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All the warm and friendly hospitality of a boutique hotel.
That’s the concept behind The Linwood Restaurant & Cocktails, which is opening Tuesday in Bay Shore, in the location that last hosted the short-lived Fatwood Southern Kitchen.
“This is personalized and detail-oriented service,” said Linwood co-owner Drew Dvorkin, who operates several restaurants in NYC and Bay Shore, including T.J. Finley’s on Main Street.
“So we’re going to take that same approach of a boutique hotel and apply it to the restaurant business,” he said, “where the service can be at the highest level, without being pretentious, or too expensive, and readily available to all our guests.”
Dvorkin, who lives in Islip, teamed up with a locally known chef, Henry Freidank of Greenlawn. Freidank was the longtime chef at the old Nonnina in West Islip, the current spot of Primi Italian Steakhouse. Rounding out the ownership team in Bay Shore is Dvorkin’s friend Greg Mogil.
Aside from the immersive guest experience planned for The Linwood, the menu features crowd-pleasers many would recognize from Nonnina.
Those include the Cavatelli Bolognese a la Nonnina ($23), and the Rigatoni with cauliflower, sausage, garlic, ricotta and breadcrumbs ($18). Among the protein-first dishes you’ll find Rohan Duck Breast ($24), Fried Chicken ($21) and Seared Seasonal Fish ($26).
“The menu is some of my greatest hits; things I like to eat,” Freidank said. “I try to be approachable, nothing too fancy.”
Dvorkin has taken to calling The Linwood a “bistro pub.”
“It’s a chef-driven menu at a reasonable price point,” he said.
The same expertise and passion has gone into the cocktail menu, which is the handiwork of longtime mixologist Tracy Johanna of Babylon.
“I think about food in cocktails a lot,” she said. “We’re chefs behind the bar, making something for you to consume – except we get the pleasure of watching people consume it.”
Among those cocktails is The Bellboy, which Johanna whips up using Botanist Gin, Cocchi Americano, sweet bell pepper cordial, fresh lemon, thyme, Peychaud’s Bitters and aquafaba (pictured here).
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‘I like to keep it weird and raise the eyebrows. Like, you put bell peppers in a cocktail? But it works,” she said.
The craft beer selections will be on constant rotation as well.
The Linwood is named after a now-gone hotel, Linwood Resort Hotel on South Clinton Avenue, from Bay Shore’s tourist era from the 1800s to the turn of the century.
The Linwood hotel hosted airmen during World War I.
“It used to house naval aviators,” said Dvorkin. “What appealed to me about the connection to The Linwood was that it was an historic place that was taking care of good people, especially our military, and we wanted to continue taking care of people.”
“Henry, as the chef-owner, is really going to be a part of the whole thing,” Dvorkin said of the chef, ‘building loyalty through personalization and getting to know your guest.”
“And that makes me even more happy to cook for you,” Freidank said.
The Linwood opens at 4 p.m. on June 18 at 150 East Main Street.
related:
From History: Remembering Bay Shore’s WWI air base, local hospitality
