Maroni Cuisine to open takeout restaurant in Southold next month after plans put on hold following chef-owner's death

The meatball-centric Southold satellite of Northport’s Maroni Cuisine has been hotly anticipated since it was announced last year. But plans were put on hold after chef Michael Maroni’s death in March.

Now the chef’s wife and partner, Maria, has announced that the show will go on, albeit in an abridged form: Starting on June 21, meatballs (along with other heat-at-home options) can be called into the Northport restaurant on Wednesdays and Thursdays and picked up on Fridays.

“We didn’t want to disappoint all the people who have been waiting for us to open,” she said. “But this summer, I felt that I really needed to be in Northport.”

While the Northport restaurant specializes in a lavish chef's tasting menu, it also has a booming takeout business based, largely, on meatballs sold, to go, in an enameled pot. The meatballs got so famous that they goaded Bobby Flay into a Food Network Throwdown in 2007. Flay lost.

The store at 54195 Main Rd. (formerly Jeni’s Main Street Grill) was always intended to be primarily takeout, focusing on Maroni’s heat-and-serve pots of meatballs and trays of pasta. Maroni said she needs a few more months to figure out how exactly to proceed in Southold, but hopes to have a plan in place by the end of the year.

In the meantime, customers can consult the heat-at-home Southold menu on the restaurant’s website. Pots of meatballs come in small ($35), medium ($50) and large ($70) sizes. There are trays of penne alla vodka ($35), penne Cognac pomodoro ($35), zucchini Parmesan ($50), chicken Milanese ($55), green salad ($25) and Caesar salad ($30). Trays serve 4 to 6 people. There’s also lobster bisque ($20/quart), tomato sauce ($20/quart), baguette ($6) and cheesy garlic bread ($12).

Here’s the drill: Call in your order to Northport (631-757-4500) on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Pick up your order on Fridays between 3 and 7 p.m. at the pickup window around the back of the storefront. There are additional hours for July 4: Call in orders by Saturday, June 29 and pick up on Wednesday, July 3, from 3 to 7 p.m. or July 4, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For more new eats Out East this year, click here.

Maroni Cuisine is at 54195 Main Rd., Southold, 631-757-4500, maronicuisine.com