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Prime Time at Marinaccio's

Grilled Chilean Sea Bass with wasabi lemon butter & pickled ginger. Served with herb risotto and grilled asparagus. French Chevon goat cheese, roasted bell peppers, field greens, and sun dried tomatoes with honey mustard vinaigrette.
(photo: Rose Mattrey)

If Clara Peller were alive and well and living in Buffalo today, she surely would be confused by all of the choices confronting her in response to her classic question: “Where’s the beef?”

We’re not talking hamburgers here. We’re talking steak and the increasing numbers of local restaurants where cuts of red meat are the stock in trade.

While its steaks are still good, the old-standby, Scotch ’n’ Sirloin in Amherst, is frayed around the edges and needs a facelift. This is puzzling since its sister restaurant in the Syracuse suburb of Dewitt still is a class act and one of my favorite places for steak. The local iterations of the Outback Steakhouse have the formula down pat and for the price, the steaks are very good. And the Buffalo Chop House and E.B. Green’s in downtown Buffalo still rack up major sales as traditional gentlemen’s steakhouses.

If you’re ranking the new kids on the block, Fiamma Steak on Hertel Avenue—designed with décor and menu targeted to female customers—ranks high on the list. I haven’t visited Prime 490 on Rhode Island Street, but the buzz on the street seems to be positive.

Last week, we visited the latest entry in the local steak race—Marinaccio’s Steak and Seafood at 5877 Main Street in Williamsville, which overnight transformed itself (in menu only) from Marinaccio’s Italian Ristorante. There’s a trend here—the restaurants that previously were on the sites of Fiamma Steak and Prime 490 were also strongholds of Italian cuisine.

General Manager Ralph Guadagno quickly and proudly points out what distinguishes Marinaccio’s in its new reincarnation: It is the only area restaurant offering beef designated USDA Prime, the highest grade of beef as judged by standards of the US Department of Agriculture.

It was my first experience with USDA Prime. How was my filet? As Barbra Streisand might phrase it: “like butter.”

According to multiple Web sites, USDA Prime represents the top two percent of all beef in the US. It’s expensive for restaurants and their customers; the margin of profit is small. However, it’s wonderful and a check of menus at other local steakhouses showed their prices for cuts of beef comparable in size to those we enjoyed at Marinaccio’s were almost as expensive (or more expensive), although they do not offer USDA prime beef.

Marinaccio’s is not all about beef. In fact, there are only four beef offerings among the entrees. Gene Pigeon, who was with Guadagno previously at E.B. Green’s and Pranzo, is executive chef and his expertise clearly is not limited to preparing entrées that go “moo.”

We began our meal with two very good appetizers: corn fried oysters ($10) and the chef’s featured risotto ($7). The guest’s oysters, prepared with a dusting of cornmeal, were served on the half shell, topped with chopped red sweet peppers and smoked jalapeno cream. The presentation was the crowning touch on a very good opener. My risotto—which was enough to satisfy two appetites, and half of which went home for a subsequent lunch—had a subtle flavor, combining creamy risotto with pheasant sausage, artichokes and baby spinach. Very nice.

Other openers include crispy calamari with risotto cake served with roasted peppers and herb-garlic aioli ($8); carpaccio of ahi tuna with Japanese ponzu sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger ($12); and Ducktrap Farm smoked salmon with mixed greens, potato pancake and mustard aioli ($11). There’s also lobster bisque at $7 and beans and greens soup for $5.

My salad selection was a “classic Caesar” at $6 featuring cold, crisp Romaine, shaved Parmesan and crispy croutons, but lacking when it came to an anchovy “punch.” The guest enjoyed a salad featuring baked, creamy French chevon goat cheese, roasted peppers, field greens, sundried tomatoes and a tasty honey mustard vinaigrette ($9). A diner at the next table order the sliced tomato and buffalo mozzarella cheese drizzled with aged balsamic vinaigrette ($7). It also was presented beautifully.

For dinner, we both selected beef entrées accompanied by green beans prepared perfectly, and massive baked potatoes.

My 10-ounce filet ($37) was served medium as ordered. Described on the menu as the “most tender of corn-fed Midwestern beef,” it was excellent.

The guest also enjoyed his 14-ounce New York Strip steak ($39), although he ordered it rare and it arrived tableside medium rare.

The other beef choices on the menu are the 20-ounce cowboy ribeye ($36) and 24-ounce porterhouse steak at $42. There’s also Frenched roasted Washington State lamb chops with sharp mustard, sundried tomatoes and roasted pine nuts ($32), medallions of Provini veal with sautéed woodland mushrooms and fresh rosemary armagnac cream ($24) and roasted muscovy duck breast with port wine, fresh berries and cracked pepper ($24).

Seafood entries include Atlantic swordfish encrusted with sweet horseradish butter finished with butter tomato salsa ($23), Chilean sea bass grilled with wasabi lemon butter and pickled ginger ($24) and pecan-encrusted Atlantic salmon with maple glaze ($21). Pasta entrées include fettuccine with smoked salmon, roasted leeks and vodka cream sauce ($16), shrimp and scallops scampi with angel hair pasta ($18), traditional linguine with clam sauce ($16) and lasagna ($16).

Desserts are from Butterwood Gourmet Desserts and are $6 each. The guest rated his crème brulee as very good. My “hummingbird cake,” a banana-nut creation, was nondescript.

Marinaccio’s is open for dinner only, and seating is limited to 70—reservations are recommended. There are no physical barriers for those who are physically challenged.