Bistro GoFood Marketplace To Offer Fresh To-Go In Huntington

HUNTINGTON, NY — Bistro GoFood Marketplace is set to open in Huntington, offering customers a take-out or heat-at-home experience.

The eatery, slated to open at 90 New York Ave., is spearheaded by Chef Karen Melanie LaRocco, who goes by Chef Melanie. Her background is in French cuisine. A grand opening is scheduled for Aug. 3, though a soft opening is expected to happen by the end of the week.

Bistro GoFood Marketplace was described by LaRocco as "an upscale culinary market" with prepared meals-to-go, grab-and-go lunches, catering and artisanal small-batch retail.

The restaurant's oven-ready menu features steaks, chicken, salmon, pork, noodles and more. One example is an 8-oz filet mignon served with Cabernet black pepper butter; a dish that showcases the talents LaRocco picked up at the French Culinary Institute.

"Everything that I do is based in French cuisine," she told Patch. "It’s changed. All my techniques are always French-based. We twist them to make them modernized, twist them to change ethnicity. All that I do has always been based under classic French. Then we kind of just change things from there. Same sauces, same bases. We just elevate it to make it something different."

Her studies at the International Pastry Arts Center are also on full display with an assortment of cookies, cakes, pies and tarts.

LaRocco envisions the marketplace being for everyone but feels that business people or busy parents will benefit a lot from it. She got to test the concept in Port Washington after the coronavirus pandemic forced her and her husband, Peter, to pivot their business model.

LaRocco helmed Bistro Etc. Restaurant in Port Washington, though she transitioned it to a culinary market when the pandemic hit, as the restaurant was too small for it to be able to survive upon reopening.

"[The marketplace] is something I had planned doing down the road, but just not so soon," she said. "The grab-and-go lunches are great for working people, because there’s a nice little complete lunchroom, and they came in, grabbed it, and off they went. We had a wide range of customers from in their 20s to 80s or 90s. For some of them, it’s a matter of they don’t cook anymore, some of them who don’t know how to cook."

The lease for Bistro Etc. Restaurant expired, and the LaRoccos began looking for another spot. While a new location in Port Washington did not materialize, a spot in Huntington did. The store's new location is in the couple's hometown.

Bistro GoFood Marketplace will also offer cooking classes, and LaRocco will be available for home-cheffing where she visits people's homes.

Customers can order items on the Bistro GoFood Marketplace website and pick their orders up at the store or call 631-478-6200. The listed hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.