Dans Papers - June 1, 2007 -

Stonewalls Restaurant
The Woods Golf Course
967 Reeves Avenue
Riverhead
631-506-0777

If you sat down to write a menu for a great meal it probably would go something like this.

Take a dining room with great ambience and beautiful views, blend with friendly and efficient service. Add food expertly prepared from the freshest ingredients and plated to provide visual as well as taste pleasures. This recipe, somewhat imperfectly, sums up the experiences we have always enjoyed at Stonewalls over the last four years that it has been open with Guy Peuch as the the Executive Chef. The dining room is the epitome of casual elegance, the views over the impeccably groomed golf course are stunning, and the service matches the very high quality of Guy's cuisine.

Tom Connor has been at Stonewalls since it opened, and has progressed from starting as a waiter to now being the Restaurant Manager, a great example of the rewards of hard work and enthusiasm. He went through the tasting menu that Guy had selected for us. After a taster of one of Guy's famed crab cakes, here served as an amuse, we started with Billi-Bi, a classic Breton mussel soup. This soup was to die for! Plump mussels in a saffron cream sauce that immediately reminded us of Guy's expertise as a saucier. The texture and flavor of the soup was enough to make us amateur cooks gnash our teeth and wonder at its simple perfection.

If this is on the menu then go for it and savor a wonderful culinary experience. Asparagus from Wells Farm here on Long Island had a depth of taste that you never get in store bought vegetables and the stuffed homemade Mozzarella I am sure was extremely good but I have to admit to not being a lover of this cheese. The soft shell crab came beautifully wrapped in a wafer thin crepe, and if you have ever tried to make crepes you will understand the degree of difficulty in doing this. Another example of the gulf between a top chef and amateurs! Then came, for me, probably the highlight of the evening. A superb piece of halibut with a crispy tangy mustard hazelnut crust served with a Mediterranean style meelange of lima beans and black olives, paired with perfect whipped mashed potatoes - an incredible blend of tastes with nothing overwhelming the inherent delicacy and purity of the fish.

For the meat dishes, we sampled perfectly cooked juicy lamb chops that came with pommes gaufrettes, delicate lattice cut deep fried potatoes that for a potato lover like me were totally addictive. If Guy wants a sideline I would suggest he bags them and offers them for sale. Duck breast with a delicate pepper sauce arrived cooked to perfection accompanied by fingerling potatoes and shitake mushrooms. This was another dish that I would look forward to ordering again.

When it came to dessert, we saw again the virtues of simplicity. A warm chocolate tart was smooth and not excessive and the poached Bosc pear in vanilla syrup with maple syrup gelato and caramel sauce was a perfect end to a great meal.

During the evening we tasted some of the wines available by the glass and they were uniformly extremely good quality and well priced. These are wines that do full justice to the quality of the food, for example the newly added 2003 Chateau Heyrauds Bordeaux, the Jamesport Sauvignon Blanc and thee Domaine D'Oliver Chardonnay from the Languedoc region of France all complemented the dishes extremely well.

Stonewalls is open for lunch and dinner every day except they are closed for dinner on Tuesday. On Sunday they offer a served brunch for $24.75, including a glass of wine. A prix fixe lunch for $18 is available Monday through Saturday and the prix fixe dinner at $29.50 on Wednesday through Monday.

Going back to my opening points about the needed ingredients for a perfect meal, it is hard to fault Stonewalls in any respect. Guy Peuch puts so much care and devotion into preparing dishes that are classically correct and beautifully plated. Do not look for fusion style cuisine here. This is classic French cuisine that is not heavy but which produces such beautiful tastes that you will continue to enthuse about your meal long after you have returned home - just as we did. Stonewalls rates as one of the very best restaurants on Long Island. If you love really good food this must be one of your top choices. Four years old and going strong - with many more great years ahead.