Hostesses were on hand to greet the guests. Photo by Rita J. Egan
Members of the 3V chamber Rob Taylor and Martha Stansbury stopped by. Photo by Rita J. Egan
David Tunney, center, back row mingles with community and chamber members. Photo by Rita J. Egan
An employee cuts prosciutto. Photo by Rita J. Egan
David Tunney, second from right, and his wife, Kristen, second from left, enjoyed the reception with friends and community members. Photo by Rita J. Egan
Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich, center, with Denise Day, left, and his legislative aide Amani Hosein. Photo by Rita J. Egan
The outside of Luca. Photo by Rita J. Egan
Luca's patio. Photo by Rita J. Egan
After being vacant for nearly a year, 93 Main St. in Stony Brook Village Center will be filled with the aroma of food once again.
The location that was once occupied by Pentimento Restaurant will now house Luca restaurant. Specializing in modern Italian cuisine, it’s set to open on Aug. 30, serving dinner Tuesday through Sunday. In the fall, the owners plan to also open for lunch.
“Luca will be a great addition to the center,” said Gloria Rocchio, president of Stony Brook Village Center in a press release. “Their modern Italian cuisine is superb and brings an exciting new style to the area.”
David Tunney, who grew up in Setauket and graduated from Ward Melville High School, is one of the partners along with Rory Van Nostrand, Anthony Argiriou and chef Luke DeSanctis. Tunney, pictured on the front page second from right, has been in the restaurant industry for nearly 40 years. In 2019, he bought the former Raga Indian restaurant on Old Town Road and turned it into Old Fields Barbecue, now renamed Old Fields Tavern. In addition to the Setauket and Stony Brook spots, heowns Old Fields restaurants in Port Jefferson and Greenlawn, and Old Fields Barbecue with Ella’s in Huntington. He is also one of the founders of the Besito Restaurant Group along with his brother John and co-owner of Besito Mexican restaurants in Huntington and Roslyn.
A reception at Luca was held Aug. 18 to give invitees a sneak peek at the new place. Those in attendance included members of the Three Village Chamber of Commerce, The Ward Melville Heritage Organization trustees, elected officials and more.
The night included a sample of appetizers and cocktails with invitees enjoying the modern interior of the restaurant and bar area as well as an outdoor dining area. Tunney said he and his partners envisioned the look of Luca even before construction began earlier this year.
The restaurateur was involved with construction and setting up the new place, including driving upstate with a U-Haul to pick up decorative columns made of red pine trees that were hand-peeled, cut and treated.
Tunney said it’s nice owning restaurants in his former hometown and seeing familiar faces. Luca will seat 80 to 90 people, and he said the dining experience will include a four-course menu, which he described as a great value, but food can also be ordered a la carte.
Tunney and his partners are currently working on a few finishing touches before the restaurant opens for dinner on Aug. 30.
For those who plan to dine at Luca, Tunney said they promise “exceptional service, amazing food, a great vibe and a beautiful atmosphere.”
The Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting for P..J. Harbour Club onJune 24. The momentous occasion was attended by Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich, members of the chamber, family, friends and staff who wished owners Joe Guerra and Michael Russell (holding scissors) the best of luck in their new venture.
Located at 154 West Broadway in Port Jefferson, in the former Due Baci location, the restaurant specializes in fresh seafood, aged steaks and classic cocktails and is open Tuesday to Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m., Friday to Sunday from 5 to 10 p.m., closed Mondays. Bar hours are Tuesday to Sunday, 4 p.m. to close. For reservations, call 631-309-5800. For further information, visit www.pjharbourclub.com.
For the first time in many months, I went out to a restaurant for a meal. It was breakfast and I was joined in this remarkable activity by a good friend who, like me, has had both vaccine shots plus the requisite 14-day period for the second one to take effect. There was no one else in the restaurant, although by the time we left, a couple of tables, in the distance, were occupied. It felt … familiar yet a little odd … to be sitting there, waiting to be served. We all wore masks, the waiter and the two of us, at least until the food arrived and we were about to eat. It was nice eating hot food instead of the cooled down takeout meals in the aluminum or Styrofoam containers we occasionally had brought home.
The food tasted delicious, perhaps partly because I was savoring those first bites. And the pleasure of sharing the experience with someone across the table whom I had only spoken to on the phone during these many pandemic weeks was a delight. I could see her face, and not just her eyes and eyebrows. How lovely it all was. How normal!
In fact, according to a front page article in The New York Times this past Monday, we seniors who have been twice vaccinated have become the “life of the party.” We older folks, who got the shots ahead of everyone else, are “emerging this spring with the daffodils, tilting [our] faces to the sunlight outdoors. [We are] filling restaurants, hugging grandchildren and booking flights.”
The article goes on to declare an upside-down world of generational reversal in which the older folks are drinking the martinis and crowding around the bars instead of the more typical scene populated by the younger set. Two-thirds of Americans over 65 have started getting vaccinated and 38 percent have completed the process compared to 12 percent of the general population. Many older people are still maintaining cautious lives as mutations of the virus may pose unknown threats, and the unvaccinated are still at risk if those who have had the shots turn out to be inadvertent carriers. Of course, this is the demographic segment that also has suffered the most losses, as the senior, more medically vulnerable were the main cohort stricken by the deadly coronavirus.
Still, despite the greater risks, recent studies have shown that the older generation throughout this pandemic was less concerned with the threat of COVID-19 and was associated with better emotional well-being and more daily positive events. Under the constant stress, their coping skills were relatively strong, a benefit of aging, and they reported less stress.
As of Monday, 60 million Americans had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, more than 31 million are fully vaccinated, and more than 2 million people are being vaccinated every day. But we know that the pandemic is not over by any means, and the worst possibility at this point would be for us to suffer another surge the way European countries presently are.
It’s still hard to know what is safe. Despite the science, there are several unanswered questions. including how long vaccinated protection will last and whether the vaccines can continue to defend against the new, more contagious and more virulent variants. We can gather in private homes with small groups of likewise vaccinated without masks or distancing and even with single families whose members have not yet been inoculated but are at low risk for developing severe illness should they catch the virus. This best applies to grandparents who may now visit unvaccinated children and grandchildren without masks and social distancing.
In public places, however, those who have had their shots should still wear their masks, practice social distancing, avoid poorly ventilated spaces and frequently wash their hands. Long-distance travel is still discouraged.
Debra Bowling, the new owner of Pasta Pasta, and her husband Jerry. Photo by Kyle Barr
Debra Bowling, the new owner of Pasta Pasta in Port Jefferson village, knows the customers who walk through the old wood doors. She herself started 20 years ago as a waitress and has kept loyal to the restaurant ever since. Now, after two decades, she’s in charge.
However, despite owning the restaurant, she expects she will still continue to wait tables.
“That’s not going to change,” Bowling, a Setauket resident, said. She was almost successful at suppressing a laugh. “We still have two kids in college, so I really put a lot of hours in here. I said if I’m going to work so hard, I might as well work for myself.”
The restaurant serves what the new owner described as American food with an Italian flavor, providing everything from fish to pasta to salads. The eatery is also famous for its flaky and moist garlic bread.
Previous owners Steve Sands and Jules Buitron bought Pasta Pasta back in 1998, already owning another restaurant on the South Shore. Sands said they already knew and liked the Port Jeff restaurant, back when its menu was limited to pizza and pasta, so they decided to purchase it and bring in Bowling, who was at that time planning on moving to the North Shore.
Pasta Pasta in Port Jefferson Village. Photo by Kyle Barr
Once Sands and Buitron decided they wanted to sell, Bowling was the first person they talked to about buying the restaurant.
“She’s a hard worker, she knows the business and she knows the customers,” Sands said. “She’s got a great team. Much of the kitchen crew has been there before we even bought the restaurant.”
Sands said he still plans to visit the restaurant when he can.
“The reason I bought it because it’s always been my favorite restaurant,” he said.
That doesn’t mean it’s not a big transition for Bowling and her family. The new restaurant owner’s husband Jerry is also there on a regular basis where he can be seen manning the phone and helping with whatever needs doing.
So much of Bowling’s life has been spent at the restaurant, and her children have also moved through the restaurant as a part of growing up.
“Five of my six kids have worked here, and two of them still work here,” the restaurant owner said.
While many have moved on, the kids have been supportive of their mother’s new venture, with her son Ryan Burns posting a heartwarming social media message to his mother saying how much she inspired him.
And even with these new expectations laid on her shoulders, Bowling still has two families to assist her, one at home and one at work, including kitchen manager Anthony Vadala, who has helped Bowling and her team throughout the years. Now with her running the show those two families are more intertwined than ever.
“We’re all a family here, the kitchen staff has been here before me,” she said. “Most of the waitresses were here between 10 and 15 years.”
“We’re all a family here, the kitchen staff has been here before me.”
— Debra Bowling
Bowling intends to keep the food and the atmosphere the same as it has been, though she does have a few design changes in mind, including some new paint on the walls, new bathrooms and replacing the windows up front so they can be swung open on atmospheric summer evenings.
The customers who have gone to the restaurant for years probably couldn’t accept too much change, and there are quite a few regulars. Even before she owned the restaurant, Bowling was a well-known face to her multitudes of regular customers, often those who have their own set of menus internalized in the minds of the Pasta Pasta staff. Some of those longtime customers who constantly travel make it a point to stop in her restaurant, even going out of their way to call ahead of time and beg the restaurant for a bowl of pasta, the kind the restaurant staff knows they like in particular. Baby showers have been hosted in the restaurant, and just last year, the restaurant hosted a wedding as well.
“On New Year’s Eve we had a wedding here,” Bowling said. “They met on their first date here on New Year’s Eve two years ago. She met here, she has to get married here … That’s just from them getting to know us over the years.”
Casa Luis on West Jericho Turnpike in Smithtown. Photo by Rita J. Egan
By Karina Gerry
A Smithtown mom-and-pop restaurant has been able to reopen its doors more than a year after a horrific blaze left many questioning its fate.
Casa Luis, located at 1033 W. Jericho Turnpike, served up lunch to customers Jan. 10 for the first time since a devastating single-car crash set the restaurant up in flames in October 2017.
At around midnight Oct. 1, a 2004 Nissan Quest crashed into a 2011 Ford pickup truck and then plowed into the Spanish restaurant. The sedan burst into flames, killing the driver and setting the 30-year-old restaurant ablaze. Owner Jose Luis Estevez, commonly known as Luis, and his wife, Carmen, were asleep upstairs when they received a call from their neighbor alerting them to the fire.
“You know how many customers call me, ‘Luis, are you OK?’” Estevez said. “‘Do you need help?’ It’s so nice, so nice.”
“I’m not a famous guy. I’m a real guy, but I love what I do. I have my place and I love that people like my food or enjoy my restaurant. I still work because I love it.”
— Jose Luis Estevez
The owner said the resulting fire destroyed the restaurant’s kitchen, but left the dining room untouched. The couple’s upstairs apartment was damaged and the outside of the building was pitch black from smoke damage. Estevez, an immigrant from Spain, and his wife found themselves suddenly forced out of a home and a business they had spent years nurturing it.
“My mom took it really bad,” said Delia Arias, who works at the restaurant with her parents. “She was very fragile for months after, but she pulled through. My parents are strong people.”
Arias, who along with her siblings grew up helping around the restaurant, was surprised at the extent of the damage from the fire.
“The next day, I came to see the place,” she said. “It was a big shock, it was emotional, it was a little bit of everything all at once.”
Both Arias and her father said there was an outpouring of love and support from the community during the 15 months it took to rebuild. The local deli offered Estevez free coffee and lunch, and his fellow restaurant owners offered Casa Luis’ employees jobs to ensure that they could return to work when the business reopened.
“I never expected that in my life,” Estevez said. “Out of this world.”
Arias echoed her father’s sentiments, noting that customers, friends and family members all reached out to make sure her family was okay.
“You didn’t even ask and people were just coming and like ‘You need this, here take this,’” she said. “It was amazing. Such a horrible thing happened and everyone was so amazing to us, it was a really nice thing in such a crazy time.”
For Estevez, there was never any question about whether or not he was going to rebuild after the fire.
“This business gave me a lot of things,” he said. “So for respect of business, of the people in the town, on Long Island. I opened again.”
During the first two weeks of reopening customers came to celebrate with Estevez and eat at the local restaurant they had come to love over the past 30 years.
“I’m not a famous guy,” he said. “I’m a real guy, but I love what I do. I have my place and I love that people like my food or enjoy my restaurant. I still work because I love it.”
Port Jefferson restaurants Ruvo and Old Fields are back open after sustaining serious damage during a Sept. 25 flood. Photos from Facebook
The skies opened and dumped buckets of water on Port Jefferson Village Sept. 25.
The area was hit with more than 4 inches of rain during the evening into the night, according to the National Weather Service, leading to severe flooding and leaving behind devastating damage. Two Main Street restaurants — Ruvo East and Old Fields of Port Jefferson — sustained significant damage that night, causing emergency evacuations and significant periods with their doors closed while feverish-paced repairs took place.
“I definitely have the best staff in all my restaurants,” said Joe DiNicola, owner of Ruvo. The restauranteur said the possibility of closing the doors to the establishment for good was a distinct possibility, but after weeks of hard work around the clock that possibility went away Oct. 11. “We bonded together and decided we were going to reopen it. Since then that’s been our common goal.”
The restaurant reopened Thursday afternoon. DiNicola said the building was inundated with about three feet of water as the rain poured down Sept. 25. The repair job required the reupholstering of most if not all of the restaurant’s furniture, “gutting” and redoing four bathrooms, a new roof, plumbing and electrical work, and more. He said his staff was all retained through the reconstruction process and nobody missed a paycheck. He said he encouraged his staff to take time off, making sure no one was putting in full seven-day work weeks, though many were there up to six days per week, and DiNicola said he was logging 15-hour days and beyond during the cleanup effort.
“We’ve had water in the past — a little bit,” he said. “This was an event that it was an anomaly. I just don’t understand. It was just rain.”
DiNicola said water poured into Ruvo from the roof, through drains and eventually in the front door. About 20 cars were totaled in the parking lot, he said. The Port Jefferson Fire Department — which sustained substantial damage itself at the Maple Place firehouse — had to assist people in exiting both Ruvo and Old Fields that night, in addition to helping stranded residents out of about a dozen cars. DiNicola and Old Fields owner David Tunney both heaped praise on the fire department for the work they did that night.
“Thank you to all first responders, village workers, volunteers, our staff, and to you, our loyal customers, thank you for all of your support,” Ruvo posted on its Facebook page Oct. 12.
Old Fields, which is just on the other side of Wynn Lane on Main Street north of Ruvo, was able to reopen Sept. 28, according to Tunney, who said he was thankful the situation here was not worse, sending his condolences to those experiencing recent storms in Florida and the Carolinas.
“It has been frantic,” he said. “We worked really hard and diligent to get back open. The water came in quick.”
Tunney’s restaurant was closed for two days, compared to nearly two weeks for Ruvo, though he said the job required a team of about 30 people working to clean and sanitize the soggy eatery. He said even in the moment on the night of the flood, he was able to keep things in perspective, joking that he told a member of his staff who asked if they needed some more rags, “no, get some tequila.”
This post was updated Oct. 16 to correct the date Old Fields reopened.
Broadway Market in Rocky Point, owned by Ann Olenick and Shasho Pole, is conjuring images of a revitalized, walkable downtown community hub for some locals. Photo by Kyle Barr
The Broadway Market, a Rocky Point restaurant that opened in March, has quite a lot on its plate.
It’s not just the food — even though the restaurant has offerings not only for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but all the way through coffee, desserts and alcohol — it’s that owners Ann Olenick and Shasho Pole both respect what a place like the Broadway Market means to the community.
“I think it’s an anchor business, and I think it gives people another reason to try to come here – bringing Rocky Point back to a walking town,” Olenick said.
Olenick and Pole are both area natives, having first met at the Rocky Point Farmers & Artisan Market nearly five years ago. After learning about each other’s expertise, with Pole in the organic meats market and Olenick in baked goods and desserts, the two decided to partner up and take their show on the road. They travelled to multiple farmers markets across Long Island, and by the third year of working together the duo was going regularly to seven local markets every season.
Broadway Market in Rocky Point, owned by Ann Olenick and Shasho Pole, is conjuring images of a revitalized, walkable downtown community hub for some locals. Photo by Kyle Barr
Despite their success on the local market scene, the idea for a brick-and-mortar restaurant didn’t cross their minds until they tried to meet a demand for chicken cutlets. Because of state regulations, they could only sell chickens whole without an inspected, clean location to butcher them. Though the two looked all over Long Island for a proper space, their eyes settled on a location in Rocky Point right near the farmers market where they first met. They settled on a location that was once home to a bar, first named Harry’s Beer Garden and then Gracie’s Hearty Foods.
“It already had all the wastewater approvals, the sanitary requirements we needed and an inspected kitchen,” Pole said. “It’s funny, we went on a quest for a spot, you know a wet space, in a walking town and circuitously we wound up back here.”
The idea grew exponentially past a simple place to sell their meats and sweets. At the start of their building project they thought they could get away with a Keurig coffeemaker, but that transformed into days of barista classes in New York City. They originally didn’t think that the restaurant would have a bar, but since the location already had a liquor license they decided to go through another round of classes, this time in bartending.
“We thought we would have a little closet — a little boutique — and we wound up with all this,” Pole said.
The building sticks out not just for its looks, with modern rustic-gray stonework and barn-wood interior, but for its freshness. Local community leaders have recognized just how much of a turning point the Broadway Market is for downtown Rocky Point.
“The Broadway Market is great — it’s bringing more attention to the community,” said Charles Bevington, the president of the Rocky Point Civic Association. “Rocky Point is still a place where people can invest.”
While the old Gracie’s stood in the same spot as the market, the only things left of the building are the western wall, a chair and the beer tower, now refurbished, that used to belong to both Harry’s and Gracie’s.
Pole said that all the food at Broadway Market is as regionally sourced as possible, including fish and vegetables as long as they are in season. Some 10 percent of the meats are grass fed, particularly the beef used for burgers, and they do their best to get their chickens from free-range sources.
On the bakery side of things, Olenick, who is a college-trained pastry chef, said she offers some of her own designs along with the designs offered by their trained in-house chef Elizabeth Moore.
Though the two owners know their food, it took a bit of time for the pair to figure the ins and outs of operating a restaurant. Over the past several months they have slowly increased the number of days and hours they are open. Now as the sun rises on the restaurant, the building strikes such a distinct poise compared to the other smaller, brown and white paneled buildings it neighbors. Some locals have described it as something one would only see in more affluent areas like in the Hamptons.
Broadway Market in Rocky Point, owned by Ann Olenick and Shasho Pole, is conjuring images of a revitalized, walkable downtown community hub for some locals. Photo by Kyle Barr
“We’ve had people say when are you opening in East Hampton, when are you opening in Huntington? Can you come to Soho?” Olenick said laughing.
“Stop, stop, stop — please, we need to get our traction here first,” Pole said, continuing from where Olenick left off. “There are naysayers, but the feedback that I get here is a resounding ‘we need this, we need something like this.’”
Either way, the community is responding to the new restaurant in a big way. Some see it as a dream of what might be the future of Rocky Point’s downtown.
“It’s good to have a nice restaurant in the area,” said Kenny Kowalchuk, a Rocky Point local who had just finished his meal at the restaurant. “This is really turning the community around.”
Broadway Market is located at 643, Broadway in Rocky Point. The location is open seven days a week, Sunday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday 2 to 10 p.m. and Tuesday through Saturday 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The cheese steak egg rolls from Del Frisco's Grille. Photo from Del Frisco's Grille.
Residents of Huntington who are looking for a new bite to eat should look no further than Del Frisco’s Grille. Opening this Friday, June 24, in the Walt Whitman Shopping Center, Del Frisco’s promises to be a comfortable, family-friendly spot with twists on classic American dishes.
“We cater to such a broad audience,” Executive Chef Seth Barton said. “Yes, we are American comfort food with a twist, but you’ll see Mediterranean food on our menu, and Asian twists.”
It is the first and only restaurant from the Del Frisco’s chain on Long Island, and there is something for everyone. The menu ranges from classic burgers with their signature “sloppy sauce” to appetizers like the cheesesteak eggrolls, which have a sweet and spicy chili sauce and honey mustard drizzled over them.
Popular entrees include prime beef short rib stroganoff with pappardelle noodles, prime ribeye and filet mignon.
Del Frisco’s Grille in Huntington at the Walt Whitman Mall. Photo from Del Frisco’s Grille.
Everything on the menu is made fresh in-house, which Barton said is one of the most important parts of the restaurant.
“We get our fresh seafood in daily; we’re trying to get the best quality out there possible,” Barton said. “That’s one thing we really pride ourselves on.”
Aside from lunch and dinner, the grill also serves brunch on Sundays, which includes items like red velvet waffles, chicken and waffles, crab Benedict and a do-it-yourself Bloody Mary that comes with multiple sides, including green beans, pickles and more. The menu includes weekly features, a rotating daily dish and various handmade cocktails, such as the signature VIP cocktail, which is made with only two ingredients — pineapple and clementine vodka.
The new spot holds about 300 guests indoors and has a private dining area that is available for parties. There is also an outdoor dining area on the patio that can hold at least 35 people.
The location where Del Frisco’s Grille sits had been empty for more than a year, the only vacated eatery spot in the mall.
Staffers said they can’t wait to get to know and become a part of the Huntington community.
“[We’re] super excited,” Barton said. “Everybody in this area that we’ve met with has been welcoming with open arms.”
Apple hand pies at Hometown Bake Shop. Photo from Danna Abrams
Pi Day will be extra sweet this year.
Hometown Bake Shop at 2 Little Neck Road in Centerport plans to open its doors on Monday, March 14, also known to math enthusiasts as Pi Day because the numerical date matches the first three digits of pi.
Northport resident Danna Abrams, 38, and Huntington’s Luigi Aloe, 42, are putting their collective business and culinary experience to use in the new shop endeavor. If they execute their vision successfully, “hometown” will not only be the name of their bakeshop, but the feel as well.
The menu will feature items made from scratch, both sweet and savory, with organic and gluten-free options and local influences.
“I’m a mom with three kids, and we all don’t have time to make everything anymore,” Abrams said in an interview at the under-construction shop on Tuesday. “We all wish we could do the slow-cooked brisket, the 20-hour pulled pork. We want that, and love that, with no preservatives and made from scratch and from someone who wants to make it and loves to make it. So that’s what [Hometown Bake Shop] is.”
The duo has been on a shared path for years, starting with graduating from Huntington High School.
Aloe also owns Black & Blue Seafood Chophouse in Huntington. He hired high school friend Abrams to be that restaurant’s pastry chef several years ago, and after some experience selling their products at farmer’s markets, the duo decided opening the new business was the next logical step.
Wrapped-up treats at Hometown Bake Shop. Photo from Danna Abrams
Abrams’ three daughters are her inspiration, she said. Charlie, 9, loves her mom’s chicken potpie — which is Aloe’s favorite as well. Abrams’ recipe for her fudgy, chocolate brownies was perfected while she was pregnant with 5-year-old Ilan, and 3-year-old Riley loves anything with fruit in it.
“I’ve always been a foodie,” Abrams said. She holds a master’s degree in sculpture from Boston University but has worked in restaurants all of her life, including the Cold Spring Harbor Beach Club and T.K.’s Galley in Huntington. Her Italian and Jewish roots influence her cooking and passion. She said everyone jokes she must secretly be from the South, because her fried chicken and biscuits are so authentic, they couldn’t possibly come from anywhere else.
Even though Abrams said cooking comes second nature to her, this is her first time venturing into the world of entrepreneurism. That’s where Aloe comes in — he’s spent time in the food industry, owning restaurants since he was 23. Together the two have all the ingredients for success.
“Danna is very talented and she’s like the heart and soul,” Aloe said. “I think what our whole thing is here is to try to be a family-oriented place.”
Abrams has plans to dedicate a refrigerated display to local produce and dairy products, as a way of supporting local business owners’ dreams in the same way she says Aloe did for her.
“The community here is very good to the stores,” Aloe said. “They’re not into conglomerates. … Everybody’s rooting for us — that’s what we feel like in the community.”
Hometown Bake Shop’s manager, Nicole Beck Sandvik, reiterated both owners’ vision for the business.
“We want people to walk in this place and have it be like their second home,” Beck Sandvik said. “When they don’t have time to cook breakfast or make dinner, they know they can come here and get a home-cooked meal.”
Hometown Bake Shop will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The McDonald’s in Port Jefferson has closed. Photo by Reid Biondo
A longtime fixture in downtown Port Jefferson closed last week, leaving a business next to Village Hall empty.
The McDonald’s fast food restaurant on West Broadway had been controversial when it first moved in more than a decade ago, but what has been perceived as its abrupt closure has left some scratching their heads. Visitors were met with a sign directing them to a different franchise location in Port Jefferson Station.
“I was totally shocked,” Barbara Sabatino said about when she found out the harborfront restaurant had closed.
The owners and operators of the business, franchisees Peter and Katie Hunt, said in an email statement through a McDonald’s spokesperson on Monday, “It’s been a pleasure to serve this neighborhood and we appreciate the support of the local business community, elected officials and community partners. We are very happy to report that all of our employees have accepted jobs at nearby McDonald’s locations. We remain committed to serving Port Jefferson, and we look forward to continuing our work in this community.”
Sabatino, who runs the Port Jeff Army Navy in upper Port and serves on the village planning board, was a member of the now-defunct civic association at the time McDonald’s was trying to locate in lower Port more than 15 years ago.
“They really had a difficult time,” she said. “[Some people] felt that a McDonald’s did not fit their view of Port Jefferson.”
There were also people on the other side of the argument, she added, who had an attitude of “what’s the big deal?”
While village officials said they were concerned about how the restaurant would look, Sabatino said, the owner was “cooperative” on the architecture and finishing touches, giving it that “seafaring town look, with the dormers on the top and the little trim.”
And the business owner noted that the restaurant has been a good neighbor, cleaning up trash and keeping the property looking nice.
The controversy over it coming in was enough to spur the village board of trustees to take precautions for the future.
According to the village code, officials amended Port Jefferson’s zoning laws in June 2000 to prohibit “formula fast food establishments” in both the C-1 and C-2 central commercial districts, which are located along the main drag in the downtown and uptown areas, respectively.
