Peruvian chicken chain Millennium opens in Brentwood
Roast chicken at Millennium in Brentwood. Credit: Newsday/Scott Vogel
Holidays are for spending time with family, unless you own a restaurant, in which case holidays are for working long hours so other people can spend time with their families, often at the expense of your own. A cruel irony, and one that bothered none of Nury Borbon’s five children more than Juan, her fourth.
“Of all my kids, I would be at the restaurant working on the 31st of December or whatever, and he’d call,” said Nury, whose Millennium Chicken chain has been serving up fine Peruvian fare to Long Islanders for the better part of two decades. “He’d say, ‘That’s not fair, that’s not OK, it’s New Year’s!’”
Proving for the umpteenth time that the universe has a strange sense of humor, Juan, now 30, just opened his own Millennium Chicken in a Brentwood shopping center. The newest location, which debuted in April, is simply called Millennium — the landlord wouldn’t allow "Chicken," not wanting to run, eh, afoul of another of his tenants, a Popeye’s — but birds are indeed roasting away in the kitchen, and as big a draw as ever.
The pollos a la brasa at Millennium ($15 for a whole bird, $8 or a half, $4.50 for a quarter) may well resemble the dizzy pollos turning in circles at the supermarket, but there the similarity ends. Nury’s supersecret marinade (“ I don’t even know the recipe,” confided Juan) is what sets this chicken apart from the plastic-domed terrarium specimens in the grocery, and even lots of other Peruvian birds that I’ve tried. It's a masterpiece of bronzy, garlicky succulence that pairs perfectly with Nury’s green sauce, which apparently has a following of its own. “I sell 300 gallons a week between my other two restaurants,” she said of Millennium’s Elmont and Valley Stream locations. (Prices range from $7 for 8 oz. to $22 for 32 oz.)
Yet another secret to the restaurant’s success? Chef Luz Cutti. The Peruvian’s 18-year career at Millennium has long been crucial to the success of the Borbon family, which is of Puerto Rican extraction and needed Cutti to give their restaurant its bona fides. She brings deliciousness to much more than chicken, it should be noted. Cutti’s arroz chaufa mixto, fried rice with chicken and beef, is Peruvian fusion of a high order and costs $18, but the price affords you a small mountain of the stuff, which is a very good thing given its flavorfulness. The jalea — a seafood smorgasbord that fries everything from calamari to shrimp to mussels on the half shell — is similarly bountiful at $30. A citrus-heavy ceviche of fish, shrimp and squid served with lots of big yellow lupini beans ($23) is wonderfully tart and on the mark, while the papa a la huancaina ($8), a saucy side of sliced potatoes, is milder than other versions but tasty too.
“I’ve never worked so hard for anything in my life,” admitted Juan , who splits his time between Millennium and his other job as a Suffolk County police detective, “but I love it.”
“Now he’ll see what this business is really like,” added Nury. “You have to do what you have to do, and there are a lot of sacrifices. But he’s doing great. He was raised into this.”
Millennium is at 1901 Brentwood Rd. in Brentwood, 631-291-9289. Opening hours are Wednesday through Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Closed Tuesday.
Newsday writer and restaurant critic Scott Vogel aims for a refreshing, gimlet-eyed take on the Long Island food scene, often while drinking a refreshing gimlet.
