Carlyle at the Palace adds glitz in Plainview

Restaurateur Steve Carl has combined technology and catering to bring a little bit of Las Vegas to Long Island at his new Carlyle at the Palace in Plainview.

Carl, also owner of Carlyle on the Green at Bethpage State Park, has spent in excess of $1 million to renovate what was once called the Galaxy and later the Vanderbilt, just off the Long Island Expressway. At night one entire side of the building lights up, with the glow visible from the Long Island Expressway.

The 4,500-square-foot main dining room has been turned into a catering facility highlighted by five large interactive screens. Anything can be put on the screens -- video games, videos, tweets, live Webcam hookups, whatever those using the room desire.

"We took technology and added that to the catering business," said Carl. "This is not just about being in the food business. It's also about being in the technology business."

The main dining room can also be bathed in a variety of lights, and wall colors change as well. Some New York City nightspots have added similar technology, but Carl said the Carlyle at the Palace is the only such facility on Long Island with such features.

Carlyle at the Palace opened a few weeks ago, and already, Carl said, he has booked about 300 engagements. On Wednesday night, Lounge 1600 - with music and some dancing, - formally opens, said lounge manager Andrew Affa.

Carl last year won a bid issued by Nassau County to lease the building for 20 years and renovate it. He is not the first to try to make a go of the place. Other owners either went belly-up or sold out. Carl is banking, in large part, on the glitzy technology to make a difference.

"I'm doing what the casinos do," Carl said. "People will come here because they want something different."