Food blog: Amicale off to a good start
HATS OFF TO AMICALE
Amicale in Huntington Station has been open for a few months. Now, the full menus are in place, and the overhaul is complete. In short: Goand enjoy.
The successor to Panama Hatties is a first-class restaurant, as you'd expect from owner-chef George Echeverría, who earned three stars at the departed Soigne in Woodmere.
He has fashioned a dining room that suggests the opulence of a different decade. Service is outstanding. And the kitchen neatly balances the contemporary and the traditional. This is a spot for grown-ups.
Standouts so far include shellfish cocktails, a Thai-style shrimp salad, a combo of grilled octopus and jumbo lump crabmeat on tostones, filet mignon au poivre, mustard-crusted rack of lamb, pork loin with cherry peppers and portobello mushrooms, and a rich goat-cheese-and-potato souffle. The white-chocolate cheesecake arrives on a caramel stand. Presentation counts here.
Price range for main courses is $20.95 to $35.95; pastas, $19.95 to $24.95; appetizers, soups and salads, $8.95 to $15.95, with a foie gras opener for $22.95. Amicale also is introducing a $32.95, three-course surf-or-turf menu for the summer. Amicale, 872 E. Jericho Tpke., Huntington Station; 631-351-1727. -- Peter M. Gianotti
NO O'S
O's Food and Wine Bar, the small-plates-and-tapas specialist in St. James, has closed. It's expected to be succeeded in about two weeks by Bin 107.
Dino Vlacich, whose resumé includes the former Mio in Roslyn, will be the chef at the soon-to-be eatery. The menu for Bin 107 hasn't been finalized. A guess: Plenty of wine will be poured to go with the fare.
O's earned high ratings for its imaginative take on traditional dishes, offering choices that ranged from truffled risotto lollipops to bison tostadas with guacamole. The restaurant also prepared fine regional, Continental entrees. O's was the heir to Oscar's of St. James at 552 Old Country Rd. Philippe Corbet, the chef at O's, isn't associated with Bin 107. -- Peter M. Gianotti
A MEXICAN NEWBIE?
The Farmingdale dining scene grows more exciting by the day. Newest entrant: Caracara Mexican Grill, which takes over the former home of Terry G's.
Chef Richard Caruso has some impressive credentials, having cooked at Pelea Mexicana, Hill Country Barbecue and Rosa Mexicano in Manhattan. Here in Farmingdale, his menu balances the authentic with the crowd-pleasing.
A chicken tamale, $9, was full of flavorful surprises: the sweet burst of fresh corn kernels against mellow masa and shredded poultry; a rich, nuanced mole sauce packing sneaky heat.
A Mexican Cobb salad, $13, was, for the most part, a hit: romaine lettuce topped with moist grilled chicken, bacon, avocado, eggs, tomato, Maytag blue cheese and -- so odd -- "apples" (they were actually pears). Also good was a quartet of soft corn tacos, $17 -- chicken, steak, shrimp and fish -- everything bright and bona fide.
Caracara Mexican Grill is at 354 Main St., Farmingdale, 516-777-2272. -- Joan Reminick
