FOLK SONG: When she’s not warming a fondue at her Asta Wine Cafe & Art Gallery, Stephanie Yovino is warming the heart of Kristian Folk, her boyfriend of umpteen years and now husband. Yovino and her mom Leslie are partners at Asta, a Foodies favorite wine and cheese spot which opened in Huntington (335 Main St., Huntington, 631-271-2345) earlier this year. Stephanie and Kristian first met when they were 14 and students at Cold Spring Harbor High School. They dated and even went to the prom together, but drifted apart when they went to separate colleges. Stephanie – who admits she “sorta knew back then” that he was the one — returned to New York to find him working on Wall Street. She wouldn’t shed light on what took so long, but Kristian has been officially Stephanized and the folks at Oheka Castle had to sharpen their cheese serving skills for the wedding celebration. The Folks will enjoy an internet-free honeymoon upstate, but only after hanging a new art show and launching Asta’s lunch hours. They’re now open and we’ll meet you there for lunch.

DON’T CRY FOR ME, ARGENTINA! Restaurant openings are always exciting times for the Foodies. When the restaurant is being opened by local successful restaurateurs, it’s a real big deal. In case you haven’t heard, the local Restar Hospitality Group is opening Café Buenos Aires at the Huntington Village, Wall Street. site that was formerly Collage. The new Argentinian Bistro will join the list of eateries operated by restaurant guru Fabio Machado and his partners who are already responsible for feeding Huntington at Mac’s Steakhouse, Pomodoro, Pomodorino, and Bistro Cassis. They also have other hot spots from here to Manhattan – by our count, this is number 14. We haven’t seen Café Buenos Aires’ menu but can’t wait to be invited to a tasting – there’ll be a tapas menu at the bar. We hear the opening is maybe a month away, and we can’t wait. These guys know how to do it right.

POMODORO: Here’s some hot Huntington Foodie news for you . . . Pomodoro the 20 plus-year-old flagship of Fabio Machado’s Restar Hospitality Group Is moving from it’s longtime location on the north end of New York Ave to the Huntington Village site that use to be Solo (69 Wall St., 631 549-7074). We hear they should be open for business by the second week in February. See you there.

SECOND KISS: You read it in Side Dish first, but now it’s official, John Tunney III, has opened a second location of his hot Mexican restaurant Besito in Roslyn. The restaurant entrepreneur, who also owns Blue Honu and the American Burger Company, has opened the second Besito at 1500 Northern Blvd.  The flagship of each of Tunney’s restaurants are on New York Avenue in Huntington Village. The Roslyn Besito will replicate the successful formula of the Huntington original. Tunney now plans to take the concept national and develop 50 Besitos over the next 5 years. Check it out at www.besitomex.com or better yet, in person.

BEDLAM STREET: By the time you read this, Bedlam Street, the marvelous, hot seafood restaurant in Cold Spring Harbor will have reopened after a very brief hiatus. Chef Jonathan Passman took a few days off to welcome a new baby into the family during which time, we are told, they renovated the dining room. Now they’re back serving their top notch cuisine and you’re sure to enjoy. Congrats.

BIRTHDAY GIFT: From the Foodie website eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters (eGullet.org), comes this thread with a gap of three years. Originally from December 2003, the question: “I’d like to buy a gift certificate to a restaurant for my brother and his wife who live in Great Neck. I don’t know what their preferences are as far as cuisine. I wanna spend up to $200. Thanks for any recommendations.” The responses included the expected Northern Blvd, Great Neck/Manhasset Steakhouses including several saying, Peter Luger and Bryant and Cooper; there was a mention for Barneys in Locust Valley, Ecco in Garden City and one for faraway Mirabelle in St. James.
 
THREE YEARS LATER: “It’s 3 years later and another birthday.  After a gazillion birthdays, my imagination is shot and it’s gift certificate time again.  I went with PL (Peter Luger’s) last time and it was right up his/their alley.  Are the above recommendations still relevant?  Any new place?  Many thanks.” This time the responses numbered four and two of them from Huntington: Strong recommendations for Panama Hatties and Prime as well as Manhasset’s Stressa, and Snaps in Wantagh. The eGullet Society is discovering that Huntington is the food capital of Long Island.

PLASTIC FOOD? As a New Year’s gift to consumers, the Food and Drug Administration revealed it was planning to approve cloned livestock in our food supply. They claim that cloned animals are “virtually indistinguishable” from conventional livestock and that no identification is needed to judge their safety for the food supply. Consumer groups insist labels are a must. While the final action has yet to be taken the debate rages. The Consumer Federation of America, leading the fight against such action will ask food companies and supermarkets to refuse to sell food from clones, while pro-cloning advocates say farmers and ranchers will be able to make copies of exceptional animals. The existing informal ban will remain in place for several months while FDA accepts comments from the public. The approval process has moved slowly because of pressure from big food companies nervous that consumers might reject milk and meat from cloned animals. Whadyathink, creepy or tasty idea?

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