Port Washington Welcomes Haven Grill

Just a little beyond the station, you'll find a restaurant with panels of French-style windows and doors – Port Washington’s newest edition, .

Previously Café Capriccio, Haven Grill is the fifth restaurant of partners Elio Sobrero and Bobbi Schwinger. The two owners have operated restaurants throughout Long Island since the 1980s in Roslyn, Jericho, Hicksville and Port Washington.

Haven Grill has a cozy and welcoming atmosphere. Guests are greeted with an option of waiting in chairs along the windows or grabbing a pre-dinner drink at the bar. The slightly dimmed lighting and soft music playing in the background give it an air of casualness and comfort.

Guests will more than likely encounter owner Bobbi Schwinger upon arrival, as she is always running around tending to the needs of the restaurant. And though they may not see him, Elio Sobrero is just as present at the restaurant as he manages and cooks in the kitchen.

This is because of the work mentality that Sobrero and Schwinger carry with them wherever they go.

“If you’re not there and running it, it’s never going to go the same way you want it to,” Schwinger said. “It’s a 24/7 job.”

And despite the huge workload, the restaurant still maintains high standards for itself. “We have nothing pre-cooked,” Sebrero said.

This premise of making everything as it’s ordered is something that has followed Sebrero since his career started. Sebrero grew up in San Remo, Italy, and began cooking at age 16.

“I spent my summers from 1956 to 1963 working in the Isle of Jersey,” he says. Working in hotel restaurants during the summer in England, he spent his winters working in various other hotel restaurants throughout southern France, Switzerland and Germany.

Finally, Sebrero and his wife moved to the United States where he was promised a job at Tower Suite in New York. 

“We moved to America,” he said. “Three days later I started working, haven’t stopped since.”

He then worked at The Four Seasons until he and a friend decided to try their luck running their own restaurant. They opened a fine-dining Italian restaurant in Bayville, right on the water. With the unreliable tourism seasons, though, they had to call it quits and move to another location. Sebrero opened La Primavera in East Hills in 1980. It was there that he met Bobbi Schwinger, who moved up from general manager to co-owner, and the two have been running things together ever since.

The duo changed Café Capriccio to Haven Grill to better fit the clientele.

“We wanted something more casual and family friendly,” Schwinger said.

And though the switch was a big one, they found the staff adjusted well.

“It was weird yesterday,” Sebrero said on Wednesday. “But today, no more.”

As a part of their grand opening, Haven Grill is offering diners free Sangria or dessert with any meal. And they have high hopes for their future. With renovations almost finished and a good turnout for their opening day, Haven Grill is, according to Sebrero, “a new start.”