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Every Year the Daytona Beach News Journal conducts a survey of their readers to review and vote on the local businesses for outstanding products and services. Julian's is proud you have voted us 2004 "Best Around" for the "Best Prime Rib" served in the greater Daytona Beach Area for 9 years running.
DINING OUT; Excitement in Lovingly Prepared Food - The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/12/nyregion/dining-out-excitement-in-l...
February 12, 1995
DINING OUT
DINING OUT; Excitement in Lovingly Prepared Food
By JOANNE STARKEY
CALLA LARGA is a simple spot with simply wonderful food. This newcomer in Bellerose is so close to Nassau County that its card lists its address as both Jamaica Avenue and Jericho Turnpike and with the 516 and 718 area codes.
Nassau and Suffolk residents are advised to travel the extra half-mile. Calla Larga inspires raves like, "This is the real thing," from people who have visited Italy frequently.
Actually the owners are not from Italy, but from the Dalmatian Coast of the former Yugoslavia. One, Franco Basic, is an experienced chef who worked on cruise ships and most recently at Bevanda and Giulia, two well-regarded restaurants in Great Neck. Dennis Vidas, the owner in charge of the dining room, was groomed at his family restaurant in Dalmatia.
He explained that Calla Larga literally means wide street or main street and that in his hometown it was the center of excitement. At this namesake restaurant, the excitement and fireworks are provided by the kitchen. The dining room is standard, with white walls, forgettable pictures, white tablecloths and a single rose on each table.
Amiable and accommodating waiters provide automatic good service. A nice touch is the appearance of fresh glasses of ice water at dessert time. One practice that should be dropped, though, is presenting menus without prices to female customers. At a time when women often pick up the check, that archaic policy is annoying.
There are no annoyances when it comes to food. All the appetizers were so inspired that it is difficult to choose the best. An unusual mushroom salad made up of assorted varieties lightly coated with grated Parmesan and tossed with thin slices of crunchy celery is a standout. Also appealing are the ceviche of impeccably fresh seafood and the paper-thin veal carpaccio topped with shiitake mushrooms and a lemon vinaigrette.
Less unusual but still extraordinarily good are the house salad in a lush vinaigrette and the platter of grilled vegetables. Even better was a special combining those vegetables with seafood, including grilled calamari, a roasted oyster and lightly breaded clams and shrimp.
Various raviolis earned high praise, pumpkin in a walnut-cream sauce, mushroom that sported a bright tomato sauce filled with shiitakes and lobster glazed with a rosemary-kissed shrimp sauce. But heading the pasta parade were the feathery-light gnocchi. Fuzi, fresh pasta cut in triangles and bathed in a vodka-meat sauce, also drew an enthusiastic response.
In honor of the owners' homeland some menu offerings are prepared Dalmatian-style. The pollo Dalmata was a terrific half-bird that boasted crisp skin, juicy meat and a tangy balsamic vinegar sauce laced with garlic. Scampi alla Dalmata starred big butterflied fellows in a rich cognac amalgam loaded with cubes of fresh tomato.
Fish are lovingly prepared with a sure hand. Striped bass, deboned at tableside and served with a sauce boat of olive oil and garlic, was a sensation that ranks in the best-ever category. Tuna, splashed with vinegar and piled high with sweet sauteed onions, was a study in sweet-and-sour perfection. A mixed-grill special was home to three successes, a succulent lamb chop, a juicy veal medallion and a buttery filet mignon. From the menu a marvelously turned-out steak brushed with olive oil and garnished with sauteed arugula was a winner.
Most of the 25 wines are middle-priced Italian selections. Two typical choices are a 1986 Brugo Gattinara ($25) and a 1993 Principessa Gavi ($21). The Gattinara is a soft Barolo-style red with an earthy aroma, and the Gavi is delicate, lean, high in acidity and somewhat petulant.
At dessert time, the wife of the owner, who later confessed to having prepared the sweets, watched anxiously. She need not have worried, for they were wonderful. The tempters were led by an exemplary tiramisu, a creamy cheesecake, a moist walnut-chocolate cake and a pile of tiny profiteroles filled with ice cream and dipped in superior quality Belgian chocolate. A complimentary dessert of warm crepes filled with chocolate and walnuts is a sweet send-off to a stellar meal. Calla Larga
Excellent
247-63 Jamaica Avenue (Jericho Turnpike), Bellerose, (516) 775-4388 and (718) 343-2185.
Atmosphere: A simple platform for great food.
Service: Caring and kind.
Recommended dishes: Veal carpaccio, hot antipasti, grilled vegetables, house and mushroom salads, raviolis, gnocchi, pollo
Dalmata, scampi alla Dalmata, striped bass, tuna, steak, mixed grill, all desserts.
Price range: Lunch entrees $9.75 to $19. Dinner appetizers $4.50 to $8.50, entrees $11 to $22.
Credit cards: All major cards.
Hours: Lunch noon to 3 P.M. Mondays to Saturdays and 1 to 3 on Sundays. Dinner 5 to 9:30 Sundays to Thursdays and 5
to 11 on Fridays and Saturdays.
Reservations: Recommended on weekends. Wheelchair accessibility: No steps.
Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
DINING OUT; Excitement in Lovingly Prepared Food - The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/12/nyregion/dining-out-excitement-in-l...
February 12, 1995
DINING OUT
DINING OUT; Excitement in Lovingly Prepared Food
By JOANNE STARKEY
CALLA LARGA is a simple spot with simply wonderful food. This newcomer in Bellerose is so close to Nassau County that its card lists its address as both Jamaica Avenue and Jericho Turnpike and with the 516 and 718 area codes.
Nassau and Suffolk residents are advised to travel the extra half-mile. Calla Larga inspires raves like, "This is the real thing," from people who have visited Italy frequently.
Actually the owners are not from Italy, but from the Dalmatian Coast of the former Yugoslavia. One, Franco Basic, is an experienced chef who worked on cruise ships and most recently at Bevanda and Giulia, two well-regarded restaurants in Great Neck. Dennis Vidas, the owner in charge of the dining room, was groomed at his family restaurant in Dalmatia.
He explained that Calla Larga literally means wide street or main street and that in his hometown it was the center of excitement. At this namesake restaurant, the excitement and fireworks are provided by the kitchen. The dining room is standard, with white walls, forgettable pictures, white tablecloths and a single rose on each table.
Amiable and accommodating waiters provide automatic good service. A nice touch is the appearance of fresh glasses of ice water at dessert time. One practice that should be dropped, though, is presenting menus without prices to female customers. At a time when women often pick up the check, that archaic policy is annoying.
There are no annoyances when it comes to food. All the appetizers were so inspired that it is difficult to choose the best. An unusual mushroom salad made up of assorted varieties lightly coated with grated Parmesan and tossed with thin slices of crunchy celery is a standout. Also appealing are the ceviche of impeccably fresh seafood and the paper-thin veal carpaccio topped with shiitake mushrooms and a lemon vinaigrette.
Less unusual but still extraordinarily good are the house salad in a lush vinaigrette and the platter of grilled vegetables. Even better was a special combining those vegetables with seafood, including grilled calamari, a roasted oyster and lightly breaded clams and shrimp.
Various raviolis earned high praise, pumpkin in a walnut-cream sauce, mushroom that sported a bright tomato sauce filled with shiitakes and lobster glazed with a rosemary-kissed shrimp sauce. But heading the pasta parade were the feathery-light gnocchi. Fuzi, fresh pasta cut in triangles and bathed in a vodka-meat sauce, also drew an enthusiastic response.
In honor of the owners' homeland some menu offerings are prepared Dalmatian-style. The pollo Dalmata was a terrific half-bird that boasted crisp skin, juicy meat and a tangy balsamic vinegar sauce laced with garlic. Scampi alla Dalmata starred big butterflied fellows in a rich cognac amalgam loaded with cubes of fresh tomato.
Fish are lovingly prepared with a sure hand. Striped bass, deboned at tableside and served with a sauce boat of olive oil and garlic, was a sensation that ranks in the best-ever category. Tuna, splashed with vinegar and piled high with sweet sauteed onions, was a study in sweet-and-sour perfection. A mixed-grill special was home to three successes, a succulent lamb chop, a juicy veal medallion and a buttery filet mignon. From the menu a marvelously turned-out steak brushed with olive oil and garnished with sauteed arugula was a winner.
Most of the 25 wines are middle-priced Italian selections. Two typical choices are a 1986 Brugo Gattinara ($25) and a 1993 Principessa Gavi ($21). The Gattinara is a soft Barolo-style red with an earthy aroma, and the Gavi is delicate, lean, high in acidity and somewhat petulant.
At dessert time, the wife of the owner, who later confessed to having prepared the sweets, watched anxiously. She need not have worried, for they were wonderful. The tempters were led by an exemplary tiramisu, a creamy cheesecake, a moist walnut-chocolate cake and a pile of tiny profiteroles filled with ice cream and dipped in superior quality Belgian chocolate. A complimentary dessert of warm crepes filled with chocolate and walnuts is a sweet send-off to a stellar meal. Calla Larga
Excellent
247-63 Jamaica Avenue (Jericho Turnpike), Bellerose, (516) 775-4388 and (718) 343-2185.
Atmosphere: A simple platform for great food.
Service: Caring and kind.
Recommended dishes: Veal carpaccio, hot antipasti, grilled vegetables, house and mushroom salads, raviolis, gnocchi, pollo
Dalmata, scampi alla Dalmata, striped bass, tuna, steak, mixed grill, all desserts.
Price range: Lunch entrees $9.75 to $19. Dinner appetizers $4.50 to $8.50, entrees $11 to $22.
Credit cards: All major cards.
Hours: Lunch noon to 3 P.M. Mondays to Saturdays and 1 to 3 on Sundays. Dinner 5 to 9:30 Sundays to Thursdays and 5
to 11 on Fridays and Saturdays.
Reservations: Recommended on weekends. Wheelchair accessibility: No steps.
Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
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