It’s been a while since I’ve written a Great Neck restaurant review. As I mentioned in my last post, part of the reason was that in August 2015 my wife and I introduced a new little mouth to feed to the world, which kind of took me out of the dining out scene for a while. But the other reason is that around 2015 and 2016 the Great Neck restaurant scene just got a little depressing. There just seemed to be a mass exodus of restaurants closing their doors in the last few years, from Bruce’s Bakery to Juliebelle’s Sandwich Shop to promising Asian Fusion restaurant Miraku to Cafe Rustica. The list goes on of the restaurants that have shuttered their doors in the last few years, from Turquoise to Ethos to Panchos, and even Subway. Even boutique chains that are successful elsewhere like Cafe Bene and Cheeburger Cheeburger have come and gone.
Last April, a new Italian restaurant opened in South Station Plaza called Katerina. It even got a “Very Good” review from the New York Times. I had the pleasure of going there twice, and both times I was astounded at my experience. The ingredients were shipped in fresh from Italy once a week. The service was top notch. The food was outstanding. The decor was great. And yet when I went back for a third time, I was shocked to find they had closed their doors.
I was flabbergasted. And I thought to myself–yes, I run just a small personal blog, but could I have at least done something to have helped save this restaurant if I’d posted about my experience here and on Yelp?
And so, coincidentally to the very same day that I wrote this post last year, I’ll say that I’m back, and this time I’ll stick to my pledge of writing at least one fresh review a month. If you’d like me to review (or re-review) any restaurants in particular, please feel free to leave a comment.