Christiano's in Syosset abandoned
Christiano's in Syosset, thought by many to be the inspiration behind Billy Joel's "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant," has closed for good. Credit: Danielle Finkelstein
It may be a long while before a restaurant once again occupies the former Syosset digs of Christiano’s, debated to have been the inspiration for the Billy Joel song “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant.” Harendra Singh, president of the Singh Hospitality Group, said that he is walking away from the property and giving it back to the landlord.
Back in 2013, Singh bought the “bottle of red, bottle of white” restaurant and recruited chef-restaurateur Tom Schaudel to effect a makeover. In the meantime, the restaurant remained open, but the makeover plans stalled and it finally closed in February 2014. By then, Schaudel was no longer involved in the project and Singh's wife, Ruby, had taken over. The Singhs went so far as to gut the interior in anticipation of a renovation.
That, it seems, will have to happen on somebody else’s watch.
