Old is New

Don't ya just love it when a seemingly defunct or tired restaurant in your neighborhood gets a clean overhaul and actually IMPROVES on the previous establishment?  Me too.  That's what happened this past weekend at Old Fields in Greenlawn, NY.  Just minutes up the road from our home.

source: NY Times

The joint near the railroad tracks in Greenlawn used to be called the Old Fields Inn.  The new owners, local restauranteurs David and Christine Tunney, trimmed the name a bit and really cleaned up the place that has been a mainstay in our neighborhood for over 50 years.  And pretty much everybody used to say the same thing about the place.  Great marinated steak...and not much else.

Well, they've kept the great marinated steak and done an overhaul on the menu that is one of the finest pub-food restaurants I've seen in a long while. 

We started out at the bar for cocktails. Hendricks gin martinis straight up with 3 olives.  Gia's dry, mine not so much.  I like to taste a little vermouth in my martini.  They were both excellent.  I can't stress enough how important it is to have tasty olives (or onions or whatever) in the martini.  A bad batch of olives can ruin an otherwise hard to screw up cocktail.  I tend to judge a joint on how well they make a martini. Old Fields passed with flying colors.

Then we moved to a booth in the bar room near the fireplace.  Very rustic and cozy.  We each started out with a salad.  A cucumber and tomato salad made with fresh lemon and extra virgin olive oil for Gia, and a nice Caesar salad for me.  I tend to judge a joint on how well they make a Caesar salad.  Old Fields passed with flying colors.

For entrees, Gia went with the marinated strip steak served with creamed spinach and a twice-baked potato.  I went with one of the specials for the evening.  A Guinness stew with big chunks of pot roast and root vegetables, served with crusty bread.  It was really, really good.  I tend to judge...aw, you know the drill.

We topped it off with some strawberry shortcake for dessert.  I'm not a fan, but I tasted it and it was fresh as all hell.  Very nicely done.

One of the things I'm dying to try on the menu the next time I go back is a big burger served between two grilled cheese sandwiches.  Oh yeah!  That, my friends, is comfort food.

I guess my point is, sometimes you can be more than pleasantly surprised by trying a local joint that you had previously overlooked.  I doubt any of you will get to Greenlawn, NY anytime soon. But if you do, Old Fields is a great options for an excellent meal.