Dining Out visits Stonewalls Restaurant in Riverhead

Owners Vinny Sasso and Charles Jurgens have brought authentic French fare to the rolling fields of Riverhead:

Nestled behind the 18th hole of The Woods at Cherry Creek Golf Course sits Stonewalls Restaurant, with fine dining accents of emerald carpets, oversize windows and an air of busy elegance serving as the backdrop for head chef Guy Peuch’s menu addressing a wide range of tastes for every palate.

A prix fixe ($24.95) Zagat-rated brunch menu begins at 11:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday at includes a basket of assorted breads, a choice of a bloody mary, mimosa or glass of house wine. Appetizers range from a saffron billi-bi, or mussels soup, to a plate of North Fork duck paté and foie gras topped with truffles and pistachio with toasted sourdough bread to complement. For a lighter dish, prosciutto with cantaloupe melon and a balsamic glaze is also available.

Brunch entrées include omelettes with any combination of ingredients, such as mushrooms, chives, ham, cheddar or Swiss cheese, sweeter options like French toast with bacon, glazed banana and New England maple syrup, and more substantial offerings like baked Scottish salmon in a light lobster tarragon sauce.

A seasonal lunch menu features several crowd favorites according to restaurant manager Tom Connor, among them the baked escargots a la Bourguignonne with butter, Italian parsley and garlic ($12) or the cassoulet of Castelnaudary, a dish of baked white beans, duck confit, and pork and garlic sausage.

Sunday lunch crowds can take advantage of the copious sunlight and sweeping views of the golf course provided by the dining room’s massive windows. Lunch entrées include braised beef short ribs Nicoise-style ($26) prepared with brunoise of vegetables, syrah wine, spice, egg noodles and melted gruyère, and osso bucco Milanese ($33).

Prix fixe dinner options include the roasted rack of lamb Provencale au jus ($33) or the eight-hour slow cooked tripes of beef Provençale with carrot, onion, celery, leek, tomato, white wine, brandy and pomme a l’anglaise ($22).

The Grill Room begins to fill up early on Saturday evenings, offering a winter menu with an array of standbys such as the croque monsieur ($10), a sandwich of brie and ham served with salad and French fries and two bruschetta options worthy of note: one with spicy shrimp, tomato, basil and mesclun salad ($15) or the open-face steak sandwich on bruschetta piled with marinated grilled sirloin steak and mushrooms in Bedell merlot sauce and served with French fries ($12.50).

A long bar replete with a large flat-screen television keeps sports enthusiasts content and comfortable, offering such standard bar options as Buffalo wings ($9) or the Stonewalls 10-ounce burger with red leaf lettuce, sliced tomato, vidalia onion and sour pickles ($10.50).

Dinner (available in a $19.50 prix fixe) offers a variety of entrées. Start off with a Waldorf Aux Noix salad; watercress, apple, celery root and walnut, all in a light creamy mayonnaise. A favorite selection for the weekend crowd is the jumbo lump crab cakes, touted by restaurant staff as “the best crab cakes this side of Maryland” and served with red pepper coulis and braised fennel (add $5). Also amongst the prix-fixe dinner options, there is a meeting of East and West in the fricassée of organic chicken topped with curry, coconut milk, mango chutney and rice pilaf.

Off the regular dinner menu ($12-$33), Mr. Connor once more offers insight into the most popular dinner entrée: direct from Crescent Farm in Aquebogue, classic duck a l’orange with wild rice, orange segments and haricots verts ($25). The moules marinieres, or mariner’s style, feature Prince Edward Island mussels are prepared with shallots, parsley and white wine and served in a light cream sauce ($15).

Stonewalls boasts an extensive wine list featuring labels from nearly every corner of Western Europe. There are also plenty of choices for locavores, with a variety of wines from Long Island. Red wines range in price from $24 to $109; whites go for $19.50 to $87; and rosé, champagne or sparkling wines are priced from $22 to $113. Half-bottles and wines by the glass are also available.

Stonewalls will also host a “Chef’s Table” series ($45 per person, including tax and gratuity) every Friday until February 5. Dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m. with an amuse bouche followed by dinner at 7 p.m. in the Grill Room. Monsieur Peuch will choose the menu each week to be paired with select wines. Each dinner will include three or four courses. No credit cards will be accepted for the Chef’s Table series.

The restaurant will be closed from Monday, February 15, through Thursday, March 18 for winter vacation.