Finley's of Green Street in Huntington adds new concept restaurant

When Sandra Finley and her late husband, John, established Finley’s of Green Street in 1992, the establishment consisted of two buildings, a low-slung storefront and a two-story house, connected by a glassed-in passageway. For 32 years, the storefront has remained a casual pub, but the house has hosted a series of restaurant concepts. On June 7, Sandra launched what she hopes will be its final iteration: 43 Green, a collaboration with chef Lewis Vargas, formerly of the now-closed Maidstone 1845 in Woodbury.

Finley had dined at Maidstone 1845, which closed last year, and admired Vargas’ food. “It doesn’t happen very often — the opportunity to try a chef’s food before you are considering hiring them,” she said. “And it was exceptional.”

For Vargas’ part, he welcomed the opportunity to have free rein with the menu. “At Maidstone, there were Indian and Caribbean influences,” he said. “Here, it’s more straight-ahead New American.”

In that New American vein are seafood selections including lobster rolls (cold, hot and spicy), she-crab soup (topped with salmon roe), crab cakes (with fresh corn, leeks and rémoulade) and a raw bar. There’s a 43 burger (topped with balsamic onions, Gruyère, sriracha aioli and arugula), a New York strip steak (with grilled broccolini and chimichurri sauce) and “naked chicken,” half a bird, pan roasted with wild mushrooms and fava beans.

Heading into more French territory are mussels (with white wine-garlic or pernod-fennel), lemon sole meunière, rack of lamb with ratatouille and duck à l’orange. Vargas’ menu changes seasonally but, right now, pastas include capellini with shrimp, linguine with clams, cavatelli primavera and ravioli with fava beans, ricotta and mint ($24 to $28). Starters range from $17 to $27, mains from $27 to $49.

The bar has a separate menu that Vargas has shortened and upgraded; the “pub burger” ($20) is now topped with a beer-battered onion ring, bacon-tomato jam and Cheddar cheese.

Both Finley and Vargas acknowledge their venue has not always been associated with fine dining. “I’m making my own ricotta, making my own pasta, making pretty much everything from scratch,” the chef said. “The vibe is casual but the food is very ambitious — we want to attract that Farm Italy crowd,” he added, referring to the buzzy Huntington eatery that opened last year and is on Newsday's Best Italian list.

Finley gave her dining room a refresh with new art, new plates and flatware. The wide patio remains one of Huntington’s nicest outdoor dining areas.

She noted that, over the years the relationship between the bar and the restaurant has loosened and tightened. In 2005, the restaurant hosted Tom Schaudel’s short-lived Rockfish. From 2013 to 2018 it was a Cajun-Creole spot called Storyville, after which chef Michael Meehan transformed it into Finley’s Seafood. Vargas’ predecessor was Howard Fay, formerly of Amerrickana Tapas & Bar in Merrick and Meritage in Glen Cove (and now at Northport Yacht Club).

But Finley thinks she’s found her man in Vargas. “I’ve never felt so positive about a chef as I do about Lewis,” she said. “He has a high level of integrity, we get along really well, and I love his food.”

43 Green, 43 Green St., Huntington, 631-351-3446, 43green-huntington.com. Open Wednesday to Thursday 4 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday noon to 10 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.