I must have some sort of weird magnetic aura that attracts Israeli Knesset members. The other day I walked right past Silvan Shalom—former Israeli Foreign Minister—in the crowded theater district after seeing “The History Boys.” It’s pretty common to spot celebrities casually walking the crowded streets of New York, but I would sooner have expected to run into David Bowie buying a carton of milk than an Israeli MK looking anonymous among the post-theater throngs.
On the food front, I ate dinner at Four Food Studio and Cocktail Salon last night (no seriously, that’s the actual name of the place). Contrary to what you might think, the wait staff does not cut and style guests’ hair before, during, or after dinner. Rather, Four specializes in fusion style cuisine based on the seasonal foods of Long Island, a laudable concept for a local restaurant.
We started our meal with a basket of warm country style bread with soft butter, followed by the fairly pleasant house cheese fondue. The market salad, punctuated by kernels of fresh corn, and bits of chevre and bacon, was quite good.
For the main course, I had cappuccino dusted rare ahi tuna with jasmine rice pilaf and a sweet eggplant concoction consisting of small, meltingly soft chunks of eggplant. The tuna steak was perfectly seared a thin pale beige on top and bottom, remaining dark pink within. The steak, beautifully speckled with cappuccino (finely ground espresso?), was both delightfully meaty and soft, as you might expect a tuna steak to be.
The dessert menu included such whimsical offerings as “Chocolate Coca Cola Cake with Tahitian vanilla ice cream” and “Coffee and Donuts,” comprised of bread pudding made from donuts and Turkish coffee ice cream with caramel sauce. I don’t care for very sweet desserts, so I ordered a scoop of the vanilla and Turkish coffee ice creams. Both were excellent.
Service is attentive and generous. Our waiter Josh kindly arranged a vegetarian dish with the chef in order to accommodate my veggie brother. Be sure to take some money with you to the restroom, as there’s a nice person there whose job it is to open the tap for you and hand you a paper towel (a bit much for me, but hey, it’s a job). Similarly, several valets are available to park your car for you when you arrive, not that parking is particularly difficult in Melville.
Following dessert, Four serves a large, fluffy ball of pink cotton candy along with the check. The candy floss symbolizes the ethos of the place: deliberately silly, but fun, and pretty tasty, if a little sweet. That the giant wad of fluffy sugar arrives atop a large wine glass points to the restaurant’s ultra-trendy vibe. In all, a fun place to eat on Long Island.
Four Food Studio and Cocktail Salon
515 Broadhollow Road (Rte. 110)
Melville, NY 11747
631.577.4444
