A restaurant space that sat empty for nearly a year in the heart of Huntington Village is coming back to life Friday night, as Luca Steak opens its doors at 417 New York Ave. with a menu built around Wagyu beef flown and trucked in from three different continents. Steaks at the new spot run $60 to $100, and the opening caps an eleven-month vacancy left behind when a beloved 25-year-old restaurant closed for good last fall.
That prior tenant was Red, an organic-focused New American restaurant that chef Nino Antuzzi opened in November 2000 and ran for a quarter-century before serving its final meal on September 21, 2025, according to Newsday. Antuzzi's retirement closed the book on one of Huntington's longest-running dining institutions, and the address stayed dark until now. Newsday reports that Luca Steak also secured its state liquor license on August 14, one week before opening, a detail confirmed by state records and first reported by Long Island Wave.
Luca Steak is the second concept from restaurateurs David Tunney and Rory Van Nostrand, who opened the original Luca in Stony Brook Village in August 2022 in a space that had been home to Pentimento, a local staple, for 27 years. That flagship has since built a strong reputation, landing on Newsday's 2025 list of the best Long Island Italian restaurants and offering a three-course prix-fixe dinner for $89. Tunney and Van Nostrand also spent years building the Old Fields hospitality group, which has operated locations in Greenlawn, Port Jefferson, Setauket and Huntington.
A Different Kind of Steakhouse
Tunney told Newsday that Luca Steak isn't trying to be a classic steakhouse or a steak-and-sushi hybrid, describing something more focused. Van Nostrand put it more simply, calling it a “let's say steak restaurant.” Tunney also said the goal was an intimate dining experience, and the numbers back that up: the dining room seats 68 inside, with a covered, landscaped patio adding 38 more seats, and the space includes soundproofing to keep the atmosphere from getting too loud.
The kitchen team includes chefs Luke DeSanctis, Scott Goldstein and Carlo Masakayan, who previously cooked at Lulu Kitchen & Bar in Sag Harbor, alongside general manager Anthony Argiriou. Per Newsday, the kitchen makes virtually everything in-house, down to the sourdough rolls and cultured butter.
Wagyu From Three Continents
The centerpiece of the menu is a lineup of six Wagyu steak selections sourced from vastly different corners of the globe. Wagyu itself refers to four breeds of Japanese cattle, and the meat carries an intramuscular fat content three to six times that of USA Prime beef, according to Newsday's reporting. Luca Steak offers A5 top sirloins imported directly from Japan, the highest possible grade under the Japan Meat Grading Association system, which requires top-tier carcass yield and intramuscular fat scoring between 8 and 12 on the Beef Marbling Standard scale, per Crowd Cow.
From Australia's Margaret River region, the restaurant sources Wagyu Denver steaks, hanger steaks, New York strips and filet mignons. That beef comes from Tajima bloodline cattle raised in free-range environments and rated BMS 6 through 9-plus, a crossbreed that combines intense marbling with the meatiness of a traditional steakhouse cut, according to Margaret River Wagyu. A domestic option comes from HeartBrand Ranch in Texas, which supplies the restaurant's Wagyu flat iron steaks. HeartBrand manages the largest full-blood Akaushi herd outside Japan at its Harwood, Texas, ranch, a herd descended from just 11 cattle imported to the U.S. in 1994, per HeartBrand Beef. The menu also lists a prime bone-in 38-ounce rib-eye, a 12-ounce Wagyu hanger steak, and Wagyu steak tartare.
Beyond the Steak
Non-beef options round out the menu, including a whole roast Cornish hen served on wild mushrooms, saffron-poached halibut, and a bone-in ahi tuna steak with mango-papaya salad. There's also Mangalitsa pork flank with kumquat chimichurri; Mangalitsa is a Hungarian heritage pig breed. Vegetarian diners can order roast cauliflower with harissa and tahini, and starters include a multicolored beet crudo with wasabi goat cheese and a Bibb lettuce wedge with guanciale and blue-cheese mousse.
The pasta program spans five varieties, including bucatini with caviar and bottarga, which is cured mullet roe, carrot tagliatelle with kumquat, and trenne — penne that's triangular in cross section — tossed with gochujang, a Korean fermented pepper paste, and 'nduja, a fiery Calabrian sausage spread. Sides include creamed spinach served in a spanakopita nest and roasted leeks with horseradish cream.
Hours, Parking and Village Turnover
Luca Steak is open Tuesday through Friday from 5 to 10 p.m., Saturday from 4 to 10 p.m., and Sunday from 4 to 9 p.m. The restaurant has a dedicated parking lot in Huntington Village that accommodates 40 cars, entered from New Street one block west of the restaurant. It can be reached at 631-673-0304 or through luca-steak.com.
The new restaurant sits directly across New York Avenue from Besito, a Mexican restaurant that David Tunney's brother, John Tunney, opened in 2006 and now operates alongside other Huntington venues including The Farm Italy and The Shed, according to Newsday. The opening also lands amid a stretch of turnover in Huntington Village dining: 32-year-old Zaro's Cafe closed its doors in April, and Manhattan-based pasta concept Aunt Jake's moved into 10 New Street in May, as Hoodline previously reported.
