The New York Times
Dining Out - For Carnivores and Others
By JoAnne Starkey
Published: March 6, 2005

As soon as diners are seated, they are presented with a mini cheese fondue, placed over the votive candle at each table, and a glass of small breadsticks to dip in the tasty, gooey cheese. This free appetizer made a great snack for munching while looking over the menu or taking in the sometimes frenetic scene.

Sagamore is large and sprawling with an upstairs room in addition to the main dining area downstairs. Sailboats dominate the décor downstairs, and horses on the second floor.

The best appetizer was a soup special one night: a rich and creamy saffron-crab. Other top-notch starters were the meltingly soft braised short ribs and the tasty, sweet chili-glazed baby back ribs. Another hefty and delicious opener was the three mini burgers, each with a different topping: pickled ginger, bacon and melted Asiago cheese and a mushroom demi-glace. Surprisingly, the pickled ginger was the biggest hit.

Every steak sampled delivered tender, flavorful meat and crispy fat: a buttery filet mignon, juicy ribeye, nicely charred New York strip, marinated skirt steak and classic porterhouse for two. The juicy 10-ounce burger topped with Gruyère cheese and served with thin French fries was another success.

Diners ordering the succulent veal chop flavored with rosemary and served with creamy scalloped potatoes had no complaints, and neither did those who chose the big double-thick lamb chops paired with a dried cherry couscous.

Six marinated grilled shrimp surrounded a centerpiece of wilted baby spinach with sautéed garlic, and the red snapper Mediterranean arrived with a mélange of onions, peppers, squash, olives and capers. The ginger-crusted salmon roulade was moist as promised but the flood of lemongrass-ginger broth was off-putting.

Sagamore has a lineup of winning side dishes. The best were the very creamy mashed potatoes and the grilled asparagus.

There were no weak links on the dessert list, either, from the assortment of seven different cookies, made in-house, to the rich and creamy New York cheesecake.

 

Long Island Newsday
Food - Syosset's new steak house fires up its grill
By Joan Reminick
Published: Jan 21, 2005

Petite osso buco with diver scallops over barley risotto isn't usually on the roster of appetizers at traditional steak houses, but the Sagamore, slated to open Monday where Boulder Creek was, 650 Jericho Tpke., Syosset, 516-496-8000, is a lot more contemporary than classical.

Under the ownership of Boulder Creek Ventures (whose fine dining division includes Chas Rothmann's in East Norwich and Burton & Doyle in Great Neck), the new spot will offer what manager Rob Kopel calls an "innovative chef-driven menu."

The chef behind that menu is Ron Gelish, who cooked at Coolfish in Syosset and Lemongrass in Roslyn. While die-hard traditionalists will be able to order creamed spinach and mashed potatoes to go with their dry-aged steaks, they'll also be able to break out and order black truffle macaroni and cheese and grilled marinated artichokes to accompany braised short ribs or Mediterranean red snapper. The restaurant also will feature 75 wines by the glass and a wine list of more than 200 labels.

We are proud to be the recipient of the prestigious Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for 2006.