Foster restaurant replaces Metropolitan Bistro in Sea Cliff

When they moved to Sea Cliff five years ago, New Yorkers Jason and Tanya Potter had no idea they would end up joining forces to revitalize one of the village’s longest-running culinary acts. But, as new partners in Foster restaurant, the successor to Metropolitan Bistro, that’s precisely what they’ve done.

You'll now find miso-glazed bone marrow, Hudson Valley steelhead and elk osso buco on the menu, along with new craft-cocktails and an international wine list.

The couple met in Manhattan’s restaurant trenches. Jason rose to the position of corporate executive chef at the New York-based Blue Ribbon restaurant group; Tanya became an executive at Empire Merchants, a leading wine-and-liquor distributor. Looking for more space for their growing family, they bought a home in Sea Cliff in 2017 and that’s where they were when the pandemic furloughed Jason and confined Tanya to her home office.

Pretty soon, Tanya said, they realized that while people weren’t going out, “they still wanted to be together and celebrate.” That was the inspiration for Potter’s Chef Table, an in-home catering company, that started small and spread from Sea Cliff to Syosset, the Hamptons, Manhattan and even New Jersey.

In Sea Cliff, they got to know Anita and Billy Long, the owners of Metropolitan Bistro which, in 2010, took over the former Tupelo Honey. The Longs needed help in the kitchen, which Jason provided on an ad hoc basis. After staging a few pop-ups in the restaurant, the couples began talking about collaborating on a new concept. Metropolitan Bistro closed in May and, over the next six months, the kitchen, dining room, wine list, bar program and menu got an overhaul, emerging, in November, as Foster. The Longs are still vital to the venue’s operations, but Tanya runs the front of the house, Jason, the back.

The name, he explained, was his grandfather’s. “Foster Dixon Potter was a key influence in my life,” he said. “He took me under his wing, taught me to play golf, taught me to play cards, and provided me with so many precious moments.” The restaurant’s logo, a capital “F,” is taken from Potter the elder’s actual signature.

But the name has a deeper meaning. “Fostering the community through food sort of describes Tanya and my whole journey.”

The restaurant’s interior has been smartened up with contemporary-tavern chic. There’s a comfortable dining room, one bar for cocktails and another set up with the best seats in the house: looking directly into the open kitchen which features both a wood-fired pizza oven and a wood-fired grill.

The menu wears its other modern bona fides lightly. Yes, Foster sources as much local fish, meat and produce as possible; yes the menu changes seasonally. Starter highlights include a Caesar salad with charred broccolini and crostini of house-baked bread, that bone marrow with challah (house-baked) and herb salad, curried tagliatelle with lamb ragout and ricotta raita. The grill fires a 45-day aged rib-eye, a Berkshire pork chop with apricot jam, a Foster burger with aioli, arugula, caramelized onions and Gruyère. Diver scallops from Barnegat, New Jersey come with cauliflower (pureed and roasted) and a brown-butter caper-raisin vinaigrette; osso buco of elk is served with cheesy grits and gremolata.

“We wanted to make things that you don’t see so much out here,” Jason explained. “We are also late eaters and we wanted to be a place for people who want a quality late-dining option that’s not the diner.” To that end, the kitchen stays open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

Foster will be open on Christmas Eve with a three-course prix-fixe dinner ($75 adults, $25 kids) and on New Year’s Eve for a party that includes passed hors d'oeuvres, a four-course tasting menu, an open bar and music ($250).

Foster is at 39 Roslyn Ave., Seaf Cliff; open 5 to 11 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, until midnight on Friday and Saturday; 516-759-0100, fosterrestaurant.com