From the people that brought you Buttercooky Bakery, prepare to enjoy fine-dining American cuisine at the family-owned businesses’ latest eatery: BC Bistro.
After an existing floral shop went up for sale 400 feet away from the original Buttercooky Bakery shop on Jericho Turnpike in Floral Park, Ben Borgognone saw an opportunity.
“Right away my vision was to open up a restaurant,” the bakery’s owner said. “Merging the two together: the bakery goods and my art of pastries and bringing my artwork to the food industry.”
The bistro will be the Borgognone family’s fourth food service business, with the Buttercooky Bakery shops in Floral Park, Manhasset and Huntington.
Combining the two genres sets the restaurant and bar up for a style of dining the Borgognone family says has the surrounding community thrilled.
“Everyone was very excited,” Borgognone said. “Everybody was thrilled to hear that Buttercooky was going to be opening up a restaurant and hoping that we do the same quality that we did in the pastry shop, the bakeries, we would roll it over to the restaurant.”
BC Bistro’s opening has been anticipated for some time now, and was previously delayed by COVID-19. During the renovation process, there were shortages of construction materials that held up the project.
A pause on container ships, shortage of delivery drivers and the search for a chef that could cook at the level needed were all curveballs thrown due to the pandemic, Borgognone said. “It was just [a] very stressful time which delayed us about four to five months.”
But now that the restaurant has opened for business, Borgognone says he’s glad to be serving customers from both Long Island and Queens the culinary craft he’s worked on with his family for more than 50 years.
“Each plate is a work of art,” Borgognone said. “That was something that I wanted to make sure that we introduced to the neighborhood.”
Patrons can try a range of fine salads, organic semolina pastas, cuts of filet mignon, Long Island duck breast and fresh fish. For dessert, chocolate mousse and tres leches are among the selections.
“We try to always enhance the presentation for sure,” Borgognone said. “It’s part of my repertoire.”
That repertoire includes an approach of combining the knowledge of more than half a century in the baking business with the restaurant business. And though customers can try various desserts on the menu, they can also walk down the block to compare the two venues.
“That was one of the reasons why I decided to open this place up,” Borgognone said about the bistro’s location. “I like to bring what I’ve learned in the pastry business and the baking business into the restaurant business.”
The bistro had made Borgognone busier than ever.
“We’re making decisions all the time,” Borgognone said. “We got a nice vibe here.”