Tony Colombo named new chef at Lenox & Park in Rockville Centre

Tony Colombo's the restaurant might be dead, but Tony Colombo the chef is alive and cooking at the reinvented Lenox & Park, an Italian-American bistro just blocks from his former post. His namesake restaurant closed last Saturday, as reported here, but it turns out that Colombo hasn’t been in the kitchen at his Sunrise Highway eatery since November.

“Anything Tony made over there you can get here,” said Michael Griffo, Lenox & Park’s co-owner (and a former bartender at the restaurant). And that includes Colombo’s signature meatballs. Furthermore, "if you don’t see it on the menu, we’re the type of place where we’ll make it for you.”

Thursday, May 23, marks what Griffo is calling a grand reopening of his restaurant, which began life in 2017 as “a bar with pub food” called Hudson’s Corner. “Over the course of the year that I’ve been here we’ve transformed it into a restaurant,” he said.

Thursday’s events, which will include free apps and drink specials, are a way for Lenox & Park to “basically bring out Tony. For a while we couldn’t even really advertise that he was here because his name was still on the other building, and it was confusing to people.” Griffo is also showcasing changes to the décor, which now boasts exposed brick walls liberated from behind sheetrock and new lighting.

“You can get anything from our Juicy Lucy burger to authentic Italian dishes,” he says of the menu at Lenox & Park, which is run by authentic Rockville Centre types. Not only were Griffo and his business partner born and raised there, “two of my kids work here,” he said. “So when you walk through the door, you’re made to feel like family.”

Lenox & Park is at 41 S. Park Ave. in Rockville Centre, 516-442-1299, lenoxandparkrvc.com

By Scott Vogel

scott.vogel@newsday.com

Newsday writer and restaurant critic Scott Vogel aims for a refreshing, gimlet-eyed take on the Long Island food scene, often while drinking a refreshing gimlet.