Staten Island Restaurant Tour, Part XX: Pier 76 (Tompkinsville)

Courtesy of the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.

Contemplating the geography of Staten Island is sheer delight. I love how the current quartering of the borough into four informal regions — the North, East, South, and West shores — openly defies the island’s original division into four towns. The town of Westfield became the South Shore, the town of Southfield became the East Shore, and parts of three different towns — Northfield, Southfield, and Castleton — became the North Shore. In the northeastern corner of Castleton is Tompkinsville, the latest stop on my comfort-food tour of New York’s most defiantly confusing borough. Here I am passing over the platforms of the local Staten Island Railway stop with MTA workers, who noted my presence.

But decided not to make an issue of it.

Tompkinsville was named for Daniel D. Tompkins, U.S. vice president under President James Monroe and formerly governor of New York during the War of 1812. Its predecessor Castleton took its name from the County Kildare estate of Thomas Dongan, governor of pre-revolutionary New York, for whom the SI neighborhood of Dongan Hills is named. Its ethnic mix today includes Italian Americans, though they are less ubiquitous here than farther south, along with African Americans, Latinos, and Little Sri Lanka — whose cuisine I celebrated in the Tour’s Stapleton episode. Tompkinsville also hosts SI’s LGBTQ Community Center and is something of a nightlife center. No surprise, since it is just one stop short of the ferry landing, the island’s link to Manhattan.

Oh Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are callin’.

The Stapleton episode covered the waterfront, and the Clifton episode explored Victory Avenue, where many of Tompkinsville’s more modest eateries are located, though few of them were the kind of sit-down place I needed. I’m going to dispense with further travelogue and take you straight (inasmuch as I am capable of being straight) to Bay Street, parallel to New York Bay and The Narrows. On the way to this culinary main drag is Eric Garner Way, commemorating the man who died in a police chokehold, famously exclaiming “I can’t breathe.” The officer was not indicted but was terminated following a $5.9 million out-of-court settlement. Always felt sad to pass this way and I did it three times for this story.

Tompkinsville Park, at the corner of Bay St., Victory Blvd., and Eric Garner Way.

Another wistful note was an eating adventure I won’t get to have: Sherri’s Kitchen, The Kitchen of Soul, whose founder and local activist Scherisce Lewis-Clinton died in 2022. Google lists it as temporarily closed and consumer reviews of its final days suggest that its animating spirit was sorely missed.

Visitors note: Accommodations around the corner.

On Bay Street I tried three different restaurants, any of which would be a worthy featured pick. The most colorful street presence was that of the Cargo Cafe.

Extra points for the “power of love” quote from Jimi.

The exterior literally — and I know what the word literally means — celebrated grace, liberty, courage, and peace.

American beauty.

It was extraordinary, from pretty much any angle. If this place were in Lower Manhattan there would be people lined up around the block seven days a week waiting to get in. And actually, this part of Staten Island is not far from Lower Manhattan.

Bud and bird.

The interior is bigger than you’d expect, with a mirror ball and exotic shiny creature suspended from the ceiling.

Did the creature with tentacles for arms appear in Star Wars?

T Rex was not on the sound system but it was hanging over the bar.

Two of him, actually.

Some fun things were scrawled on the rough-hewn wooden paneling of the restroom, though some of the stuff about some dude named Charles were uncalled for.

Give Charles a break.

My chicken sandwich on warm garlic bread was delicious, though the lunch menu was comparatively modest. I may have to return to sample the more ambitious dinner menu.

Come in the evening for fancier fare.

Beso, a block or so up Bay Street, got its storefront shamelessly distorted by my panorama mode.

It’s not really situated on a corner.

I was graciously given a tour of the interior which includes beautiful large dining areas on the ground floor and upstairs.

I like a bird’s-eye view.

I fumbled with the camera and came away with an inadvertent art shot.

It’ll go into my next book of Zoom backgrounds!

Private spaces range from intimate rooms to outdoor terrace. The latticed ceiling and rich dark brown woodwork would make this upstairs room my choice.

Classy stuff.

Beso offers tapas and a prix fixe menu — to groups. I contented myself with a single tapa, the maduro, a plantain stuffed with chicken in chipotle sour cream.

Modestly photogenic but masterfully flavorful.

Next door to Beso, in keeping with the area’s nightlife orientation, is Pier 76, where I had the most memorable of my three lunches.

Spirit of 76.

The place offers Italian cuisine along with darts, live music, and live events.

No dart games in progress at lunchtime.

I chose a light opener, clams on the half-shell, to avoid filling up before the main event. They were fresh and good and I sipped the salt water from the shells.

Taste of the sea.

The fiocci pasta consisted of “little purses” reminiscent of tortellini and stuffed with pear, Robioli, and Grana Padano cheeses, served with goat cheese and brown butter sauce. It was sweet and three-cheesy in a subtle and complex way.

The picture doesn’t do it justice.

It was so delicious I could have just done a faceplant. Yup, face-down in all this cheesy goodness.

What can I say, I like cheese.

From this point I will stop taking the Staten Island Railway. With the next episode, St. George, I’ll be at the ferry landing itself and won’t need to hop on the rails. After that I’ll be on the buses to hoover up the rest of the North Shore’s numerous neighborhoods as well as a few isolated ones in the less populous West Shore. Maybe the occasional Uber, in a pinch. Don’t touch that mouse.

Previously on the Staten Island Restaurant Tour:

Part I: Angelina’s (Tottenville)

Part II: Fina’s Farmhouse (Arthur Kill)

Part III: Laila (Richmond Valley)

Part IV: Il Forno (Pleasant Plains)

Part V: Breaking Bread (Prince’s Bay)

Part VI: Woodrow Diner (Huguenot)

Part VII: Il Sogno (Annadale)

Part VIII: Riva (Eltingville)

Part IX: Marina Cafe (Great Kills)

Part X: Do Eat (Bay Terrace)

Part XI: Canlon’s (Oakwood Heights)

Part XII: Prince Tea House (New Dorp)

Part XIII: Inca’s Peruvian Grille (Grant City)

Part XIV: Colonnade Diner (Jefferson Avenue)

Part XV: Baci (Dongan Hills)

Part XVI: Chinar on the Island (Old Town)

Part XVII: Cinco de Mayo (Grasmere)

Part XVIII: Phil-Am Kusina (Clifton)

Part XIX: Lakruwana (Stapleton)

If you’re enjoying the Staten Island Restaurant Tour, please follow my blog by clicking follow next to my name at the top. Then subscribe to get emails on new episodes. You can also subscribe to the SIRT channel on YouTube. For offline reading, the first 21 episodes of the SIRT are available as an ebook. See you soon!