L&M Publications
Merrick Life • Bellmore Life • Freeport-Baldwin Leader • Wantagh-Seaford Citizen

Proprietor Neal Curtis has refurbished and reshaped the old Al B. White tudor-style building at 10 Brooklyn Avenue, Freeport, west of Main Street, into his new Retro Lounge and Grill restaurant, and has it all down just about right: the same large fireplace; wood beams across the ceiling; the large room in back where Mr. White, a Freeport vaudevillian, used to perform, throw parties and dance; and the long, classic bar.
   
They all work, he said, to help merge with the new downtown revitalization of Freeport coming soon, and he wants to be on the ground floor with an exciting restaurant when it comes.
   
And an exciting new entry into the gastronomic market Retro Lounge and Grill is. In only eight months, Chef Nilka Hendricks has experimented with blending several distinctive flavors, textures, herbs and spices to develop new tastes that tantalize the pallette while helping redefine classic dishes. She calls it “international fusion.”
   
Schooled at the Culinary Academy in Syosset, Ms. Hendricks has worked with Gordon Ramsey on Fox television’s “Hell’s Kitchen.” “I think he liked me,” she said of her experience with the chef renowned for his skills at restaurant makeovers.
   
“Gordon has high standards,” and her love of zesty, flavorful foods derived from blending tastes to develop her signature dishes – which include jerk ribeye steak, Cajun salmon and crab cakes – are perhaps what made Mr. Ramsey a believer in her cuisine.
   
As Ms. Hendricks explains: “I keep the cuisine spontaneous and fun.”
   
With several seafood dishes currently comprising much of the menu, the Cajun salmon, for example, is grilled using spices and herbs, and olive oil, and then topped with a brazed red cabbage and placed into the oven a few minutes to infuse the cabbage’s flavors into the salmon. The result is a flavorful, lightly spiced fish with a flaky texture.
   
While the ample dish is served with julianne vegetables and pasta, more vegetables can be substituted for the pasta for those on restricted carbohydrate diets.     Meanwhile, for those who choose the pasta, the light spices seep throughout the pasta, creating a delectible dish.
   
The crab cake appetizers, another signature dish, are fresh, spicy and topped with a chipotle sauce, and come in a two gernerous-sized portions. “I use fresh crab,” she said, “lumped, the claws,” in her preparation, “and bake in the oven.” The result is a lightly breaded, freshly tasting  crab cake with less filler and more crab.
   
Another popular appetizer is the “lamb lollipops,” tender, baby lamb chops drizzled in a balsamic ginger sauce, topped with a pico de gallo and placed on top of a bed of chopped mesclun easy to place on the fork, creating a savory appetizer.
   
Ms. Hendricks has deftly used the long, bony, end part of the lamb chop to create the “lollipop” name.
   
The vegetable tempura appetizer is several vegetables, including carrots, string beans, cauliflower and asparatus, deep-fried to create a lightly battered vegetable that can be dipped into an accompanying balsamic ginger sauce.
   
Other appetizers on the current menu include sauteed Asian chicken dumplings, rock shrimp tempura, fried calamari and dry rubbed spicy wings.
   
Because of the generous portions of the appetizers, it is possible to be full before dinner comes out, so plan accordingly. It is just as likely the succulent flavors of the appetizers will arouse anticipation for the main course.
   
Of her generous portions at reasonable prices, Ms. Hendricks said she “wants people to take the food home with them,” no doubt to taste her creations once more during another relaxed moment. “Food is a language, I love to cook, and want to share that love [language] with everyone,” she said.
   
Meat dishes include her signature 14-ounce jerk ribeye steak, marinated for several hours before exact spices are applied; and grilled baby back ribs, also marinated and topped with a zesty tequila barbecue sauce. Both meat dishes are accompanied by mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables.
   
All sauces are made in the Retro kitchen.
   
The cilantro lime chicken, a favorite dish of the Caribbean region, is tender and infused with a zesty lime flavor corralled, in measure, by the cilantro. Because it comes with two starches, red beans and rice, either, or both of them, can be substituted with vegetables for those on a carbohydrate-restricted diet.
   
Shrimp Yuccanut, linguini in yellow clam sauce, creamy shrimp scampi alfredo and herb-crusted chilean sea bass round out the tantalizing menu.
   
Side orders include truffle parmesan french fries, truffle mashed potatoes, braised red cabbage, pinapple raisin rice pilaf and three-cheese mac and cheese.
   
Because the menu changes seasonally –  and an important part of the business includes serving patrons with their favorite foods – Chef Hendricks will cook your favorite dish from previous menus upon request.
   
She is busy putting final touches on her new menu, which will include several new vegan dishes using local organic producers, more whole wheat pastas and provide for more gluten-free foods.
   
Retro Lounge and Grill is also preparing its Valentine’s Day pre-fixe dinner menu  that includes The Lady and the Tramp, a seafood pasta bowl and seafood lobster Thermidor; oysters and mussels, grilled shrimp cocktail and mango chicken saté as appetizers; and desserts, including molten chocolate with strawberries and grilled pound cake, for example.
   
As the evening concludes, try Retro’s mouth-watering caramel apple cheesecake drizzled with vanilla creme (as a change from chocolate), a red velvet cake or carrot cake.
   
Retro Lounge and Grill is open seven days a week, from 4-11 p.m. and provides entertainment nightly. Monday-Tuesday are Retro Idol Nights, hosted by an Interscope Records executive; Comedy night on Wednesdays; Retro Ladies Day on Thursdays; Reggae Night on Fridays; Latin Night on Saturdays; and jazz-blues on Sunday afternoons into the early evening.
   
Call 867-1100 for reservations or visit www.retroloungeny.com.
   
Meanwhile visit www.chefnilkahendricks.com to learn about her approach to fine cooking.

By Doug Finlay

Doug Finlay is the assistant editor for Bellmore Life newspaper. He is also an award-winning writer for L&M Publications.