TO CHOKE A PRIEST: On the specials menu at Jonathan’s Ristorante (15 Wall St., Huntington 631-549-0055 jonathansristorante.com) this week is Strozzepreti al Ragu D’Anatra, a thick, homemade pasta with a rich duck ragu. Run, do not walk, to Jonathan’s for this authentic dish from central Italy whose name translates literally to “priest choker.” Any number of legends explain the name, none treating the clergy kindly. One story is that the pasta is so delicious it would cause anyone to eat gluttonously – even a priest – and choke themselves. A different explanation says that any woman who labors to mix the dough, roll it into sheets, and cut it into the strips that make the strozzapreti would experience such a rage (perhaps triggered by the misery and difficulties of her life) to be able to strangle a priest! Perhaps the most plausible explanation comes from cookbook author Jason Gibb who says the name goes back to the time when the church was a big landowner and farmers would pay their rent to members of the clergy. In his book “The Dolce Vita Diaries: Tales From The Olive Grove” (paperback edition April 2010, The Friday Project Limited), he explains “the farmers’ wives would make this pasta to grease the palms, or rather fill the bellies, of the local clergymen. But the farmers would go wild with jealousy (eating your wife’s pasta is tantamount to bedding her…) and so wish for the pasta to choke the gluttonous priests to death.” Whatever the story behind the name, Jonathan’s strozzepreti is a soul-warming, tongue-pleasing treat. Try it, and try not to choke any priests.

BACK ALREADY: They work fast at Osteria Da Nino (292 Main St., Huntington 631-425-0820 www.ninosrusticitalian. com). We reported last week it would close for renovations; they’ve already re-opened sporting a fresh paint job, and wood floors have replaced the carpet. Tell Nino we sent you.

RESTAURANT CLOSED: JD’s Restaurant & Tap Room (287 Main St., Huntington) is closed. No sign went up on the now-locked door and the only notice was to the restaurant’s 41 Facebook fans that Thursday’s Trivia nights will now be held at Nag’s Head on New York Avenue.

ALL LOBSTER: Mirabelle Restaurant at Three Village Inn (150 Main St., Stony Brook 631-751-0555 threevillageinn.com) has introduced a Friday night lobster tasting dinner for $39.  A tasting of three wines with unlimited pours is also available for an additional $16. The four-course menu includes Lobster Beignet, Lobster Mayonnaise, Chunky Lobster Salad, Truffled Lobster Pie or Fricassee of Butter-Poached Tail, plus choice of dessert.

HALL OF FAMER: Tom Schaudel, Long Island celebrity chef, restauranteur and book author, is the inaugural inductee to the Long Island Dining Alliance (LIDA) Hall of Fame. Schaudel, 57, has owned and sold 17 restaurants and cooked at nearly 30. He founded Panama Hattie’s in 1983 and today owns A Mano in Mattituck and CoolFish in Syosset. The CIA graduate has been described as an innovative, irreverent, eclectic, frenetic and fearless chef. He is known for a cooking style that blends Asian and Italian influences. He is the author of “Playing With Fire: Whining and Dining on the Gold Coast” (Legwork Team, $19.99), a personal behind-the-scenes look at the restaurant business.

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