Riverhead: Farming benefit

Monday February 8, 2010 12:19 PM By Erica Marcus

It’s the sixth year in a row that Digger’s Irish Pub is holding a fundraiser to benefit Cornell University's Long Island Horticulture Research & Extension Center (LIHREC). The goal of the “Extension” is to promote the Long Island’s agriculture industry—and the staff has also been known to help food reporters with farming questions.

Tomorrow night, Feb. 9, Digger’s will lay out a buffet including marinated flank steak, chicken teriyaki stir-fry, penne alla vodka, southwestern pulled pork and a few cakes for dessert. Dinner will be served from 6 to 9 p.m. The bar will be open until midnight. Guest bartenders from the farming community (including Frank Beyrodt, Tony Caggiano, Nate Corwin, Melissa Daniels, Melissa Dorvil, Donna Gergela, Karen Kazel, Bob Kern, Ben Orlowski, and Richard Weir) will be behind the bar to try their hands at mixing drinks, and the winner of a 50:50 raffle will be drawn at 8:30 p.m.

The price (excluding drinks) is $20 per person and all the money—including tips—will be donated to LIHREC.

Diggers is at 58 W. Main St., Riverhead, 631-369-3200.

Lyle Wells, of Wells Farm in Riverhead, with squash blossoms. Photo by Adam Richins

Amityville: An iPhone app @ Vittorio's

Monday February 8, 2010 12:13 PM By Peter M. Gianotti

Trend alert: Vittorio's Restaurant & Wine Bar has launched a free, iPhone application covering the eatery's news and events. Users will have access to live Twitter updates, a direct link to the restaurant's online offerings, a fan wall for comments, photos, and direct links to Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. iPhone users can download the establishment's application by visiting the "App Store," searching "Vittorios," and clicking "Install." The restaurant is at 184 Broadway, Amityville; 631-264-3333.

AP Photo

New restaurant reviews

Friday February 5, 2010 6:31 PM By Erica Marcus

In this week's Newsday, Joan Reminick finds "it's 1980 all over again" at Green Tasty, a "retro-new" Chinese restaurant in Williston Park that takes over the space once occupied by the semi-Vietnamese Paradise Island.

And the late, lamented Blue Sky Bistro in Malverne has been replaced by Il Villaggio Trattoria. Peter M. Gianotti finds it a friendly local destination.

Thinking about Valentine's Day reservations? Here's a list of Reminick's and Gianotti's favorite romantic restaurants.

Chicken shumai at Green Tasty. Photo by Bruce Gilbert

Woodbury's Speranza: sleeping with the fishes

Friday February 5, 2010 6:12 PM By Joan Reminick

Its lifespan was just short of a year. But Speranza Fine Italian Food Studio managed to pack more controversy, hype and showbiz flash into that short time than most restaurants see – well, ever.

Speranza has now closed for good, according to Dave Dickinson of W&W Hospitality Group, which owns the Best Western Inn, where the restaurant leased space. Virtually everything in the house has already been auctioned off.

I can only wonder who bought the illuminated revolving pastry case. Or the toilets with seat warmers and the bidets. Or the bathroom photo-art depicting a nude woman’s torso. Showy didn’t even begin to describe the place.

Speranza got off to a rocky start, drawing negative attention even before it opened. Much funding came from accused Ponzi swindler Nicolas Cosmo, whose company Agape World put up a large chunk of construction money. And Richard Ottimo, the driving force behind the restaurant, had issues preventing him from legally owning it; his father, Anthony Ottimo Sr., was the official owner.

What wasn't the least bit controversial was the food. Noted Long Island chef Michael Meehan got three stars from Newsday’s Peter Gianotti. Still, Gianotti's review began with a discussion of the scene: “It's flashy and extravagant in a vaguely Vegas way, from the diligently overblown decor to the inimitably underdressed hostesses.”

Meehan left after six months.

Why did the place close? “A lot has to do with the times,” said former general manager Dennis Borysowki, who left in June to work at Four Food Studio in Melville (which, incidentally, sued Speranza for the use of the term “food studio”). “It was a very expensive restaurant to operate. On weekends, business was good but started to taper off. If it’s something new, everybody wants to come and try it.”

Meehan, now executive chef at H2O in Smithtown, had only kind words. “It’s a shame things didn’t work out for them,” he said.
 

Bowl of pasta: Part 2, Williston Park

Friday February 5, 2010 6:02 PM By Erica Marcus

Back in July, I had an astonishingly good bowl of pasta at Hildebrandt’s. “Pasta a la mama” turned out to be a very Sicilian combination of rigatoni, cauliflower, bread crumbs, olive oil and pecorino. So last night I decided to see if lightening could strike twice. I ordered the asiago-asparagus pasta and, while it was above average (way above average for an ice-cream parlor), it didn’t come close to Mama. Fusilli was overcooked, creamy sauce too loose and bland, asparagus not very much in evidence.

Meanwhile, my pal got the Mama and the two of us split a plate of Hildebrandt’s spectacular fries, which are nothing more than potatoes that have been sliced crosswise and then fried to a deep golden brown. I found that the fries were just the thing to scoop up the extra cream sauce left in my bowl.

Hildebrandt’s is at 84 Hillside Ave., Williston Park, 516-741-0608.

Hildebrandt's fries. Newsday photo / Erica Marcus

Bowl of pasta: Part 1, Hicksville

Friday February 5, 2010 5:39 PM By Erica Marcus

It was late. I was tired and hungry, and all I wanted was a great bowl of pasta. I recalled that Luigi Quarto, owner of Luigi Q, once told me he made a special carbonara with sliced cabbage and—this was the deal maker—without cream. A proper carbonara is bound together by egg alone; cream doesn’t enter into it. Of course purists could argue that cabbage shouldn’t really enter into it either, but Quarto generally knows what he’s doing, so I pointed my car in the direction of Hicksville.

I’m so glad I did. The carbonara, made with linguine, was utterly delicious. The cabbage added a light, vegetal, but entirely welcome note, further heightened by some chopped fresh parsley. The dish isn’t on the menu, but Luigi Q is happy to make it for you.

Luigi Q is at 400A South Oyster Bay Rd., Hicksville, 516-932-7450.

Newsday photo / Erica Marcus
 

Francesco's of Huntington gets a new name

Friday February 5, 2010 3:30 PM By Joan Reminick

Street food pros Gary and Angela D'Angelo may arguably make the best sausage and pepper heroes in town, but they had a problem finding the right name for their Huntington Station food stand. The place (which has plastic-enclosed seating with space heaters for winter) opened last year as the generic-sounding Francesco's of New York.

It wasn't a name that people could really remember, according to Gary D'Angelo, who just informed me that they are now calling the place D'Angelo's Sausage & Pepper House.

It's a name I can live with, having eaten those sausage and peppers.  Just the mention of the dish gets me hungry. Still, the changeover fails to take in some of the other guilty pleasures offered: drippy-delicious Philly cheesesteak sandwiches and a big garlicky frankfurter that can be ordered  deep-fried with peppers, onions and potatoes.

The D'Angelo family's hot dogs (also featured on their two Queens food trucks) made it onto "Top Chef" in a Quickfire challenge, where they served to exemplify the Big Apple's best.

D’Angelo’s Sausage & Pepper House (fka Francesco’s of New York) is at
918 E. Jericho Tpke., Huntington Station, 631-424-0653.
 

July, 2009 Newsday Photo/Danielle Finkelstein

Long Beach: Frilly Super Bowl Sunday

Friday February 5, 2010 12:37 PM By Joan Reminick

Cue the fashion models, pass the Cosmos. This Super Bowl Sunday will be a feminine affair - at least at Lola’s Kitchen & Wine Bar in Long Beach, which is billing the evening as “Girls Night Out.”

Don't worry, guys; the game will be broadcast at the bar for all to see. But there will be other diversions geared to those who have neither a clue nor a care about Peyton Manning or Drew Brees. 

The big night kicks off with a pre-game cocktail party from 4 to 6 p.m., with complimentary hors d’oeurves and $5 Cosmos. And there will be a fashion show presented by Frock Clothing Boutique of Long Beach. Then, there’s a $15 “girls” dinner menu, $15 bottles of wine and sangria and $5 Tommy Bahama and Svedka vodka drinks.  To cap off the evening, card readings by a psychic named “Marilyn.”

Think she already knows whether the Colts or the Saints will take home the ring?

Call to reserve.

Lola’s Kitchen & Wine Bar is at W. Park Ave., Long Beach, 516-442-1090
 

Huntington: Well-aged steak

Friday February 5, 2010 12:37 PM By Peter M. Gianotti

P.G. Steakhouse, known for its fine porterhouse and exceptional initials, opened in 1985. Twenty-five years later, the joint is comfortably worn and the steak still is very good.

The appointments haven't changed much, with blackboard specials, hunt prints, and evocations of a different time, before steakeries went steroidal and turned to sushi for support.

For three courses, Reagan still is in the White House, "Hill Street Blues" is on TV and the movies to see are "Out of Africa"  (what music, what Meryl) and "Prizzi's Honor" (R.I.P., William Hickey). And you're starting with a shellfish cocktail, maybe tomatoes and onions, a slab  or two of smoked bacon. Then: an excellent, juicy, perfectly charred porterhouse, creamed spinach and home fries on the side. If you must, cheesecake for dessert. Go on a quiet, weekday night. Leave 2010 home.

P.G. Steakhouse is at 1745 E. Jericho Tpke., Huntington; 631-499-1005.