You could stand on a corner and look around until a restaurant sign draws you in. But we've got a better idea. Each week, New Hyde Park Patch picks a great restaurant either in town or nearby that is worth checking out. Here's this week's choice:
LL Dent
With down-home cooking and hospitality co-owners Chef Leisa Dent and her mother, Lillian Dent, bring a taste of their Georgia roots to Carle Place at LL Dent southern-style restaurant.
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As a well-seasoned chef with over 30 years of experience in the industry, Leisa Dent has worked to perfect the recipes featured on LL Dent’s menu, which have been handed down from her family over generations.
“The food is homey, very home-style,” says Leisa, “It’s what I grew up on.”
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For the chef and her mother, opening the restaurant—now in business for five years—has been a dream fulfilled.
To find an authentic southern dining experience like this in the area is a rarity. Fried green tomatoes with horseradish dressing, fried chicken and 10-hour-roasted barbeque ribs prepared with a house rub and smoked with apple and cherry woods are just a few of the items you’ll find on the menu.
Diners can choose to accompany their meal with such comforting sides as collard greens with smoked turkey, baked macaroni and cheese, candied yams, and grits.
Leisa Dent explains that now with diners altering their diets for the summer, the Barbeque Salmon Salad has become a popular selection. In one of the restaurant’s lighter dishes, pan seared salmon with barbeque sauce is served over a simple salad dressed in a heavy garlic house vinaigrette.
“A lot of people tend to think that all southern food is heavy, greasy, and filled with fat,” Leisa Dent said.
But that that is not always the case. In fact, she says, most southerners will serve a spread of predominantly vegetables, listing fresh green beans, collards and mustard greens as examples.
In a manner true to its southern roots, you will not find anything too fancy at LL Dent, just simply delicious fare created with an evident dose of care and love; it is food steeped in tradition, made to talk around with family and friends.
“We try to make [customers] feel like they are at home, like they are visiting family or a relative,” Leisa Dent said.
This atmosphere is particularly evident every Sunday during the restaurant’s weekly brunch where for $20.95 customers are invited to share in a buffet abundant with some of the menu’s most tempting offerings.
LL Dent, 221 Old Country Road, Carle Place, (516) 742-0940.Tuesday-Thursday, Lunch: 11:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Dinner: 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, Lunch: 11:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Dinner: 5:00 p.m.- 11:00 p.m.; Sunday, Brunch: 11:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. ($20.95), Dinner: 5:00 p.m.- 9:00 p.m. http://www.lldent.com/contact-carle-place-restaurant.php.
