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The dish on Long Island's restaurant and food scene

Battle of the BBQ Brethren: Call for entries

Teams prepare their chicken entry during the 2011

Photo credit: Chris Ware, 2011

Think your barbecue is hot stuff? Prove it at the Battle of the BBQ Brethren. Long Island’s longest-running barbecue competition. Now in its seventh year, the battle is joined over the weekend of Aug. 3 and 4 at The Maples in Manorville.

On Saturday, there will be a grilling competition open to any and all comers. Backyard warriors will have to turn in an appetizer, two “chef’s choices” and...

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Hudson’s on the Nautical Mile, Freeport

Hudson's on the Mile opened in May 2013

Photo credit: Newsday / Erica Marcus

“Long Island’s most seafood restaurants,” is a boast that Freeport’s Nautical Mile can credibly make. Long Island’s best seafood restaurants is another matter. Over the weekend I dined at Hudson’s on the Mile, the post-Sandy makeover of Hudson & McCoy Fish House. I’m afraid that it does not appreciably raise the culinary bar.

There were no whole lobsters on the menu so we went with two...

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Huntington Social closes

View of the dining room at Huntington Social,

Photo credit: Kathy Kmonicek

Huntington Social appears to have left the Huntington dining scene. The place has been dark for the past several days, weekend included.

The restaurant opened in 2011 in a second-story space overlooking Main Street. In a two-star review; shortly afterward, Newsday’s Peter Gianotti wrote:  “Huntington Social, a nimble combo of gastro pub, lounge and stylized restaurant, heightens the rivalry...

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Bareburger, Great Neck: First bites

Bareburger's big blue bacon burger. (June 6, 2013)

Photo credit: Newsday / Marjorie Robins

Beef, bison or boar? That's only one of the myriad choices you'll have to make after a perky server takes you through the complicated menu at the newly opened Bareburger in Great Neck.

Unlike most burger chains, this small New York City-based franchise, known for its ''free-range, pasture raised, humanely raised, antibiotic-, gluten- and hormone- free" meats, offers table service and...

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Cafe Havana reborn in Smithtown

Cafe Havana Bar and Grill in Smithtown

Photo credit: Newsday / Ana P. Gutierrez

It isn't often that a restaurant returns from the Great Beyond, but Cafe Havana in Smithtown has been resurrected after being shuttered for about a year.

As manager Edward Rivera tells it, the place incurred a massive water leak. Damage was extensive, as were interior renovations.  

Chef Ramon Perez returns with a menu that’s pretty much the same as before, with a few additions....

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Long Island restaurant reviews: This week’s picks

House pancakes are topped with mixed fruit at

Photo credit: Jin Lee

In this week’s Newsday, Joan Reminick reviews Cook's Scratch Kitchen & Bakery in Northport, a counter-serve breakfast and lunch eatery where virtually everything is made from scratch. More importantly, the food is imaginative and, for the most part, exceedingly delicious.

Peter Gianotti visits Roslyn’s refurbished Jolly Fisherman & Steak House, opened in 1957 and whose menu has changed...

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CoolFish owner Tom Schaudel sells the Syosset restaurant

CoolFish in Syosset is now owned by the

Photo credit: Newsday File

Chef-restaurateur Tom Schaudel, who launched CoolFish in Syosset back in 2000, just sold the New American seafood restaurant to the Singh Hospitality Group. Schaudel said he will continue to be involved as a consultant and that the chef will continue to be Lenny Campanelli, who received a three-star review from Newsday's Peter Gianotti in February of 2012.

Campanelli's rendition of Schaudel's...

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Paddy McGee's in Island Park, damaged by Sandy, not reopening

Paddy McGee's, prior to Sandy.

Photo credit: Google Maps

For around 30 years, summer in Island Park had been defined by the vibrant waterside scene at Paddy McGee’s. For now, at least, the party’s over. Slammed by superstorm Sandy, the seafood restaurant and bar is not reopening. Nor is its next door sibling spot, Coyote Mexicano.

“I’m still waiting to get insurance issues resolved,” said John Vitale, who owns both restaurants.  “Paddy McGee’s...

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Grilling lessons in Lynbrook

When grilling salmon, pull it off the heat

Photo credit: PhotoDisc

A la Carte cooking school in Lybrook is offering a three-session grilling course. School owner Polly Talbott said, “We’re trying to create lots of ‘backyard heroes.’”

Grilling 101 kicks off on Tuesday June 18 from 6:30 to 9 p.m.; the next two classes are on June 25 and July 2.

Talbott sets up three charcoal grills in the school’s backyard and also uses a gas grill inside. All the basics...

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Syosset eatery goes from Tao to Dao to Ao

The Syosset Asian restaurant whose name went from

Photo credit: Newsday Joan Reminick

I nearly made a screeching U-turn in the middle of Jericho Turnpike in Syosset this afternoon after seeing the sign in front of the Asian restaurant once called Empire Szechuan Gourmet. Last year, the restaurant had morphed into Tao, which, more recently, had change its name to Dao. Challenges from another dining spot with the same name was one reason given for that change.

Now comes the latest...

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