Long Island Restaurant Week features fall vegetables and more

Judging from the menus of many restaurants participating in this fall’s Long Island Restaurant Week, seasonal cooking is going strong around here. At this time of year, chefs are getting especially creative with pumpkin and squash. Like at the Mill Creek Tavern in Bayville, which will offer an autumn salad with butternut squash, sea salt dried figs, goat cheese and baby kale. And George Martin’s Strip Steak in Great River offers a pumpkin and sweet potato sorbet duo for dessert.

During the event, which runs Sunday, Oct. 29 through Sunday, Nov. 5, dozens of local restaurants will feature three-course meals at $28.95 a person. The deal runs all night, every night, except Saturday, when it may be available only until 7 p.m.

For the full list of participants, go to longislandrestaurantweek.com

Here are some of our picks:

NASSAU

Anchor Down, 1960 Bayberry Ave., Merrick, 516-544-4334, anchordownny.com

This cozy bayside restaurant decorated in nautical style offers seafood and much more. Appetizers for Restaurant Week include New England clam chowder with bacon, and a beet salad with goat cheese and apple cider vinaigrette. Roasted butternut squash risotto with cranberry chutney and a pumpkin seed crust is one of the mains. In addition to chocolate mousse cake and apple tart, there’s pumpkin cheesecake for dessert.

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Heirloom Tavern, 32 Railroad Ave., Glen Head, 516-686-6633, heirloomtavern.com

Settle into the black leather banquette that runs the length of Heirloom Tavern’s narrow dining room and enjoy the autumn flavors of chef Kent Monkan’s prix fixe menu, which includes pumpkin and mascarpone ravioli with candied walnuts in brown butter sauce, a salad of spinach, apples and dried cranberries, and a grilled hanger steak with carrot and ginger puree and roasted Brussels sprouts. To finish your meal in seasonal style, you might order the almond apple tart with caramel sauce or the pumpkin crème brûlée.

MP Taverna, 1363 Old Northern Blvd., Roslyn, 516-686-6486, michaelpsilakis.com

For a Mediterranean spin on the season, take a look at star chef Michael Psilakis’ menu. The acclaimed gastropub will be featuring Moroccan-spiced delicato squash soup with labne, walnuts and pomegranate as an appetizer. Other fall-flavored appetizers include duck leg confit risotto with chestnuts and Brussels sprouts. Egyptian spiced salmon will be served with Swiss chard, Brussels sprouts and Romanesco salad. Cracked bulgur “risotto” features mushrooms, grilled Swiss chard, black truffle and a six-minute egg. Desserts have a Greek focus. Yogurt comes with quince, pistachio and honey. Then there is a traditional galaktoboureko (a custard and phyllo pie) served with honey ice cream and walnuts.

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SUFFOLK

Honu Kitchen & Cocktails, 363 New York Ave., Huntington, 631-421-6900, honukitchen.com

A dramatic space with high ceilings, glittering chandeliers and red draperies separating the bar from the dining room, Honu is a luxe choice for Restaurant Week dining, especially since the kitchen will be offering a choice of three courses from the entire menu (with a few exclusions and supplements) for the $28.95 prix fixe. An appetizer of butternut squash soup with toasted pumpkin seeds and maple crème fraîche sets a seasonal tone. Small plate choices include toasted potato gnocchi with duck confit and wild mushrooms. There are salads including Caesar and BLT. Mains like braised short rib risotto with wild arugula and blue cheese are rich and satisfying. Burgers weigh a half-pound and can be topped with crispy onions, sautéed mushrooms and arugula or apple wood smoked bacon and red onion marmalade. Desserts like peanut butter and jelly bread pudding are similarly indulgent.

Mirabelle Restaurant and Tavern, 150 Main St., Stony Brook, 631-751-0555, lessings.com

Restaurant Week is a great opportunity to try one of Long Island’s most highly praised dining spots. Mirabelle will be serving cheese pumpkin soup with carrot-butternut squash slaw, pistachio oil and crushed pistachio as an appetizer on its special menu. There will also be a wedge salad with caramelized bacon, apple, walnuts and a creamy apple vinaigrette. Mains will include braised lamb shank with green lentil and cipollini onion ragout and, with a $10 supplement, a grilled rib eye steak with potato-celery root gratin. The dessert menu features an apple cobbler, ricotta doughnuts and a ginger almond tart.

Pure North Fork Craft Bar and Bistro, 141 Fairway Dr., Wading River, 631-886-2777, purenorthfork.com

This hip and casual gastropub at the Great Rock Golf Club in Wading River shatters the stereotype for golf club restaurants. For restaurant week, Pure is featuring as an appetizer pumpkin sausage flatbread with pumpkin puree, caramelized onions, sausage, arugula, ricotta and maple syrup. Among the half-dozen entrees are a pan-seared salmon over lobster risotto and a Frenched chicken breast with herb and Parmesan mashed potatoes. Desserts include tartufo and crème brûlée. North Fork wineries are well represented on the wine list, or enjoy your meal with one of several Long Island craft beers on tap.