Kitchen A Trattoria Bought By Longtime Chef

A popular St. James restaurant will undergo a change of ownership as it shifts hands from its creator to longtime chef.

Kitchen A Trattoria, located at 532 North Country Road in St. James, is being purchased by chef Steven Gallagher from enterprising restaurateur Eric Lomando in a deal whose fine details are still being worked out. 

"I had been looking at other restaurants and shopping for a while. When I sat down with Eric to talk about It, he made a good point that this would be the safest investment for my money," Gallagher said. 

Gallagher, 35, has been the head chef at Kitchen A Trattoria for the last two years, previously working at Starr Boggs in Westhampton and the Jamesport Manor Inn in Jamesport. This will be his first time owning an eatery. 

"For the most part the restaurant will remain the same, there will be no dramatic changes. I don’t see a need to reinvent something that works and I’ve put a lot of myself into," he said. 

Kitchen A Trattoria will keep the same staff and the same menu with very few changes, according to Gallagher.

"The real only difference is that instead of Eric paying me for working, I’m going to be paying him for the business," he said. 

While being familiar with the kitchen, the chef hopes the familiar surroundings will help him quickly grow comfortable with the other aspects of owning a restaurant including the administrative work. 

Kitchen A Trattoria is a small but top-end restaurant focusing on unique and modern Italian fare. It has 9 tables, seating up to 25 patrons at a time. 

Lomando still owns the nearby Kitchen A Bistro, locally known for its top-rated French cuisine, and Orto, a Miller Place eatery serving up rustic Italian-American cuisine.