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With the view from Tierra Mar’s back porch showing the wide expanses of the Atlantic Ocean, the restaurant could probably serve a limited menu of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and still get customers.
But instead of relying on the view alone to draw diners, chef and owner Todd Jacobs decided to take the food offerings at the Westhampton Beach restaurant to a whole new level. Tierra Mar, which is located on Dune Road adjacent to the Westhampton Bath and Tennis Hotel and Marina, offers American and French cuisine painstakingly prepared according to Mr. Jacobs’s own special recipes.
One of the things that sets Tierra Mar apart is that every aspect of the meal, from the sauce on the free-range duck to the blueberry corn bread pudding and ice cream, is made from scratch on the premises.
“You won’t find that anywhere else,” Tierra Mar manager Carlos Vega said. In addition, he said, produce is locally grown and most of the fish is directly from the waters off Long Island. The duck used in the restaurant’s signature dish—the warm spinach and crisp barbecued duck confit with roasted new potatoes, wild mushrooms, and warm raspberry vinaigrette entrée, available for $16 for lunch or $32 for dinner—is from a farm in Eastport. All the fruit, flour and sugar used in Tierra Mar dishes is also certified organic.
Ingredients used in Tierra Mar’s diverse menu that are not local include the free-range chickens, which come from a farm in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and meat from stock that grazed in open pastures in Arizona and was never given any antibiotics or growth hormones.
“The mission of the chef is to support local markets,” said Mr. Vega. “We’re definitely in the trend of localized produce.” And the local sourcing trend also applies to wines available at the restaurant, which are from wineries such as Wolffer Estates in Sagaponack, Bedell Cellars in Mattituck and Martha Clara Vineyards in Riverhead.
Entrées include charbroiled organic Scottish salmon with lemon-caper vinaigrette, which comes with grilled vegetables and organic brown jasmine rice ($28), and the Tierra Mar bouillabaisse with toasted Tuscan bread, with North Atlantic fish and shellfish stew in a light garlic saffron broth ($32).
The food is gourmet fare and thus is priced accordingly, Mr. Vega said, but it is a point of pride at Tierra Mar to offer drinks at a reasonable price, ranging from $7 or $8 for a glass of wine to $8 for a mixed drink, or between $10 and $12 for a martini.
“We received a comment from a customer that the prices of our drinks are some of the best on the Island,” said Mr. Vega.
Tierra Mar is not just for adults though: a kids’ menu is also offered to cater to the youngest clientele, with items like fried chicken fingers with Tierra Mar fries ($12).
In addition to lunch and dinner, Tierra Mar also offers breakfast in the summer and Sunday brunch. One example of the restaurant’s morning offerings is an organic spinach and forest mushroom omelet with gruyere cheese, challah toast and Tierra Mar fries, which is available on the brunch menu. At a cost of $18.95, brunch includes the choice of one entrée, a Bloody Mary or mimosa, and coffee or tea.
Various prix fixes are also available in the spring, fall and winter, including a $25 lunch, which includes soup or salad, a sandwich or a main plate, and dessert. In the summer, the restaurant offers a Monday Night Lobster Bake, which includes an all-you-can-eat raw bar, a salad with romaine lettuce, and Montauk lobster, steak or charbroiled fish. A dessert of organic mixed berry shortcake with white chocolate whipped cream is also included in the $70 purchase price for the prix fixe dinner.
Tierra Mar, which also offers catering and is available for weddings, is open for lunch and dinner year-round. Since October, the restaurant has been open only on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but it will once again be open seven days a week beginning April 23. Breakfast is served from 9 to 11 a.m., lunch from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and dinner from 4 p.m. to closing.
But it’s not just the delicious gourmet fare that draws people back to the restaurant year after year: it’s the atmosphere.
“The view is excellent, and nice people come here to eat,” said Abdou Cisse, a waiter who has been with the restaurant for a year. “You feel like you’re treated well and everybody gets special attention.”
231 Dune Road, Westhampton Beach; 631-288-2700
Open Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to closing; open 7 days a week from April 23 through end of September, 9 a.m. to closing.
All major credit cards except Discover.
Reservations recommended; required for holidays
Handicapped accessible
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