Hoshi opens in Oyster Bay's former Stellina Bakery space

“We knew we wanted to take our former bakery location in a new direction,” explained Giulia Milana about the Stellina Hospitality Group’s most recent opening. Hoshi, a Japanese kitchen, just debuted in Oyster Bay in the former Stellina Bakery and Cafe space.

Meaning "star" in Japanese, Hoshi connects to all of the restaurants under the Milana family (which owns Stellina Hospitality Group) umbrella; Stellina — the group's eponymous Italian eatery in the hamlet — translates to "little star" in Italian, and L’Etoile — the name of the group's French restaurant, also in Oyster Bay — translates to "the star" in French.

"We felt there was room for more sushi and Japanese dining in and around Oyster Bay," Giulia Milana said of the growing group, which opened a butcher shop, The Bay Butcher, earlier this year, and also counts Casa Stellina, in Farmingdale, and The Audrey, also in Oyster Bay, within its numbers.

The vast menu at Hoshi is a mix of both classic sushi options and more modern interpretations of Japanese dishes. The room is elegant yet simple with floors in blond wood, accented by black wooden chairs, oversized with large windows overlooking Audrey Avenue. There’s no semblance of the bakery; it’s hard to imagine that the immaculate sushi counter once displayed biscotti, sfingi, S and rainbow cookies.

The menu is large, so be prepared to spend some time with it deciding what to order. It spans cold appetizers, a crispy rice section and a sushi taco selection. Then there are hot appetizers, soups, salads, a Waygu menu and entrees. That’s in addition to a full sushi menu with luxury rolls going as high as $48, for example, the North Shore roll with spicy lobster, kani, avocado, asparagus and crunch, topped with seared Kobe beef, fresh truffle and honey Dijon sauce or the Harbor roll with blue crab, spicy kani, crunch, cucumber and avocado, topped with Alaskan king crab, caviar and spicy mango sauce. Entrees from a simpler chirashi ($32) to straightforward sushi and sashimi platters ($90) are available as well — it's not all fancy rolls — with an omakase option for two to four people that can be booked in advance.

To start, there are oysters with uni, yuzu in a sweet chili mango sauce ($30), a yellowtail jalapeño in yuzu soy ($24) served on dramatic stone plating, spicy tuna ($22) to Wagyu crispy rice ($32). Try the soft-shell crab or lobster tacos, the Wagyu sliders ($26) or the beef negamaki, also made with Wagyu ($28), rolled with scallion, mushroom and truffle. The triple crab — King crab, blue crab and kani — salad is served in a crispy rice paper bowl. There are full flights of Japanese and American Wagyu beef ($35 — $160), with enhancements like truffle butter and wasabi butter ($8), king crab legs ($50) and scallops ($32). Hot plates range from grilled salmon ($32) to chicken cooked in nori butter ($42).

At Hoshi, Bryan Dedcovich, the executive chef at L’Etoile and The Bay Butcher, works alongside chef de cuisine John Layos and sushi chef Jianfeng "Jason" Lin, all of whom have been working together for the past few years. Seafood is sourced from Braun Seafood and True World Foods, along with daily selections from local markets on special.

Hoshi, 34 Audrey Ave., Oyster Bay, 516-584-1046, hoshiob.com; Open Sunday through Thursday from noon to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from noon to 11 p.m.