FOODIE
Café With Culture
By Leah Weinstein/
foodie@longislandernews.com
A youngish mood surrounds you as soon as
you enter Batata café. With boldly colored paintings,
comfortable leather couches, and a menu that is creative without
being overly fussy, Batata brings something unique to Northport.
“What you see is what you get,” said the owner,
Nicole Nappy.
A 1993 graduate of Northport High School, Nappy spent a few
years living in Austria and traveling in Central and South
America. Her café is noticeably eclectic and culturally
motivated. A mosaic under the coffee bar depicts a South American
market place and was created by one of her friends.
Paintings by various artists are hung all over the store,
reflecting the overall style of the café. The current
artists hanging are Giovanni Galeila, Guiseppe Diliberto,
Glenn Fischer, and Eti Grifel.
Batata was opened in August 2005 but before that, it was a
Barrister’s chocolate for 25 years owned by her father,
Nick Nappy.
Once a month, the store stays open and a small stage in the
corner turns into an open
mic night drawing performers from throughout the area. The
next one is on Friday, January 19.
“People have responded to it well,” said Nappy.
Nappy prefers to use organic ingredients but if she can’t,
she does her research to make sure she is buying the best.
Everything is prepared on location with fresh ingredients.
All breakfast burritos ($5.75) include eggs and other ingredients
inside a wrap, served warm. The options range from a Veggie
Burrito to a burrito with bacon, cheese and home fries. Next
time I go back, I want to try the PB & More wrap, which
includes chunky peanut butter, granola, sliced banana, low
fat vanilla yogurt, a sprinkle of cinnamon and a drizzle of
honey.
Customers close enough to make it to Batata during lunchtime
should take full advantage of the long list of hearty sandwiches,
Panini’s and salad’s that can also be made to
order.
The daily soups always include one Vegan option and many of
them run out by mid-afternoon. When we were there, only three
of the five daily soups were left.
One of the most frequently ordered item is the Main Street
sandwich ($7.95) with chunks of chicken breast tossed with
fresh tarragon, walnuts, celery, apples and mayo.
The Radishy Roast Beef ($8.95) is one of the few items to
include beef. It is topped with blue cheese, mixed organic
greens, sliced tomato, red onion and a tangy homemade horseradish
mayo.
The panini’s are hot pressed on a double sided grill
and served warm on either a white crispina triangle or a whole
wheat square.
The sweet and spicy turkey ($7.95) included roasted turkey
breast, Brie cheese and fresh baby spinach with mango, pineapple
sweet & spicy spread.
Batata’s staff will gladly transformed any salad into
a wrap. The Bleu Raspberry salad ($7.95) included mixed organic
greens, crumbled blue cheese, walnuts, dried
cranberries and a raspberry vinaigrette dressing.
For $7.95 you can choose to combine two of three options:
a 12 oz soup, a half-salad, or a half-sandwich of your choice.
Batata’s outstanding coffee drinks, including a delicious
mocha latte, plus healthy smoothies, make this café
as versatile as the art on the walls.
The biggest hit of the evening was one of the 100 percent
all fruit smoothies ($4.45).
The PB & J smoothie, as well as every other, is made with
fresh and frozen fruit, with no added sugar or mystery ingredients,
a health food lovers dream. The PB & J was filling enough
to be a refreshing meal with strawberries, a scoop of real
peanut butter, fresh bananas and apple juice.
Side orders of the Batata fries homemade sweet potato fries
are only $3.45 and can be added to any sandwich, panini or
salad for $1.75. Everything at Batata was fresh and tasty.
A repeat visit is definitely in order.
Batata Café
847 Fort Salonga Road
Northport NY 11768
631-754-4439
www.batatacafe.com
Atmosphere: Casual
Price Range: Inexpensive
Cuisine: Breakfast and Lunch items
Hours:
Breakfast: Monday-Friday: 7 a.m. –11 a.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Lunch: 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. every day
Main
Menu
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