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HAMPTONS RESTAURANT WEEK
The 10th annual Hamptons Restaurant Week starts Sunday, with $19.95 and $24.95 three-course menus to tempt you eastward.
It's also one of the few times you'll spend so little at a table at some of Long Island's summer stars and year-round bests. Restaurants taking part include Nick and Toni's and The 1770 House in East Hampton, and Almond
in Bridgehampton. The full list of participating restaurants is at hamptonsrestaurantweek.com
Long Island wineries plan to offer discounts in their tasting rooms, too, with 15 percent off select bottles and 20 percent off select cases, and $5 flights of five wines. Lodging properties will have special rates with discounts and free nights. -- PETER M. GIANOTTI
HAYDEN IS BEST CHEF FINALIST
For the second consecutive year, Gerry Hayden of the four-star North Fork Table & Inn in Southold is a finalist in the James Beard Foundation Awards as best chef in the Northeast. He's one of five finalists for the award. This year's winners will be announced May 7 at the foundation's annual gala at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center. Hayden is the lone Long Island representative among the nominees.
In other chef news, Cornelius Gallagher, who since 2009 has helped shape restaurants such as Verace in Islip and the just-opened Monsoon in Babylon for the Bohlsen Restaurant Group, has left the organization. No replacement has been named. -- PETER M. GIANOTTI
THE PHOENIX RISING
A recent lunch at The Phoenix in Seaford proved revelatory. It's a surprise that a place with the black and red decor of a '70s rock club could turn out the type of food it does.
Chef Ryan Augusta impressed with the first fiery-sweet sip of spicy peanut soup topped with grapes, pumpkin seeds and fried sweet potato curls. A BBQ pulled duck flatbread pizza featured a cracker-thin crust crowned with duck confit and hoisin barbecue sauce. It was irresistible. So, too, was a hearty roasted pork and broccoli rabe sandwich. The Phoenix is at 3915 Merrick Rd., Seaford, 516-809-9693. -- JOAN REMINICK
EMPIRE BUILDER: NOW THERE ARE four
Trodos, a Westbury Mediterranean restaurant that was part of the Ayhan's empire, has metamorphosed into Ayhan's Shish Kebab, joining siblings in Port Washington, Plainview and Baldwin. The Westbury place made its debut as Trodos back in 2010, shortly after the Ayhan's Shish Kebab within Mall at the Source closed.
Typical dishes from Ayhan's menu include a cold appetizer sampler of hummus, baba ghanoush, taramasalata and tabbouleh ($8.95), moussaka ($17.50) and a kebab trio featuring shrimp, filet mignon and chicken ($22.95). Ayhan's Shish Kebab is at 477 Old Country Rd., Westbury, 516-222-8000. -- JOAN REMINICK
