Farmingdale to Offer a "Taste of Long Island's" Best Products

A new business on Main Street plans to become a showcase of the best locally produced food products Long Island has to offer.

Set to open this month, "A Taste of Long Island" is a specialty food market selling products exclusively produced on Long Island. The range of products will be amazing, from butter churned on small farms to designer beer produced in larger batches.

The new business is also run by two other Long Island products, Jim and Courtney Thompson, the father-daughter owners of A Taste of Long Island at 211-A Main Street, Farmingdale.

A second function of the enterprise will rent out licensed kitchen space to small operations that need a certified facility to produce their home-grown products. The kitchen space is rented to individuals who can cook their product and, in turn, document how the product was produced. Jim Thompson said his will be the only private kitchen like it in the area.

"In addition to the products we'll showcase, we're a stepping stone for people who need to rent kitchen space," Jim Thompson said.

A list of clients lined up for the business is a smorgasbord of Long Island flavors:

There's Bobby Tomatoes of Deer Park, owned by Bobby and Donna Scala, which produces "a to die for" sundried tomato spread as well as a super-fresh parsley spread," Courtney Thompson said.

There's the handcrafted work of "Divine Brine," Robert Schaefer's speciality pickles. And fresh produce from gardeners and small farmers from Eastern Long Island.

We're helping these busiinesses market themselves and get their name out there," Courtney Thompson said.

Monthly, 2 percent of all sales in the specialty food market are donated to a rotating local Long Island charity, the Thompson's said.

Here is a list of some of the vendors:

Amagansett Sea Salt – Locally harvested sea salt.

• Bobby Tomatoes – Sundried tomato spread and parsley spread.
• Bollywood Chutneys – Chutneys and Chili Spread.
• Cakes By Kat – Cupcakes, cake, cake balls, cookies, brownies, pies.
• Chee Bonnet – Cheesecake BonBons dipped in chocolate.
• Divine Brine – Beet caviar, chutneys, caponata, bread and butter pickles, flavored dill pickles, pickles jalapenos.
• Gentle Brew Coffee Roasters – Locally roasted coffee.
• Jessy’s Pastries – Alfajores (Peruvian cookies) and Vegetarian Empanadas.
  Just A Bite Desserts – Cookies, brownies, bars, cake pops, desserts in a jar, cakes, quick breads, muffins, whoopee pies, pies.
• New York Ravioli and Pasta – Raviolis, kids raviolis, sauces.
• Sweet To Lick – All vegan: brownies, peanut butter & jelly blondies, whoopee cookies.

Kitchen clients will be able to produce baked goods, spreads, pastas and sauces, condiments, and jams.