Flour Shoppe to launch new dinner menu

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The Flour Shoppe Cafe, a quaint eatery in Rockville Centre facing busy Sunrise Highway, is set to launch a new dinner menu, as they add yet another element to a location that formerly focused on selling baked goods.

“We saw that we got a lot of traction around breakfast and lunch,” said Elisha LaRocco, the Flour Shoppe’s marketing and catering director. “Like a lot.” Business would slow down a bit around 4 p.m., she added, and the café sought a way to keep customers coming later in the day. The idea of a new list of dishes for the dinner crowd came to mind, and the menu will be officially implemented on Monday.

To give customers a sneak peek at some of the new options — dubbed “The Next Course” — the Flour Shoppe began offering some of the menu’s eats as weekly specials earlier this month, LaRocco said. Dishes that customers already got a glimpse of include Bucatini Carbonara topped with eggs, Gorgonzola Garlic Bread with Cannellini Bean and Garlic Soup, and Ricotta Bruschetta. There was a “soft” launch on July 23 to preview the items.

“It still keeps the same farm-fresh and homemade quality, which is really nice and important to us because that’s who we are and what we plan on sticking to regardless,” LaRocco said of the new menu, which predominantly features homemade pasta, soups and salads, and provides the option to enjoy four courses for one price.

The business, formerly Roe’s Casa Dolce Bakery, shifted gears when Samantha Caltagirone and Madison Kaer, who served as counter staff there, later bought the business. Since May 2015, the new name came with a change in mission, morphing from a bakery to a café with a farm-to-table concept.

Tartines — French open-faced sandwiches with spreadable ingredients — are very popular, LaRocco said, and another breakfast bestseller is Banana Crumb Pancakes. At lunchtime, many order the Hot Cherry Pepper Chicken and Le Grande BLT.

Two chefs were brought on board to help make the new menu a reality, LaRocco said. In conjunction with introducing the dinner menu, she added, the Flour Shoppe is extending its hours to 9 p.m. on Sundays.

“They’re friendly, they’re very nice, they really go out of their way to make you feel comfortable,” said Oceanside resident Jennifer Carrano, adding that she likes the Wild Mushroom Omelette and the BLT. Her eating partner, Carol Colo, also of Oceanside, ordered the Egg White Omelette to experience the hot cherry pepper sauce. “I would never put that combination together,” Colo said. “If I’m short on some fresh ideas, I should just look up their menu.”

Customer Matthew DiSiena added: “The food’s good, so I like to bring my family here one at a time and just have them enjoy it with me. . . . If the breakfast is good, I’ll give the dinner a shot.”

The Flour Shoppe is among the early adopters of Cinch, a cashless method of payment in Rockville Centre. Visit cinch.ky/rvc to learn how to pay with your Cinch digital wallet at more than 40 local businesses.