Feed Me

Golfers working up an appetite can take advantage of a deal at Stonewalls Restaurant, located at The Woods at Cherry Creek Golf Course in Riverhead. Every Sunday and Monday this summer, $50 will buy you nine holes of golf, with a golf cart; tee times start at 3 p.m.

Afterward, a three-course prix-fixe goes for $27.50. Appetizer choices include a Long Island Crescent Farm duck terrine with foie gras and truffles, followed, perhaps by a fricassee of organic chicken Basquaise with rice pilaf. Dessert might be a Tahitian vanilla caramel custard.

Stonewalls is at 967 Reeves Ave., Riverhead. For reservations, call 631-506-0777x4 or go online to stonewalls-restaurant.com.

— Joan Reminick

A chocolate malted is now under 10 minutes away from my desk in Melville. Cheeburger Cheeburger has opened another branch, this one in Farmingdale’s Airport Plaza. I’m well acquainted with CC’s fries (fantastic) and burgers (good, but I wish I could get them rarer than medium) so when I stopped in for lunch on Friday, I ordered the grilled chicken sandwich ($7.99) at right…and it was quite good. The kaiser roll was fresh, the breast itself extremely juicy. It married well with the mayo and Heinz 57 sauce I chose from more than 30 free toppings. My only quibble was that the teardrop shape of the breast was all wrong for the round roll.

After my spa lunch, there was nothing to do but order a milk shake ($3.79 for a “half”). Cheeburger Cheeburger offers about 120 different shake flavors including “German chocolate cake” (chocolate ice cream, pecans and coconut syrup), “strawberry piña colada” (strawberry ice cream, pineapple syrup, coconut syrup and a splash of virgin Caribbean rum), “peanut butter and jelly” (vanilla ice cream, peanut butter and Smucker’s grape jelly) and “French Toast,” the invention of manager Tom Falcone, which features vanilla ice cream, maple syrup, cinnamon, concentrated sugar and a squirt of marshmallow syrup. “You’ll swear you’re eating French toast,” he claims.

No doubt, but I ordered the chocolate malted. It was terrific.

Cheeburger Cheeburger, 228 Airport Plaza Blvd., Farmingdale, 631-393-6150.

—Erica Marcus

Newsday photo / Erica Marcus

Driving along Montauk Highway, I came upon the Garage Bar & Grill in Bayport. Open all of two weeks, it looks to be a highly informal – and attractive – spot for classic pub grub: appetizers, burgers, wraps and salads.

Later, I called executive chef owner Chris Havlik, who said he hand-forms burgers and freshly cuts potatoes before frying them up. Hand cut fries instead of frozen crinkle-cuts? That's raising the bar on bar food.

The Garage will be closed for the day this Saturday, reopening on Sunday. It's located at 667 Montauk Hwy., Bayport, 631-207-2000.

—Joan Reminick

Photo/Joan Reminick

In its ongoing efforts to provide discerning diners with affordable dinners, Palio in Jericho is introducing a “Concerto di Pasta” menu for the low, low price of $22.95 (excluding tax and tip). Start with a Caesar salad or antipasto platter (marinated vegetables, mozzarella and salumi), then it’s on to a tasting of three of chef Massimo Fedozzi’s daily pasta preparations. Fedozzi and his chef di cucina Juan Mercado make some of the Island’s best pastas—among them, fresh spaghetti with veal meatballs, spinach tortelli, gnochetti (little ricotta dumplings) with speck and wild mushrooms, really spectacular lasagna Bolognese. Finish with a berry-studded cake served with zabaglione gelato. Palio is at 399 Jericho Tpke., Jericho, 516-433-9100.

—Erica Marcus

Someone is about to receive a plate of Palio’s penne filetto di pomodoro.
Newsday photo / Ana P. Gutierrez

From the ashes of Santorini, Mykonos has arisen. After more than 11 years in business, Santorini My Love closed a few months ago. Last week, Mykonos opened in its place. The space has been spruced up and the rather loud murals depicting charming seaside villages and picturesque seascapes have been replaced by more tasteful canvases…depicting charming seaside villages and picturesque seascapes. A small outdoor dining area has been added in back.

Mykonos is owned and operated by Stacey Keramis. Keramis, who once managed the late Mykonos Garden in Rockville Centre. Chef Tasso Andrianopoulos's menu is varied and well priced: most appetizers are under $10; most mains—with the exception of the whole fish—are under $20. Among the more unusual offerings are roast beets served over skordalia (potato-garlic spread) grilled loukaniko (Greek sausage with orange zest and herbs), chicken livers in Metaxa-thyme sauce and five vegetarian mains.

Keramis said that a wine-and-beer list was on its way. Mykonos Restaurant is at 37 Great Neck Rd., 516-773-8010.

—Erica Marcus

A charming seaside village on Mykonos / istock photo

Remember when Chinese food on Long Island was as easy to find as pizza? Hardly the case these days. So you can imagine how my pulse quickened when I came upon a new Chinese restaurant – a real one that doesn’t serve sushi – in Mineola.

Wong’s Noodle House made its debut last month on the site that used to house Chinatown Chef. I popped in and found a bright modern yellow-hued dining room and a menu that listed noodle soups (like shredded pork with pickled cabbage), noodle dishes (like chow fun and mei fun) and such suburban classics as twice cooked pork and General Tso’s chicken.

Hope the eating is as good as the reading.

Wong's Noodle House is at 98 Mineola Blvd., Mineola, 516-747-4547.

—Joan Reminick

Photo of noodles (not from Wong's) from photos.com

Many Chinese restaurants keep the most interesting vegetables off the menu. Last night at The Orient, I asked if the kitchen had any snow-pea shoots (also known as snow-pea leaves) and was rewarded with a heaping platter of the marvelous greens—deeply verdant-tasting, with a textural interplay of delicate (the leaves) and toothsome (the stems)—that had been sauteed with garlic and oil. At $16.95, this is not a cheap vegetable side dish, but is a delicacy worth seeking out.

The Orient’s owner Tommy Tan told me that he has found that only about 20 percent of non-Chinese customers enjoy snow-pea shoots. Baby bok choy, he said, has much greater appeal. Then again, water spinach scores even lower than snow-pea shoots with only a 10-percent non-Asian approval rating.

The Orient is at 623 Hicksville Rd., Bethpage, 516-822-1010.

—Erica Marcus

Wildthyme, the New American restaurant on Noyac Road, is expanding the repertoire for the Fourth of July. The holiday menu includes roasted corn chowder, finished with pancetta, leeks and olive oil; a jumbo crab cake with corn-and-fava bean succotash; and grilled Montauk lobster with risotto. The eatery also updates its seasonal menu with summer specials such as tuna crudo, goat cheese flan, duck prosciutto with braised peach and Port reduction; and Chatham cod with tomato concasse and horseradish cream for fireworks. The establishment has a three-course $25 fixed-price menu, too.

Wildthyme is at 129 Noyac Rd., Southampton; 631-204-0007.

--Peter M. Gianotti

Photo by John Griffin

Maybe it's just me, but when someone tells me that a restaurant is located down some alley across the way from a movie theater, I start wondering what's playing at the theater instead of what they're serving at the restaurant.

But this is the return of Blue Parrot in East Hampton (33A Main St., 631-329-2583), among the most buzzed-about places in the Hamptons this summer, so maybe it's worth my time.

Yep. It was.

When I stopped in last weekend, the mood was vibrant, the atmosphere loud and fun. The food is very good, and Jon Bon Jovi is reportedly one of the partners. Those are the four things I look for in my restaurant searching.

The food

Appetizers range from $5 to $14, and include guacamole, some guacamole and more guacamole. Chips & salsa, Nacho Macho (you know you want to order that!), crabmeat empanada and mussels. More on those mussels in a moment.

Entrees range from $13 to $25, and include tortilla pie, tuna steak, the Blue Parrot Burger and various beef, Cornish hen, chicken and fish dishes prepared with Mexican flavor. Salads cost $11 to $14, and the taquitos and quesadilla dishes will run you $14 to $17.

OK, back to those mussels!

I know, I know. What am I doing ordering mussels in a Mexican restaurant? Here's the rub: Mussels Veracruz are steamed with tomato, onion, serrano chile, cilantro and Mexican beer. Oh, hello! An outrageously fantastic excursion in Mexican food. I'm just saying.

>> Blue Parrot dinner menu
>> Blue Parrot lunch menu
>> Blue Parrot late-night menu

The booze

Everyone told me to try the "Dirty Bird" Margaritas. So I did. For $9, I've had better. Don't misunderstand, though. It was good, just a little too tart for my palate. I'm finicky like that. If you're a tart margarita lover, then rock it out and enjoy the glass mason jar. If not, maybe take a gander at the Prickly Margarita ($12) with cactus pear and Herradura tequila, or the frozen margarita ($11) in assorted fruit flavors (mango, strawberry, coconut, cactus pear). Any avenue you choose, get a margarita and celebrate summer.

Sangria is available, as are more tequila-based cocktails ($10), traditional bar drinks and beer and a wine list that includes a pair of varietals from Channing Daughters in Bridgehampton.

>> Blue Parrot drinks menu

Continue reading "Blue Parrot in East Hampton" »

Copa, a wine-and-tapas bar, is expected to open soon, maybe as early as this weekend, in Bridgehampton. Locals have been observing the construction and refurbishing at 95 School St., an address that has hosted restaurants for many years. The most recent occupant was Alison; earlier ones included Berclaz and, of course, 95 School Street. Copa plans to offer lunch, dinner and a late-night menu. Copa, 95 School St., Bridgehampton; 631-613-6469.

-- Peter M. Gianotti

The departed Alison. (Newsday Photo / Thomas A. Ferrara)