At Sweet Jane in Bay Shore, Swanky Spot With An Upscale Urban Vibe
The idea for Sweet Jane in Bay Shore started out as a funky spot with a CGBG vibe to it but as things progressed the owners morphed the restaurant into a cocktail bar with a different kind of atmosphere, a swanky speakeasy that will mix up just about any concoction you come up with.
“We have 65 craft cocktails on the menu,” said co-owner Anthony Tartaglia. “But our bartenders will make you almost anything else you want.”
When Tartaglia and his brother and business partner Andrew took on the space at 64 East Main Street in Bay Shore a couple of years ago they originally envisioned it as office space, a place to get out of their restaurants to do business. They run a number of different spots in the area, including Coastal Kitchen & Daiquiri Bar, Verde Kitchen & Cocktails (soon to become Para Todo Bien) and American Standard Whiskey Bar & Grill. The brothers decided that they didn’t need an office and pivoted to use it for their new restaurant concept. So the old location of Second Chance clothing store (in the same building as Bango Bowls) became Sweet Jane, which opened at the end of July.
Their other new joint, American Standard Whiskey has a dusty, kind of rough and tumble feel, with southern-inspired fare and a lot of whiskey.
“Sweet Jane is the exact opposite of American Standard,” Tartaglia said. “It’s super swanky with brass fixtures. The space definitely speaks for itself.”
Tartaglia said the feeling they went for is a New York City wine bar with a great list of cocktails.
“We have a great wine program,” he said. “A lot of local stuff from the North Fork as well as California and an international selection.”
The menu has what Tartaglia says includes anything between tapas and small plates up to full entrees. This includes escargot ($18), lamb meatballs ($20), a burrata salad ($21), pork milanese ($31) and a warm lobster roll ($41). There is an extensive raw bar with local oysters (6 for $18) and little neck clams ($10), a scallop crudo ($21) and an octopus salad ($18). Their selection of cheeses and charcuterie lets you pick from one ($9) to five ($40) assortments or get the chef’s tower with five cheeses and five meats ($69).
The dining room seats up to 35 people. There is a full time doorman and they will put people on a waitlist to keep the number of people inside to a manageable level.
Tartaglia says they limit the number of people in the restaurant at one time to 35 to 40 people. If people are going to spend money on a nice night out on the town, he said they want them to feel like they’re getting an exclusive experience.
“We don’t want people two to three deep at the bar,” said Tartaglia.
Sweet Jane is located at 64 East Main Street in Bay Shore. The restaurant is open seven days a week starting at Noon. They close at Midnight from Monday to Wednesday. Thursday they stay open until 1am and Friday and Saturday they are open until 2am. Sunday they close at 11pm.
📷 Coastal Kitchen & Daiquiri Bar Facebook page.
