Bohemia concessionaire to run Cedar Beach food stand and bar

Brookhaven officials are close to awarding a Bohemia-based concessions company a $446,000 contract to run a food stand and bar at a town park in Mount Sinai that previously had been operated by indicted restaurateur Harendra Singh.

Town officials picked J&B Restaurant Partners Top Flight Foods LLC to run concessions at Cedar Beach for five years starting this summer. Until recently, the company ran food concessions at Jones Beach and Robert Moses state parks.

Town officials said Top Flight Foods was the only qualified bidder for the contract. Another company that submitted a bid was deemed unqualified to run a municipal park concessions operation, officials said.

A public hearing on awarding the contract to Top Flight Foods has been scheduled for April 7 at Brookhaven Town Hall.

The license to run Cedar Beach’s concessions previously had been held by BRS Concession Inc., a company controlled by Singh, who faces federal charges that he bribed an Oyster Bay Town official. Singh has pleaded not guilty.

The Brookhaven Town Board in September rescinded Singh’s 20-year contract to run the Cedar Beach concessions when he bounced a $5,100 check, officials said. BRS Concession had run the Cedar Beach concessions since 2010.

The proposed contract with Top Flight Foods calls for a 5-year deal with up to three 5-year renewal options. Top Flight Foods would pay the town $86,000 this year; payments would escalate annually, topping out at $93,000 in 2020.

Top Flight Foods agreed to pay up to $50,000 for facility improvements and plans to apply for a license to serve alcohol, officials said.

J&B Restaurant Partners, which owns about 21 Long Island Friendly’s restaurant franchises, emerged from bankruptcy last September. Top Flight Foods president and chief executive Joe Vitrano said J&B and Top Flight Foods are separate companies, and Top Flight Foods was not part of J&B’s bankruptcy case. He is primary owner of both companies.

“One has really got nothing to do with the other,” he said.

The bankruptcy filing last year was part of a pre-negotiated restructuring plan that allowed the company to shut down unprofitable Friendly’s restaurants and reduce its debts, which totaled $14.6 million at the time, earlier reports said.

Vitrano said Friday the company plans to offer an expanded food menu at Cedar Beach, including vegan and gluten-free choices, as well as music and other entertainment. Vitrano said the company expects to turn a “reasonable profit” from the venture.

“We plan on having cotton candy for the kids. We’re going to have a bait [and] tackle area there,” Vitrano said. “I know it’s a precious piece of property. It’s beautiful there.”

Vitrano said he hoped to open the Cedar Beach concessions no later than May 15.

By Carl MacGowan

carl.macgowan@newsday.comCarlMacGowan

Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.