Asian Al Fresco

Fusion spots where summer vibes are also on the menu.

Al fresco dining is one of the pure pleasures of the summer dining season. There's just something about eating outside in the fresh air, blue sky overhead, gentle breeze, cold beverage in hand. Add cotton candy sunsets and local ingredients, and Long Island clearly has an edge. From patios to verandas, sidewalk seating to contained courtyards, all are a bonus to any restaurant's menu offerings. While most seafood spots offer seaside seating, it's rare to find Asian fusion spots with outdoor dining. However, in a twist of timing, there are three relatively new restaurants that are serving up Eastern flavors on grand patios. If you're craving Japanese or South Asian, these spots deliver on the sunny, summertime vibes. 

Okaru 
1401 Old Northerm Blvd., Roslyn

Set in a leafy, green space that belies its Northern Boulevard location, Okaru's new patio has oversize dark umbrellas, low-slung black chairs and al fresco dining for 30 people. The historic property that now houses Okaru lay vacant for nearly two decades. Built in 1890, the building retains its original bay windows, anchoring the two-story space adorned with white oak floors and tables, reclaimed wood with live edges from upstate barns and farms, and a cool. Zen vibe.

Taking a page from its big cousin, Manhattan's Bond St., there's a vast menu of both sushi and hot dishes from chef Marc Spitzer that are rooted in Eastern culinary tradition, like tuna tarts, pa- per-thin sheets of raw tuna draped over crisp gyoza wrappers, brushed with truffled ponzu and crowned with microgreens, or oysters dressed with ponzu, jalapeño and chili crisp. Hot dishes include spicy, crispy shrimp and a more hearty branzino with charred eggplant. New summer drinks like the Minted Kyori with muddled cucumber, mint leaves, vodka, yuzu and lime, or the lychee martini with lavender syrup pair perfectly on the summer patio. Some seasonal menu items include a crispy soft shell crab roll with masago, endive and chili garlic ponzu; grilled king salmon with ikura with spring peas, soy bean and cherry blossom soy; and grilled Long Island squid with yellow tomato gazpacho, Japanese cucumber and watermelon. 

MORE INFO: okaruroslyn.com 

Saffire 
6330 Jericho Tpke., Commack

Saffire South Asian restaurant in Commack, which took over the Il Toscano space, is Chani Singh's new Indian-Pakistani-Afghan-Nepali hybrid spot, a rarity among local South Asian restaurants. It accommodates up to 100 diners outside on a large patio shaded by plants, and set back far enough off Jericho Turnpike to feel otherworldly. Another rarity: a full bar.

Mush blooms with 'shrooms coffee in E. Rockaway

A new cafe that's entirely dedicated to mushroom coffee drinks has touched down on Long Island. Mush Coffee opened this month on the marina in East Rockaway in a Strip of businesses that includes Lazy Lobster. The shop is owned by Jenny Sprizzo and Doreen Xu, both U.S. Navy Reserve veterans who previously had an import/export business out of Manhattan. Sprizzo said that supply chain problems during the pandemic made her consider a career change, and that she began to work on the mushroom coffee idea two years ago, finding a factory in Colorado that would create custom blends for her. She's still working on the packaging and shipping side of the business, but the cafe is ready to go. "After the pandemic, there were two issues. The first one, a lot of people worked in the home and were lonely," Sprizzo said. "Second one, is because after the pandemic, everybody thinks healthy food is very important." An emerging trend, mushroom-infused coffee is touted as a healthier alternative to regular coffee because it's often lower in caffeine and has various nutrients from the mushrooms. Sprizzo said that her coffees with lion's mane and chaga mushrooms can boost brain function, and have antioxidants to help with immunity and inflammation. 

The shop will pour you the mushroom coffee straight or whip it up into various hot and iced concoctions like a mushccino (cappuccino), a mush-Americano and a caramel musshiato ($7.85). With all that whole milk and caramel in there, it's actually difficult to taste the mushrooms at all. The iced coffee is sweet and syrupy, with a roasty flavor that could be from the fungus, or maybe that's just, well, coffee. Mush Coffee, 1 Dock St., East Rockaway, 516-424-4843, mushcoffee.shop. Open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.