There are addresses on Long Island that refuse to sit still. Four hundred Broadhollow Road is one of them — a location that has reinvented itself with the restless ambition of the Route 110 corridor it anchors, cycling through culinary identities the way a master craftsman cycles through prototypes until the leather takes its final, definitive shape. When Anthony Scotto transformed this space into Bijou in 2021, he was not simply opening another restaurant. He was mounting an argument — in wagyu and wasabi, in blown glass and waterfall marble — that Long Island’s corporate heartland deserved a dining room with a pulse, a place where the Tuesday lunch crowd in Patagonia vests could sit elbow-to-elbow with Saturday night celebrants toasting engagements under the flicker of a live DJ’s ambient set. For roughly three years, Bijou made that argument convincingly, earning its place as one of the most visually arresting and culinarily ambitious restaurants on the island before evolving, in August 2024, into The Halston American Kitchen & Bar — its spiritual successor, still under the Scotto banner, still at the same storied address.
The Scotto Legacy: From Brooklyn Dishwasher to Long Island Empire
To understand Bijou, you must first understand the man who built it. Anthony Scotto immigrated to the United States from Monte di Procida, Italy, in 1961. He was a teenager who spoke no English, and his first job in America was washing dishes at his uncle’s restaurant, Romano’s, in Brooklyn (Anthony Scotto Restaurants, 2025). That origin story reads like something out of a Horatio Alger novel, but what followed was decades of unrelenting work — night school to learn English, second jobs to save capital, and the slow accumulation of knowledge that only comes from standing in a commercial kitchen for thousands of hours. In 1967, Scotto and his brothers opened Scotto’s Pizzeria in Port Washington with just five thousand dollars. It was, by any measure, a gamble. The location had failed four previous owners (Long Island Press, 2025).
From that single pizzeria, the Scotto Brothers built a hospitality enterprise that now encompasses some of the most recognized restaurant names on Long Island. Blackstone Steakhouse opened in Melville in 2005 — the first restaurant on Long Island certified by the Official Kobe Beef Association. RARE650 followed in Syosset in 2009. Insignia Prime Steak & Sushi landed in Smithtown in 2011. Opus took over the historic Maine Maid Inn in Jericho in 2016. One10 Modern Italian Steakhouse, built inside a former Wonder Bread factory in Melville, opened in 2019. Bijou, which debuted in 2021, represented a deliberate departure from the steakhouse formula — a pivot toward Modern American Asian cuisine with French influences, filling a culinary niche that no other Scotto property had attempted (Anthony Scotto Restaurants, 2025).
The Space: A Jewel Reimagined
The building at 400 Broadhollow Road sits within the Rubies Corporate Plaza, a mixed-use commercial complex that houses corporate offices alongside its ground-floor restaurant. Before Bijou, the space was home to Jewel, a New American and Asian concept helmed by acclaimed Long Island chef Tom Schaudel, who had previously founded Huntington’s legendary Panama Hatties. Jewel’s design featured playful upside-down lamps, blown-glass spheres hanging from the ceiling, color-changing wall lighting, and a glassed-in kitchen that turned meal preparation into theater (Long Islander News, 2014). When Scotto reimagined the space as Bijou, he preserved the dramatic architectural DNA while deepening the Asian-fusion identity.
The result was a 250-seat restaurant that felt less like a suburban dining room and more like a destination you might find in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. Floor-to-ceiling windows. A courtyard patio dressed in string lights and lush landscaping that transformed summer evenings into something almost Mediterranean. A spacious bar designed for lingering, not just ordering. Private banquet rooms equipped with state-of-the-art audio/visual systems — a nod to Bijou’s dual identity as both a place of celebration and a serious venue for corporate events along the 110 corridor (Bijou110.com, 2023).
The Menu: Where East Meets West on Route 110
Bijou’s culinary identity was rooted in the tension between precision and abundance. The sushi program was a centerpiece — a dedicated sushi bar offering everything from classic nigiri and sashimi to elaborate signature rolls. The Sushi Stack, a tower of tuna, salmon, yellowtail, avocado, cucumber, and ikura crowned with gold leaf and spicy aioli, became an Instagram staple. The Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice, the Yellowtail Jalapeno, and the Bijou Plateau — a ninety-nine-dollar daily selection of raw and chilled seafood — signaled that this was not a restaurant content with half-measures (Bijou Lunch Menu, 2023).
Beyond the sushi bar, the menu moved confidently through grilled marinated skirt steak, braised short ribs with a teriyaki glaze, seared duck breast with butternut squash puree, Chilean sea bass with Asian marinade and charred heirloom tomato, and lobster fried rice that managed to be both indulgent and refined. The wagyu filet mignon, served with truffle butter, earned devoted repeat customers. Sides like char-grilled broccolini and smashed potatoes held their own beside the more elaborate entrees. The dessert program — flourless chocolate cake, pistachio ice cream sandwiches, mango cheesecake — closed meals with the kind of sweetness that justified ordering another espresso (Restaurantji, 2024; Savory Traveler, 2024).
The prix fixe dinner, offered Tuesday through Thursday at fifty-five dollars per person for three courses, represented one of the better values in upscale Long Island dining — a fact that regulars guarded like a trade secret.
The Atmosphere: Where Dinner Becomes an Event
What separated Bijou from many of its Route 110 neighbors was its refusal to choose between fine dining and nightlife. On any given Friday or Saturday, the restaurant operated as a kind of dual-purpose organism. Early diners enjoyed attentive service in a candlelit dining room. Later arrivals found themselves in something closer to a lounge — a live DJ spinning music, the bar three-deep, the energy shifting from conversational to celebratory. The Sunday brunch, which eventually became a signature draw, leaned into this energy with a DJ soundtrack, creative cocktails, and a menu that blurred the line between morning indulgence and afternoon festivity.
This duality was not accidental. Scotto understood — as any restaurateur who has survived more than a decade on Long Island understands — that the modern dining customer does not want a single experience. They want a restaurant that can be a business lunch on Wednesday, a date night on Thursday, a birthday celebration on Saturday, and a brunch destination on Sunday, all without losing its identity. Bijou threaded that needle with remarkable consistency (OpenTable Reviews, 2023).
Giving Back: The Scotto Brothers and Community
One of the quieter but most significant dimensions of the Scotto restaurant empire is its commitment to charitable giving. The Scotto Brothers have hosted an annual Marines Toys for Tots Holiday Gift Drive for over fourteen years, collecting more than a thousand toys annually for less fortunate children across Long Island. The events, held at the Fox Hollow in Woodbury, feature United States Marines Color Guard performances and community dance showcases — full-scale celebrations of service and generosity (Long Island Press, 2025).
Across all Anthony Scotto properties, charitable donations have exceeded three hundred thousand dollars directed to local Long Island organizations (Savory Traveler, 2024). For a restaurant group rooted in the immigrant experience — built from a five-thousand-dollar handshake and a dishwasher’s ambition — this commitment to community represents something deeper than corporate philanthropy. It reflects a fundamental belief that restaurants are not merely businesses; they are civic institutions, gathering places where the health of a neighborhood can be measured by the warmth of the welcome and the willingness to share what has been earned.
Evolution: From Bijou to The Halston
In August 2024, Bijou completed its transformation into The Halston American Kitchen & Bar. The rebranding, which Scotto and his team had been developing since late 2023, shifted the culinary focus from Modern American Asian to a broader American Kitchen concept — signature salads, handhelds, burgers, tacos, sushi, seafood, and pasta, all designed around the principle of approachable five-star dining. The 250-seat restaurant retained its dramatic architecture, its private banquet rooms, its outdoor terrace, and its capacity for events ranging from intimate dinners to full-venue buyouts for weddings and corporate celebrations (Long Island Restaurants, 2024; Huntington Now, 2024).
The Halston represents not a departure from Bijou’s spirit but an evolution of it — the same commitment to visual spectacle, the same dedication to quality ingredients, the same understanding that Route 110 deserves a restaurant that can serve as both a daily haunt and a destination. Scotto’s daughters, Silvana and Monica, along with his son-in-law Richie, now carry increasing responsibility for the group’s operations, ensuring that the next chapter of this story remains a family affair (Long Island Press, 2025).
As someone who has spent twenty-five years behind the counter at The Heritage Diner in Mount Sinai, I understand the particular alchemy required to keep a restaurant alive through economic downturns, pandemic shutdowns, and the relentless evolution of customer expectations. What the Scotto family has built at 400 Broadhollow Road — across three restaurant identities and counting — is a testament to the principle that the best restaurants are never finished. They are living organisms, constantly adapting, constantly refining, constantly earning the loyalty of a community that has no obligation to return but keeps coming back anyway.
Restaurant Information:
Current Name: The Halston American Kitchen & Bar (formerly Bijou, formerly Jewel) Address: 400 Broadhollow Road (Route 110), Melville, NY 11747 Phone: (631) 755-5777 Website: www.thehalstonrestaurant.com Reservations: Available via OpenTable or by phone Parent Company: Anthony Scotto Restaurants — www.anthonyscottorestaurants.com Hours: Lunch Tue–Fri | Dinner Tue–Sun | Sunday Brunch Private Events: Banquet rooms and full-restaurant buyout available — events@thehalstonrestaurant.com Parking: Public lot on-site Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible entrance, elevator, restrooms, and seating Rewards Program: Anthony Scotto Restaurants Good Life Rewards — earn points across all Scotto properties
