Like riding a segway home from the butcher, cooking contemporary cuisine takes meat on an unexpected journey. Sojourn toward craftier cooking with today’s Groupon: for $25, you get $50 worth of new American cuisine and drinks at Michael Anthony’s Food Bar in Wading River.
Chef Michael Anthony and his team cull unexpected, contemporary dishes from a field of fresh produce and gourmet ingredients filling their kitchen. Tapas begin the foodventure with rich mushroom sauté buttressed by poached egg, earthy truffle oil, and fingerling potatoes, or sesame calamari in cilantro soy dressing ($12). A pasta bar creatively curbs carb cravings with pear, parmesan, and brown butter ravioli ($15), while remaining belly real estate is inhabited by a main course of lemon-glazed scallops served over potato latke and green onion ($26) or a double-cut pork chop with cherry applesauce and creamy polenta ($22). Whether you’re dining for dinner, savoring small plates at the wine bar ($9), or savoring extremely small plates made from other tables’ scraps, knowledgeable staffers can perfectly pair dishes with selections from the extensive wine list. People can tap into the second stomach with desserts of orange and cinnamon panna cotta, coma-inducing chocolate silk, or even a fizzy root-beer float ($8–$10).
Michael Anthony’s Food Bar’s unassuming exterior gives way to a vibrant all-white interior popping with blue-table accents. Like stepping into grandma’s house only to find she’s slinging drinks from behind a spacious rectangular bar, Michael Anthony’s Food Bar maintains a vibe that is at once sleek, sophisticated, and comfortably homey. Natural light pours across the equally chic patio and into the bright dining room, landing on cushioned benches lining the room and inviting guests to stay until trouser buttons have been proudly popped.
Reviews
Michael Anthony’s Food Bar received a 23 in both food and service from Zagat and has been featured in the The New York Times: > * THE sign outside the restaurant reads “Michael Anthony’s Food Bar, Ordinary to the Extraordinary.” The ordinary is the location and the décor; the extraordinary, the food. – Joanne Starkey, The New York Times > * As soon as you enter this restaurant, it’s like you have been adopted by a large warm family. They all want to feed you & make you happy! – AstridH7372, Zagat user
Michael Anthony's Food Bar
Cars whizzing down the North Wading River road could easily miss Michael Anthony's Food Bar, a handsome restaurant nestled amid leafy trees and residential homes at the threshold of wine country. The lucky patrons who do find the eatery, however, are rewarded with the dazzling site of pristine white tablecloths set with sapphire glasses, colorful hot-air balloons dangling from lofty white rafters, and bright walls speckled with vivid decor. Diners can then take a seat upon one of the soft cushions to nibble on oysters and toast their great discovery with a glass of fine wine.
Meanwhile, in the restaurant's kitchen, Chef Michael Anthony is hard at work folding fresh seafood, premium meats, and imaginative sauces into a variety of small plates, pastas, and seasonal specialties such as the pumpkin chicken with balsamic-rosemary butter or the duck breast with apricot-apple chutney. Michael has spent the last 25 years perfecting his signature "New American Cuisine" recipes, favoring inventive ingredients such as toasted-sage olive oil.