HungryHamptons: Navy Beach (Montauk, Long Island)

Arthur Bovino — May 21, 2010

Navy Burger with Onion Bacon Marmalade, Hand-cut Fries, and House Pickles at Navy Beach.

Restaurant: Navy Beach
Address: 16 Navy Road, Montauk, NY 11954
By Boat: 41° 02′ 45.11″N, -71° 57′ 44.88″W
Contact: (631) 668-6868
Hours: Thur, 3:30pm-12:00am; Fri, 3:30pm-12:00am; Sat, 12:00pm-12:00am; Sun, 11:30am-12:00pm; Mon, 3:30pm-12:00am.
Grade: A-
Recommended Dishes: Littleneck Clams, Navy Burger, C.M.P. Sundae.

Past Lunch, beyond the Clam Bar at Napeague, just off 27 and the turn for 2nd House Road, there’s a new addition to the Hamptons dining scene in Montauk: Navy Beach. Sand, water, picnic tables, and tiki torches, the old Sunset Saloon has been whitewashed, the interior redesigned, with chef Paul LaBue in the kitchen. The project is backed by partners Frank Davis and his wife Kristina Davis, and Leyla Marchetto of Scuderia and her fiancée, Franklin Ferguson.

Survey Navy Beach, your toes in Fort Pond Bay, or catch a glimpse of a classic Mustang parked outside, and you glean its black-and-white postcard quality. There are open portals behind the bar, rods and lures at the door, and framed vintage bathing suits in a dining room with thick wood beams and rattan windowshades. Boaters are being encouraged to anchor and come for dinner. They, and anyone nautically-inclined will notice the message spelled out in naval flags under the bar: DRINK. It was the brainchild of the woman behind the restaurant’s design touches, Kristina Davis.

Photographs of the food at Navy Beach >>

AlwaysInformed: Scuderia

AlwaysHungry — October 22, 2009

Arancino di Riso at Scuderia.

Leyla Marchetto recently invited us to an enjoyable tasting at Scuderia, which AlwaysHungryNY.com reviewed in April. Since then, the West Village trattoria added outdoor café seating and, more notably, replaced Claudio Cristofoli with Chef Carlo Apolloni. Some old menu favorites remain, for instance the still tasty Arancini di Riso and their tangy accompanying sauce, the Occhio di Bue Pizza, Raffetto’s Peppered Pappardelle and the Pizzetta con Nutella e Mascarpone. There are also new dishes to tempt those who may have settled in across the street at Da Silvano.

We found poppable Olive all’Ascolana, and an avowed eggplant-resister went against type, scarfing down Pizza Siciliana with Eggplant, Ricotta Salata and Oven-Dried Tomatoes. The Costa Brasata (Braised Beef Short Rib with Polenta) and Pappardelle Fiesolana (with Bacon, Mushrooms and Pink Sauce) went down very easy too. But the night belonged to the simple and delicious Gamberoni alla Griglia (Grilled Colossal Fresh-Water Shrimp with Frisée, Cannellini Beans, Olive Oil and Herbs).

Click Here for Pictures of New Dishes at Scuderia >>

Interview: Leyla Marchetto of Scuderia

Arthur Bovino — March 10, 2009

There’s a new Italian trattoria in the West Village, Scuderia, right across from Da Silvano. This chic, but casual, bar/restaurant is the creation of Team Scuderia: famed restaurateur, Silvano Marchetto; his daughter, Leyla; his long-time manager, Alessandro Bandini; and friend and musician, Fabrizio Sotti. In anticipation of last night’s opening, AlwaysHungry stopped in to talk with Leyla about her new place.

AHNY: How would you define Scuderia’s concept?

LM: The concept is a casual, modern day New York version of an Italian trattoria and bar. You know, it’s not the old world kind of Mom and Pop looking trattoria but it’s casual, we have some of these stools that are more enoteca style. I call them our East Village shout out because they remind me of East Village wine bars. So it’s more casual, more moderately priced, and I think we’re reaching out to some of the clientele that doesn’t actually go to Da Silvano, you know, younger people, or people who can’t afford it. So then we’re able to, in the vicinity of two hundred feet, attract customers, you know, in addition to some overlap that I’m sure we will have. Hopefully we’ll get customers for breakfast and then they’ll take their clients there for lunch or dinner. There’s some overlap, but the menu is very different.

We’re calling it casual Italian comfort food with some American twists. There’s a brioche grilled cheese that has speck and rosemary in it and there’s the Scuderia Hamburger, a luscious, yummy burger with Tuscan fries…

AHNY: Tell me more about the Hamburger della Scuderia…

LM: It is a beef brisket burger, so it’s like heavenly, the right salty juiciness from the brisket. It comes with caramelized onions that are cooked with cilantro and jalapeño. And then it has Monterrey Jack cheese, and it’s served on a toasted sesame bun. It’s really good. It’s very juicy. It’s not a little burger.

AHNY: So what would you consider Scuderia’s signature dishes?

LM: I would say, the Pizza Scuderia. It’s strong. I would recommend that as a sharing item. I mean you can have entire pizza but it’s fig jam, blue cheese and speck, so it’s kind of strong. I would recommend that for sharing. The other one that’s really good, pizza-wise, the Occhio di Bue, translates to Bull’s-eye, in Italian and it’s pizza that has mozzarella and pecorino and then there is pancetta and spinach and then an egg is cooked in the middle of it. And when you cut it…it’s everyone’s favorite.

And then Claudio Cristofoli, the chef, is from Venice, and then Fabrizio is from Padova, so there’s kind of influences from different areas of Italy. The Arancini di Riso, It’s two fried rice balls with pecorino inside, that come in this terracotta kind of thing with tomato sauce underneath it and they have a bit of the braised beef cheeks in them so there’s meat and cheese and they’re warm…I’ve probably had six rice balls in the last four days.

I would also say pasta-wise, I’m kind of partial to the beef cheek ragù. I should kind of switch to another one shouldn’t I? Oh, the squid ink noodles with the seafood is amazing. So there’s black squid ink, a teeny bit spicy, tomatoes, seafood, like there’s mussels and different types of fish…amazing…To go away from the carbs, Claudio makes this skirt steak with three different dipping sauces…The skirt steak is marinated, so soft, ahead the night before and then it comes with these three little sauces. One’s green, one’s red, and one’s yellow. You dip it in and it’s amazing and it’s so tender.

And you could get some of the sides—grilled polenta, I really like. Kind of crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.

Dessert-wise I can give you one really good dessert that’s fabulous. Everyone has had a good response. Instead of tiramisu it’s called a “Tiramelosu”. And it’s a deconstructed tiramisu. So it comes on a cutting board and there are a couple of ladyfingers. There’s an espresso and there’s the zabaglione. So you dip it in and kind of do your own thing. And, it’s really, really good. And I’ve never seen that anywhere. I don’t know if it comes from somewhere in Italy or if he invented it but it’s amazing…[Also,] I would have the Pizza with Nutella and mascarpone for dessert. It’s like a mini 6-inch pizza with a thin layer of Nutella, a little bit of melted mascarpone dusted with sugar and it’s heavenly. Also, good for breakfast with coffee, cause I just had a piece.

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