Dan's Papers - June 20, 2008 - The Patio at 54 Main

The Patio Restaurant resurrection is an amazing accomplishment for general manager Chip Cheek and executive Katherine Kane. Cheek, who took over last year, revived the Patio after the restaurant experienced a slow and steady decline. Now, one of the oldest restaurants in Westhampton Beach is a vibrant place where patrons get the genuinely warm welcome not common in too many Hamptons restaurants. The clubby, warm, wood and leather appointed bar room has high tables and chairs for those who want to eat. If you want to grab a drink and talk, the light and airy garden room filled with pastel shades and bright paintings is the perfect place to relax.

Cheek emphasized that his objective for The Patio is to provide "upscale dining with a casual atmosphere." In attempting to get a grasp of the cuisine, I decided to try two very different appetizers. The Patio Portobello was a symphony of rich, deep, earthy tastes that melded beautifully with the slightly astringent spinach and a touch of ricotta in balsamic syrup. Coupled with a great basket of TomCat bread, it was a first class start. Then came one of Kane's signature dishes - very finely sliced and fried zucchini chips in a tall cone. The chips proved irresistible, especially when dipped into the tangy horseradish and lemon cream sauce. Cheek confirmed that this is one of the most requested starters.

Next, I tried the famous Gigi salad that was first served at the Palm in Manhattan. The blend of tastes, textures and temperature of the chilled shrimp, crisp haricot vert, crunchy red onions, sweet tomatoes and tasty bacon in a red wine vinaigrette was one of the best salads I have ever tasted. Even though the salad is large and may require sharing, I highly recommend this dish.

I dined at The Patio on "Porterhouse Wednesday." This Wednesday special offers a wonderful 40 oz, 28-day dry aged prime porterhouse for two persons, with a choice of soup or salad and dessert for $100 per couple. Seeing the wait staff balance this large meal on their shoulders was quite a sight. I, however, decided to indulge in the 14oz New York strip, also from prime dry aged meat, and found it as good as you will ever find in any specialty steak house. The accompanying au poivre and béarnaise sauces were proof of an expert saucier in the kitchen. I also sampled the fresh sea scallops, prepared in a fragrant lemongrass, coconut and sake sauce. This is a dish that's highly recommended.

The Patio restaurant has some very interesting desserts, like the cinnamon sugared tempura battered plantains. However, I tried the Chip-witch sliders of Tahitian vanilla ice cream sandwiches on chocolate chip cookies with chocolate sauce - just a superbly decadent finale to a very good meal.

The Patio offers live music on Wednesday through Saturday, which enhances the restaurant's ambience and entertains the bar and dining crowd.

The wine list boasts a great selection of the newest and finest wines. New to the list are wines that have been specially blended for the restaurant by Raphael's master wine maker, Richard Olsen-Harbich. These will have the Cask 54 label. Richard has always believed in melding the natural attributes of North Fork grapes with the traditions of European viniculture - a touch of American know-how produces consistently delicious wines. Wines by the glass are $9 to $12 and by the bottle from $23

Appetizers are from $9 to $15; Main courses run from $21 to $37 and there's a three course chef's tasting menu for $30 served from 4 to 6:30 pm.

The Patio is a friendly restaurant with very good food at sensible prices. If you enter as a new diner, you will exit as a faithful regular. Upon your return, you will be greeted like a long, lost friend.