Huntington restaurants House of India, Osteria Da Nino close
House of India on Main Street in downtown Huntington served its final meals Sunday. Credit: Newsday/James Carbone
Two long-standing family-owned restaurants in Huntington have served their last meals.
On Sunday, House of India on Main Street, just east of New York Avenue, closed for good after serving up a menu of traditional Indian fare since 2001.
Last month, Osteria Da Nino, an Italian eatery on Main Street known for serving up petit veal meatballs and eggplant parmigiana, closed.
The absence of both will be felt in downtown Huntington, known as a Long Island regional hotspot for upscale eating as well as live entertainment.
“We’re always sad to see these longtime businesses close their doors,” said Jennifer Cassidy, chairwoman of the board of the Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce.
It seems change is inevitable, said restaurateur James Bonanno, who described Huntington as “one of Long Island's premier restaurant towns.”
Two weeks ago, he and his business partner Dave Johnson took over the Craft Kitchen & Taphouse on New York Avenue to open their seventh location.
“They were doing extremely well, but they were looking to downsize,” Bonanno said of the establishment's previous ownership.
“Restaurants come and go all the time,” he added.
For Supy Singh and his cousin Kam Singh, the second-generation owners of House of India, the time had come to transition out of the restaurant business their fathers and another uncle opened in 2001.
“After 23 years, we decided as a family to take the next step and focus on other projects,” Supy Singh said. “We have been running the restaurants the last few years, us two, after [their fathers’] deaths. We have some other investments and properties, so we’re going to focus mainly on real estate and the property game for now.”
After his father and his uncle — Harpal Singh Bhola and Sukhdev Singh — emigrated from Punjab, a northern Indian state that borders Pakistan, to the United States in 1980s, Supy Singh said they alternated 12-hour shifts behind the wheel of a shared cab and sent money home to family members until they could reunite in a two-bedroom Flushing apartment.
While Supy and Kam Singh are stepping away from owning restaurants, it’s still the family business. Their uncle Sewa Singh, who also co-owned House of India, owns Mango Indian Cuisine on Merrick Road in Bellmore along with his son, Veer Singh. Members of the family also owned the short-lived Tava Fine Indian Cuisine in Glen Cove.
“My family did a phenomenal job despite the immigration, the language barrier,” Supy Singh said. “It was a big barrier for them, but they still did it. They wore traditional clothing in the restaurant — customers loved it, and from day one it’s been a success.”
Sardinia-born Nino Antuzzi honed his culinary skills traveling to London and Paris before settling in America in 1988. After opening his New American-style flagship restaurant, Red, in downtown Huntington in 2000, he and his business partner and now wife, Kelley Antuzzi, opened Osteria Da Nino in 2003. In 2010, the couple opened Sapsuckers, a gastropub on Main Street.
“For the last 14 years, we’ve been running three restaurants,” Kelley Antuzzi said. “We’re getting older; it feels like a lot more work than it used to be when we were younger … [Downsizing] gives us the opportunity as husband and wife to work together a little more often.”
Two long-standing family-owned restaurants in Huntington have served their last meals.
On Sunday, House of India on Main Street, just east of New York Avenue, closed for good after serving up a menu of traditional Indian fare since 2001.
Last month, Osteria Da Nino, an Italian eatery on Main Street known for serving up petit veal meatballs and eggplant parmigiana, closed.
The absence of both will be felt in downtown Huntington, known as a Long Island regional hotspot for upscale eating as well as live entertainment.
“We’re always sad to see these longtime businesses close their doors,” said Jennifer Cassidy, chairwoman of the board of the Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce.
It seems change is inevitable, said restaurateur James Bonanno, who described Huntington as “one of Long Island's premier restaurant towns.”
Two weeks ago, he and his business partner Dave Johnson took over the Craft Kitchen & Taphouse on New York Avenue to open their seventh location.
“They were doing extremely well, but they were looking to downsize,” Bonanno said of the establishment's previous ownership.
“Restaurants come and go all the time,” he added.
For Supy Singh and his cousin Kam Singh, the second-generation owners of House of India, the time had come to transition out of the restaurant business their fathers and another uncle opened in 2001.
“After 23 years, we decided as a family to take the next step and focus on other projects,” Supy Singh said. “We have been running the restaurants the last few years, us two, after [their fathers’] deaths. We have some other investments and properties, so we’re going to focus mainly on real estate and the property game for now.”
After his father and his uncle — Harpal Singh Bhola and Sukhdev Singh — emigrated from Punjab, a northern Indian state that borders Pakistan, to the United States in 1980s, Supy Singh said they alternated 12-hour shifts behind the wheel of a shared cab and sent money home to family members until they could reunite in a two-bedroom Flushing apartment.
While Supy and Kam Singh are stepping away from owning restaurants, it’s still the family business. Their uncle Sewa Singh, who also co-owned House of India, owns Mango Indian Cuisine on Merrick Road in Bellmore along with his son, Veer Singh. Members of the family also owned the short-lived Tava Fine Indian Cuisine in Glen Cove.
“My family did a phenomenal job despite the immigration, the language barrier,” Supy Singh said. “It was a big barrier for them, but they still did it. They wore traditional clothing in the restaurant — customers loved it, and from day one it’s been a success.”
Sardinia-born Nino Antuzzi honed his culinary skills traveling to London and Paris before settling in America in 1988. After opening his New American-style flagship restaurant, Red, in downtown Huntington in 2000, he and his business partner and now wife, Kelley Antuzzi, opened Osteria Da Nino in 2003. In 2010, the couple opened Sapsuckers, a gastropub on Main Street.
“For the last 14 years, we’ve been running three restaurants,” Kelley Antuzzi said. “We’re getting older; it feels like a lot more work than it used to be when we were younger … [Downsizing] gives us the opportunity as husband and wife to work together a little more often.”
