Feed Me
The dish on Long Island's restaurant and food scene
Marjorie Robins
Marjorie Robins is Newsday's Food Editor.
C’est Cheese ripens in Port Jefferson
Photo credit: handout
It’s been over a year and a half since Joe Ciardullo opened his cheese shop-cafe in Port Jefferson, and C’est Cheese is maturing nicely. The cheese selection approaches 120 varieties, and the dining-in menu has grown to include dozens of cheese plates, salads and sandwiches, seven of which are grilled cheese.
They include the Parisian (brie, apple and honey), the Capra (goat cheese, fig preserve...
Read more »Fatfish in Bay Shore reopens
Photo credit: Handout
Back in the swim, after taking a big hit from superstorm Sandy, is fatfish Wine Bar & Bistro in Bay Shore. Or at least part of it.
Chef owner Brian Valdini said that the restaurant's wine bar, with seating for 48, as well as its canalside deck are up and running, the result of months of hard labor. All the kitchen equipment had to be replaced, as did the electrical work and Sheetrock....
Read more »The Main Event to open in Farmingdale
Photo credit: Newsday/Joan Reminick
Opening soon in the vacated former digs of Kodiak’s on Rte. 110 in Farmingdale will be a new branch of The Main Event in Plainview, defined by co-owner Alex Constantatos as “a family restaurant with a sports theme.”
In addition to plenty of TV screens, the place will feature a menu similar to the one in Plainview. Constantatos said that since his family is in the wholesale seafood business,...
Read more »REIN at Garden City Hotel: First bites
REIN is the main restaurant in the Garden City Hotel. The hotel is under new ownership and there's a new chef, too
Over the years, the hotel has had several primary restaurants, among them the departed Polo and Giorgio. Polo had an open-air quality, off the lobby. Giorgio was a very traditional, Euro-haute dining room. Both definitely had their highs and lows.
The new REIN, while often...
Read more »Cucina di Vargas, Hewlett: First bites
Photo credit: Newsday Joan Reminick
The new Cucina di Vargas enlivens the Five Towns dining scene with a brand of family-style Italian dining that's big on both quality and value.
At dinner recently, one taste of chef Narciso Vargas' crisp, nutty, highly addictive fried zucchini ($8.95) was followed by another and then another. A half order of the shards was enough for four. So, too, was a half order of the very good chopped...
Read more »Grilled cheese: Hard to kill
Photo credit: Newsday Erica Marcus
It's National Grilled Cheese Day and we've already highlighted some of Long Island's very best examples.
Now, here’s the thing about grilled cheese sandwiches. On the high end, they can sometimes crash on the shoals of their highfalutin ambitions, but on the low end, there’s no such thing as a bad grilled cheese.
Take my lunch today, made in our cafeteria. The guy behind the counter...
Read more »The Clam Bar in Amagansett returns for another season
Photo credit: File / Ellen Watson
A sign that summer is almost here is the reopening of The Clam Bar at Napeague in Amagansett. The roadside stand, known for its clams (on the half shell or fried), clam chowder, lobster rolls and the like, is now open Friday to Sunday, weather permitting. Today is out of the question.
Tomorrow and Sunday, though, have sunny forecasts. Which means that a fried clam roll might shortly...
Read more »This week’s restaurant reviews
Photo credit: Doug Young
In this week’s Newsday, Peter Gianotti revisits Tellers, which opened in 1999 in the grand edifice that originally housed the First National Bank of Islip. Executive chef Edward Villatoro, he writes, “is the new reason to invest in Tellers.” Steakhouse standards are uniformly fine, but so too are pea-mushroom-brisket risotto, veal tortellini carbonara, house-cured bacon and scene-stealing desserts....
Read more »Cuban Crocodile in Long Beach closes
Photo credit: Johnny Simon
Cuban Crocodile in Long Beach, which reopened at its East Park Avenue address about a month after being damaged by superstorm Sandy, has now shut down permanently.
Chef-owner Marivi Wolfe attributes the closing to post-Sandy landlord issues. She added that she is scouting a new location.
Cuban Crocodile earned a two-star rating last May for such dishes as flaky beef empanadas, succulent...
Read more »Weekend picks: Dining near Patchogue Theatre
Photo credit: Doug Young
It's young talent on stage Sunday at the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts. Twenty-six children, 8 to 18 years old, are scheduled to participate in the variety show for cash prizes.
The production goes on at 7 p.m. Sunday at the theater, 71 E. Main St. Admission is $9 to $25. For additional information: 631-207-1313; patchoguetheatre.com
While you're in the neighborhood, you...
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