New Merrick Restaurant Brings Best of Both Coasts

A chic eatery adorned with photos of San Francisco but a menu reminiscent of one found in the The Village in Manhattan is exactly what you will find when you take your first steps into Left Coast Kitchen.

Newly-opened in the building that used to house Jessie’s Roadhouse, Bellmore residents Chris and Heather Randell snatched up the real estate to create what they felt the neighborhood was missing – a casual yet sophisticated, fun restaurant that doesn’t skimp on the menu. The new owners kept the old vibe in a clean, new way.

“We really wanted to have our own place, but more than that, we wanted a place for the neighborhood,” said Heather. “We want the environment of this place to be a comfortable, neighborhood place that people know that they are going to get a great meal. We want people to feel at home in our restaurant. That is the most important thing to us,” she added.

Randell, a California native, started his journey in cooking in 1994 in a southern California eatery. American regional as his specialty, Randell has learned to blend two cultures that seem like they have nothing in common, for instance Spanish and Jewish ethic cuisines, and make them into something delicious. Before opening Left Coast Kitchen, Randell was executive chef at City Cellar Wine Bar in Westbury and was involved in all aspects from creating to executing the menu.

And the menu at Left Coast Kitchen is not without variety and fusion. Try the mussels benedict, an order of mussels with prosciutto, hollandaise, egg drop and English muffins for dipping; the scampi style prawns skewer brings a little bit of the south to Long Island; straight from California, Randell brought the Asian tuna salad; from the lobster roll from New England graces the menu with its presence and the short rib is a crowd favorite.

Although Randell has an impressive resume, he still comes out to greet the crowd and make sure that they are enjoying their food. “[Chris] comes out and talks to the guests and brings the food out. He loves to walk out and see that people are smiling,” said Heather.

So far, explained Heather, the community welcomed the new eatery with open arms. “The community response has been really great. I think they are as happy to have a place with great food that is nice inside as we are to provide them with a place like this,” she said.

Eventually, Left Coast also wants to develop and execute a breakfast menu – complete with biscuits and gravy and praline-caramel pancakes – to be able to give patrons an option to deviate from the choice of the local diner or iHop weekend breakfasts, but for now, the couple will continue serving up a dinner to please the ever-growing crowd.