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David Tunney

Luca Restaurant ribbon cutting. Photo from WMHO

It’s official! Luca Restaurant, 93 Main St. in Stony Brook Village is set to open on Tuesday Aug. 30. In anticipation, a soft opening and ribbon cutting was held on Aug. 18.  

“We are excited to bring Luca and modern Italian cuisine to Stony Brook Village Center with exceptional food and service, great vibe and beautiful ambiance. We look forward to serving the community for many years” said David Tunney, partner, Luca Restaurant.

“Luca will be a great addition to the Center. Their modern Italian cuisine is superb and brings an exciting new style to the area” added Gloria D. Rocchio, President, Stony Brook Village Center.

Old Fields Hospitality Co. partners David Tunney (Ward Melville graduate and partner of Besito Mexican) Rory Van Nostrand, Anthony Argiriou, and Chef Luke DeSanctis are a great team with decades of fine dining and hospitality experience.

Dinner will be served Tuesday through Thursday from 5 to 9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m., and Sundays from 4 to 9 p.m. Lunch hours will be available this Fall. To make a reservation, visit their website at www.lucaitalian.com or call 631-675-0435.

Pictured from left, Ward Melville Heritage Organization (WMHO) Trustees, Andy Skitmore, Charles Napoli, Mary Van Tuyl, Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich, WMHO Chairman, Dr. Richard Rugen, Luca partners Rory Van Nostrand, David Tunney, Anthony Argiriou, and Executive Chef & Partner, Luke DeSanctis, WMHO President, Gloria D. Rocchio, Head of the Harbor Mayor Doug Dahlgard, WMHO Trustees, James Murdocco, Laura Ernst and Graham Scaife.

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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, he  owns 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.”

David Tunney is ready to open a new restaurant in Stony Brook Village Center. Photo from Eagle Realty Holdings

After being vacant since September, the spot formerly occupied by Pentimento will be home to a new restaurant.

In a statement Jan. 31, Eagle Realty Holdings Inc. announced David Tunney, who owns and operates several restaurants on Long Island from Port Jefferson to Roslyn, will open a new restaurant at 93 Main St. in Stony Brook Village Center.

“After many interviews with at least a half-dozen local and more distant restaurateurs, Eagle Realty Holdings trustees are pleased with our choice of David,” said chairman Richard Rugen in the press release.

According to Eagle Realty, Tunney is expected to open the new restaurant in the spring. He has not announced the name of the business or what will be offered.

“This will be a new concept, different cuisine and a whole new look,” Tunney said in the press release.

The business owner has been in the restaurant industry for 35 years and is a familiar face in the Three Village area. He grew up in Setauket and graduated from Ward Melville High School. In 2019, he bought the former Raga Indian Restaurant on Old Town Road and turned it into Old Fields Barbecue.

“This is where I grew up, this is where my roots are, and it’s amazing to come back to it,” Tunney said in a 2019 TBR News Media interview.

In addition to the Setauket spot, he owns Old Fields restaurants in Port Jefferson and Greenlawn and Old Fields Barbecue in Huntington. He is also one of the founders of the Besito Restaurant Group along with his brother John and part-owner of Besito Mexican restaurants in Huntington and Roslyn.

In the 2019 interview, Tunney said he had good memories of growing up in the Three Village area. His mother, Marilyn, worked in the TBR News Media offices for 25 years, and one of his first jobs was at the Arby’s that once was located where the Setauket Main Street firehouse is today. Tunney said his first job was with the former Dining Car 1890 that was located on Route 25A and Nicolls Road, where he started as a dishwasher.

In the interview, Tunney said he leaves the cooking to the chefs and enjoys the hospitality side of the business, which he learned from his brother John.

“The part I really love about it is making people have a great experience and that they just love all the food, the service, the ambiance, how they are taken care of,” he said in the interview.

Raga Indian Restaurant and Bar closed April 28 and will reopen this summer as an Old Fields Barbecue. Photo by David Luces

A familiar face is bringing some barbecue cooking to East Setauket.

After Raga Indian Restaurant and Bar on Old Town Road closed April 28, new owner David Tunney and his team got right to work creating plans to turn the building into an Old Fields Barbecue. 

Tunney, who grew up in Setauket and graduated from Ward Melville High School, said he had his eye on the location for the last few years, and he recently made a deal with Raga’s owner. Tunney is best known on the North Shore as the owner of the Old Fields restaurants in Port Jefferson and Greenlawn and Old Fields Barbecue in Huntington. He is also one of the founders of the Besito Restaurant Group along with his brother John and part-owner of Besito Mexican restaurants in Huntington and Roslyn. The former owner of Honu Kitchen and Cocktails in Huntington said he gained experience in the business running establishments such as Oheka Castle before venturing into owning a place of his own.

“I’ve been around the block, and I’m back in my hometown,” Tunney said.

While he now lives in Greenlawn, the 53-year-old said he has a lot of memories of growing up in the Three Village area where his love for the restaurant hospitality business began. His mother, Marilyn, worked in the TBR News Media offices for 25 years, and one of his first jobs was at the Arby’s that once was located where the Setauket Main Street firehouse is today. Tunney said his first job was with the former Dining Car 1890 that was located on Route 25A and Nicolls Road, where he started as a dishwasher.

He said he feels residents will welcome a new restaurant that is moderately priced. The barbecue place will serve dishes such as fried chicken, Mahi fish sandwiches, pulled pork and hamburgers cooked in cast iron as well as sides including cornbread and mac and cheese.

“It’s really for everybody,” he said. “You can bring your kids there. You can come with a date. You can come with business people.”

Tunney’s partner in the new restaurant is Rory Van Nostrand, who has worked with him since 2006 when the latter started as a busboy at Honu. The executive chef will be Israel Castro, who began working with the pair when Tunney bought the Greenlawn location in 2010. Castro became executive chef when Old Fields in Port Jefferson opened a few years ago.

Before opening up Old Fields Barbecue in Huntington, Tunney, Van Nostrand and Castro traveled down the East Coast to states such as Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida and others to research restaurants that specialize in barbecue. Van Nostrand said during their travels, in addition to stopping at known places like Franklin Barbecue in Texas, they would ask people where their favorite barbecue places were, and Castro said they weren’t hesitant to stop at no-name places along the side of the road.

“We really ate our way through barbecue,” Castro said.

Van Nostrand said a lot of chefs were willing to share tips with them along the way.

“It’s really more of a technique food than an ingredient recipe food,” Van Nostrand said. “It’s very much an art.”

When it comes to the Old Fields Barbecue menu, Castro listed the brisket and pork among his favorites, while Van Nostrand said he loves the chorizo sausage and corned beef and also eats the smoked chicken, which is cooked with no oil or butter, regularly.

“It’s a small menu as far as a restaurant goes,” Castro said. “There’s a core group of food items that need to be excellent. So, we put all kinds of effort into making them the best we can.”

Tunney said he leaves the cooking to his chefs, even though he admits to making a great grilled cheese — something he made for the first time when he was five years old at a Setauket diner when the owner invited him into the kitchen. Most of all he enjoys the hospitality side of the business, something he credits to his brother John for teaching him.

“The part I really love about it is making people have a great experience and that they just love all the food, the service, the ambiance, how they are taken care of,” he said.

The restaurateur is hoping to open the new restaurant at the end of July or the beginning of August. 

“This is where I grew up, this is where my roots are, and it’s amazing to come back to it,” Tunney said.