Galiano Wine Bar & Restaurant opens in St. James

Tiny but mighty, Galiano Wine Bar & Restaurant opened last week in St. James, offering boutique wines and world-class cuisine. It’s a neighborhood spot that deserves to draw customers from all over Long Island.

Owner Vinny Galiano has been circling the hospitality business since he was growing up in Commack and working at Filetto’s pizzeria in East Northport. A successful career in web development couldn’t quell his desire to serve and, in 2017, he began dabbling in winemaking when his wife, Stephanie, gave him a kit for his birthday. Three years later, they were operating a proper winery, buying grapes in California and crafting them into wines they sold through their wine club.

But even a web professional saw the limits of online distribution. What Galiano Wine needed was a brick-and-mortar beachhead to promote the wines to a local audience. The old Bean’s Bagels on Lake Avenue had recently closed and this scratched another of Vinny’s itches: "I wanted to build something in St. James and particularly on Lake Avenue," he said. "The culinary focus in this town is always on North Country Road." (He’s right: Among the eateries strung along Route 25A are Pietro’s, Vintage Prime, Mosaic and The Trattoria.)

The final piece of the puzzle was a chef but, before Vinny had even started looking, Roger Martinez, another St. James resident, drove by the in-progress site and responded to a "help wanted" sign.

Martinez was not your average unemployed Long Island chef. For 10 years, he was the executive chef of Manhattan’s highly regarded Il Buco — and before that, he worked for David Bouley, and before that, he owned his own restaurant in his native Barcelona (and before that, he worked with the renowned Spanish chef Ferran Adrià, of the groundbreaking modernist restaurant El Bulli). Martinez, it turned out, was tired of commuting into the city. He’d barely begun to look for a job closer to home when he saw Galiano’s sign a few minutes from his house.

It didn’t take the two men long to realize that they were meant for each other.

Martinez was excited about the opportunity to "create a seasonal menu to complement Vinny’s wine." In fact, each of the menu’s dishes is designed to be paired with one of nine Galiano selections. You’ll also find another 30 international bottles on the wine list — most also offered by the glass — as well as specialty cocktails and a small roster of beers, foreign and domestic.

The spring menu features 15 smallish plates that proceed from lightweight (Bibb-radicchio salad with walnut-mustard dressing, scallops and Mediterranean red prawns in an herbal "ocean" broth, red snapper tiradito with citrus and sugar snap peas) to midweight (tagliatelle with Parmesan and black truffles, risotto with spring onions and fava beans) to more substantial Wagyu sirloin with mille-feuille potatoes and black truffle, half a chicken with ramps and snow peas, braised lamb shank with yellow polenta. Most items are under $30 with the meatier dishes between $46 and $52. Desserts ($14 to $18) include Valrhona chocolate ganache with supercrisp Spanish "crystal bread," seasonal fruit tarte Tatin and seared brioche with ice cream from Mickey’s down the street.

With a wall of windows facing onto Lake Avenue, the room is subdued and comfortable. It seats fewer than 30 people but there are discrete areas for dining, lounging and kibitzing at the bar.

Vinny is also glad to be working close to home. "Since I’ve had my daughters [now 1 and 3], family time has meant more to me," he said. "And I’ve also realized that almost everything good in life starts with a glass of wine and a ‘Cheers.’ I love getting to be part of more of those moments."

Galiano Wine Bar & Restaurant, 410 Lake Ave., 631-551-1056, galianowine.com. Open Wednesday and Thursday 4 to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday noon to 10 p.m., Sunday noon to 9 p.m., closed Monday and Tuesday.