East of NYC - The Buzz

R.I.P.: Nick DiAngelo's in Long Beach (Re-Branding)

Along with our recent post on the re-branding of George Martin's Coastal Grill, their sister restaurant Nick DiAngelo's is set to do the same as well with the upcoming opening of the newest of their mini-syndicate of Grillfire restaurants. A cheaper alternative to the existing restaurants, Long Beach will be in good company as they've been popping up in Rockville Centre and Merrick lately.

[thanks to Rob for the tip.]

R.I.P.: George Martin's Coastal Grill in Long Beach (Re-Branding)

George Martin's Coastal Grill, one of our favorite spots in Long Beach is going to be closing its doors after this week and will re-brand itself and reopen in March or so as Nick's Tuscan Grill under the same ownership.  It's a sad day here at East of NYC as well loved hanging out at the bar and sampling some of their great appetizers.

Recommended Website: Pick Your Own (LI)

Pick Your Own is a great website that will tell you about all of the wonderful locations on Long Island (you can also pick other local areas as well) where you can pick your own fruit and produce.  Keep this on your favorites bar to see where you may be headed this weekend to obtain the freshest and best that the island's providers have to offer.

[thanks to Scott for the tip]

Notable Opening: VERACE in Islip

 

The Bohlsen Restaurant Group, which is known for outstanding Long Island restaurants such as H2O in Smithtown, Prime in Huntington and Tellers Chophouse (see Eating Long Island's full review here) has brought in 2010 with a brand new restaurant and a hotspot that you'll surely want to check out.  VERACE is a beautifully appointed italian eatery located just next to Tellers at 599 Main Street in Islip.  The restaurant at this time is only open for dinner (bar soon to open) and you can hop next door to the Gold Bar in Tellers if you're in for a bit of a wait. 

If you're into outdoor dining, the spring and summer will be welcoming to you as they have built out the rear of the restaurant for warm-weather use.  631-277-3800

To view our flickr set of interior and exterior photos of VERACE, click here.

Haiti Earthquake Benefit at Thyme in Roslyn on January 28

Thyme Restaurant & Cafe in Roslyn will be donating 100% of their proceeds gained (they're donating all of the food and drinks) from the newly announced cocktail party to benefit Oxfarm America's efforts in Haiti.  The cocktail party is to be held on January 28th from 5-9pm. Along with the great Roslyn Pond views, you'll be treated to pass arounds and live music.  There's a $10 suggested donation to gain entry into the party, so bring as many people as you can to help a great cause.  To RSVP you can email the organizers directly by January 21st.

Dani's Pizza in Kew Gardens, Queens

A hole in the wall restaurant, I snuck into Dani's Pizza on Lefferts Blvd. in Kew Gardens last week and was fortunate enough to get the last seat at the counter (there is no table service).  Squeezed in there between the pizza station and another diner, I wanted to get in and out very quickly.  After ordering a slice and a diet coke, I was five minutes from my satisfying lunch.  As I mentioned before, the quarters are pretty cramped, so you'll want to be in and out of there relatively fast as you'll have people standing behind you waiting for a table as well as people around you sitting pretty close.

The pizza was great.  I had a plain slice, nothing fancy, but it was on the thinner side, not to doughy and not too oily.  They also have a nice selection of beers available too, so if you stop by after work or for dinner, it's the perfect combination.  Pizza and beer, it doesn't get better than that.  718-846-2849

To view the few pictures that we snapped, head on over to our flickr set.

Coming Soon: jimmyjacks (Burgers, Dogs, Fries and Shakes) in Bellmore Village

Coming soon to Bellmore Village (just about two blocks north of the train station) is jimmyjacks.  With a sign promising burgers, dogs, fries and shakes, this should be a fun place for this very family friendly neighborhood.  The space is completely barren now with the exception of the new sheetrock on the walls, so it may be a month or two before they open.  Once they do, however, we'll be in there checking it out and reporting back to you. Stay tuned....

Notable Relocation: Maximus Day Spa in Carle Place

With the Source Mall dragging its feet since the departure of Fortunoff, Circuit City and Virgin Megastore, (a few years back) among others, it's not a shock that Maximus Day Spa is headed out the door as well.  As for the reason, we can only assume that the rents for the massive space hadn't gone down all that much on their next proposed renewal and the decrease in visitors to the mall itself can't be helping with demand for services.

They'll be moving their Westbury location just a block west into the bordering town of Carle Place (right where Safavieh was located for years...and the original Sam Ash location before that).  We actually have our offices in the same building (also just above Shiro Japanese Hibachi), so we can look forward to years ahead of weekday massages preceded by meals fit for a king.

Maximus will be opening this year as they have currently started construction on the bi-level space.  How do I know? Head splitting hammering is going on as we speak.  Trust me.

Notable Opening: Moules et Frites in Syosset

 Building on their long standing tradition of quality restaurants in the Long Island and NYC areas, the RESTSTAR Hospitality Group has opened up Moules et Frites in Syosset.  The space at 4 Berry Hill Rd. has gone through a few incarnations in the recent past and we hope that this one will stick.  We stopped by during off-hours to check it out and were impressed with the lineup of beers on tap.  Some of our favorite belgians were accounted for (Framboise, anyone?) and we can't wait to go to try out their Bretzel Bavarois (giant soft bavarian pretzel with mustard, cornichon and sea salt) and their Macaroni Trois Fromage (elbow pasta gratinee with Gruyere, Parmesan, truffle goat cheese, leeks and lardons in a Mornay sauce).  Plus, anywhere you tell me there's a "Moules" (mussles) in the name, you can count me in. 516-802-0713

PS - writeup to come as soon as we hit it at Eating Long Island.

Upcoming Event: Down-To-Earth Epicurean Event at Mirabelle Restaurant in Stony Brook - Monday, January 18, 2010 at 7pm

Geologist Dr. Frank Brown will be on hand Monday, January 18th at 7pm for a lecture on "Life Science & Exploration Society."  A seasoned Geologist and the recipient of the 2001 Rosenblatt Prize for Excellence at Utah's College of Mines and Earth Sciences (he was also the Dean), Dr. Brown has been very active in assessing time frames of when early human relatives roamed Africa.

Also at this event will be a special 5-course meal prepared by Mirabelle's famed chef, Guy Rouge.  The cost is $115 per person and includes wine.  Seating is limited to 30 guests, so book now or lose out. For reservations call Peter Lessing at 516-993-7526 or you can e-mail him as well.

Eating Long Island - New Site Design

If you've ever been over to our sister-site Eating Long Island, you'll know that the site is dedicated solely to the food that we consume on the island.  We've got some great restaurants on there and the content is always being added (along with our bi-weekly FiOS 1 segment, Reservations with Rob).  We officially launched a re-design of the site last night and we hope that you'll check it out and bookmark it so that you can keep up with us as we eat our way across the island.  To view the new site, click here.

Vino 100 in Oceanside

With time to kill while driving around on the South Shore, I came upon Vino 100 (flickr set here), a cute little wine store located just a few stores down from the italian restaurant, Pizzaiola. Billing itself as offering up 100 wines for $25 and under, the shelves are artfully stocked with a great variety of reasonably priced wines from which you can choose.

Hanging out in the store is the owner, Susan, offering advice on the favorite wines of the week and giving advice based on your tastes.  If you're in the need for a new variety of wine or just a helpful hand in choosing something that's right for you, go on and check it out for yourself.  516-825-VINO

3179 Long Beach Rd., Oceanside, NY