Kado Asian Bistro & Sushi Bar (117 Jackson Ave./Rite Aid Shopping Center, 677-9888). This spin-off of Sumou in East Patchogue has a sushi-centric menu and much exotica in an eye-popping environment. So many places like this call themselves "fusion" when they mean "Pan-Asian," but here they avoid these labels while actually achieving true Asian fusion. We would return again and again for Crispy Duck, an appetizer from the sushi bar featuring meaty duck breast, lightly fried and dressed with a fruity sauce and sliced mangos. Other interesting items include: Duck Fajitas, Pan-Fried Garlic Oysters, Thai Crab Cakes, Crispy Red Snapper, and various Malaysian curries and Indonesian sambals.
Moules et Frites (4 Berry Hill Rd., 802-0713). The same group that made French food friendly (Bistro's Cassis/Citron), Argentinean accessible (Café Buenos Aires) and breakfast funky (Toast and Co.) now tries to make German lighter, employing a French name, Moules et Frites (mussels and fries). In the spot that keeps changing cuisines by the year—Malaysian, Japanese/Hawaiian, Italian) they've completed an extreme makeover, turning the house into a Bavarian chalet and describing themselves as a biergarten bistro. Giant pots of mussels with three different preparations are great for sharing and make a nice light dinner washed down with a long list of many exotic beers --Pauwel Kwak, Lucifer, Delirium Tremens--but bratwursts could be more exotic. I had a fairly bland Bratwurst on a sandwich served on a long pretzel roll obscured under a ridiculous pile of braised red cabbage and onions.
From the same family behind the legendary Franina Ristorante a few doors down, comes Il Fornello (52 W. Jericho Tpke., 802-0734), a new gourmet Italian deli with a wide range of specialties. Besides thin-crust pizzettes baked in a brick oven, they have wonderful stuffed focaccia, stuffed breads (rotino) and panini. You can have them build your own salad, which is all the rage at these types of places in Manhattan. Daily specials are even more ambitious. I was pleasantly surprised to find lobster cakes on the lunch menu one day. Freshly made with sweet lobster meat, it was served with a dill sauce, mashed potatoes and green beans with fried onions. They also specialize in catering and are open until 7 p.m. on weekdays and 6 p.m. on Saturdays, so get there early and surprise the family with a wonderful dinner.
