Ruschmeyer's restaurant dining room in Montauk. (June 2011)

Ruschmeyer's restaurant dining room in Montauk. (June 2011) Credit: Handout

Old and new Montauk come together at Ruschmeyer's. The name long associated with the waterside, family resort of another century now applies to a more Hamptonian incarnation that combines chic and kitsch.

It's about what you'd expect from King & Grove Hotels, the company that also operates The Surf Lodge, the equally stylized local hottie of recent years.

On its own, however, the new restaurant, which succeeded Second House Tavern this season, is both popular and often very good.

Ruschmeyer's has kept the Second House look, full of knotty wood, benchlike tables and a busy bar. The big, overhead lanterns add a contemporary look.

You'll enjoy the eclectic food. Try the white clam pizza from the wood-burning oven, finished with parsley and pepper: very good. Sample the jumbo lump crabmeat tossed with charred-corn succotash. Refresh yourself with the watermelon, cucumber and feta salad. Spread some bluefish paté on toasted breads. And keep summer close with the excellent linguine in basil-and-walnut pesto.

Roasted Montauk striped bass keeps the local angle, paired with a salad of zucchini and grapes. The lobster salad isn't the lobster-roll variety, but pieces of sweet meat simply tossed with barely dressed greens. Or veer to more seasoning with the snappy monkfish in green curry with cashews and brown rice. For the record, Ruschmeyer's does offer a bacon-Cheddar burger.

Peach pie is an apropos dessert. So's the three-scoop sundae. You'll hold onto the season a bit longer.

 

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