Prime 1024 steakhouse with Italian fare opens in Roslyn

Teri West
Prime 1024 Chef Erminio Conte emigrated from Italy close to 20 years ago. (Photo by Teri West)

Tables surrounding the dining space at Prime 1024, a new Italian eatery/American steakhouse on Northern Boulevard in Roslyn, don’t have benches – they have velvety, sky-blue couches beneath chandeliers.

It’s an upscale look one might find on Park or Lexington Avenue, said chef Erminio Conte, who has spent years jumping between some of the top eateries in New York City’s restaurant scene. That’s one reason he decided to embark on this new journey outside the city with owner Christos Spyropoulos, he said.

Prime 1024’s bar. (Photo by Teri West)

“If it was a regular restaurant I wouldn’t have moved from Manhattan,” Conte said. “It was an exciting adventure, exciting location, exciting everything.”

The entrée menu includes steaks and chops from $41 to $110, all of which are prime, pizzas ranging from $20 to $26 and pastas from $24 to $34.

Among Conte’s “chef creations” are a breaded veal, grilled swordfish and roasted chicken.

Appetizers include soups, meatballs and seafood delicacies including $25 octopus and a $21 crab cake.

The pasta is made fresh, according to the restaurant. North Bergen, New Jersey-based Pat LaFrieda supplies the meats.

In addition to the spacious dining room, there is a bar with shelves of glistening wines and liquors.

Conte migrated from Puglia, Italy, to New York City almost 20 years ago. He was the chef at restaurants like Serafina and opened La Grata, a pizzeria, in the South Bronx, which now has a second location in Harlem.

Seating near the bar at the new restaurant on Northern Boulevard. (Photo by Teri West)

Beyond being his first venture on Long Island, Prime 1024 provides him with a new culinary challenge: being more American, since it is, after all, a steakhouse.

“I’m a traditional Italian chef with international experience, and I love challenges,” he said.

The location, which is coincidentally (or not) at 1024 Northern Boulevard, previously housed Barto, which built the space over the course of 10 years, according to Newsday.

“It’s a beautiful place,” Conte said. “I’m bringing the new Manhattan flavor to Long Island.”

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