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The owner and founder of Long Island’s Southdown Coffee knew he wanted to push into the nighttime game.
He found his after-hours groove by opening Otherside Wine Bar in Glen Cove.
“The bar is on the other side of the building,” which also houses Southdown Coffee, said Mark Boccard. “So that’s where the name comes from. I’m still a coffee buyer and director at Southdown by day. And by night, we switch over.”
Pivoting comes second nature to Boccard, who quickly grew his business from one Southdown Coffee location in Huntington, which opened in 2014, to seven shops by 2024 — the latest opening last year in Point Lookout.
And when Otherside Wine Bar opened in May, he and his team weren’t sure what, exactly, to expect.
Demand, he said, dictated more seating and heartier meals.
Today, as Otherside approaches a year in business, you won’t just find small bites at the bar. You can order a steak Diane or a pan-roasted local chicken breast. The seasonal entrée special is currently a whole branzino.
“The chef [Ian Bock] is just so talented and we change the dishes a lot,” Boccard said.
“The first nine months have been very much about an evolution of the restaurant, and it feels like we’re doing great.”
If you go

For food, Boccard highly suggests the Otherside Burger (pictured above).
“We constantly hear from people that it’s their favorite burger on Long Island,” he said. “But it’s not as if they’ve tried every burger on Long Island.”
As for drinks, Otherside Wine Bar offers wine and beer, no cocktails.
And the wine focus is on natural wines, which are typically produced with few additives.
“This is a growing trend in the wine industry,” Boccard said. “Conventional wine-making often involves a lot of additives and … you don’t have to [legally] disclose the additives. I think a lot of people are catching on.
“Natural has minimal intervention and the wines are just really expressive of where they grow.”
Otherside Wine Bar is located at 149 Glen St., Suite 2, in Glen Cove.
Tap the links here for the full food and drink menu.
Interior photos


