BEST PIZZA: The Foodies dropped into an online exchange about the best pizza in Huntington. The following thoughts were expressed by different bloggers: 34 New Street (at that address) is a favorite. Emilio’s (2201 Jericho Turnpike Harrow’s Shopping Center in Commack) may be the best on the Island. Gotta include Rosa’s on Main. There was also a voice for Little Vincent’s on New York Avenue just off Main. Foodies agree that the very crowded and noisy Emilio’s is a pizza star on the island. However, 34 New shines as brightly and you can get a seat, a slice and hear yourself think. We think their entire menu supurb. Rosa’s, across from our office on Main Street, is also a solid and consistent choice. Vivere per mangiare!

TRY IT! If you’re looking for first class food and service in a comfortable yet elegant setting and at a really reasonable price, try Jonathan’s Ristorante’s (15 Wall Street, Huntington 631-549-0055) prix fixe menu. Only $27.95 per person plus gratuity, it’s offered Sunday through Thursday from 5 to 10 p.m. Primi: Zuppa Del Giorno; Calamari Fritti- baby fried calamari with spicy mayo and classic marinara; Insalata di Caprino – baby arrugola, campari tomatoes, goat cheese and lemon vinaigrette; Campari tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil. Secondi: Risotto Primavera served with tiger shrimp; Salmone Arrosto – roasted salmon, horseradish cream sauce and baby root vegetables; Polletto al Mattone – half free range chicken with Tuscan herbs and own juices served with potato puree and haricots vert; Pumpkin Ravioli topped with a butter sauce, fresh Parmigiano and amaretto cookie dust; Sesame crusted Ahi tuna. Dolci: Panna cotta or Flourless chocolate cake. Jonathan’s is a Foodie favorite for lunch and dinner. Seeya there!

BEST BURGERS: Holy cow! When Newsday’s restaurant critic Joan Remnick picked the Island’s Top 5 Burgers for a web-based review, she chose a local eatery that the Foodies have yet to try. Declaring that, “There’s magic in good ground beef that’s been shaped by hand and grilled to an ideal state of juiciness,” Remnick picks five Long Island spots which “offer burgers that relegate fast food patties to the slow lane.” The list of five naturally includes the impressive Great Neck’s Peter Luger’s but also boasts Northport’s Main Street Cafe (47 Main Street, Northport, 631-754-5533). Remnick insists, “Here, the hand-shaped half-pound of Black Angus beef is char-grilled to a smoky juiciness, served on a fine bakery roll that’s been butter-grilled. Reason enough to visit this friendly little pub.” See ya there!

DRINK UP: Yes, to the couple arguing in Greenlawn, Long Island Ice Tea was created during prohibition. The Prohibition era was responsible for many of the cocktails we know today: the Manhattan, Gin & Tonic, Tom Collins, the Old Fashioned, and more. Entrepreneurial bartenders were well paid and tipped for supplying alcoholic drinks with a bit of disguise. The cocktail, which can be traced back to the early 1800’s in the United States gained popularity when Elliot Ness and company tried to enforce the 18th Amendment. January 16, 1920 was the historic date prohibition began. The twenty first Amendment repealed prohibition, 72 years ago this week, on December 5, 1933.

LADIES NIGHT, Café Toscano (399 Jericho Turnpike, Jericho, 516-931-2727), Thursday 9 p.m. - 2 a.m., Ladies 2-for-1 drinks, Live DJ, all new Techno Flirt game.

WINE & CHEESE: First Tuesday of every month at 6:30 p.m. in the Board Room at Maxwell and Dunne’s Steakhouse (1600 Round Swamp Road, Farmingdale, 516-694-6200, www.mdsteakhouse.com), experience a selection of wines and cheeses paired from specific regions. Cost - $25 per person; reservations required.
SUSHI NEW YEAR: Laverne (795 Old Country Road, Westbury, 516-333-7781, www.lavernefusion.com) is hosting a New Year’s celebration for Sushi lovers on New Year’s Eve, Sunday, December 31 beginning at 5 p.m. with the sushi bar open until 1 a.m.

CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK: As the Foodies told you a number of months back, it was Thomas Jefferson who in the early 1800’s first introduced French fried potatoes in the United States. French fries quickly gained in popularity in restaurants across the country. In 1853, a guest at Moon Lake Lodge in Saratoga Springs, NY, refused to eat an order of French fries because they were too thick and sent them back to the kitchen. The chef, George Crum, decided to teach the diner a lesson. He sliced the potatoes paper-thin, salted and refried them. But the customer loved them and so did everyone else. Eventually, Crum opened his own restaurant that featured the thin, fried potatoes called Saratoga Chips. Soon other restaurants began to serve them and potato chips became a staple at restaurants nationwide. In 1895, William Tappendon of Cleveland, Ohio began selling potato chips to local grocers and opened the world’s first chip factory in his barn. Several companies built large potato chip factories in the early 1900’s. In 1921 when Earl Wise, Sr. had too many potatoes at his Wise Delicatessen Company, in Berwick, PA, he made potato chips out of the extras and sold them in brown paper bags as Wise Potato Chips. In 1932 Herman Lay began a chip distributorship in Nashville for a company in Georgia. In 1938, Lay purchased the chip factory and started selling Lay’s Brand Potato Chips.

POTATO SLICE: It is widely believed in potato circles that the customer who was Crum’s guinea pig for the chips was none other than Cornelius Vanderbilt.

A HAPPY FOODIE NEW YEAR: In the New Year, please send news of the food world to Foodie@LongIslandernews.com

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