FOODIE
A Taste Of NYC For Huntington
By Mike & Pete/ foodie@longislandernews.com

Steve Del Lima likes to say he’s brought a taste of New York City to Huntington. Del Lima’s Wild Fin restaurant -- a Soho-style eatery with impeccable food and service – opened eight months ago in the heart of Huntington’s restaurant row -- that stretch of New York Avenue near Main Street that seems to be home to every hot new restaurant that opens.

Wild Fin occupies a ground floor corner of the one time vaudeville theater that now houses the IMAC concert venue. The restaurant’s façade belies a cavernous space that stretches a half block to the rear. Wild Fin welcomes diners with the folding doors that open onto the street and are practically mandatory these days. A small airy bar gives those waiting a place to rest and does a credible business of its own, particularly on music nights.

It’s at the end of a long ramp that the real Foodie fun begins. The dining room with high ceilings and exposed brick walls is reminiscent of New York City’s stylish eateries, and made warm with a textured yellow wash on the plaster walls, and overscale draperies that define the space. Soft jazz completed the mood.

Del Lima’s road to Huntington was a long one and starts at some of New York’s top restaurants. The che/owner learned his craft on some stellar lines, cooking for such restauarants as Le Cirque and Danielle, before taking greater roles at more upscale eateries like Giorgio’s of Gramercy. He was Named New York magazine’s best upcoming chef in 1997.

Del Lima frist brought his city style to the Island with his RSVP in Bayville. Earlier this year, he traded up, closing the 53-seater to open Wild Fin with more than double that amount.

Bayville’s loss is Huntington’s gain. Del Lima’s menu is simple, yet sophisticated, and every dish benefits from the touch of Del Lima, and his chef de cuisine, Phillip Tarzia.

Although Del Lima prefers a hearty steak on his nights away from the restaurant, Wild Fin, as the name suggests, stars seafood. The raw bar selection ($25/pp, minimum 2) is hardly your typical shrimp cocktail. You’ll pick at clams, shrimp, two types of oyster and lobsters with classic cocktail sauce, pickled ginger and mini Tabasco. Tempting, but we opted to try some of the more complex appetizer creations.

These days, Ahi tuna is our benchmark dish, and Wild Fin’s Tuna Tartare ($14) stacked up to the best of them – in more ways than one. Subtly seasoned with rice wine vinegar, the chopped tuna is fresh, and served at cucumber-cool temperature in a towering construction combining soy marinated cucumbers, orange coriander aioli, Asian micro greens and punctuated by a pair of crisp plantain chips. The generous portion would make the better part of a meal.

Likewise, Seared Diver Scallops ($14) brought a trio of the plump and tender treats around a warm and flavorful mound of warmed spinach with smokehouse bacon, dried tomatoes and goat cheese with a balsamic vinaigrette.

On the soup side, “Camp Fire” Onion Soup topped with creamy Gouda was hearty and sophisticated. We were also tempted by the Maine Lobster Bisque ($10) and will return for it if only to see how the fresh pea shoots fit in.

Salads are a separate experience at Wild Fin. Simple Organic Baby Field Greens ($8) are dressed with aged balsamic vinaigrette, marinated tear drop tomatoes and carmelized shallots. The Ruby Beet and Black Plum salad ($13) is a complex marriage of micro greens, olives, feta cheese and lemon confit with strawberry honey vinaigrette.

Main courses stay with the seafood theme, though Wild Fin offers a Horseradish-Crusted Filet Mignon ($35) with herbed potato croquettes, asparagus spears and a lemon parsley pesto.

The Veal Osso Buco ($37) is exemplary of Wild Fin’s tendency toward bold and flavorful renditions of traditional dishes. Roasted no less than eight hours, we’ were told by our server, it was a heart-warming rendition of the traditional Italian favorite, rich and dark with sautéed greens, a Portobello mushroom confit and served atop a Gorganzola infused barley risotto.

We also enjoyed what must be Fin’s signature dish, the Cedar Planked Pacific Halibut ($29). A chunky slab of tender fish was accompanied by lobster-sauteed home fries that would have made the dish worth ordering by themselves, were it not for the buttery red wine dipping sauce. Now that would be worth ordering alone!

In every case, presentation was paramount; each dish a complex creation of shape, color and texture. Every one was worth a pause before eating to enjoy the visual treat.

Dessert at Wild Fin benefits from the same compulsiveness toward design – from construction of the flavors to building the dish itself. We sampled the obligatory Warm Falling Down Chocolate Cake ($8) and were rewarded with a not-too-sweet “bun” of chocolate served with a banana chocolate gelato and malted milk sauce. For a change of flavor, we tried the citric-blessed Key Lime and Phyllo ($8), consisting a sharp Key Lime curd in a crisp phyllo cup with fresh berries, a pair of biscotti and candied lime chips. We closed our eyes and woke up in Florida.

The only down note we experienced at Wild Fin was that the food eventually came to an end (I suppose we could arrange to get there earlier). We planned to return -- and one of us Foodies already did – to turn family and friends on to its bold, chic, sophisticated style.

Wild Fin extras include music nights – featuring Peter Mazzeo Fridays from 10 p.m.; and Don Olsen with Willy Maidrello Saturdays from 10 p.m. Tuesday-through-Saturday nights, wines are half-price; and the upcoming Long Island Restuaurant Week, November 5-12, offers an excellent opportunity to ample this top-shelf restaurant with a $21.95, three-course, prix fixe menu.

Walk, run, swim… but get yourself to Wild Fin.

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