Solar Café - In The News
Article courtesy Newsday.com (Link to Story)
Solar Café
1 First Ave.
Brentwood, NY 11717-4601
631-348-7181
Solar engineer Chris Castro became something of a local star when he harnessed the sun's energy to power his attractive new Brentwood dining spot. The site, once an abandoned railroad station, was renovated by Castro and his wife, Wendy, the chef. Even without help from the sun, the dynamic Dominican-born couple probably could generate enough electricity to keep the place humming.
Little touches set this enterprise apart. The fresh bread, redolent of yeast, is house-baked, accompanied by garlic-enhanced butter. Some of the vegetables and herbs come from the organic garden outside. And the Latin-accented food, made mostly with organic ingredients, is unfailingly lively.
For starters, jerk chicken wings were meaty, coated with a dark barbecue sauce spicy enough to tingle, not scorch. I felt invigorated by the ceviche, a sprightly mixture of raw fish "cooked" in lemon juice, tomatoes, onions and cilantro. A salad called "la playa" featured expertly grilled shrimp and sea scallops atop mixed greens, tomatoes, onions and peppers in a citrusy lemon vinaigrette.
Whether or not the Cubano originated in the Dominican Republic, as Castro suggested, was immaterial; what mattered was that the grilled pressed sandwich of roast pork, ham, Swiss, mustard and mayonnaise was so good. So, too, was the Dominican-style hamburger called a chimi, a highly seasoned ground beef mixture grilled and topped with a melange of cabbage, tomatoes and onions.
Wendy Castro, a culinary school graduate, hasn't lost the home-style touch crucial to the success of such dishes as ropa vieja, tender shreds of braised beef in a savory tomato-based sauce, and braised oxtail in red wine sauce with rice and beans. I found the sturdy, starchy mofongo - mashed green plantains with lots of garlic, crisped pork and meat sauce - more appealing here than at most other places. But while the arroz con pollo had lots of flavor, the chicken and rice dish was also rife with tiny bones and missing the capers and olives present in its menu description. Grilled red snapper, however, was flawless, the skin lightly charred, the flesh sweet and delicate.
For dessert, Dominican cake proved overly sweet. I preferred the rich tres leches cake and the silky burnished flan.
Most weekends, the Castros' three teenage children help their parents in the dining room. It's not hard to sense their pride in their mom's culinary skill, their dad's ingenuity, their family's team spirit.
Reviewed by Joan Reminick, 12/8/06.
Hours
Breakfast, Tuesday to Friday, 7 to 11:30 a.m., Saturday and Sunday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.;
Lunch and dinner, Tuesday to Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to midnight, Sunday, noon to 9 p.m.
CLOSED on MONDAYS
www.solarcafeus.com
Cuisine
Latin (traditional)
Price Range
Inexpensive (Under $15), Moderate ($15-$25)
Wheelchair Access
No steps; men's room accessible and equipped.
