Dan's Papers - August 3, 2007 -

In just a few years, East Wind, the beautiful creation of local entrepreneur Kenney Barra has become one of the premier spots on Long Island for weddings. This year, more than 500 weddings will be celebrated here. When you walk through the elegant but warm and welcoming rooms, you can understand why it is such a sought after destination for couples to celebrate their very special day. East Wind is also a major venue for business meetings, conferences, parties and celebrations of all types. So perhaps it is understandable that there are still some who drive past not realizing that East Wind also houses a very good restaurant open every day to one and all. Desmond's has its own entrance, and immediately as you enter, you feel the very relaxing ambience that manages to be intimate and romantic; a great place for a party celebration or simply a charming place for a casual meal. It manages to be both a destination and an impulse restaurant.

Since we last visited, East Wind has gotten a new Executive Chef, Brian Shuren. Brian is a Long Island native who has progressed from washing dishes as a teenager in a family restaurant in Patchogue, to studying at culinary school and getting several years under his belt in charge of a very large multi-site catering operation before coming to East Wind. Here he oversees a staff of nearly forty who are responsible for providing food for sometimes fifteen parties in a day, plus a dedicated staff who are responsible for the restaurant which is open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He told us that some days they can serve in total over 2,000 people.

We started with a couple of Asian influenced appetizers. The chicken satay melted in your mouth and then delivered the spicy punch you should expect from the teriyaki peanut sauce- an excellent start. Sesame duck spring rolls offered a large portion with lots of tasty duck filling, sweet chili sauce and wasabi aioli. However the roll itself was too thick and Restaurant Manager, Scott Tierney told us that they are working on how to make this roll more delicate without it tending to break up because of all of the filling.

Soups are among our favorite dishes and we really enjoyed the creamy, but not cloying cream of asparagus and a hearty, fragrantly sweet French onion soup with its tangy cheese crust.

The baby spinach salad with grapefruit and seasonal berries also included a touch of Granola. This combination, dressed with a citrus vinaigrette proved to be a winner.

The entrees all sounded very interesting but we followed the recommendation of Tara, our very efficient, knowledgeable and enthusiastic waitress and chose the veal Milanese, a pounded breadcrumbed chop that came on a bed of peppery arugula together with tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and balsamic dressing. Now, it is fair to say that no one leaves Desmond's thinking they have been short changed and this was a great example, with a chop that almost filled the plate. Similarly with the French center cut pork chop, fully two inches thick cooked to perfection with a juicy tenderness that was enhanced by the medley of tomatoes, peaches cipollini onions and apple wood smoked bacon that accompanied it.

Classic dishes are a good test of a restaurant, so we opted for the creme brulee and were not disappointed. The top was crisply caramelized without being too thick and difficult to break and the custard was appropriately creamy and not over sweet. The espresso coffee was excellent.

If you like to eat early, Desmond's offers some very attractive early bird menus from 3 till 5:30 p.m. and a three-course prix fixe at $22.95 is available from 5:30 p.m. till the close except for Saturdays. Wednesday is lobster night and Thursday is for BBQ fans.

The wine list follows their mission statement; 'Desmond's is proud to showcase Long island's freshly grown produce and local vineyards, both in our entrees and on our wine list.' Wines are priced from $6 to 8 by the glass.

Desmond's is a very peaceful, relaxing restaurant offering a very interesting, well-priced menu of well cooked and well presented food. They also have a great bar lounge with a very impressive, oversized mahogany bar.