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Star Chef Enrique Bermeo Opens Italian Restaurant Sophia Italian Bistro In Amityville

Author: Erica Marcus
Date published: September 10, 2015 @7:46AM
Publisher: Newsday
Original article: http://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/restaurants/feed-me/star-chef-enrique-bermeo-opens-italian-restaurant-sophia-italian-bistro-in-amityville-1.10824372

Sophia Italian Bistro has opened in Amityville, a collaboration between two veterans of the Nassau County Italian restaurant scene.

In the kitchen is chef Enrique Bermeo, who earned 3 ½ stars when he was cooking at Luigi Q in Hicksville. The dining room is the domain of Riccardo (Richie) Sanseverino, formerly of Tesoro in Westbury.

Bermeo's menu is composed mostly of modern and classic Italian-American dishes -- clams oreganata, tuna carpaccio, tre colori salad, penne vodka, gnocchi pesto, veal Francese, roasted branzino. Most starters are less than $15, most pastas less than $20, most main dishes less than $26.

Villa d'Avanza was the last tenant of this Merrick Road spot. The new owners gave the dining room and lounge a much-needed update, replacing the 1980s era decor with lots of warm wood and brick.

Back in the 1960s, the spot hosted a restaurant called Vesuvio, whose owners, the Gandiosi family, were the grandparents of Sanseverino's wife. "Sophia" was the name of his wife's late aunt, who worked behind the bar and also became a second mother to the young couple. Sophia's photograph graces the back of the menu.