Restaurant Review
Breakwater Cafe
By Debbie Tuma
The thought of eating dinner inside a famous grand hotel from
the 1920s is exciting in and of itself. But when you combine
this with creative and sophisticated fare, the whole package
becomes irresistible.
Welcome to the Breakwater Café, tucked inside the massive,
elegant halls of the Montauk Manor, which was built by renowned
developer Carl Fisher, in 1927. Overlooking scenic Gardiner’s
Bay, the Montauk Manor was one of the largest hotels of its
day on the East Coast. When you come here for dinner, you come
in style, from the circular driveway, to the grand entrance
up the steps, to the lobby with its wonderful fireplaces. When
you see a deep blue awning, bearing the words marked “Breakwater
Café,” you will wander into a serene dining room,
complete with floor to ceiling windows overlooking a pool,
patio and beautiful grounds. This intimate dining area, seating
about 40 guests, has a cozy bar, and creative dinnerware which
reflects the cutting edge food you will be surprised to taste
here. Executive Chef/Owner Craig Lieder, of Montauk, is a self-taught
guy with a great imagination for unusual and original dishes.
His mother, Sue Lieder, can often be seen here greeting guests
she knows so well as a Montauk resident. Craig’s father,
Craig Lieder Sr., is also his partner at another suburb family
restaurant, called “Sunset Saloon,” located further
down on the shores of Gardiner’s Bay, on Navy Road. The
Lieder family has made a name for themselves in the restaurant
business in Montauk, and has chosen some of the best, most
historic locations to have them.
One of the best things about both restaurants, is that
you don’t have to pay top dollar, to eat in a top-notch location.
On the way into the Breakwater Café, we passed a blackboard
touting the specials of this restaurant, which is now open
on Thursday through Sunday nights throughout the winter. Throughout
this time, they have Prixe-Fixe Dinners each night, from 5-7
p.m., offering a three-course dinner including soup, salad
or appetizer, entrée and dessert, for only $21.99. Thursday
night is “Steak Night,” offering a choice of salad
and steak for only $16.99, and Sunday night is “Prime
Rib Special” night, offering soup or salad and prime
rib for only $16.99.
We chose a table near the window, and ordered some of
their delectable Chardonnay, martinis and a perfect
Manhattan, for the four of us. Chelsea, our waitress, was cheerful
and accommodating
as she brought our drinks. She recommended we share
a
few
appetizers, including their special fried oysters and
Semolina Crusted
Calamari. The oysters were crunchy and savory, served
in the shell, topped with a zesty hot pepper and avocado
sauce.
The
calamari was flash-fried, and accompanied by a curry
lime cilantro aioli dipping sauce. It was tender and
non-greasy,
and the
sauce was a great combination with this dish.
For our next course, our other waiter, Aundre (of Jamaica)
brought out two different salads—the Mediterranean Caesar
Salad and the Baby Field Greens Salad, which came out in equally
heaping mounds of green, on interesting big plates. The fresh,
crispy baby field greens salad was a nice combination of local
greens, cherry tomato, and a dressing of soybean oil and Balsamic
syrup. The Mediterranean Caesar was a bit different than other
Caesars, in keeping with Craig Lieder’s original style.
It consisted of hearts of Romaine lettuce and Reggianito cheese
tossed in Sicilian anchovies and Kalamata olive dressing. This
salad was a bit milder and drier than other Caesar salads this
writer has encountered, and for this reason, I asked for more
of the dressing, which was great.
For entrees, we chose from a wide selection of local
fish and seafood, creative pastas, and meats from
pork, to steak
and
prime ribs. Lieder describes his food as, “Basically
American, with an international influence.” He specializes
in fresh, local seafood and top quality prime meats. In the
summer, he uses fresh herbs from his herb garden, near his
outdoor patio, where he seats an additional 60 guests poolside.
I couldn’t wait to try one of my favorites, Blackened
Yellow-Fin Tuna, served, of course, rare, over a creamy polenta,
baby spinach, and Haas avocado, with fresh Cilantro sauce.
It practically melted in my mouth, and worked well with the
polenta and spinach combination. Just love that spicy cilantro
sauce that gave it a kick! My friend is a Prime Rib addict,
who is also quite critical, and he couldn’t believe the
size of his prime rib fit for a king, accompanied by a stack
of old-fashioned mashed potatoes and baby asparagus stalks.
He described it as “very tender,” and took half
of it home, since his eyes were bigger than his stomach! My
other dining partners enjoyed two truly original dishes, including
the “Seared Spicy Pork Loin,” which was a photo
opportunity as it was stacked in slices with colorful mango
salsa and sweet red onion, atop of barley and long grain rice.
He loved the exotic curry flavor mixed in with the pork, and
also found the portion to be more than enough. The other dish
that my other dining partner tried was a beautiful mound of
Lobster & Crab Cappelini, with local seafood , roasted
red bell pepper cream and garden tarragon tossed with this
delightfully thin pasta.
As we ate, we chatted with Aundre about the Caribbean,
and he said although he is leaving for the
winter, he’ll
be back next year. Although we were getting rather full, he
recommended we sample a taste of the great homemade desserts
that Breakwater Café is known for, so we shared a “Chocolate
Brownie Sundae,” made with a warm chocolate peanut Brownie,
vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. As this melted in our
mouths, we tried the Orange Crème Brulee, since I have
never sampled one of this kind, and I found the natural citrus
flavor, and the crispy topping, to be really delicious. We
capped off the night with some special Irish and regular coffees,
and thanked Craig’s wonderful staff for a truly memorable
meal.
The Breakwater Café is open year-round, except for December
4-27, when it will be closed. It is located at 236 Edgemere
Street, at the Montauk Manor. For reservations, call 631-668-3949.
| Back To Index |
|
|
Copyright © 2006 Montauk Pioneer. All rights reserved. |
|