Each month, Niko Krommydas serves up a steaming bowl of gossip goulash made with the latest restaurant news on Long Island.
EMP SUMMER HOUSE The summer pop-up of Eleven Madison Park will return to the big white farmhouse on Pantigo Road in East Hampton starting May 25. It will run Wednesdays to Sundays through mid-September. Owners Will Guidara and Daniel Humm ran the seasonal outpost last year as a way to keep staff employed while the critically acclaimed restaurant, which overlooks Madison Square Park in Manhattan’s Flatiron district, underwent renovations. “New Yorkers go to the Hamptons in the summer, so that’s how we looked at it as a concept,” Guidara said. While the restaurant has since reopened, the experiment was “very successful,” said Humm, who is also the chef. “Having a summer presence in the Hamptons is good for us.” Like last year, EMP Summer House will offer casual outdoor dining on the lawn and covered patio, and a more formal menu in the 90-seat dining room inside. Dishes will include lobster tempura, corn flatbread, tomato salad and rib-eye for two. Large-format dinners for groups of six to eight will again be available. Reservations for the indoor dining room through June 30 can be made online starting May 1. (As of June 1, they can be made through July 31, and starting July 1, they will be taken through September.) Only cards from American Express, Guidara and Humm’s partner in the pop-up, are accepted. The partners are also planning to open a similar winter branch, in Aspen, Colorado, in December. 341 Pantigo Road, East Hampton, empsummerhouse.com
GUAC SHOP MEXICAN GRILL There’s a new kid on the guac in Garden City. Tacos, burritos, quesadillas and salads are built with various ingredients, either in set combinations or ones chosen by customers on an assembly line. This fast-casual spot is co-owned by Sergio DeCiantis, a partner in several restaurants, including Park Place Restaurant & Bar in Floral Park. 160 7th Street, Garden City, 516-274-3380, guacshopmexicangrill.com
MTK LOBSTER HOUSE Diego Flores, a former manager at Shagwong Tavern in Montauk, will open this restaurant nearby in the space that previously housed Sour Sap Tree Café. Expect chowders, crab cakes, mussels and, of course, lobster rolls. 716 Montauk Highway, Montauk, 631-238-5703, mtklobsterhouse.com
MIZU JAPANESE SUSHI Dig in at this new Japanese spot. It’s not affiliated with Mizu Japanese Sushi & Hibachi in Bethpage. 1251 Melville Road, Farmingdale, 631-230-3888, mizujapanesesushi.com
JEMA Joy Mangano, the entrepreneur who invented the Miracle Mop and was portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy, has permanently closed her multilevel restaurant in Huntington. It had been closed since late December because of water damage. A broken pipe on the third floor due to dipping temperatures set off a fire sprinkler, causing flooding on the eastern side of the building. The restaurant said in a Facebook post that it hoped to reopen sometime in February. Now its Facebook page is gone. In a statement, Mangano said she and Jema’s chef, Franco Sampogna, who worked at two Michelin-starred places in France prior, “are looking at new concepts for the future.”
DYNASTY CAFÉ The beloved Bay Shore diner has closed after 34 years. The owner, Thomas Wernikowski, died recently. His brother, Alex, was the cook.
THE PIE SHOPPE After less than two years, this bakery and cafe in Hicksville has closed. (So bye-bye, Miss American Pie? Or not.) In a Facebook post, the shop with a menu overseen by Robert Ellinger, an award-winning pastry chef and former owner of the now closed Baked to Perfection in Port Washington, blamed the lack of foot traffic at the West Village Green location. “We will be relocating,” it also wrote, but gave no further details.
THE SIDELINE GRILLE This sports bar in Hicksville is sidelined permanently.