Lost At Sea opens in Long Beach with seafood focus, whimsical cocktails

The folks behind Long Beach’s Lost & Found, a Newsday Top 100 restaurant, quietly expanded last week, giving birth to Lost At Sea. The more-intimate offspring, located five blocks east of the mother ship, has a focus on seafood and whimsical cocktails.

The new restaurant, which has no sign, can be found at 888 Beech St., where it replaces the short-lived Stone Crab. The 25-seat space has been largely gutted and revamped to give Lost at Sea a more open feel and a nautical theme.  

The project is a reunion for chef Alexis Trolf and mixologist Steve Magliano. The two had been partners at Cafe Laguna in Long Beach from 2010 until superstorm Sandy destroyed the restaurant. Trolf was the chef, Magliano the mixologist. 

The two went their separate ways until Trolf returned to Long Beach to open Lost & Found in 2015. Magliano helped with the wine and beer list but the restaurant was lacking a full liquor license for cocktails.

When the Stone Crab closed earlier this year, the two started planning. Trolf had long wanted a seafood restaurant, which he said was lacking in Long Beach. Magliano had been looking for a space to create his own riffs on tipples.

Each has developed his own menu. The small-plates kitchen menu changes frequently, but always has three sections: raw, cold and hot. Current items include local striped bass with corn and tomatoes ($13), arctic char tartare ($11) and plump New Zealand green-lipped mussels topped with a pickle mignonette ($10).

At the bar you’ll find small-batch and obscure liquors used to make drinks like the Salt N’ Peppa, tequila fused with salt, pepper and rose ($11) and the cornball, house infused vanilla vodka, corn and egg white. 

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Says Magliano, “We’re the sister restaurant, but like the fun sister with booze.” 

Lost At Sea is at 888 Beech St., Long Beach, 516-632-5263