Sheridan Says: Blue Water Cafe, Montauk

By Sheridan Sansegundo

What does this conjure up - a place called Blue Water Cafe on the ground floor of a Montauk motel in a spot that used to be the Shark Shack?

Fried clam strips? Ketchup bottles on the table? A large plastic sailfish on the wall?

Forget it! Although the prosaic surroundings of the Blue Water Cafe did not give a hint of what was to come, the meal we had there Sunday night was the most elegantly prepared and the most beautifully cooked that I have had for a long time - and I've been batting a thousand recently in the places I have visited.

The restaurant, which is paneled in light-colored wood throughout, has the calm of a Japanese tea house. What it lacks in ambiente it more than makes up for with its inspired floor plan, at least for those of us who are sick to death of shouting while we eat. By using different levels, room dividers, and booths, nearly every table is in its own separate space.

The prices are not the cheapest: $7 to $16 for appetizers and $15 to $28 for entrees, but neither are they the most expensive. The wines by the glass may seem a little high, but the bottle prices include many bargains.

The attention to detail was meticulous - excellent bread rolls, lovely olive oil, attentive service - and the presentation of the plates was downright art.

What made the green salad ($7) special, which was piled up like Richard Dreyfuss's mashed potatoes in "Close Encounters," was that it was made with tot soi, a peppery green, and mizuna, and a delicate, tomato-infused olive oil.

The Caesar salad ($9) was made with very finely sliced romaine lettuce and a good, pungent dressing. But if it's salad you want, then the winner was a confection of tiny warm beets served with braised greens, goat cheese, and toasted pecans. The sweetness of the beets contrasted with the slightly bitter greens, the sharp cheese with the unctuous nuts.

The crisp polenta fries were well received by our crew and the homemade ketchup they were served with was certainly enough to make you have second thoughts about that bright red stuff. But for me, they made for a stodgy start to a meal, acting more as appetite-cutters than appetite-teasers.

Which brings me to what was, for me, the highlight of the meal, the softshell crab ($12). I know I have waxed a bit lyrical over these creatures a couple of times recently, but this one, this Blue Water Cafe paragon, was the ne plus ultra of soft shell crabs, a ticket-to-the-Super-Bowl crab, a triple-crown crab, a Democrats-take-back-the-White-House crab. It was so crisp and light one could almost have blown it off its perch of spicy kimchee cabbage. A dab of sour cream, a circle of red pepper coulis - heaven.

The entrees kept up the high standard. As this was Montauk, they are mainly fish dishes, but you could have chosen a pork chop ($22), filet mignon ($28), or a giant burger ($15).

I think we were agreed that the Montauk swordfish ($21) was our favorite, but it was a close call between that and a pistachio nut-crusted salmon with chanterelles and mashed potatoes ($19) or halibut (caught on a dayboat trip) in a truffle broth with escarole and wild mushrooms, topped with a bird's nest of potato frizz ($22).

They had run out of the whole yellowtail snapper, stuffed with herbs and served with passion-fruit slaw and different sauces, but someone who tried it the night before said it was even better than the swordfish.

The tender free-range chicken ($19) was served with potato pancakes and grilled artichoke hearts that tasted almost fruity. The spring vegetable plate ($21) was much more exciting than the usual half-hearted nod that restaurants give to vegetarians, though the broccolini was a little too al dente.

Having been able to carry on a conversation all evening, we were in no hurry to leave and finished our meal with two desserts, a chocolate terrine with rum-soaked raisins, a dense oblong of intense flavor, and an orangewater-flavored crŹme bržlŽe. They were wonderful, the crŹme bržlŽe in particular. In fact, I swear it was the best. . . .

Enough with the raving, already.

Blue Water Cafe
32 South Elwood Avenue
Montauk
668-3949
Dinner every evening; breakfast
Saturday and Sunday.