About Long Island, NY Restaurants

Trying to apply a solitary defining term to the Long Island restaurant scene is an exercise in mismanaged time. The wiser, more fulfilling move is taking the LI dining landscape for what is: competitive, perpetually in flux, and loaded with terrific, often surprising options at every turn. Indeed, from Elmont in Nassau County all the way out to Montauk, the affluent residents of (and visitors to) Long Island's villages, hamlets and towns have no shortage of choices when the time to dine arrives. Italian and seafood restaurants are especially prominent, of course, as are high-end establishments where chefs are compelled to push the limits of creativity. This is especially so at gastronomic gems like the North Fork's Jedediah Hawkins, where Chef Tom Schaudel's New American dishes emphasize ingredients grown in the Hamptons. Elsewhere, along Nassau's County's picturesque South Shore and extending up to Fire Ireland, locally-run places like Long Beach's 780 Grill & Clam Bar specialize in fresh seafood and often offer al fresco seating during the summer months. Across the way, on the North Shore, steakhouses make a strong showing, including such revered establishments as Rothmann's, Bryant & Cooper, and Peter Luger.

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