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Health & Fitness

Stony Brook's Pentimento Restaurant: Where Intention Crafts A Culinary Experience

Dave Seel, "The Food Adventurer", visits Pentimento Restaurant in Stony Brook and discovers a passionate eatery committed to serving it's community.

On a cool fall night, the warm lights of Pentimento flickered out across the square of Stony Brook Village. Upon entering, we were greeted with local classical guitarist Rudy Perrone's melodic strums and a happy smile from the hostess. Tall candles adorned each table, the light creating a comforting orange hue across the Italian tiling of the small dining room. A group of people sat at the bar sipping cocktails, watching baseball on the small television at the end of the bar. Soon, our server introduced us to the specials of the night: Buffalo Mozzerella Salad, Malaysian Spiced Chicken Wings, Polenta-Crusted Branzino, and Red Wine Braised Short Ribs. With those in the fold, we surveyed the menu.

C.I.A trained Chef Dennis Young's cuisine can take you in many directions. You can start with small plate Bocconcini, like House-Made Sheep's Milk Ricotta, house cured and aged Bresaola, a traditional Northern Italian spiced beef salumi, or a regular's favorite, Lobster Hash Browns. From there, you can entertain your appetite with one of my favorites, an Orange and Fennel Salad, or their freshly made pasta, which includes Garganelli with House-Made Sausage, and can be gluten free if requested. If you're interested in a bit more, you can always explore their Secondi Piatti entrees, including Pork Scallopine, Brick-Grilled Free Range Chicken, or a beautiful Cacciucco, a tuscan-style bouillabaisse. 

To pair with the meal, General Manager Lisa Cusumano has done an excellent job at creating a fantastic wine, beer, and cocktail list. While the wine list is primarily Italian, she has begun to introduce local Long Island wines and does include some west coast options as well. Their newly updated beer list highlights craft beers from primarily Italy and New York. To Lisa, domestic means local. You won't find Bud Light here, only local NY craft breweries, like Blue Point, Brooklyn, Ithaca and Southern Tier. Their unique cocktail list changes with the season and is always expertly crafted by their bartenders. Alongside their alcoholic choices, Pentimento also offers a full list of non-alcoholic options from fresh made juices to artisan sodas, such as a Spiced Dandelion and Burdock Root Soda.

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Through the food, the ambiance, and the waitstaff, it quickly became apparent that there is an intentional vision behind the whole experience at Pentimento. As Lisa puts it, "I want people to have a magical experience when they visit us. We want to have a family warmth that makes your heart and soul feel good after being here." It's this feeling that keeps people returning to the small neighborhood eatery, and soon things will be expanding. Young and Cusumano have plans to expand the restaurant into a neighboring retail shop. "We want to create an even more accessible space. So people can come and get drinks or stay for dinner. But we still want to keep the intimacy with the expansion and preserve the quality of the experience." 

This experience is continued with Pentimento's cuisine. A slow food motivated chef, Young takes his craft very seriously. "He does everything the hard way and doesn't take any short cuts. He butchers his own meat, filets his own fish, and cures his own meat." For inspiration, he often travels to Italy to find new ingredients and preparations for his dishes in the restaurant. Because of this Italian theme, he takes great care in selecting his ingredients, sourcing his produce and seafood from local purveyors when he can. This passion and appreciation for the ingredients is clearly evident in his dishes. 

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Finishing off our meal with some stracciatella gelato and a scotch, the warmth of the restaurant had filled us from the inside out. While Pentimento has struggled over with culinary inconsistency in the past, a change has certainly happened in the past couple years. "Our guests are sophisticated and knowledgeable. They expect to be engaged and I want to engage them," adds Cusumano, "I want to grow with the community and I want them to always find us fresh and unique." It's this intentionality that people continue to appreciate and definitely makes it a special place. There are great things planned for its future and Young and Cusumano are excited to keep it evolving. Pentimento adds yet another restaurant to the culinary emergence of Long Island's eastern north shore, and is certainly a place worth visiting for food, drinks and candlelight.

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