Review: Small Batch in Garden City

"Farm to table" gets bandied around by a lot of restaurateurs who wouldn’t know a tractor from a truffle, but Tom Colicchio, the celebrity restaurateur and head judge of Bravo TV’s "Top Chef," walks the walk. When the Mattituck homeowner opened Small Batch in Roosevelt Field in 2018, he focused "on the richness of what Long Island produces."

Don’t expect to see Colicchio in the kitchen — five restaurants, TV duties, book writing and all — his team in Garden City is led by chef Thomas Chang and general manager Kurt Brown.

Chang works directly with HOG Farm in Brookhaven to grow specific varieties that star in the eggplant Parmesan (stylishly made with burrata and roasted tomatoes), arugula salad with lemon confit or the featured " HOG Farm Harvest of the Week." The farm's garlic and herbs also find their way into most of his dishes.

None of this would vault Small Batch as a top Long Island bistro unless the results were uniformly assured, modern and absolutely top-notch.

The same could be said of the service and the space, which is divided into a dining room with a view of the open kitchen, and a bar-lounge where you can eat and/or drink and/or hang. With its wood-plank floors, Shaker-inspired chairs and decorative ceiling rafters, the restaurant’s décor evokes a modern farmhouse without tipping over into rustic theme park.

Start your meal with Peconic Bay oysters served on the half shell or roasted with Calabrian chilies and lemon. Both the highly recommended braised chicken thighs (the ultimate comfort food) and Long Island bouillabaisse (with shrimp, squid, mussels, local fluke and grilled bread) are served in Le Creuset casseroles. Pastas — pappardelle with wild mushrooms, bucatini with spicy pork ragu — are the equal to any found on Long Island. You can taste the quality of the meat in the pork chops, lamb chops and half a Green Circle chicken.

Find more restaurants: