DAVE'S GRILL
Pete's Viking Grill was a fisherman's haunt, opening only at 10 p.m. to serve breakfast throughout the night, when David Marcley and his wife, jazz-singer Julie Sheldon, bought it in May 1988. The couple delayed breakfast until dawn, added lunch and as their skill and staff increased, soon were serving only dinner.
Their East Coast version of red and white cioppino, now $35.95, hit their menu 14 years ago and the word was out. Both cioppinos are outstanding, as are sweet, moist potato-crusted flounder, the fish of the day - perhaps striped bass or halibut, sushi - especially "tuna tempura," tuna tartare, seven-vegetable spring rolls, linguine with clam sauce. The wine list and desserts are excellent. So is Julie's coffee, a stunner with Kahlua, Baileys and cream. "Given the hour, do you want decaf?" asks Tammy the bartender.
Like almost all Montauk establishments, Dave's serves some meat and steak. In the mid-90s its pork chops were a knock-out; today, they're even better. "We briefly tried taking them off the menu and had a customer uprising," recalls Sheldon. Recently Marcley switched to "porterhouse" pork chops from Niman Ranch, from pigs that Niman reports, "run, roam and root," giving a product that Marcley finds far juicer, deeper-flavored than lean industrial pork.
Dave's (468 West Lake Drive, 669-9190) is open daily (except Wednesday) from 5:30 p.m. through September, Thursday - Saturday to October 21, and reopens mid-May. Same day reservations are essential except for seven bar stools. Either queue early outside the restaurant, which accepts reservations from 4:30 p.m., or call and keep hitting redial during the fleeting window before tables fill.
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