Queens Tribune

Seasons
26 Great Neck Rd., Great Neck
(516) 466-6380
Cuisine: Fine Dining and Tapas
Hours: Lunch 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and dinner 4 to 7 p.m. daily
Parking: Lot
Credit Cards: Yes
Takeout: Yes

The location of Seasons Restaurant is a bit disconcerting but that’s the only hurdle to enjoying some of the best food Great Neck has to offer.

I couldn’t help raising an eyebrow when my GPS had me turn in the Garden Center off Great Neck Road. The buzzing electric Waldbaums sign and its florescent lighting illuminated the vast parking lot of which I pulled into an open spot.

I turned off my car grabbed my notebook and camera and prepared myself for anything. My date, a friend I made come with me all the way from Williamsburg Brooklyn was excited, but we shared the same trepidation as we climbed the stares, squinting from the amount of light shooting into our pupils.

At the top of the stairs were two large, oak doors and a sign for the restaurant I was to review this evening.
Opening that door was like walking into Oz from the black-and-white exterior world.

The light inside the large partitioned dining area was warm and inviting. The hostess greeted us kindly and showed us to our table. A long lime-green couch hugged the wall with tables-for-two and a dark-wood chair facing the comfortable seating arrangement.

Many restaurants, especially in the fine dining arena, are too aggressive with their designs. Everything is made to look like a scene from “Sex and the City” and comes off looking tacky and contrived, but not at Seasons.

Understated elegance or cozy chic is the best way to describe the atmosphere in Seasons.

The competitively priced menu is a place you could bring your family for quiet dinner and at the same time a place to come with friends and share stories and a couple bottles of wine. It’s also a great place to impress a date in my case.

The wait staff at Seasons is professional but approachable. They will take special orders with the best of them but will also make recommendations for the adventurous, which might be the best idea since everything on the menu sounds amazing.

Beginning with the tapas menu, which includes calamari, quesadillas, meatballs, Bruschetta, crab cakes and Mediterranean olive spreads, to name just a few items, it could be easy to be satisfied off a varied selection of completing appetizers.

Also, I have got to mention the grilled steak and portobello mushrooms flatbread with gorgonzola cheese, one of the best things I’ve had this year.

But don’t miss the entrees, which would be a crime. From fresh salmon, buttery Maine Lobster tails, barbecued ribs, apple plank roasted pork tenderloin to a selection of steaks that take your breathe away, the remembrance of my meal makes my heart sink, my stomach giddy and breath shudder.

What, meat is not your thing? Then try the tomato stacked salad or the pasta Carbonara.

If your sweet tooth is aching after such a fresh meal, the desserts are made daily and something on the long selection list will surly cure what ails you. My date, who said she did not like cheesecake, was converted by the dessert served in a portioned serving glass. I just loved the French apple crepe in a rich caramel and chocolate sauce served warm like they do in France.

Would I go back? Absolutely, and I probably wouldn’t even notice the Waldbaums.