Yesterday's Cafe

At any other restaurant, I'd answer the question, “Would you like Yesterday’s home fries with that?” with a resounding "No way." But not at Yesterday’s Cafe, a new Bay Shore eatery happily stuck in the past. Here, murals depict Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin, Jackie Gleason and Sammy Davis Jr., among a host of yester-celebs.

Chef co-owner Tony Torre (whom you may recall as opening chef at Toast & Co. in Huntington) serves a menu he describes as “American with a twist.” Most everything (except for a few of the breads) is house-made. Torre puts out three meals a day, starting at 10 a.m. for breakfast.

It was in the morning that I tried Torre's “olive oil charred pizza.” The "crust” (what seemed to be a French bread  bottom) was covered with scrambled eggs, Monterey Jack cheese, excellent crumbled house-made chicken sausage and roasted grape tomatoes. Messy looking but very good. Less impressive was a dense Belgian waffle which was supposed to be crowned with mixed berries and Chantilly cream. Instead, a few blueberries were strewn atop; the cream, absent, had to be requested. What came seemed more like raspberry butter.

My favorite was a dish called “burrito and eye,” a house-made tortilla filled with a lively amalgam of scrambled eggs, scallions, chorizo, avocado and pepper jack salsa. On the side were “Yesterday’s home fries,” done with white and sweet potatoes. No coincidence that they seemed nearly identical to the home fries still served at Toast & Co.

Also on the menu: A list of burgers that includes a house-made veggie burger and the "omega fin" salmon burger; a chicken adobo panino; freshly roasted herb turkey; and a chicken and turkey pot pie with a cheddar scallion crust.