Home Sweet (& Savory) Home Round 3!
When I heard Toast had opened up in Huntington Village i was all excited assuming it was the second outpost of my beloved Toast in Port Jefferson, but alas, just an imposter. No graham cracker encrusted peanut butter and banana stuffed french toast here, but they do have some interesting things in my favorite town on Long Island that seems to be struggling for real breakfast options. I’ve already been back to Toast & Co a few times…like it, don’t love it. I give them a high score the actual space. The restaurant is light, open and airy with a sidewalk patio used during the warmer months. Unfortunately the food i find to be above average, but not amazing…and the service isn’t much better. At a little breakfast joint like this, i shouldn’t have to continuously flag someone down to get a refill on my coffee. i really want to love this place, but they got some work to do. I’m not giving up on them just yet…
Toast & Co - Egg white omelette with turkey, broccoli & swiss. Mixed potato home fries
Toast & Co - Lorraine Frittata - country slab bacon, melted gruyere & caramelized onions. Mixed potato home fries.
Toast & Co - Cheesy grits
This seems to be the top BBQ spot on Long Island from what i hear. Locals complain about the noise, traffic and smell of smoke throughout the neighborhood. Are you kidding me?! If my neighborhood perpetually smelled of BBQ, i consider that a selling point. As far as BBQ on long island, i’d say the buzz Smokin’ Als created is deserved. Though i will say, as expected, it’s a lot better if you have the patience to actually wait for a table and eat there as opposed to taking it home like i did for this insanely large lunch just for myself. With waits well over an hour, and that glorious smell of slow smoked meats constantly teasing you, successfully getting sat before you’ve completely gnawed off your fingers is a test of one’s patience. Beans were average, cole slaw was well above average, chopped brisket sandwich was very good and absolutely enormous. The star of this meal though was the burnt ends…yum
Smokin’ Als - Cole slaw
Smokin’ Als - Baked Beans
Smokin’ Als - Burnt Ends - After 12 hours of smoking, the crusted seasoned ends of the brisket chopped and served over a bed of haystack onions with Al’s original BBQ sauce
Smokin Als - Chopped Brisket sandwich
My family and i have been going to either Cafe Baci, or it’s now gone sister restaurant Spazzo, for as long as i can recall. Spazzo for a long time was our family’s italian restaurant of choice until it closed down, forcing us to go down the street to Baci. I cannot even venture a guess as to how many times i’ve eaten at both places, and i’ve yet to have a bad meal at either one. baci has the classic italian favorites, but they specialize in contemporary italian cuisine. i am certainly a creature of habit when it comes to this place, i have ALWAYS gotten the penne fussi dish you see below or some close derivative of it. portions here are insanely huge as you can see, which is tough because i’m normally stuffed already from the amazing bread they bring to your table pre meal. We need to talk for a second about that first photo below though. That stuffed artichoke is a little piece of heaven on earth right there. Not only is fun to eat, but it is absolutely delicious, and especially good the day julie and i were there this day. warm and so comforting. filled with big chunks of garlic and various other herbs. the contrast of textures between the gravy soaked breadcrumb stuffing and the crunch of toasted pine nuts. if there’s one thing i look forward to eating whenever i’m back home in NY, it’s this…
Cafe Baci - Il Carciofo - Fresh artichoke filled with seasoned breadcrumbs, olives, capers, romano cheese, pignoli nuts and mediterranean herbs.
Cafe Baci - Penne Fussi - penne with grilled chicken breast, chopped broccoli florets, sun dried tomatoes, garlic and oil, with a touch of pesto, lightly baked with mozzarella.
Cafe Baci - Melanzane Panini - Thinly sliced breaded fresh eggplant layered with mozzarella cheese, parmesan and tomato sauce.
I love spanish food. i love sangria. i love the very social and experimental tapas concept. Obviously i was very excited to find out my brother was taking us to casaville, a spanish restaurant about a 10 minute walk from his apartment in murray hill. the front of the long and narrow restaurant fully opened up to the street out front with a few tables placed almost directly on the sidewalk, which is where the 4 of us were sat. there’s something very enjoyable to sitting down at a nice place on a new york city street with good food and a cocktail, relaxing and enjoying yourself while watching the craziness of new york city rush past you. good people watching too. our teeny little table was juuuuust big enough to hold all the tapas and sangria we had ordered. of the 4 of us, i’m the only one who isn’t much of a seafood eater, so i was allowed to make a couple choices that didn’t involve any creatures from the sea. i still did my best to try and enjoy a little bit of everything. everything i did try, i liked. i think all 4 of us left casaville satisfied with a little buzz and a full belly.
Casaville - Sangria
Casaville - Tarte au Fromage de Chevre
Casaville - Petite Paella
Casaville - Grilled shrimp with garlic and herbs
Casaville- Grilled calamari
Casaville - Fried Brie with fried grapes
Commack Diner
Nevermind which diner this is, that’s not the point. The point is that we don’t have diners like this out in AZ, and that’s upsetting. Back east you can stumble upon a good diner almost anywhere. They’re open until all hours of the morning, serve every type of food under the sun, they’re quick, they’re cheap and they’re always a good fall back option for a greasy and comforting meal when you don’t know where else to go. Have i ever had an AMAZING meal in the local neighborhood diner, no…but where else can i get an enormous BLT, fries and coffee…my father get a belgian waffle with a scoop of ice cream….and my brother get a reuben all at 1am?
Commack Diner - Fries
Commack Diner - Coffee & BLT
My good friend James and i have officially made it a tradition to visit a new BBQ place together each time i’m home visiting. This time we chose a tucked away place that happened to be very close to his home and my family where i stay. It’s a divey little BBQ restaurant & bar on some dark backstreets of an industrial district. Sparkys Texas BBQ certainly isn’t in a high traffic area, but if you want some good, non-glitzy BBQ it is definitely worth seeking out. This place is no frills, it’s all about the meats and they do them right. I normally go with some sort of beef brisket sandwich, so it was a nice departure to get a brisket platter this time with thick cut slices of beef. it was juicy, smoky and very tender. The place was empty the whole time we were there besides james and i which makes me wonder how long Sparkys will be around. As long as it’s still there though, i’ll be going back next time i’m home…
Sparkys Texas BBQ - Mary’s Old Style Buffalo Wings
Sparkys Texas BBQ - Pulled Pork Sliders with Cole Slaw
Sparkys Texas BBQ - Slow cooked beef brisket with mac & cheese and jalapeno cornbread
p.s.- did i mention how good that stuffed artichoke was??
2 years ago