v10i40 - Best of L.I. 2013 "We've Been Nominated Guide"

B1Bestof.longislandpress.com | Long IsLand Press for octoBer 25 - octoBer 31, 2012Bethpage Best Of L I 201 3 VOter’s guIde

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B2 Long IsLand Press for octoBer 25 - octoBer 31, 2012 | Bestof.longislandpress.com Bethpage Best Of L I 201 3 VOter’s guIde


Finding the best in Long Island business is no small endeavor and these days it’s more important than ever. During the past few years, the Best of L.I. program has turned the spotlight on some of Long Island’s hardest hit victims of the economic recession: our local businesses.

The program recorded 50,300 submissions in 2010. Last year, that number soared to 320,000 submis-sions—a 536 percent increase—and more than 1.2 million page views. That’s 1,200,000 sets of eyes, nearly the entire population of Suffolk County.

What began as a small editor’s choice arts and entertainment program has taken on a life of its own and it just keeps growing. Now in its eighth year, LI’s favorite Best Of program has teamed up with Long Island’s favorite financial cooperative, Bethpage Federal Credit Union. The new partnership has culminated in the Bethpage Best of L.I. Awards, an exemplary collabora-tion truly worthy of this competition.

The Bethpage Best of L.I. Has become the largest business awards program in the history of Long Island. This year’s competition features more than 5,000 unique nominees in 450 categories, and will name more than 900 Long Island winners in January 2013.

To fine-tune the program, revisions are being made constantly.

Last year we introduced new cat-egories such as Best Smoothie, Best Life Coach, and Best Author, and added an entire Weddings section that introduced voters to 25 addi-tional categories including: Best

Accommodations, Best Bands, Best Favors, Best Florists, Best Jewelry, Best Event Planning and Best Place to Host a Bridal Shower, among others.

This year we’ve added even more to our Weddings section, with catego-ries including: Best Bachelorette and Bachelor Party Locations, Best Hotels for Guests, Best Destination Wedding Travel Planners, Best Honeymoon Staycation Destinations, Best Place to Buy a Wedding Ring, Best Wedding Photo Op Locations, Best Party Bus Companies and more.

Although it’s hard to believe, we’ve even found another category to add to our food section: Best Soft Pretzel.

For animal lovers wondering where to find their companions mini raincoats—or natural food—check out our expanded Pets section, which includes new categories such as Best Grooming Salon, Best Organic Pet Food/Supply Store, Best Pet Clothing Store and even Best Pet Photographer.

The Bethpage Best of L.I. com-petition runs the gamut. From your favorite bowling alley to your favorite bakery, your favorite podiatrist to your favorite dentist, all your number ones have a place here and you are the judge.

The nominees for 2013 have been chosen by Long Island and you decide who makes it to the very top.

The best gyro, the best slice of pizza and the best wings may not fix the economy or bring about world peace, but they will make you happy, at least for a little while. So, be happy. You deserve it—and so does the rest of Long Island!

Bigger, Better, Bester!The Best of Long Island is Back with a New Partner

and New Categories for 2013By JaCLyN GaLLuCCI

B10 Long IsLand Press for octoBer 25 - octoBer 31, 2012 | Bestof.longislandpress.com Bethpage Best Of L I 201 3 VOter’s guIde W W W . L O N G I S L A N D P R E S S . C O M | L O N G I S L A N D P R E S S f o r M A Y 1 9 - M A Y 2 5 , 2 0 1 1 31N E W S C O L U M N S F E A T U R E S F O O D A & E C L A S S I F I E D 31

Finding Fall Romance on Long IslandBY MAUREEN TARA NELSON, PRIVATE MATCHMAKER, SINGLES COLUMNIST, AND DATING COACH.

“Is fall time the easiest time of year to meet people?” I’m always asked. Yes it is. More people are out and about in the fall months, thus giving us more opportunities to meet people. � ere are also many more exciting things to do with the nice cool weather upon us. Here are some fun examples of how single people can try to meet other single people in the fall:

Join an indoor volleyball league. You don’t even have to be good at the sport. Many leagues have all di erent levels of experience. Usually the costs are also very reasonable. Even if you don’t meet your soul mate, at least you’ll be getting exercise. You might even meet a bunch of new friends, and then you’ll meet their friends.

You get the point!Walking the Jones Beach Field 6

boardwalk, I see many singles there each weekend, as I am there myself enjoying the exercise and atmosphere.

Join a cooking class. Cooking is “hot” this season. If you don’t know how to prepare an exotic meal, now is the perfect time to learn. Many singles enjoy learning how to cook.

Can you ballroom dance? � is is a perfect place to meet singles, any time of the year.

Have a dinner party at your house and ask each of your friends to bring “one single friend.” � is is becoming a popular way for singles to meet.

Make sure you take the time this fall to get yourself “out there” and meet new people. Have a happy Halloween! From your Long Island Matchmaker, Maureen Tara Nelson.

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The Long Island Press is now full swing into the Best of L.I. season, our favorite time of the year, and as our voting numbers would show, it’s Long Island diners’ favorite time, too.

Voting in the Bethpage Best of L.I. Restaurants category has increased 60 percent since last year and as new restaurants, from local eats to national chains, pop up on our shores, we cannot help but be obsessed with food.

It’s everywhere we look. “There’s a culture of going out and

entertaining yourself,” says Long Island Press Executive Vice President Felice Cantatore, who says the voting in the restaurant category is so high because food is important to everyone. “Going to a restaurant is an experience.”

From Greek gyros to Italian spe-cialties like manicotti to authentic Thai noodles, from Pub Grub to diner food, burger joints to sushi bars, you don’t have to travel far for a good meal here, which makes every category—like Best Burger, Best Pizza Slice, Best Lunch Deal—in the Restaurant Section so competitive.

The community votes and the top three restaurants are picked in each category, an esteemed feat that proves they truly are the best Long Island has to offer.

Ivan Sayoles, the president and owner of Best of L.I. contender Rachel’s Waterside Grill in Freeport says they are ready to make the jump from two-year winner of the Best Seafood category to All-Around Best Restaurant.

They have been encouraging all of their patrons to cast daily votes by dropping off a reminder slip with each check. And they’ve worked hard to keep climbing the Best Of L.I. ladder, not only by churning out the finest in seafood, but offering a one-of-a-kind dining option.

As if an up close view of the water

wasn’t enough, in the past year Rachel’s Waterside Grill added a retractable glass enclosure that has turned its waterfront view into a waterfront experience.

“It’s essentially outdoors dining all year,” says Sayoles, adding that the res-taurant just had its best summer ever, and hopes it will be reflected in the voting process.

And that’s what makes Long Island royalty when it comes to food. Eating is much more than simply picking up a fork and knife around here. It’s a night or day out. It’s celebratory. It’s social. It’s ambience. And like Cantatore says, it’s an experience.

Long Island’s food is also an homage to our agricultural community.

Shandon Court, another Best of L.I. contender, incorporates Long Island-grown ingredients whenever possible in their food—which includes unique dishes like Jameson Filet Mignon cooked in an Irish whiskey reduction and their Corned Beef & Cabbage marinated in Harp Ale—even moreso since their Best Continental Restaurant win last year.

“We’ve done more locally sourced food, and amped up the wine menu and specialty cognacs,” says Shandon Court owner Sara Keenan, who says their menu has undergone major expansions.

Around here, restaurants have to do everything they can to keep up with an ever-rising standard that gets set higher every year by a public that has grown used to an endless amount of dining options. And once that’s done, they have to get the word out.

By incorporating the Bethpage Best of L.I. program into their adver-tisements and reaching out to their fans on social media, Shandon Court hopes again to take a top spot in this year’s competition.

Keenan says the restaurant will

LONg isLAND’s FOOD OBsessiON

Restaurant Voting Hits an all-Time HighBy LauRa CeRRoNe

continued on page B18


Best restAUrANtNew year, New Rules

By KaTHy KIm

For years, Long Islanders have cast their votes for restaurants they feel deserve recognition and this year there’s no shortage of contenders for the Bethpage Best of L.I. title. But there is a new approach to voting in the Best Res-taurant category.

The new voting process will involve previous first-place winners from each type of restaurant—Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Italian, Buffet-style, etc.—being pooled together as nominees and then voted on for the title of the best.

“I thought it was a great idea to put last year’s first-place winners up against each other,” says Long Island Press Executive Vice President Felice Cantatore. “I felt that you couldn’t nominate a best restaurant for Best Res-taurant with all these categories, and decided to pit individuals against each other.”

Last year, Best Restaurant nominees were chosen by the direct votes for that category. This year the Best Restaurant contenders were picked by compiling the public’s top choices from all the cat-egories in the Restaurant Section. The new nomination style means that no particular style of restaurant has an edge. They’re all on a level playing field.

“This enables Long Island busi-nesses to have a one-of-a-kind marketing opportunity,” said Cantatore. “Restau-rants and food are important to Long Islanders, and eating at the best should be the best!”

kick the voting process into high gear the last three weeks of the competition.

It’s a familiar scene around Long Island this time of year: dozens of restau-rants vying for a title that will set them apart from the masses. Long Islanders, used to having a veritable United Nations of food, once only available in the city, at their fingertips are looking for the next big thing, or for confirmation of what they already know.

We’ve become spoiled, in a way, with around-the-clock delivery, gourmet food trucks, a double-decker diner and even a McDonald’s that looks like it came out of Victorian England. We expect more from our restaurants, because there’s more to Long Island’s food obsession than just food.

It’s what food represents—comfort, good times, friends, family, tradition, even a getaway from the ordinary that makes it, well, simply the best.

continued from page B12

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ON tHe DOWNLOAD

The Best at your Fingertips

By DaPHNe LIVINGsToN

Say you’re on the road and get a sudden craving for ribs, or decide you really should make that chiropractor appointment you’ve been putting off, or you have the urge to go bowling—or jump out of a plane—the Bethpage Best of L.I. iPhone® and iPad App® has got your back.

Taking the program to the next level and a whole new generation of Long Islanders who demand the best, this free app puts it all at your fingertips.

This digital guide leads users to the best of everything that Long Island has to offer. Long Island’s favorite businesses, which thrive thanks to the support of its residents, are featured in the app, as are the organizations that provide exceptional services in Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Eight years ago, the Long Island Press introduced the Best of L.I. program as a way for readers to cast their ballots for premiere local busi-nesses on the Island. The app is a dramatic leap in the evolution of that process.

And Android users, don’t fret. An Android version of the app is in the works and will be available soon, so stay tuned!


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VOte your opinion

mattersBy KaITLyN KINCaID

What is so great about the Bethpage Best of L.I. election process is that you pick the nominee pool—everyone has an equal opportunity to be represented. It’s democracy at its best.

This year’s nominees have been compiled into a master ballot available at BestOf.LongIslandPress.com, and the polls are open through Dec. 15. During this time, everyone can vote for whatever local store, restaurant, business or person they feel should hold a Bethpage Best of L.I. title.

You are allowed one vote per IP address, per day for each category.

These categories are divided into sections such as Arts and Entertainment, Food & Drink, Nightlife & Spirits, Health and Wellness, Weddings, Pets, Restaurants and others to make it easy to find a specific place you’re looking for.

Once the voting ends, the results are added up and double-checked for fraudulent voting or obvious abuse (those votes are then removed).

After this process, the results are added up again. UPickEm, a third party administrator, runs the Bethpage Best of L.I. voting pages.

So cast your votes now and remember:

In order to find out who’s the best, you need to tell us!

VoTING PeRIoD

10/01/12tHrOUgH

12/15/12


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mAkiNg tHe cUt

How to Get Nominated for 2014

By JaCLyN GaLLuCCI

As you vote for this year’s Bethpage Best of L.I. nominees, you may find yourself scrolling through the ballots only to see that your personal favorite didn’t make it.

“Blasphemy!” you say. Well, no worries. if you don’t see

your favorites on this year’s ballot, the new year is almost here, and before you know it, we’ll be accepting nominations for the next Bethpage Best of L.I. And that’s where you, dear reader, come in.

It’s your job to nominate your favorites, to ensure that they’ll be con-sidered. Because how will we know who is the best if you don’t tell us? Consider this a moral responsibility to your neighbors, those lost souls who don’t yet know the best place to throw a kids’ birthday party or where to find the very best ice cream on our little Island.

Keep them in the dark no longer! Beginning on July 1, 2013, and

running through Aug. 31, 2013, visit BestOf.LongIslandPress.com, where you can nominate your favorites. Then tell all your friends to do the same—because the more nominations, the better chance a business has to be included on the ballot.

NomINaTIoN PeRIoD

07/01/13tHrOUgH

08/31/13

v10i40 - Best of L.I. 2013 "We've Been Nominated Guide"

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