Selita’s opens in Lynbrook with vegan Italian options

It’s hard to imagine Italian food without cheese. Thankfully, plant-based dairy products have come a long way since the ’90s, and now it’s possible to open a homestyle Italian restaurant where half the menu is vegan.

That’s the case with Selita’s, a new hideaway in Lynbrook. Flip the one-page menu over and you’ll see plant-based riffs on Italian American classics such as caprese salad with cashew milk mozzarella, oyster mushroom “calamari” and even fettuccine Alfredo. 

The restaurant is owned by Andy Astafa, who founded the popular mini chain of vegan-centric pizzerias 3 Brothers, which currently has locations in Rockville Centre and Farmingdale. The vegan emphasis is inspired by his son, chef Jay Astafa. From 2016 to 2023, Andy operated a sister restaurant, Leona, and 3 Brothers on the same site in Lynbrook, but briefly rented the space out to a Colombian restaurant, Bendito Medallo. When it closed last year, he decided to get back in the game and open a new restaurant on his property. He named it Selita’s, after his hometown of Selita in the Balkan country of Montenegro. 

On a recent weeknight, he was flitting back and forth between the kitchen and the homey dining room, with a small bar up front. (The dining room was quiet, but reservations are recommended for the weekends, when the small space can get busy.)  A web of twinkly lights surrounded a large boat installed upside down on the ceiling. The boat has been a hallmark of the space for years, and has been incorporated into several different restaurant concepts. 

A complimentary plate of bruschetta, with its fresh, garlicky chopped tomatoes, set a generous tone for the meal. And that conviviality carried over to the appetizers, which included a (non-vegan) mozzarella caprese served on a fat block of pink salt ($14). Astafa was enthusiastic about the meatier entrées, which included a $32 rib-eye steak as well as a veal chop, chicken Parm, branzino and baked halibut with Cognac sauce. But another server was more about the back page of the menu, talking up dishes like an eggplant rollatini with plant-based ricotta cheese ($24) prepared in-house by grinding and soaking cashews until they form a paste similar to the Italian dairy product.

We tried a pasta from each side of the menu, and surprisingly, the vegan selection was the one worth going back for. The linguine with oyster mushroom scampi ($21) had a lemony butter sauce that was practically indistinguishable from the dairy version.

Selita’s Restaurant & Bar, 152 Union Ave., Lynbrook, 516-284-6047, selitasrestaurant.com. Open 4-10 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, closed Monday and Tuesday. Hours subject to change.