East End Eats: Newcomer in Water Mill

Our approach to Via del Mare in Water Mill felt eerie. The curtains were drawn, there were no cars in the parking lot, and it was pitch black inside. I started rehearsing an apology to my editor for not having a review for this week’s issue. It’s happened before, usually at places like Philippe that are only open for vampire weekenders and don’t stay open for people who dine and enjoy food in the evening.

Then, suddenly, a figure clad in chef’s whites scurried through the back door, voices were heard, the lights came on, and the door was thrown open by Corrado, who would be our maitre d’, our waiter, our busboy, our father-confessor, for the rest of the evening, delightful, charming Corrado.

Via del Mare took over the Mirko’s space a month ago and I couldn’t say for sure what has changed, if anything yet. It’s a pretty, little restaurant. There is a tiny, tiny bar to the left of the entrance, with a hostess stand for which there is no room. To the right is a dining room with pretty, pale blue-grey wainscoting, a fireplace, lots of windows with linen curtains, and some brown, industrial carpeting that has seen better days. Once we were seated in the utterly empty dining room we got some grilled bread slices with herbed olive oil, sundried tomato tapenade, and Cerignola olives — very tasty, except some of the bread slices were soft and had grill marks with a faint taste of gas on them. Next, Corrado presented us with what he called an amuse bouche, but was such a generous portion, it was more like “amuse estomac.” We each got a little platter of Manila clams dressed with a mild, white balsamic vinegar reduction on wilted spinach leaves with a bit ofParmesan cheese and cress microgreens on top. They were delicious.

We began our meal with a roasted pear and spinach salad, a special appetizer of fried, house-made mozzarella with fried artichokes, and fritto misto. The roasted pear salad was pretty good. It was baby spinach leaves, toasted walnuts, a few dabs of Gorgonzola, and one chilly, roasted pear half. The fried mozzarella was very good, a bit firm with a crisp coating, a good amount of quartered fried artichokes, and a zesty basil aioli on the side.

The fritto misto was excellent — a big portion of calamari, a few shrimp, and sticks of zucchini in a very good batter. The marinara sauce served alongside was super spicy, which we all loved but it might have had some people scrambling for their water glasses.

For entrees we tried the pan-seared salmon, risotto with mushrooms, penne with shrimp and zucchini, and a special of house-made fettucini with salmon and peas with a dab of caviar on top.

The pan-seared salmon was cooked as ordered, but wasn’t anything to write home about. It was a good-sized portion served with a lemon wedge wearing one of those mesh diapers, a few fingerling potatoes, four stalks of asparagus, and a rather intriguing, cold, green, leek mousse.

The mushroom risotto (billed as chanterelle, which would have been divine, had it been true) was an alarmingly large portion for such a rich dish. It was very tasty and cheesy and probably had portobello and shiitake mushrooms in place of the chanterelles.

The fettucini special was a sad, creamy mess. The fettucini was undercooked and stuck together, the cream coagulated, the peas and salmon bringing nothing to the dish. The penne was another disappointment. The zucchini and summer squash were so overcooked that they had lost their color and turned to mush. When I asked my friend what else was in her penne dish, she poked around and replied “a bunch of other mashed up stuff.” Most unfortunate.

At this point, much to our delight, and Corrado’s no doubt, a couple came into the restaurant. Yippee! The lights were dimmed, the Michael Buble and Glen Miller Orchestra were cranked up, and this place almost started hoppin’. It felt more like a restaurant than our Twilight Zone experience thus far.

Via del Mare is expensive, way too expensive for the quality of the food. Appetizers and salads are $15 to $22, pastas are $24 to $32, entrees are $32 to $46, sides are $12 (!), and desserts are $10 to $15.

Our service, the lone Corrado, was delightful, solicitous, chatty, and charming. Some of the desserts are made inhouse. We tried a napoleon and chocolate cannoli. Both were pretty good. The napoleon was a towering stack of puff pastry squares, filled with whipped cream, plenty of sliced strawberries and blueberries, and showered with powdered sugar. Unfortunately, it had a heavy-handed dose of thick dulce de leche in between each layer, a bit of sugar shock overkill. The cannolis were crisp and filled with more of a chocolate mousse than the traditional ricotta mixture.

When we asked for our check, Corrado seemed very disappointed that we were leaving. He suggested we stay a little longer and relax.

Via del Mare is the kind of place that is cute and kind of cozy, and Corrado was such a charmer that one wishes for it to succeed. But the food will have to rise up in quality to match the unjustified prices.