The men who brought Public House 49 to Patchogue in 2009 have just opened a sister restaurant in another South Shore village.
The Brixton opened Wednesday night in Babylon.
This time, Public House partners Brad Wilson, Frank Bragaglia and Matt Murray have taken on Phil Pasfield of Sayville as a chef and owner.
Pasfield had spent the past four years as Chef de cuisine at the highly regarded — yet seasonal — Starr Boggs in Westhampton Beach. He had also been helping out Public House and other restaurants, like The Trattoria in St. James, during the cooler months.
In Patchogue, Murray said Public House 49 was an instant success, and that the American-style gastro pub has only gotten busier and busier.
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“In 2009, Patchogue was up and coming and now it’s fully here, and it’s non-stop,” Murray said. “In Babylon, just like in Patchogue, we’ll be in the heart of all the other bars and restaurants. It just seemed like a nice, natural spot for a new location.”
The owners of Public House 49 now join those of PeraBell Food Bar (Riverhead), The Tap Room (Massapequa Park), Village Idiot Pub (Oakdale), That Meatball Place (Farmingdale) and Rudi’s Bar and Grill (Selden) as restaurants that started in Patchogue and expanded elsewhere within the past few years. Tap room’s owners also opened a second Patchogue restaurant, Flight, just last month.
The Brixton, which can seat 60, was over a year in the making. The Babylon location will be smaller than Public House, which seats 75 in the dining room and has a large bar area that allows for about 180 people inside at any one time.
“It’s smaller, but that’s probably a good thing,” said Murray.
The style will be a new American approach to traditional comfort foods (read about the shrimp and lobster corn dog below) with a shared/small plate concept.
“It’s really just a nice dining room experience,” said Tonianne Mascaro, Brixton’s general manager. “Everything is intended to be shared to promote conversation and everyone getting involved. You’ll feel like you’re at someone’s house, with things being coursed-out and brought to the table at the chef’s discretion.”
She descried the décor as modern with a vintage twist.
“It’s got a bit of an Old World feel here but it’s definitely modern,” she said. (More photos below.)
Mascaro and the others were also quick to point to The Brixton’s emphasis on finer cocktails. “This is geared toward true mixology,” she said. “We have a great bar manager and he has really elevated the cocktails here.”
As for the plates.
“I love the short rib toast,” said Mascaro, “which is braised short rib on homemade ricotta cheese and grilled sour dough, It’s a nice, sharable dish. It reminds me of grandma’s pot roast.”
Pasfield said he hopes The Brixton becomes known for its Scotch Duck Egg, a very Long Island approach to the Scotch egg.
“We make the sausage in-house using ducks from Crescent Duck Farm,” in Aquebogue, he explained. “Then the sausage is used to encase the duck egg, which we poach for seven minutes. It’s all deep-fried and served with our house beer mustard and arugula salad. The mustard complements the egg and sausage really nicely and the arugula freshens up the plate.”
And it was owner Brad Wilson who asked the chef to put a corn dog on the menu.
“I took the idea and ran with it,” Pasfield said. “I didn’t want to do a regular corn dog, and was going back and forth between pork and seafood, then I discovered a recipe for a shrimp and lobster sausage. And get the nice corn grits.”
“You get three of those on a plate,” said Mascaro. “It’s really fun.”
photos by Michael White/greaterpatchogue.com
The Brixton is located at 111 Deer Park Avenue between Montauk Highway and the LIRR.
