75 MAIN

 

Last month, I paid a surprise middle-of-the-week, end-of-winter visit to the Hamptons. I really needed to chill a bit, and take some time off from the heart-breaking task of clearing-out my mother’s house in Brooklyn. And, of course, have some good restaurant meals there! My friend, Lauren, warned me that none of them are the “scene” they are in the summer. Duh.

But that’s exactly what I was looking for–some good chow in a low-key atmosphere. And that’s exactly what I got at the venerable 75 Main. (Guess what it’s address is? You get only one try.)

I was surprised that, despite the off-season, and being “a plain little wednesday night,” (as my mother used to say,) there were so many diners there. And it wasn’t even their $15 pasta night! Nor the special steak one. But as the chef, Johndavid Hensley, is one of only a small number of Master Chefs in this country, it does make sense.

First of all, the service couldn’t have been more accommodating. Our waiter, Shawn, was totally on top of everything, and got an assist occasionally from Diana. The hostess, Natasha, chimed in a bit, as well. And I loved the big screen TV over the bar that has volume controls for both sides of it! I wish I had discovered the louder side sooner. (Well, since I was watching the first on-stage American Idol on it, maybe I should have just been grateful for the quiet side!)

I understand that the spacious back of the dining room becomes a dance club, of sorts, on week-ends and in the summer, which is most likely a welcome venue for their mainly over-30 patrons who want to work off the calories. (They have younger diners, as well; we just go elsewhere to club the night away. Notice the “we.”)

Let’s get to the food already! They have a very interesting bread presentation to start off with. The breads are kind of fanned-out in a basket, with a three-compartment tray placed in front. (It’s similar to one I have for my little jewelry.) One is the obligatory olive oil, another is the olive tapenade that’s de rigueur for nice restaurants nowadays, but the middle one housed my favorite bread topping–butter! Yes, the substance that snobby eateries look down on me for requesting! I loved that it was a choice here!

The in-house-made breads differ nightly, and the menus change often, so I don’t know what will be offered when you go. We hope some of the dishes will be there, so you can have the same culinary experience as we did. [Note: as you may know, I usually review as a party of four, so that I’ll have more dishes to tell you about. But, I didn’t have extra helpers so far from home, so we just had to plod along with the two of us.]

For appetizers, Lauren chose the “great, fabulous, gigantic, crispy-on-the-inside” crab cake with “a ton” of avocado salsa on the side. It was so filling that she said it could be a main course! I went with the “friggin’ delicious” chopped salad that had an excellent combo of ingredients, including just the right amount of gorgonzola. (But, I suggest you ask them to go easy on the balsamic vinaigrette—you can always add more if need be, but the flavors blend so well that you don’t much dressing.)

I ordered a NY sirloin as my entree, but I seriously can’t tell you about it because I got full on the side order of perfectly “crunchy and fun” fries I had while waiting for my steak to become medium well done, so I was too full to judge. (I told you that I need three others to properly review!!!) But I can tell you that Lauren went absolutely berserk over the curried lamb ragout that was part of her lamb “duet.” She loved it so much that she ignored the grilled lamb chops that were the other half of the dish. She declared it “amazing,” and said she could have eaten just “a whole plate of the ragout” because it was “outstanding.”

I’m usually the one hankering for dessert, with Lauren eschewing it, but she ate just about the entire chocolate lava cake single-handedly! I’ve never seen her eat dessert, ever, in the half dozen or so years we’ve been friends!!! She uttered just one word regarding it, but that one said it all–“Killer!”

She also insisted I tell you that the Perrin and Fils Cote Du Rhone Village Reserve was “off the charts!” I don’t often write about wine, being the non-drinker that I am, but Lauren was adamant about its inclusion in this review. She added that’s “it’s a must-have if you like dry red,” and was glad that it was suggested to her by Shawn.

I have to add one more thing to this review, which is of dinner. Perusing their website after I wrote this, I think that perchance this restaurant is like that elephant being felt by six blind men—it’s different things to different people, depending on a lot of factors. They serve all three meals, and sitting outside on a summer’s day will be quite different from dinner on a winter’s eve. Dancing on a week-end into the wee hours makes the place a different destination than a week-day’s breakfast. And so on. And the menu itself is ever-changing. So, if your experience of 75 Main differs from mine, perhaps you’re feeling the flank as opposed to the tail. But I’m sure it’s all good. I can’t wait to go there for breakfast in the summer. I may even dance during it!

75 Main Street  Southampton, New York 631-283-7575 www.75main.com