Thursday, October 1, 2026
“Professional cooking is like being a professional athlete. Every day is different,” said Executive Chef Todd Jacobs, at work in the kitchen of the Allegria Hotel’s Atlantica restaurant. “Every service is a little different. And the joy of it is really producing a consistent product fast.”
But Jacobs, who runs Atlantica, emphasized a major difference between the two professions. “It’s like being an athlete, except there’s no practice,” he said of being a chef. “Every day is game day. You’re only as good as the plate of food that’s sitting in front of someone.”
Since the restaurant opened last year, business has been booming, Jacobs said, and his cuisine has attracted food lovers from across Long Island. According to the hotel’s marketing manager, Laura Vivonetto, on an average Saturday night, the restaurant averages 200 diners.
Before he came to the Allegria, Jacobs was the executive chef and owner of the acclaimed Atlantica on the Ocean catering facility and Tierra Mar restaurant in West Hampton.
Asked how, after years of experience and having cooked so many different dishes, he came to develop a menu for the Allegria’s Atlantica, Jacobs said he decided on a combination of some new dishes and some of his best from years past. However, he added, he has stood by one rule throughout his career: “My menus are always driven by what’s local,” he said. “I highlight my menu on what’s coming in the back door fresh.”
The choices at Atlantica range from colorful salads — such as pan-seared sea scallops with a brown butter, lemon thyme sauce over greens — to popular dishes such as oven-roasted breast of Long Island free-range duck, and charbroiled local striped bass with organic carrot broth infused with ginger and lemongrass.
Though the kitchen is often hot and staff members are constantly on the move, Jacobs remains calm, collected and uncannily polite despite his looming presence. But through every smile, every gesture, his passion for food comes through.
