Feed Me
The dish on Long Island's restaurant and food scene
Joan Reminick
In an ongoing search to find Long Island’s best restaurant values, restaurant critic Joan Reminick has plowed through more pad thai, penne ala vodka and pulled pork than she cares to admit. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Joan grew up in a happy home whose only shortcomings were culinary. After a childhood of cooked-to-leather steaks, canned peas and Ore Ida fries, she made it a personal mission to seek out food that’s fresh, lively and carefully prepared. Married to her teen sweetheart, she received a B.A. from Brooklyn College and an M.S. from Hofstra University and taught English and Humanities in a Long Island high school for several years. When her two children were born, she embarked on a writing career and has had both fiction and nonfiction works published in national magazines. She also edited the Zagat Survey of Long Island Restaurants and wrote the book “Exploring Long Island with Newsday.” In addition to doing weekly “Cheap Eats” restaurant reviews, Joan hunts down restaurant news items and writes restaurant-related articles. These days, her motto is: making Long Island a better place to eat, one blog entry at a time.
Southampton gets noted 'Floribbean' chef
Photo credit: Handout
Mark Militello gained fame back in the 1980s as a member of the South Florida “Mango Gang” of chefs credited with inventing Floribbean cuisine. Today, Militello is on Long Island and cooking at 75 Main in Southampton for the summer.
On Militello's new Contemporary American-Mediterranean fusion menu are such dishes as halibut with sweet onion crust and fennel gratin ($38), grilled lamb chops...
Read more »Crabby Amy's reopens in Seaford; Catfish Max doesn't
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Having taken a big hit from superstorm Sandy, Crabby Amy's is back to serving seafood omelets ($14.95), lobster rolls ($14.95) and fried clam sandwiches ($6.95) in Seaford's Treasure Island Marina. The casual spot, with outdoor tables and counter service, offers breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as live music on Sunday and Thursday evenings.
Owner Amy Breidenbach’s other waterside restaurant,...
Read more »Morrison's opens in Plainview
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Meet Morrison's, the gastropub successor to Red Fish in Plainview. Like its predecessor, it is owned by restaurateur Art Bloom, this time, with his daughter, manager Shelby Poole, and her husband, co-chef Harry Poole. Both will be going back and forth between Morrison's and their Commack restaurant, Jackson's, while co-chef Jason Adams will remain in Plainview.
The restaurant, designed and...
Read more »Huntington Social closes
Photo credit: Kathy Kmonicek
Huntington Social appears to have left the Huntington dining scene. The place has been dark for the past several days, weekend included.
The restaurant opened in 2011 in a second-story space overlooking Main Street. In a two-star review; shortly afterward, Newsday’s Peter Gianotti wrote: “Huntington Social, a nimble combo of gastro pub, lounge and stylized restaurant, heightens the rivalry...
Read more »Bareburger, Great Neck: First bites
Photo credit: Newsday / Marjorie Robins
Beef, bison or boar? That's only one of the myriad choices you'll have to make after a perky server takes you through the complicated menu at the newly opened Bareburger in Great Neck.
Unlike most burger chains, this small New York City-based franchise, known for its ''free-range, pasture raised, humanely raised, antibiotic-, gluten- and hormone- free" meats, offers table service and...
Read more »Cafe Havana reborn in Smithtown
Photo credit: Newsday / Ana P. Gutierrez
It isn't often that a restaurant returns from the Great Beyond, but Cafe Havana in Smithtown has been resurrected after being shuttered for about a year.
As manager Edward Rivera tells it, the place incurred a massive water leak. Damage was extensive, as were interior renovations.
Chef Ramon Perez returns with a menu that’s pretty much the same as before, with a few additions....
Read more »CoolFish owner Tom Schaudel sells the Syosset restaurant
Photo credit: Newsday File
Chef-restaurateur Tom Schaudel, who launched CoolFish in Syosset back in 2000, just sold the New American seafood restaurant to the Singh Hospitality Group. Schaudel said he will continue to be involved as a consultant and that the chef will continue to be Lenny Campanelli, who received a three-star review from Newsday's Peter Gianotti in February of 2012.
Campanelli's rendition of Schaudel's...
Read more »Paddy McGee's in Island Park, damaged by Sandy, not reopening
Photo credit: Google Maps
For around 30 years, summer in Island Park had been defined by the vibrant waterside scene at Paddy McGee’s. For now, at least, the party’s over. Slammed by superstorm Sandy, the seafood restaurant and bar is not reopening. Nor is its next door sibling spot, Coyote Mexicano.
“I’m still waiting to get insurance issues resolved,” said John Vitale, who owns both restaurants. “Paddy McGee’s...
Read more »Syosset eatery goes from Tao to Dao to Ao
Photo credit: Newsday Joan Reminick
I nearly made a screeching U-turn in the middle of Jericho Turnpike in Syosset this afternoon after seeing the sign in front of the Asian restaurant once called Empire Szechuan Gourmet. Last year, the restaurant had morphed into Tao, which, more recently, had change its name to Dao. Challenges from another dining spot with the same name was one reason given for that change.
Now comes the latest...
Read more »George Martin's Strip Steak, Great River - weekly specials
Photo credit: Doug Young
Just about every night, George Martin’s Strip Steak in Great River has some sort of special going on.
The week kicks off with a Monday gastropub menu from chef James Cavorti, featuring such dishes as filet mignon sliders ($12), lobster macaroni and cheese ($15), a Blue Point oyster burger ($18) and chicken and waffle ($18).
Tuesday and Thursday, a price-fixed three-course dinner goes...
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