Planning For An ‘Ideal’ New Look
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Ideal Cheese & Wine Café manager Chris Binetti, pictured in the restaurant in 2014, said a redesign is coming this spring.
Ideal Cheese and Wine Café in Huntington village, a destination for sommeliers and cheese-mongers alike, will be getting a new name and a new look this spring.
Manager Chris Binetti said in an interview Sunday that the plans call for re-shuffling the floor space to bump the restaurant’s interior space to 60 dine-in seats from a current total of 50; and to move the gourmet cheese shop, coffee shop and grilled-cheese melts takeaway counter to the current Green Street space of Ideal Pomme Frites and Wings.
The restaurant will continue to serve Georgio’s coffee for sit-down diners, and shift exclusively to bean sales for takeaway service at the cheese and melt counter.
Renovations are set to begin later this spring, meaning that starting this May, we’ll all have to wait for our favorite cheese flights ($19 for three meats/cheeses; $28 for five; eight for $39).
Along with the refocused floor space to maximize dine-in seats, there will be “some cosmetic changes – nothing too extravagant,” he said.
“The place is going to be made to be cozier, warmer and inviting,” he said.
The menu will see some tweaking, too. The most popular fare will remain and be accompanied by new additions. Hopefully remaining on that menu will be the fabulous Smoked Gouda ($18) burger, a mélange of beef, barbecue sauce, shoestring onions and bacon. Want heaven in a bite? Fold up some charred, smoky gouda with a bite of beef and pop it into your mouth.
The Smoked Gouda burger is a delight for beef and cheese gourmands alike.
Earth tones will be incorporated and match the overarching new concept, which involves a renaming as well. They’ll also be catering more to the town’s bustling nightlife; the restaurant will remain open for cocktails and a limited late-night menu until 2 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. At that hour, we’ll bet they’ll do a brisk trade in their perfect pomme frites ($4.50) garlic frites ($6.50) and Canadian-inspired poutine ($7.50).
The new vision calls for a “restaurant, bar and lounge hybrid with a really cool concept.”
Beyond that, Binetti is holding the specifics close to the vest.
“When you see the concept we’re coming out with, it’s pretty unique,” he said.
Ideal Cheese’s work in Huntington began in 2012, when they opened up a cheese shop in the back of The Crushed Olive. They opened the Ideal Cheese Wine Café in November 2013. The family business goes back 60 years ago, starting as a butter and egg company in New York City more than 60 years ago. The Binetti family bought the business in 2003, and 12 years later, they’re charting its next chapter.
Atmosphere – Cozy and inviting
Cuisine – Cheese-inspired entrees, burgers and small plates
Price – Moderate
Hours – Closed Monday
Tues-Thurs 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Sun 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
Sunday Brunch 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
