Anyone who wants a chef-made dinner but does not have time or is unwilling to wait in the restaurant (read: with children) can now dine at the Bistro GoFood Marketplace in Huntington.

The new cooking market at 90 New York Avenue celebrated its grand opening earlier this month when several local business leaders and elected officials came out to support the owner Karen Melanie LaRocco and her husband Peter.

Within half an hour of cutting the ribbon, at least 20 different faces entered and exited the cramped retail space, and the walls and shelves were filled with jars, bottles, bags and boxes with husband and wife labels.

"This is a high-end retail store offering high-end food," LaRocco said in a black double-breasted chef jacket and Day of the Dead non-slip shoes.

"They are a small company and only make small batches of products. A lot of organic, a lot of handmade things."

Customers, some people fill their shopping baskets with products, with pesto and parmesan cheese, Spanish muffins with spinach, feta, lemon and dill, with chicken salad and a little curry, apricots and coconut, herb goat cheese The crepes come to treat Pamir crumbled pistachios, shrimp tostadas, lamb chops with salsa verde and roast beef, horseradish, mayonnaise and crisp onions.

Oh, and red and white wine.

The “GoFood” section of the market includes a la carte, home-made dinners and a rotation of packed lunches, which are prominently displayed in the display cabinets at the back of the store.

Among the many choices, Faroe Island salmon, lentils and wild mushroom cakes, roasted baby carrots and pasta and shrimp are all ready to be ordered on the Tuesday night of the grand opening.

"You can really cook your own dinner," La Rocco said. "You can mix and match, as long as you want, you can do it at home, instead of picking up hot food that you really need to eat right away. It's just a fresher tasting."

The couple had been married for 18 years and owned and operated their Bistro Etc. restaurant in Port Washington for 10 years.

LaRocco said that although they plan to change their business model in the next five years, the pandemic has accelerated the transformation.

"When I was ready not to do heavy kitchen work, I always wanted a culinary market," she said. "But COVID only pushed the whole thing forward slightly."

Their restaurant has only 35 seats​​, which cannot be maintained with a limited capacity due to national COVID-19 dining restrictions. In order to adapt to this situation, they entered the field of take-away food, providing fresh dishes cooked by chef Melanie, whose cooking background is French cuisine.

"Classical French is really the foundation of a lot of food, a lot of techniques, a lot of sauces, etc.," she said. "This is just your baseline, and then expand from them."

After providing ready-made meals for a year in Port Washington, the couple chose to change the scenery and took their adventure to Huntington, where the couple lived, as did the parents of chef Melanie.

When LaRocco was in the kitchen, Peter worked in the store and handled the online business of the market.

"I sank without him," she said. "And he sank without me."

For Huntington, Bistro GoFood brings hope to boost the local economy before the pandemic.

"I think after the COVID, we are doing more ribbon cutting now," said Leanne Gelish, director of operations at the Huntington Chamber of Commerce. "Many different businesses are opening. Some things die and some things grow. What we see in the town is that although the businesses are closed, which is unfortunate, we actually saw rebirth in many places."

Gelish added that this store is unique in town, and the store expands the appeal of New York Avenue.

Although the product may change every week, chef Melanie said that hungry customers can use the Bistro GoFood market website to get the latest situation.

She said: "Everything we have at home, as well as all our retail, is online." "So you can order online, you can come to pick up the goods, or you can come in and pick what you like from the box."

"There is something for everyone."

Sit back. We will inform you in time.

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