One year after rebranding as Brick Osteria, a Port Washington restaurant is changing its name and its menu once again.
Now named 11 Zero 50, the restaurant run by Michael Tizzano and Massimo Gammella has dropped its Italian offerings to focus on American fare.
“[Brick Osteria] was like a combination of American and our other location, Pepe Rosso,” Tizzano said, referring to the restaurant in Manorhaven that is also run by the duo. “We were kind of doing the same thing as Pepe Rosso and we weren’t getting the results that we were expecting.”
Tizzano and Gammella first opened a restaurant at the 52 Main St. location in 2014. The first incarnation, named Rosso Uptown, mainly served as a pizzeria. It remained that way for about three years until the restaurant was overhauled last September and reopened as Brick Osteria.
Osteria expanded the Italian offerings, bringing back dishes that were popular at Tizzano’s previous Port Washington restaurants, Brio and Romantico.
“I think with [Rosso Uptown] people thought we were just a pizzeria,” Tizzano said at the time. “We are more than a pizzeria, we are more like contemporary Italian.”
But Tizzano said that the offerings ended up being too similar to Pepe Rosso, which hurt business at Brick Osteria. A decision was reached that the Port restaurant had to stand out from the one in Manorhaven.
“It’s going to be completely different from our other location because people were comparing us to Pepe Rosso,” he said.
Chef Michael Heinlein, formerly of Pantry Diner in Rockville Centre and Our Table in Northport, was brought in to overhaul the menu. Pizzas, a staple of the location since its opening, are gone. So is most of the Italian fare, except for a few touches here and there.
Seafood is prevalent, with Tizzano expressing particular enthusiasm for the pan-roasted halibut ($28) and the seafood bolognese ($29), which contains lobster, crab meat and shrimp with roasted tomato sauce, parmesan, ricotta and bread crumbs.
The starters menu features seafood items like crab cake ($15) and grilled shrimp flatbread ($16) alongside short rib tacos ($13).
Along with the new menu, the interior has once again undergone a renovation. The brick walls have been whitewashed, the takeout counter has been transformed into a bar and the pizza oven is now used to heat up cauliflower instead of pies.
The remodeled 11 Zero 50 opened on Aug. 20. The restaurant is currently only open for dinner, although Tizzano said he was looking to start a Sunday brunch soon.
As for the name, Tizzano said it refers to the place where he’s been running restaurants for years — 11050 is Port Washington’s ZIP code.
“It instills a sense of community,” Tizzano said. “It’s something that belongs to the town and has a nice ring to it.”
Reach reporter Luke Torrance by email at ltorrance@theislandnow.com, by phone at 516-307-1045, ext. 214, or follow him on Twitter @LukeATorrance
