Alexander Graham Bell coined the word “When a door closes, it opens. “Veteran chef Victor LaPlaca considers himself a believer because that’s precisely how his Haviland Kitchen is
By 2020, LaPlaca, along with millions of other place-to-eat workers across the country, had lost his job as a place-to-eat operations manager at NeueHouse, a collective workspace in New York City, due to the pandemic. estimated that more than 8,000 places to eat in New York State have closed due to the pandemic.
“I talked about the concept of recovery with my old friend Don Poland. We even talked about the option of doing some kind of food truck operation,” says LaPlaca, 49, who grew up in Lynbrook.
Working with his wife Polonia, whom he had met decades earlier while working at Michael’s Porthole restaurant in East Rockaway, LaPlaca discovered there was an area on Main Street, the former site of Nikki’s Bakery. “We built the stall and ended up spending a lot of money. more time and cash than we originally thought,” says LaPlaca.
LaPlaca attributes to his wife, Melinda, the so-called Haviland Kitchen, which refers to local businessman Joseph Haviland, who built a flour mill in 1688 to grind grain, the domain of the town square with a public oven that other people used to make their own. bread after grinding its grains in the mill.
“I think Haviland is a smart call for a place to eat where casual American food is the focus,” LaPlaca said.
When it developed, LaPlaca used to make a stopover at his Sicilian grandparents’ farm in upstate New York. His huge lawn with new vegetables, corn and old tomatoes, helped tame his appreciation for Italian cuisine and cuisine.
“Food is a big component of my education,” she says. After high school, he attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park.
“The culinary school was very intense but it taught me countryside because you are in school with other people who already paint in restaurants,” he recalls.
After school, LaPlaca’s career took him all over the country. He worked in the 1990s under the direction of renowned chef and entrepreneur Todd English at many Places to eat in English, adding the famous Olives in Boston and Las Vegas, and in New York at W New York – Union Square. He also served as executive chef for Todd English Enterprises, overseeing all existing places to eat and leading internal groups for all new place-to-eat openings.
LaPlaca worked as executive chef at isola Trattoria at the former Mondrian Hotel in SoHo from 2011 to 2016.
LaPlaca, which specializes in Italian cuisine but also prepares many other types of food, says it must “stay true to local ingredients. “
“I need to raise and teach other people about food, like our lamb chops, which are great distributors on the menu. “As chef/owner of the 50-seat dining room, which opened in December, LaPlaca will make the most of the kitchen.
Appetizers highlight Long Island Rockaway oysters and Haviland salad, a sharing dish of romaine lettuce, mozzarella and onion with blueberries and balsamic vinaigrette.
When asked about the existing wave of cooking shows from celebrity chefs, LaPlaca said they gain advantages from the company.
“I think the celebrity phenomenon is wonderful because it educates other people about other facets of food,” he says, adding that he gave the impression of Iron Chef America with Todd English.
“I need to be successful, not famous. He is too crazy and exhausting to be a wonderful celebrity chef. I like to be fair with the food I prepare and create smart fun for people.
As for the ongoing pandemic, LaPlaca had family court cases about emerging food costs, chain issues, and persistent difficulties locating staff at places to eat.
But he remains confident that citizens and smart/word-of-mouth reviews will drive traffic.
“We’re literally a family-run place to eat, we’re on Main Street,” LaPlaca says.
“I also need other people to come from other places, but I need it to value it. “
Haviland Cuisine
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