The Stoneleigh Hotel has been around for over a century, and for too many of those years the restaurant was just fine. A decent place to eat if you were staying on the property, but no reason to go otherwise. One famous imported chef (Michael White) and a major renovation later, and now there’s Lions Den, an upscale Italian restaurant that’s serving the best food this hotel has seen in a long time.
The restaurant is open all day (because it’s in a hotel), but at night when the lights are low, it feels like the type of place you might go for a tryst to eat lobster and drink too much wine. That lobster is available in a $185 truffle pot pie with spaghetti or—in a more reasonably priced move—a burrata salad. The handmade pastas are a must, especially the bucatini, which is studded with meaty crab and slick with a buttery, peppery sauce. Add a dry-aged ribeye or the solid dover sole buried in crispy capers to round things out.
photo credit: Lions Den
There’s a big wine list here, so you can sip a crisp vermentino by the glass or go all-in on a pricey bottle of amarone. But the cocktails are good, so try at least one of those. The Sicilian Iced Tea features a pulque spirit and amaro, and it’s roughly a billion times better than the usual Long Island version. If you want a bit more spectacle, the Confit Al Fumo is a duckfat-washed whiskey drink that’s smoked and presented tableside.
Food RundownLobster Burrata
The chef here is known for his lobster burrata (it’s been on many of his menus over the years), so it’s worth seeing what all the fuss is about. The chilled lobster goes nicely with the creamy cheese, and the tomatoes add a burst of acidity to keep everything light.
Grilled Octopus
The octopus can be a little chewy, especially where the tentacle narrows, but it has a great char and lots of cooling herbs. And the bed of eggplant caponata is sweet and roasty.
Bucatini
Such a good pasta. The bucatini is firm and springy, and the punchy sauce walks right up to the edge of salty but is balanced out nicely by the sweet crab and a mild kick of calabrian spice.
Agnolotti
These oxtail-stuffed bundles have a good chew, and the mushrooms are like woodsy little presents, almost more flavorful than the pasta. This dish isn’t as rich as it sounds on paper, but it’s warm and comforting.
Dover Sole
The fish can be a little dense, but the nutty brown butter sauce is great, with tons of briny capers and—this part’s up to you—a generous squeeze of lemon.
Panna Cotta
This is a great dessert, and the best option when you want something sweet but not too heavy. Silky panna cotta is loaded with bright citrus and lots of textural accents like crispy buckthorn that make it more interesting than it has to be.
Dining and Cooking