Beginnings in Atlantic Beach launches poetry-meets-pasta night
Spicy lobster spaghetti comes with a custom haiku on Mondays at Beginnings in Atlantic Beach. Credit: Newsday/Andi Berlin
"Curiosity. The sea meeting Italy. The first time ever." The young woman sitting in the corner against the bookshelf at Beginnings in Atlantic Beach clinks on her old-school typewriter and hands over a white notecard. On the thick paper is a personalized haiku she'd just written about a very specific topic: lobster spaghetti.
Most people don't request poems about food they order at a restaurant. But local poet Imani Gordon, 29, of Baldwin, is game for anything, and it feels prudent to seek a literary perspective before eating such a unique pasta. Over the course of the night, the rep from the NYC-based company Haikuists composes other on-the-spot haikus about comic books and a customer's forthcoming trip to Greece. After she asks what type of poem you'd like, she peppers you with questions and then closes her eyes and goes silent for a minute before pouring all of her concentration into the typewriter.
This is a good time to take a sip of your spritz, in this case the Spaghetti Western with bourbon, Aperol and lemon ($18), one of five boozy bubbles on offer Monday nights throughout the summer. The weekly event is called "Pasta. Poetry. Prosecco" and it's quite literally all those things. A special menu offers pink bubbly drinks in a wine glass fitted with a long straw, in addition to half a dozen pasta dishes of varying levels of authenticity. Order, then take a seat with Imani, who's penning haikus for no charge using the ancient Japanese format of five syllables followed by seven, followed by five.
Beginnings is no stranger to literary and pop culture events like these, and in the past has put on themed dinners for "The Godfather," (with Italian sausage ragu), "The Bear" (with Chicago Italian beef sandwiches) and the life of Anthony Bourdain (Moscow mules and dim sum). The restaurants' co-founder Heather Freiser has a literary background and a former career in news media. Although the restaurant was sold to Brian and Keleigh Bivona last summer, she and her husband, Ben, still run the events and social media through their new company, Page Turner Marketing. Ben said he persuaded the Bivonas to stay open on Mondays during the summer, but thought they needed an event to bring people in. And their plan seems to be working, as every table was full on a recent Monday, besides some seats by the bar in view of "Ratatouille" on the TV.
Although it's not on the special menu, Beginnings makes a serious Caesar salad ($18) flecked with glistening fat anchovies throughout the creamy chopped romaine. Start with that, then move on to pastas like bucatini amatriciana with guanciale or the aforementioned spicy lobster spaghetti ($38), with a rich tomato bisque and lots of plump lobster claw. It was so robust and tasty it inspired its eater to write her own haiku: "Lobster spaghetti. A seamless combination. Until you find, shell."
Beginnings, 1986 Park St., Atlantic Beach, 516-239-7483, beginningsrestaurant.com. Pasta, Poetry and Prosecco event runs 6-8 p.m. Mondays through Labor Day.
Andi Berlin is from Arizona and does not know where she is going. But when she gets there, she’ll find something beautiful and delicious that the world needs to taste.
