Gosman’s Dock in Montauk: Enjoy it before it closes for the season

The lighthouse is Montauk’s best-known landmark.

Gosman’s Dock comes next.

Mark your calendar. It closes for the season on Oct. 15, so you have a little longer to dine at Gosman’s main seafood restaurant, which is the best it has been in memory.

David Piacente is the executive chef. And while he offers the seafood mainstays, there are new reasons to visit, too.

Piacente, a Culinary Institute of America graduate whose resume includes stints at The 1770 House in East Hampton and the departed Della Femina restaurant there, emphasizes clean flavors above heavy saucing.

His steamed lobster is excellent. But so are his minimalist preparations of striped bass and swordfish, which never masquerade their freshness. The sweet local oysters require neither sauce nor lemon. Tuna tartare arrives as in a quartet of small, savory cones. Jumbo lump crabcakes: meaty and subtly seasoned.

The lure of Gosman’s, which started in 1943 as a fish packer and conduit to the Fulton Fish Market, has been its classic waterfront location, and maybe a steamed lobster.

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Until Piacente modernized the kitchen, however, the restaurant had been, at best, erratic. Anyone who ate here from the ’70s to well past the millennium understands.

As summer 2017 ends, Gosman’s shows no wrinkles. It’s become younger.

In case you really, really love the whole place, know that the restaurant is part of a 14-acre site, which includes additional dining spots, shops, a parking area and more, that was put up for sale last year for $52.5 million. $$-$$$$

Gosman’s Restaurant, 500 W. Lake Dr., Montauk, 631-668-5330, gosmans.com