For entrees we ordered veal scallopini with polenta, and a filet mignon with pink and green peppercorn sauce. So old school, right? The veal scallopini was pounded into tenderness and well seasoned. It was served with a mercifully mild Gorgonzola sauce. The polenta was a little grilled disc of deliciousness. The filet mignon was a generous portion — two thick slices cooked to order and topped with a creamy cognac sauce. There were a few token vegetables on the plate — little roasted potatoes, three charred Brussels sprouts halves, and two broccoli florets. The vegetables had a whisper of gas grill flavor to them.

The service on the night of our visit started off exceptionally, but dwindled in attention once the place filled up with larger tables of regulars requiring some serious coddling.

Prices at Sant Ambroeus are high, like Dynasty TV show, 1980s high. Appetizers are $22 to $30, pastas are $25 to $32, entrees are $38 to $48, sides are $9, and desserts are $12.

Since we were in a hurry to get home and see the super moon lunar eclipse, not to mention that there was some serious syzygy going on that night, we ordered a few desserts and gelato to go. Here is where the truly European flair kicks in. The two desserts, chocolate mousse cake and lemon tart, were placed on golden paper trays, covered with wide bands of stiff paper to pre- vent crushing, and then wrapped in thick, apricot-colored paper illustrated with the Sant Ambroeus performing various tasks: blessing babies, preaching, riding horses with angels, having visions, and traveling from Milan to Liguria for some tasty sorbet. Okay, I’m not sure about that last one; my Italian isn’t very good.

The chocolate mousse cake was light as a feather, the cake moistened with simple syrup and the mousse fluffy. The lemon tart had an excellent cookie crust and tart lemon curd filling. The two gelatos, chocolate and coffee, were both delicious, especially the coffee.

Overall, our experience was wonderful, the food refined, the room polished. If you don’t mind spending a pretty penny, then this cocoon is for you.