Enter, A Chef Extraordinaire!

The owners of Stresa in Manhasset and Stresa East in Woodbury, Giorgio Meriggi, Pasquale Cervera and Tony D'Arcangelo, are consummate restaurateurs.

One of them is always in the dining room: graciously seating diners, reciting the enticing specials and seeing that every aspect of service is smooth. One of them makes the desserts for the two top-notch Italian restaurants, and oh, what desserts they are. The flourless chocolate cake is the best on Long Island. Those who love lemon never pass up the lemon cake, a tangy tartlike delight.

Caesar on Long Island (Excerpt)

They come with grilled chicken and Cajun duck, without anchovies and without romaine. They can be as royal as Julius or as funny as Sid. Caesar's empire covers a lot of territory.

On Long Island, variations on Mr. Cardini's salad are restaurant staples.

Two four-star restaurants, Stresa in Manhasset and Stresa East in Woodbury, prepare excellent Caesar salads. So, one criterion to remember: If the restaurant is first-class, the salad follows.

©2006, Newsday

Where Hospitality Is Always on the Menu (Excerpt)

Long Islanders love restaurants, particularly those hospitable hangouts that they can treat as second homes or clubs. Although these spots come in all sizes, shapes and price ranges, most share similar characteristics.

They have welcoming, often charismatic owners, managers or hosts that personify their restaurants' warm spirit. These genuinely concerned restaurateurs quickly learn their patrons' names, birthdays, food preferences and allergies. They treat customers like family. When diners say ''I'll have the usual,'' they know what it is.
But all these hospitable and sincere hosts wouldn't mean much if the kitchen fell short. Here are seven superb eating places that offer both congeniality and fine food...

...The Extra Mile

A New Face, New Menu and Excellence

STRESA is a sophisticated, elegant Italian restaurant with a serene, assured air. This popular Manhasset spot was further enhanced this spring by a number of changes.

The exterior of the building was refurbished and the interior given a mini-makeover. This four-year-old beauty was hardly in need of a face lift, but the newly sponge-painted walls and marbelized wallpaper are pleasing and harmonious. As before, paintings of Stresa, the restaurant's namesake, adorn the walls. Those vistas of Lake Maggiore are no competition, though, for the gorgeous floral displays that dominate the room. The massive bouquets are similar to those in the lobby of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.