If ever I desired to disguise out in simple sight, there is a position couple would assume to appear. A position where by business enterprise travelers congregate but locals, considerably less so, nevertheless wherever the chef may be a savvy learn of scale and presentation.
That area is the bar or cafe of the resort in city, or the following city over, where it in some cases feels like everything can occur or show up — from trysts to spiked peaflower lemonade, c-suite execs nursing martinis to incredibly delicious charred octopus. Decamping to a resort for meal, without really being there, is a mini-journey partaken of way too sometimes (although place company is also one particular of the good pleasures of life).
Here are a handful of hotels sprinkled throughout Very long Island that are sites to disguise out, eavesdrop, daydream and tuck into surf-and-turf dumplings or shakshouka and a Tito’s Bloody Mary.
This record, ranked in ascending order primarily based on the encounter, is significantly from thorough, but a start point from which you can craft a getaway of your personal, if only for a meal.
5. Allegria Lodge (80 W. Broadway, Lengthy Seashore): The dining area at this decade-outdated hotel is in transition, but the round L’Onda bar, as at any time, features a front-seat look at of the boardwalk and a energetic cast of characters (the night I visited, a velocity courting celebration was in whole swing). Bar foods is the correct sustenance for this journey, this sort of as bonito-dusted wings ($16) with kimchi or the praiseworthy Allegria burger blanketed with American cheese and shallot jam ($20). (For pescatarians, there’s a crabcake burger). Pours are significant, folks seeing is (sort of) free of charge. Far more information: 516-889-1300, allegriahotelny.com
4. Preston Residence Resort & Restaurant (428 Key St., Riverhead): Just a couple months ago, chef Dmytro Guydash took the reins at this handsome Riverhead resort whose restaurant is inside a 117-12 months-outdated household at the time owned by Suffolk County’s 1st sheriff. A cozy, mirrored bar, wraparound porch and light-strewn patio are the setting for robust, lushly composed bites these types of as charred octopus more than new potatoes and roasted tomatoes ($22) with a piquillo-pepper sauce, duck tortelli pesto with a ragout of delicata squash and mushrooms ($38) or uncooked tuna with strawberries and a habanero-yuzu emulsion ($22). Cocktails are studies in stability, this kind of as the Cherry Blossom, which blends tequila, grapefruit, grenadine and lime in a novel spin on a drink that has taken a lot of varieties over the hundreds of years. Far more data: 631-775-1550, theprestonhouseandhotel.com
3. Garden City Hotel (45 Seventh St., Yard Metropolis): In the ’80s, my mothers and fathers would retain the services of a babysitter so they could dance the night absent right here. Thirty-plus years on, the famous nightclub vibes could have mellowed but the kitchen still reaches large with dry-aged chops and an epic weekend brunch that rings in at $110 per individual. Government chef David Burke oversees the three venues in this article, the opulent Crimson Salt Home and dim King Bar among them. It is the Patio Bar, on the hotel’s front lawn, that is a penultimate date spot, a gilded place of soft seating, lush surrounds and an offbeat bar menu. Chef Anup Patwal channels his worldwide history as a chef in India, Italy and New York into dishes such as cumin-scented lump crabmeat atop crispy semolina puffs ($29), along with a tomato-fennel gazpacho. There is also arancini, Blue Details “dressed” with pickled stone fruit and shrimp. and summery beverages galore, this sort of as passionfruit mojitos and strawberry lemonade spiked with peaflower-infused vodka. Additional data: 877-549-0400, gardencityhotel.com/eating
2. The Cafe at Baron’s Cove (31 W. Water St., Sag Harbor): Just a shorter stroll from the heart of Sag Harbor, this area feels like its possess universe. The terrace doorways of the 2nd-ground dining space open up to bobbing sailboats and, in the course of the golden hour, the entire house — from cobalt blue water glasses to the ice in your Aperol spritz — seems lit from in just. Government chef Nicholas Vogel has steered the ship because 2020, and his kitchen depends heavily on local farmers, producers and fisheries, as properly as herbs, veggies and edible flowers from the resort garden. Believe platters of Peeko Oysters, chunky niçoise salad produced with domestically caught tuna ($38) seared sea scallops showered in pistachios or blackened Montauk swordfish ($46) in a citrusy beurre blanc. If one spritz is not plenty of, at the end of meal, an effervescent scene is in all probability continue to raging in the downstairs bar. More facts: 631-725-2100, caperesorts.com/barons-cove/eating
1. The Gallery Cafe within The Gallery Hotel (437 Key St., Greenport): This, the tiniest position on the list, is the former residence of the lounge KonTiki (it is now throughout the street), but this spring chefs Cheo Avila and Ryan Barth-Dwyer also started cooking for earl(ier) birds. Mediterranean and Middle Eastern sensibilities advise a luxurious brunch-lunch practical experience that satisfies everybody exactly where they are, from the well being-conscious (right away oats with significant dates and berries, $9 or salmon shawarma, $21) to the hungover (slow-cooked eggs with garlic yogurt, crimson peppers and mint yogurt, identified as Heavenly Egg Nest, $18). If you’ve in no way experienced carrot jam, the $35 breakfast spread is your prospect (it comes with a dozen other factors other than, from labneh to house beef sausage). Umbrellas offer shade in the sweet again backyard, and Tito’s Bloody Maries assist lounging. A lot more data: 631-477-4000, gallerycafeny.com