World Pie

 Remember when pizza was good, cheap Italian food? When a simple pie came topped with tomatoes, cheese, and if you wanted to get fancy, mushrooms or pepperoni? At World Pie, a so-very Hamptons restaurant, today's well-dressed pizza wears Asian duck or tandoori chicken. But even the simplest margarita pie is worth ordering, thanks to a superior crust, good cheese, and fresh basil that seems to have come straight from the garden.

For starters, try the "frites oorlog" Dutch-style hand-cut French fries served in a paper-lined metal container, offered with mayonnaise, peanut sauce and ketchup. Or be adventurous and share one of the more unusual-sounding pizzas.

On a sultry afternoon, try a cool lobster salad, rife with lobster meat, light on mayo, the bed of greens dressed with a lemon-thyme vinaigrette and strewn with fresh strawberries and blueberries.

A dinner entree of bone-in chicken scarpariello is garlicky and fine. Although the tandoori chicken is not cooked in an authentic tandoori oven, it is, nonetheless, a flavorful bird; its accompaniments of couscous and hummus seem a bit weird. Lobster ravioli is a standout, offered with a superior fresh tomato sauce.

For dessert, the flourless chocolate cake is intense and fine. Creme brulee, another standout, has a properly crackly crust.

In summer, you can watch the street scene from an alfresco table. Having lasted more than three seasons, World Pie looks to be that rarity: a Hamptons keeper.