New York Cork Report

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT: Bedell Cellars Winemaker's Dinner at Jewel on March 18

On Sunday, March 18, Bedell Cellars will co-host its next winemaker's dinner, this one at chef Tom Schaudel's newest restaurant, Jewel at 5 p.m.

The five-course menu will be paired with winemaker Rich Olsen-Harbich's wines.

Schaudel has long been an advocate of and champion for Long Island wines, and it's great to see a wine dinner such as this so far west on the island.

Seats are $85 per person and $70 for wine club members. Call (631) 722-0500 for reservations.

 

 

Bedell Cellars Winemaker's Dinner Menu
March 18, 2012 at 5 p.m.

Reception
2007 Blanc de Blanc

Blue Claw Crab/Lemon Aioli/Avocado Mousse/Passion Fruit-Mango "Soup"
2010 Taste White

Pan Seared Salmon/Rose Braised Red Cabbage/Rose-Mustard "Veronique"
2011 Taste Rose

Risotto/Game Hen/Chanterelles/Bacon/Spinach
2010 Syrah

Roasted Filet Mignon/Green Peppercorns/Scallion Potato Mash/Satur Farm's Baby Carrots
2010 Cabernet Franc

Selection of Artisan Cheeses
2002 Reserve Merlot

Sparkling Pointe and Pork Belly Benedict Take Over at Wading River's La Plage

By Dave Seel, Long Island Food Correspondent

It seems every time I decide to eat at La Plage, I can’t remember how to get there. It’s somewhere near Wading River by the beach, hence the name “La Plage,” but the exact route I take always seems to allude me. Eventually though, I do happen upon Sound Road that winds me to the small restaurant.

For years now, Chef Wayne Wadington has been making waves across the North Shore with his eclectic, French-inspired cuisine. Clean, straightforward and always delicious, Wadington's food is based upon fresh, seasonal ingredients. Recently, my wife and I visited for their Valentine’s Champagne Brunch with Sparkling Pointe, Long Island’s sparkling wine-only winery.

While I have yet to visit Sparkling Pointe’s North Fork tasting room, I’ve become a fan of their sparkling wines from various tasting events around the region.

We started the brunch off with their 2007 Brut. A pale sparkling wine, it has a wonderful, balanced texture with notes of apple and pear. This was paired with gougeres as an amuse bouche. Unfortunately, the small puff alone did little to “amuse” our palate. The flavor was a bit milder than I like in gougeres. However, this mild cheese taste did help to highlight the wine, and thus served its purpose. 

We both chose the homemade lobster ravioli as our next course. I always jump at the chance to try a chef’s homemade pasta and Chef Wadington’s did not disappoint. Homemade pasta has a wonderful soft, delicate texture when made well. The ravioli melted in our mouths, giving way to delicious buttery lobster. The tomato-based sauce, created with a homemade seafood stock, had a nice creamy, briny taste that complemented the lobster perfectly.

The course was accompanied with Sparkling Pointe’s 2006 Blanc De Blancs. A beautiful golden color, this wine surprisingly held up to the brininess of the sauce and its almond, pear, and buttery notes paired perfectly with the lobster.

The best moment of the meal arrived with my main course: Berkshire pork belly eggs benedict. I still have dreams of this dish. Seriously. I do.

Crisp, smoked, maple-syrup glazed pork belly topped with perfectly poached eggs and a rich hollandaise sauce. It was eggs benedict-meets eggs with bacon, taken to a whole new level. Again, the dish was simple, but the flavor was astounding.

 

My wife’s main course was a bit more befuddling. She ordered the char-grilled yellow fin tuna salad Nicoise style. Hoping to receive a beautiful Nicoise salad topped with a piece of lightly grilled tuna, she was disappointed to see the tuna had been “mayonnaised”. Coming from a mid-western family who puts mayo on everything, she was less than thrilled. So I shared my glorious pork belly with her, which turned out to be enough for both of us.

 

I ate the rest of the salad, which was actually quite good. The grilled flavor of the tuna made it through the mayo and it was a fresh addition to the richness of the pork belly.

The main course was paired with one of Sparkling Pointe’s top wines, their 2002 Brut Seduction. Again, I was impressed when this sparkling wine stood up to the richness of my pork dish. With notes of ginger and apple, the velvety mouth feel gave a light, but flavorful complement to the savory and sweet pork belly.

We finished off the meal with a passion fruit ice cream sundae and a final tasting of Sparkling Pointe’s NV Cuvee Carnivale. The cuvee is a slighty sweeter-style sparkling wine, which generally I’m don’t prefer, but was a nice touch with our dessert. The citrus and floral notes paired well with the sweet vanilla and fruit flavors of the sundae.

Finishing with an espresso, we chatted with Sparkling Pointe winemaker, Gilles Martin. We learned Martin is now working on a 100% pinot sparkling wine to be released in the coming months. He is also hosting many tasting dinners across the region as well as at the Sparkling Pointe tasting room. It’s indicative of their commitment to making sparkling wine accessible to many palates.

After the meal, we took a short walk on the beach to take in the whole experience. The reminiscence of sparkling wine combined perfectly with the salty air of the Long Island Sound. One of the wonderful aspects of La Plage is the reflection of its place along the water in its cuisine. Alongside the beach, it merges the sea and land on a plate bringing the flavors of French cuisine and Long Island ingredients to life. Whether visiting for brunch or dinner, it’s a wonderful spot for an adventure…if you can find it, that is.

Readers Write: Introducing My Midwestern Parents to the North Fork of Long Island

By Tracy Weiss (@northforkd)

Last weekend, I attempted to show my persnickety midwestern parents the glory that is the North Fork of Long Island. But given their track record, I was a little nervous.

They find fault in every place they visit:

• New York City is busy, overpriced and filthy with too many people. (Exactly why other people love it!)
• Chicago is too windy. (Hence the nickname?)
• Florida, the whole state, is humid and everyone drives too slowly. (I’m with them on this one.)

As far as I am concerned, the North Fork is perfection. My first visit left me with impressions of Napa, the charm of the Cape, shoreline beauty rivaling Maine’s coast with some of that Outer Banks friendliness. But better. I had to live there. Wonderful adventures to be had that close to Manhattan seemed too good to be true.

But in my parents' critical eyes, how would the North Fork measure up? I offer a breakdown of their experience:

Shopping

Funny enough, Dad was incredibly impressed with the box stores in Riverhead. He expected our out-of-the-way home to be outfitted with discarded wine barrels (I wish), over-sized gourds for chairs with any other goods imported from New York City’s Bed Bath and Beyond. He was pleasantly surprised by the proximity of the chains. Mom went crazy at the idea of a Pottery Barn Outlet at Tanger. Her seat belt kept her restrained.

Preston’s in Greenport was a big hit with my father. A long-time fan of all things nautical, he poured over maps and considered adding to his Sperry Top-Sider collection. For a man without a boat, we wandered for quite some time as he explained the inner workings of a tide clocks.

Mom and I made for Material Objects in Jamesport. We strolled around the beautiful old barn and navigated through visitors to Sherwood House Vineyards. She loved the charmingly distressed wood pieces and upholstery, while I longed to make several lamps and glass items mine. I’m hoping she’ll return for a pair of candlesticks for my housewarming gift.

Mom, are you reading this?

Eating

Dining with my parents is not always easy. They are not adventurous eaters and shun anything out of their comfort zone. There are many rules one must follow:

• No meal can last longer than one hour.
• Chicken in some form must be available.
• There shall be no “weird” food.
• Must not be overpriced.

Therefore, our dinner at Luce & Hawkins never happened because mom feared it would break at least one of the rules. Too bad for them, but more bao dumplings for me.

Luckily, they are big fans of breakfast. Cutchogue Diner was the perfect place for them. Any meal served in a silver air stream straight out of the 1950s is four-star. Our friendly waitress put a coffee IV directly into my mother's veins while Dad ran around the restaurant reading up on the history of the place. They got their eggs exactly how they want them -- fast.

They were equally at home at Love Lane Kitchen. The breakfast sandwich was dismissed as a “delicious, but an East Coast invention”, however the pancakes -- blueberry and original -- were voted “the best ever.” Sadly, the special boards were updated with pumpkin pancakes as we finished. My pleas for another round were denied.

Dinner was at the Elbow Room -- our new family tradition. My mother loved the marinated steaks and portions large enough for breakfast leftovers. Dad made friends with the staff, especially after there were no judgments on his dinner order -- chicken fingers.

North Fork Table and Inn’s Lunch Truck started a near-riot as we fought over Claudia’s Chocolate Chip Cookies. You’d think we’d be more docile after a round of their delicious and filling sandwiches.

We took advantage of the seafood to go service at Braun’s. After a terrible incident (Mom’s mesquite swordfish experiment,) our family needs no longer fear the fish after sampling their grilled swordfish. One Woman Vineyards' 2010 Gruner Veltiner followed by McCall Wine's 2007 Reserve Pinot Noir (which paired surprisingly well with candy corn) complemented the meal.

More importantly, we purchased my father a Braun’s t-shirt. He’ll be teaching friends how to correctly pronounce Cutchogue for years to come.

 

Last Looks

Orient Point Lighthouse and the surrounding beach made a huge impact. My mother, an avid rock hoarder, found more treasures than she could physically carry. Dad and I watched the ferries come in and out of the sound with autumn wind on our faces.

Open container laws mean I should not confirm or deny that we shared a bottle of Shinn Estate Vineyard’s 2008 Wild Boar Doe. But if we did, all enjoyed the wine and the tongue-in-cheek name. A perfect North Fork moment.

All in all, they loved the open sky and farmland of the North Fork. The fresh air and locavore nature appealed to them, enough that I’ve convinced them to come back for next year’s Thanksgiving.

Mom and Dad said it all when they exclaimed, “It’s like you’d never know it was 90 miles from New York City." And for my parents, that’s the biggest compliment in the world.

Editor's Note: We want to hear from you. If you've got a New York wine country experience you want to tell us about, just send our executive editor, Lenn Thompson, an email.

WineBar at The Portly Grape: Well Worth the Drive for Good Food and Local Wine

By Dave Seel, Long Island Food Correspondent

My recent trip to WineBar was certainly a drive -- it's out in Greenport after all -- but checking out the new hybrid wine bar and tasting room inside the Portly Grape had been on my to-do list for a while.

Managed by former Bedell Cellars tasting room manager, Andrew Mestler, the WineBar occupies a large backyard tent in the summer months and the bar and lounge of the Portly Grape in the winter. After working at Bedell and seeing the growth of the North Fork wine industry, he jumped at the chance to help be an advocate for all Long Island’s wines.

Mestler’s vision for WineBar was to give small vineyards, like Scarola Vineyards, Bouké Wines and Comtesse Therese, a broader tasting platform. So, while his wine list changes often, you’ll always find small vineyard’s wines alongside some well-known names, and the list will always be 100% local.

Taking the tasting experience one step further, Mestler also works with The Portly Grape’s restaurant, Sim-Pah-Ti-Koh, and its chef, Mark Serrantino, to create a seasonally inspired three- and five-course pairing menus to serve with the wines. Working collaboratively, they take great care in harmoniously pairing the flavors of the food and wine.

Mestler told me, “I firmly believe that food and wine paring is a completely subjective exercise. That being said, what I’m looking for when pairing food with wine is ultimately to achieve a balance. Both wine and food should be showcased without one overpowering the other. Often times, we will go through a number of wines and ingredient choices in the meal before finding the one that we believe works best.”

On my visit to WineBar, we were fortunate to try a few items from Serrantino and Mestler’s newest collaborative menu, which -- with fall in mind -- combines warm, harvest flavors with crisp, well bodied wines.

We started with a Wild Mushroom Parmesan Cup with sautéed wild mushrooms, shallots, and fresh herbs. The flavor was nice and fresh, although the cup itself could have been a bit crispier.

It was paired with a 2007 Pellegrini Chardonnay, the wine’s tart, buttery flavors playing well off of the Parmesan and herbal flavors.

Serrantino then presented us with his wonderful version of surf and turf -- Andouille Sausage and Grilled Shrimp with a Chai-Maple Syrup Glaze. The spicy sausage was perfectly tempered by the syrup and the smokey shrimp continued the subtle suggestion of a southern gumbo.

Next, we moved to my favorite, a Shaved Lamb Crostini.

The lamb was cooked for more than three hours in a classic braise of red wine, herb, and shallots. It was tender and melted in your mouth with classic Mediterranean flavors. This was paired with Merlliance 2008 Merlot, a collaborative wine produced by members of the Long Island Merlot Alliance.

Although not a heavy red, the Merlot held up nicely with the lamb and the merlot’s woodsy and rosemary notes complemented the herbaceous aspects of the braise perfectly.

We then moved to a Sweet Potato Bisque, which presented a balanced combination of sweet and savory flavors with a touch of spice. To pair, Mestler poured us a Macari Vineyards 2007 Chardonnay. The green apple aromas and toasted vanilla finish was a perfect match for Serratino’s bisque. The tartness of the chardonnay muted the sweetness of the bisque, as the vanilla notes complemented the depth of the soup’s spice notes.

Finally, we ended with Local Apple Beignets and a Bouké dessert wine. The apples for the beignets were actually picked on the Portly Grape’s property, and you could taste the fresh tartness in every bite. The dessert wine added a refined decadence, satisfying my sweet tooth and adding a nice finishing touch to the tasting menu.

The whole experience reminded me that fresh, well-prepared dishes and local wine should always be together. Mestler said, “Ultimately our goal is to pair the best food we can with the local wines we serve and many times the ingredients can be sourced locally. It is our goal to promote the local food movement and to help support other local businesses, farms, etc. We always look to source our ingredients locally based upon seasonal availability.”

WineBar
305 North Road, Greenport, NY
(631) 477-4500

NYCR Expands Food Coverage, Adds Bilow and Seels to Team

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

Wine is most certainly food, but beyond our cheese coverage, we haven't done a great job introducing you to New York's seemingly endless food artisans. In fact, it's been almost non-existent. That's why today's dual announcement that Dave Seel and Rochelle Bilow are joining the NYCR staff to expand our food coverage is so exciting.

Rochelle Bilow doesn't just consider cooking, eating and seeking out the best food around her job -- she considers it her life. She prides herself on being “food-obsessed” and works to make good, honest food accessible and exciting to everyone.

In addition to serving as the Finger Lakes Wine & Food Ambassador for Finger Lakes Wine Country and Finger Lakes Wine Alliance, Rochelle is a food columnist at the Syracuse Post-Standard. She attended culinary school at the French Culinary Institute and lived and cooked in Manhattan before coming home to Upstate New York.

Rochelle combines a genuine love for the Finger Lakes with an impressively large appetite, and will be writing not just about the restaurants of the region, but the farmers, artisans and everything in between.

Downstate on Long Island, Dave Seel will fill a similar role, covering the growers, chefs and artisans in and around Long Island wine country.

Having driven cross country nine times, Dave a veteran food adventurer. He's caught lobsters in Maine, eaten fresh venison in The Redwoods, and though once was a vegetarian, he fell prey to bacon and has a love affair with bison.

While living in California, he became obsessed with Napa Cabs, Anderson Valley Pinots and Truffle Tremor goat cheese. When not teaching students about the San Francisco Estuary, he was adventuring in wine country and the neighborhoods of San Francisco, discovering the brilliance of California cuisine.

He is a strong advocate for producing food and libations locally and supporting regional food systems.

After a brief stint in the wine industry, Dave moved back to his native Long Island to be closer to family. He brought a love of food adventuring, wine, and local food and was very excited to discover the food scenes of NYC and The East End.

Please join me in welcoming them to the site and look for their first posts over the next couple of weeks.

 

The Good Life

By Donavan Hall, Long Island Beer Correspondent

I moved to Long Island so that I would have more time to write fiction. When my path crossed with Lenn Thompson, my beer brewing hobby intruded into my writing life. I started writing about craft beer back in 2005 and up until two years ago I was an active beer blogger, contributing to a number of drinks blogs including (what is now called) The New York Cork Report.

For the last two years I've not been idle. In addition to publishing a second edition of my Long Island Beer Guide, I've been busily writing what you could call "beer novels" --- fictionalized accounts of my beer soaked adventures.

I've written three beer novels and I'm working on a fourth. It's time I started getting these books into the hands of readers. But how?

Recently, I drove down to Massapequa Park to have lunch at The Good Life (1039 Park Boulevard). My buddy, Rich Thatcher, president of the Long Island Beer and Malt Enthusiasts (LIBME, a club we started with Mike Voigt a few years back), has been bugging me for a year now to get down to The Good Life. I've been following (from a distance) the activity of the folks behind The Good Life. They've become great supporters of the Long Island craft beer scene and are now one of the must-see beer bars on Long Island.

When I pulled up in front of The Good Life the other day I was amused by the entrance which looks just like an English phone booth. The interior of the place is tastefully done in dark wood -- the architecture and design reminiscent of The Lark in East Northport (near Karp's Homebrew Shop).

My wife and I had taken the whole day off, just to hang out, be together, talk, and generally enjoy each other's company. The kids are off with the grandparents so we wanted to have a real date. "Let's sit outside," said Alice. We sat at a table under a tree and watched the pedestrians and the cars go up and down Park Boulevard.

I'm just as much a foodie as I am a craft beer geek, so food is extremely important to me. Alice studied the menu and came up with a selection of item: pot stickers, East Asian salad, and Shepherd's Pie (which seemed appropriate, not only because we like the dish, but because the British theme of The Good Life we figured the "pub food" would be spot on). And it was.

Being a localist, I try to support the local beers and brewers, so when I saw Greenport Harbor Brewing Canard Noir on tap, I had to start with that. Canard Noir is the Greenport Harbor Black Duck Porter, but fermented with Belgian yeast. The Canard Noir was satisfyingly roasty -- kind of like coffee and toast.

My next beer was a special brew by Ommegang, their "Belgian Independence Day" (listed BID on the menu). The BID was a light, refreshing saison, delicately spiced. While I probably could have settled into several glasses of these, I thought I should probably sample some other offering since we'd driven so far.

While we were sipping our beer and sharing our appetizers, Alice said, "When are you going to start working on the next edition of your beer guide?"

"Today," I said, half-joking really. "I'll write about this place."

"Seriously, you should do some marketing for your guide. A lot of people still don't know about it," she said.

"What people want," I said, "is an app for their iPhone. Not a 250 page book."

"What about an e-book?" she asked.

"That's an idea," I said.

Then the shepherd's pie came.

After the meal we ordered a last round for desert: VUUR & VLAM from Brouwerij de Molen in Bodegraven, Netherlands and Corne du Diable from one of my favorite Canadian breweries, Dieu du Ciel, both IPAs. The VUUR & VLAM (Fire & Flames) is definitely classed in the "extreme" category: lots of citrusy, fruity American (Pacific Northwest) hops and decent amount of alcohol heat. The Corne du Diable (Horn of the Devil) is more subtle, more English in its hop character, a sharp tea-like bitterness rather than citrus fruit.

We took our time over these beers. At this point the sun had retreated into the leaves of the tree we were sitting under. With shade and the gentle breeze, we weren't in any hurry to leave. I was seriously tempted to stay all day, but I'd promised to take Alice to the Stony Brook Film Festival that evening.

Later that evening, after getting home from a full day out with my lovely wife, I picked a proof copy of my first beer novel and flipped through it. Drinking beer and writing about it. What could be better? This is truly the good life.

Taste of Two Forks Brings 23 Local Wineries and 39 Local Chefs Together

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

This Saturday evening, I'll be making the drive down to the Hamptons to attend the inaugural Dan's Taste of Two Forks event at Sayre Park in Bridgehampton.

Organized by Dan's Papers (full disclosure: I'm their wine columnist) and hosted by celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson, the event will bring together top chefs and wineries from both the North and South Forks under one 'roof.'

The idea isn't a new one -- it isn't that different from the HARVEST EAST END event that launched last fall -- but this is sure to be a fun evening and they have certainly gotten many of the East End's top restaurants involved -- nearly 40 in total -- including some of my favorites like 1770 House, Estia's Little Kitchen, Love Lane Kitchen, Luce & Hawkins, and new favorite Southfork Kitchen. (See the full list of participating chefs/restaurants)

On the liquid side of things, there are 23 wineries participating and Southampton Publick House will be pouring their often-terrific beers.

Tickets are $150 per person ($225 if you want VIP access, which opens at 6:30 p.m.), which may not seem like a great value, but when you consider how much a dinner out would cost you at most of the restaurants taking part, it's reasonable.

I hope to see you there.

Dan's Taste of Two Forks
When: 7:30-10:30 p.m. Saturday,
Where: Sayre Park, Bridgehampton
Tickets: 631-227-0188 or danstasteoftwoforks.com

Some Pictures from Our Heart & Hands Wine Company Dinner at Luce + Hawkins

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

By any measure, last night's NYCR Artisan Dinner at Luce + Hawkins -- featuring the wines of Heart & Hands Wine Company -- was a success. The packed house enjoyed an incredible meal prepared by chef Keith Luce and his kitchen team, and I'm pretty sure that everyone came away excited about what Tom and Susan Higgins are doing with pinot noir in the Finger Lakes.

I'd like to thank everyone one for coming -- especially Tom and Susan who made the trip to Long Island wine country just for this dinner and were on their way out of town early this morning.

We don't do a lot of photo essay-type posts here on the site, but there were some great sights last night worth sharing:

The menu

 

Local yellowtail sashimi with spicy tomato water and basil seed caviar. Paired with 2009 Brut Rose.

 

Tom Higgins addressing the sold-out dining room.

 

New potatoes with housemade chevre, charred corn, sweet peas and mushroom syrup. Paired with 09 Pinot Noir.

Porcelet -- suckling pig stuffed with sausage -- with southern-style beans and oven-roasted tomatoes. Paired with 08 Barrel Reserve Pinot Noir

Lemon curd and local berries topped with buttermilk cream and apricot-saffron-white pepper sorbet. Paired with 09 Riesling.

 

July 11: NYCR New York Artisan Dinner With Heart & Hands Wine Company

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

To build on the success of the first of our "New York Beverage Artisan Dinners" at Luce & Hawkins, we knew we wanted to do a wine dinner -- but not just any wine dinner.

And, I think we're doing something pretty different -- by featuring a Finger Lakes winemaker and his wines.

Tom Higgins, co-owner and winemaker at Heart & Hands Wine Company on Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes is traveling to the North Fork on July 11 to share five of his pinot noir-based wines as we enjoy a four-course meal prepared by Chef Keith Luce.

This very well may be the first-ever Finger Lakes wine dinner in Long Island wine country.

If you're not familiar with Heart & Hands Wine Company, you've probably not been a NYCR reader for very long and you probably haven't read Finger Lakes editor Evan Dawson's book yet either (why not by the way?).

Simply stated, Higgins is making some of the most exciting pinot noir-based wines in the state, if not the entire East Coast. Heart & Hands is small, producing fewer than 2,000 cases per year, and while Higgins does make some (very good) riesling, the pinots are the stars of the portfolio and make the winery a real jewel in the region.

Dinner will start at 7 p.m. on July 11 and will offer a rare opportunity to taste these wines on Long Island, and we're thankful that Higgins has been enthusiastic about taking part in our dinner series. He'll be pouring his 2009 Brut Rose, 2009 Pinot Noir, two 2008 single-vineyard pinot noirs and a 2008 Barrel Reserve Pinot Noir.

Seats are $75 (including tax and gratuity) and we only have 40 seats available for this dinner -- which I expect to sell out fairly quickly.

If you'd like to join us, please email me asap to reserve your spot.

Inventive Food and Unique Beers Highlight NYCR's First New York Beverage Artisan Dinner

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

Yesterday evening, 30 or so lovers of local food and beer convened in the dining room at Luce & Hawkins for the NYCR's first-ever New York Beverage Artisan dinner featuring Paul Dlugokencky (pictured right) and his unique Blind Bat Brewery beers.

The five beers -- and the menu created just for the event by Chef Keith Luce and his team -- were a hit with the assembled crowd. For me, there were too many highlights to even mention. I could tell you about Paul's inaugural batch of honey-basil ale or his smoked wheat ale -- smoked over oak -- named "Vlad the Inhaler" but then I'd be ignoring his Hellsmoke Porter, one the best beers of its kind that I've tasted, or his Long Island Potato Stout, which is made with local, organic potatoes and at only 3.8% abv packs a pile of flavor.

Maybe it would make sense to talk about the charcuterie program that Keith and his team have undertaken. We got to sample the mortadella, some smoked summer sausage and an incredible chicken gallantine.

The duck wings were succulent and just-spicy -- they are always a favorite.

  Of course, I can't write this post without mentioning the bbq spice doughnuts and black garlic ice cream, which was as weird as it was delicious.

And the way that the beers and foods went together was nothing short of enlightening and inspiring.

I'd like to thank Paul, Keith and his team for an incredible evening with a great group of people. It's a pleasure to spend an evening with so many like-minded folks who are as excited as I am about eating and drinking local. To our guests, a hearty thank you as well.

We'll be announcing our next dinner soon -- and don't think for a second that we'll limit ourselves to Long Island producers. We're already talking with some Finger Lakes winemakers about doing dinners here in Long Island wine country.

If you're making good beer, wine or spirits in New York states, we want to talk to you.

 

 

The NYCR and Luce & Hawkins Present... an Evening with Paul Dlugokencky, Blind Bat Brewery, May 23

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

For several years now, I've allowed an idea for a series of local beer, wine and spirit dinner macerate in my mind. I wanted them to be somehow different from the dinners already happening -- because where's the value or fun in doing something that is already being done?

First and foremost, I wanted these dinners to celebrate a person rather than a winery, brewery or distillery. The artisan behind the local beverages needed to be the star. Front and center.

Next, I wanted the dinners to be as affordable possible -- to make them accessible to people who enjoy quality, local food and wine but maybe can't afford $100 per plate.

And lastly, I wanted the food to be creative and the menu be crafted with the chosen beverages in mind. No cookie-cutter menus with "Insert White Wine Here."

And when I met Keith Luce, chef at Luce & Hawkins in Jamesport, a while back, I knew I had met a brother in arms in the eat and drink local movement. These dinners would finally have a home -- outside of my own brain -- and a chef willing to make it happen.

Keith and I -- along with mutual friend and local 'wine guy' Mark Grimaldi -- are pleased to announce the first in this series, an evening with Paul Dlugokencky, founder and brewer at Blind Bat Brewery in Centerport on Monday, May 23 at 7 p.m.

Paul is a true pioneer in the craft brewing revolution underway on Long Island today. Throughout the evening, Paul will discuss his beers and brewing style as we enjoy a three-course meal and five of Paul's small-batch beers -- including his first-ever honey-basil ale.

Seats are $55 (including tax and gratuity) and we only have 40 seats available for this dinner.

If you'd like to join us, please email me to reserve your spot!

Long Island Restaurant of the Year: Luce-Hawkins

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

Long Islanders are blessed with a seemingly endless array of dining options with restaurants of every cuisine, style and vibe at our finger tips.

Now that we have an almost-4 year old at home, my wife Nena and I don't eat out nearly as much as we used to. As a result, we've become probably too impatient with underwhelming dining experiences. If we try a new place and the service is awful, the food isn't creative or executed well, or the wine list is boring and only pays lip service to local producers, we're probably not going back.

Our 2010 Long Island Restaurant of the Year, Luce-Hawkins, hasn't been open a full year yet, but already we've eaten there three times -- and have plans to eat there again soon.

Chef Keith Luce, sommelier/director Michael Kaminski and the entire team at Luce-Hawkins have created something special on the North Fork -- a restaurant that embraces local ingredients, prepares them artfully with passion and inspiration, and that appeals to any diner.

Looking for a high-end, multi-course meal? Sit in the formal dining room and order the chef's tasting menu, which will no-doubt feature local seafood and shellfish, and perhaps touch on Chef Luce's affection for Asian cuisine.

Want a quick -- and affordable -- meal after a day tasting wines on the wine trail? Sit in the more casual covered patio. For $10, you'll get one of the best burgers around.

Why such a focus on local? Chef Luce answers that simply "It is the correct thing to do in today's world to consume locally," adding that " Everyone wins, (and) it is the absolute first step necessary to attain a model of sustainability."

The menu alone is worthy of mention, but there are other places to get great food on the North Fork. What sets Luce-Hawkins apart -- and why it is our restaurant of the year -- is its wine program and involvement with the local wine community.

As I mentioned, most wine country restaurants have a few local wines on their list, but the selections are often uninspired, or worse.

At Luce-Hawkins, you'll find most of the Long Island's wineries represented, including many top wines. You can even get local wines on tap; top wineries like Paumanok Vineyards and Shinn Estate are kegging wines just for the restaurant. The local list extends all the way up to the Finger Lakes too. You can get Hermann J. Wiemer semi-dry riesling on tap right now and Heart & Hands Wine Company pinot noirs are available by the bottle.

Best of all, Luce has embraced the members of the local wine community -- and the community has embraced him and the restaurant right back. They've hosted winemaker dinners, winery holiday parties and on any given evening you'll find winemakers, winery owners and tasting room staff there.

When I asked Luce why he thinks it's so vital for his restaurant to be intimately involved with the local restaurant industry, he told me "Every wine region I've lived in or visited, there is a tight knit group of like-minded artisans who believe 1,000% in what they are doing and where they are doing it. I was born and raised here and happened to have left to learn and experience more. I've always dreamed of returning and don't take my family's 14- or 15-generation heritage lightly. I want to preserve that heritage -- and what's left of my family land -- and be a part of something that will create a new heritage and image for the region. The easiest way to make this happen, day in and day out, is to champion local products, in this case wine, by purchasing those local products and helping spread the goodness!"

For being everything I'm looking for in a wine country restaurant and for creating and being a jewel on the North Fork, Luce-Hawkins is our Long Island Restaurant of the Year for 2010.

The New York Cork Report 2010 Restaurants of the Year: The Concept

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

One of the goals for the New York Cork Report is to shine the spotlight on the people, places and things that we are excited about in the New York wine community. Our "Wines of the Year" program was born of this goal and in discussing our goals going forward, the other editors and I have decided to add "Restaurants of the Year" to the site as well.

As with the wine program, this series of awards isn't strictly about the best restaurant in each region."Best" is vague at best and fact is, none of us claim to have eaten at every restaurant in any region.

But, our love of food, wine and everything local does result in us meeting many chefs, eating in their restaurants and understanding their style.

Based on those experiences, each of our regional wine editors has idenitfied a restaurant that shares and embraces many of the beliefs we ourselves have -- local ingredients, local wines and local community.

With 2011 bearing down on us quickly, come back tomorrow for posts from me, Evan and Bryan as we tell you about our restaurants of the year from Long Island, the Finger Lakes and Niagara respectively.

 

North Fork Table & Inn Announces First Annual "Tour de Forks" (Long Island La Paulee)

By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief

Are you familiar with La Paulée, the traditional Burgundian celebration held at the end of the grape harvest? No?

I wasn't either until Kareem Massoud from Paumanok Vineyards introduced me to it a while back. At its core, it's a big BYOB party -- but so much more. It's a chance to open up that special bottle of older or large format local wine, sharing it with fellow local wine geeks and industry members. (Read about the history of La Paulée)

At the time, Kareem also mentioned that he wanted to bring the concept to Long Island.

Well here it comes in the form of Tour de Forks, taking place on Sunday, May 16 at 4 p.m. at one of Long Island's top restaurants, North Fork Table & Inn. 

From North Fork Table's Mike Mraz (in an email this morning):

"We will provide you with a communal venue and feast to enjoy the wines you've been waiting for a 'special occasion' to open. We will shut down the restaurant so you and your like-minded fellows can 'geek out' and perhaps even engage in a little friendly one-upsmanship!"

The food is sure to be incredible and wine writer (and North Fork resident) Lettie Teague will act as the emcee for the feast.

Tickets are $150 per person (which includes tax and tip) and you need to reserve your spot by April 16.

Unfortunately, that is the one Sunday a year when I need to be in the office working, so I don't think I'll be there, but I'm not giving up yet!

This is an exciting endeavor. I hope they sell out and are forced to do this a few times a year.

A Taste of Paumanok Vineyards' Past. A Hint of the Future.

Six vintages of Paumanok Vineyards Grand Vintage Merlot

By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief

Let's say you own a winery. A good winery. One that is often pointed to as one of your region's best, in fact. Wouldn't you dip into your library, enjoying maturing and mature bottles of your own wine regularly, just because you can?

Apparently not, at least not if you're the Massouds from Paumanok Vineyards.

Between tasting wines that are still being made — from tank and barrel — tasting upcoming releases to determine when they are ready for the public,  selling current releases, selling those wines and promoting their winery and the entire region, there just isn't much time for tasting from the cellar.

That's one of the reasons Charles and Urusula Massoud, who founded the 103-acre estate in 1983, conceptualized the "Grand Vintage Dinners" that they've been hosting at the winery. The dinners feature food cooked on-site (on a 6-burner stove no less) by local celebrity chefs Tom Schaudel and Michael Ross, and serve as the perfect opportunity for local wine lovers — and the family behind them — to taste some of the best wines the winery has ever put out.

One can think of "Grand Vintage" at Paumanok as a more meaningful version of "reserve" labeling. A wine is only deemed Grand Vintage when it's warranted -- after a double blind tasting of individual lots. In even more exceptional years, a wine will be labeled with a vineyard designation, which has only happened a handful of times in the winery's history.

The Grand Vintage dinner I attended last weekend — the second in a series of four — focused on six different vintages of Grand Vintage Merlot. I'm a sucker for vertical tasting and going from 2000 up through and including 2007 made for a tremendous tasting experience.

The food, especially when you take into account that it was cooked for more than 50 on that small portable range, was delicious as well.

We started the evening with a piece of seared salmon served with a Provence-style sauce of tomatoes, olives, capers and garlic, paired with Paumanok Vineyards 2001 Grand Vintage Merlot, a  beautiful wine showing mature secondary and tertiary flavors of earth, dried herbs and spice layered with dried and fresh cherry fruit. A graphite note on the finish worked extremely well with the briny olives and capers. Kareem Massoud, who has taken over the winemaking duties from his father, said it was tasting “better than I ever remember it tasting.” It's probably not possible to say for sure that it's peaking right now, but it's really in a great spot in its development.

Next up was grilled quail with mushroom risotto, blueberries and chantrelle mushrooms alongside Paumanok Vineyards 2002 Grand Vintage Merlot. Poured from magnums it was much more youthful and fruit-forward (wines age more slowly in larger bottles), with bright red cherry flavors leading the way with earthy tobacco, spice and savory spice notes. In the larger bottles at least, this wine has plenty of life ahead of it. This may have been my favorite pairing of the evening. Near perfect.

For the third course, we enjoyed (greatly) Jurgielewicz Farm’s duck breast with sweet potato-roasted banana puree, haricot verts and a raspberry glaze. This course was accompanied by two widely different wines — the 2004 and 2005 Grand Vintage Merlots. 

From a cooler and perhaps more regionally typical year, the 2004 was almost Burgundian in its mushroomy earthiness, elegant fruit and subtle floral notes. The 2005 on the other hand was intense with dark, ripe fruit, black licorice and ripe, grippy tannins. If you get your hands on some, don't open it for at least another couple of years.

Before diving into dessert, we were presented with a wedge of truffled pecorino cheese with roasted tomato, extra virgin olive oil, rosemary and fennel pollen. The wine, Paumanok’s 2000 Grand Vintage Merlot, showed nice weight and mature earthy flavors and a distinct minty-eucalyptus note that played off the rosemary well.

Red wine with chocolate is a discussion for another time (I’m not a believer though, so maybe I won't bother) but poured alongside a bittersweet chocolate terrine with hazelnuts and raspberry puree, we enjoyed another big, powerfully young wine, the just-released (the day of the dinner) Paumanok Vineyards 2007  Tuthills Lane Vineyard Merlot, the winery's first vineyard designated merlot.

Bold, ripe blueberry flavors burst from the glass with black licorice, spice, dark chocolate and French roast coffee. This wine is the complete package already — ripe, concentrated and extracted, with great structure. If the 2005 is young, this one is an infant. Buy some and lay it down for another 10 years. Or buy more and check in on it every year or so. I can't remember who said it, but the words "Might be the best wine we've ever made" escaped from someone's lips during this course. Time will tell on that point.

Paumanok will be hosting two more Grand Vintage dinners this spring — a Magnum dinner on April 24 and a 2001 Grand Vintage dinner on May 22. Visit their events page for details.

I can only hope that he Massouds enjoy their library wines more often and that they invite me over to share in them.

Veteran Journalist DiGennaro Joins New York Cork Report as Long Island Restaurant Critic

By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief

I've known Ralph (Ron) DiGennaro for a long time... virtually. A long-time reader, we have exchanged countless emails about local wine, food and journalism in general.

Today, he joins the NYCR team as Long Island Restaurant Critic.

Formerly Men’s Style Editor at the New York Times Magazine and Fashion News Editor at Gentlemen’s Quarterly, Ron is one of the preeminent voices in luxury journalism. 

Currently, he is a contributing editor to The Affluent Page, Sommelier Journal, The Tasting Panel and Caviar Affair, and his writing has also appeared in Esquire, The New Yorker, Departures, Cigar Aficionado and a host of other national magazines. He is alsoco-author of the book, Brioni: Fifty Years of Style (Octavo 1995).

When he is not writing he spends his time picking his Martin guitar -- a glass of Long Island merlot or Oregon Pinot noir never far from reach.

Ron will be reviewing and writing about Long Island wine country chefs and restaurants as well as those that support the local wine industry the most.

Join me in welcoming Ron to the team -- even if he does like his wine a bit oakier than the rest of the team.

Ron and I are working out the final details of the NYCR's restaurant review policy. Once it's finalized and published, we'll put him to work.

Wine on Tap: Local Restaurant, Wineries Go Beyond Bag-in-Box

Verace, a newly opened Italian restaurant in Islip, NY with three local wines on tap.

By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief
Photos courtesy of Verace

 I think we've all been there -- in a restaurant that may or may not pay much attention to its wine list and may or may not pay even less attention to their by-the-glass selection -- more or less offering whatever is already open, and over-charging you for it.

You order a glass anyway, knowing that you're playing by-the-glass roulette. Before you even take a sip, you can pinpoint how long the bottle has been open -- somewhere between a week and a year. Oxidized, cooked or both.

Now imagine a different world  completely, one where every glass of wine is fresh and tastes the way the winemaker intended. Now imagine that -- in that same world -- the wine by the glass isn't a rip-off. 

This is the world of wine in kegs. And it's come to Long Island in the form of Verace, a new Italian restaurant in Islip. I haven't been there yet, but the wine program is certainly intriguing.

Sure, they have a 'regular' wine list -- which, as you'd expect, is heavy on Italian wines. That makes sense and isn't anything special. But the cool thing is the four wines that they have on tap. There is an Italian-made Barbera, but what got the attention of this local wine entusiast is the other three taps.

There's a dry riesling from Hermann J. Wiemer up on Seneca Lake and two wines made at Raphael on the North Fork -- a steel-fermented sauvignon blanc and a custom-made blend of 68% merlot (clone 181), 19% cabernet franc aged in old wood, 8% malbec and 5% petit verdot.

Because these wines were gravity fed -- unfined and unfiltered -- directly into kegs under nitrogen gas right at the winery and are held under pressure until being poured, they aren't exposed to oxygen or sunlight, two of wine's great enemies. Think of these kegs as bag-in-box wines on steroids, with much higher-quality wine in them.

Not surprisingly, the inspiration for the system comes from the Old World -- Italy to be more precise. Verace co-owner Michael Bohlsen told me in an email that “We stopped at a small restaurant on the side of the road and drank some wonderful red wine from a pitcher. I asked where the wine was from. The owner pointed out the window to the vines in plain sight.”

That’s the Italian wine experience that he wanted to bring to Long Island.

He's done it and according to Raphael winemaker Rich Olsen-Harbich "There has never been a fresher wine served on Long Island."

Consistently fresh wine in your glass is an obvious benefit to consumers, but look just a bit deeper and there are benefits for the restaurant, the winery and the environment too. “I like not having to order extra glass and cardboard. It makes our entire winery just a little more environmentally friendly which I'm proud of," Olsen-Harbich told me. 

With its wine-in-keg system, Verace has been able to reduce its carbon footprint and save money too. It doesn’t have to pay for the waste associated with bottling or for shipping bottles across the country or around the globe. They don't have to dispose of the empty bottles or the cardboard boxes they come in.

“The price of the wine reflects those savings,” Bohlsen said.

They also never worry about corked bottles or pouring wine from bottles that have been open too long -- again, eliminating waste. “It is just a more efficient, higher-quality product with the benefit of being kind to the environment," Bohlsen said.

For someone like Olsen-Harbich who has been making wine on Long Island for nearly 30 years, this has been a fun project to be a part of. "The development of a wine to match the (restaurant's) cuisine is very cool. I usually don't get a chance to do that, so it was great to have this completely involved process with everyone participating."

He's not kidding when he says "everyone." He met with the entire restaurant staff, including head chef Francesco Torre to taste through two dozen lots of reds from the 2008 vintage. "It was great to sit and work with a group of people who were obviously all in love with what they are doing and all had great palates."

Olsen-Harbich describes the finished blend as "beautifully aromatic and soft yet with an authentic rustic edge. Completely ready to drink today with enough complexity to be really alluring. It's the perfect wine for Francesco's food."

But, the most important thing to Olsen-Harbich is that "People can enjoy my wine in a new way. Wine has been available in larger, refillable vessels in Europe for a long time, so its nice to see this philosophy take root here. The people of Long Island live close to a great wine region and enjoying local wine in this way is a benefit of living here -- its the way it was supposed to be!"

From the sounds of it, Olsen-Harbich is far from the only one so excited and enthusiastic about the program.

"We expected to have quite a bit of resistance," Bohlsen told me, referring to his customers. "On the contrary, the program has been widely embraced. People are curious as to how we got it done. They are truly amazed at how wonderful the wine really tastes. And, of course, the affordable price is attractive."

Celebrating the Opening of Mirabelle Tavern With Eric Fry from Lenz Winery

When one of our favorite restaurants, Mirabelle, close a few months ago, Nena and I were really bummed. But, almost immediately, we heard that it was re-opening at the Three Village Inn in April.

Well, Mirabell itself will be opening soon, but next week they are celebrating the opening of Mirabell Tavern. Chef Guy Reuge is teaming with Eric Fry, winemaker at Lenz Winery on the celebration, which promises to be a fun one.

Both are at the top of their crafts on Long Island.

And, assuming we can get our babysitter situation worked out, Nena and I will be there toasting them both as Mirabelle returns to our lives.

The menu:

Mini farmers bread stuffed with escargots and mushrooms
2002 Cuvee, Methode Champenoise Sparkling

Thin-sliced salmon fillet with cucumber “spaghetti” and tomato
2005 White Label Chardonnay

Cream of roasted free-range chicken and almond soup with honey
2006 Gold Label Chardonnay

Roasted rack of lamb with potato tart and sweet garlic sauce
2001 Estate Selection Merlot

Tulipe pastry with mocha ice cream, hot chocolate sauce
1999 Late Harvest Gewurztraminer

Tickets are $85 and reservations are required. For reservations or further information, call Three Village Inn at (631) 751-0555.

Local With Local: Local Beet Carpaccio With Catapano Farms Goat Cheese Ravioli Paired With Macari Vineyards 2007 Katherine's Field Sauvignon Blanc

This edition of "Local With Local" features two (actually three) ingredients that I'm passionate about: local beets, Catapano Dairy goat cheese, and local sauvignon blanc.

When I asked my partner in this project, chef Doug Gulija from The Plaza Cafe in Southampton, to create a dish to serve with Macari Vineyards' 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, he first thought about seafood, a natural companion and the protein with which he does his wizardry at the restaurant. But, after tasting the wine in the dining room, with Joe and Alexandra Macari who were eating there, chef was blown away, telling me afterwards that he "really believes that it is one of the best sauvignon blancs the Island has produced."

But instead of pairing it with seafood, he went a different direction, coming up with Local Beet Carpaccio With Catapano Farms Goat Cheese Ravioli, to "accentuate the freshness, liveliness and touch of herbaceousness" in the wine."

Recipe after the jump.

I Really Want to Love Love Lane Kitchen

I really do want to love Love Lane Kitchen. Seriously.

It's a bustling little cafe on a great little street (Love Lane) in Mattituck. The menu balances local standards (lobster rolls) with things that are a bit of a surprise (pad thai and Cuban sandwiches). And, given the dire need for lunch options in wine country, I really really want to love the place.

But after our second visit, I can't say that I do yet.

After a quiet 4th of July at the house, we decided to make the short drive out to the North Fork. We picked up our CSA share, visited Waters Crest Winery and headed down to Love Lane Kitchen for what we hoped would be a quick, satisfying lunch. Unfortunately, it was neither.

They were mobbed, which is good. It was a busy weekend out there, so I'd have been worried if it had been empty. But, they clearly weren't staffed to handle the busy Saturday afternoon. More on that in a moment.

Long Island BYOB Restaurants: Let's Build a List

Earlier this week, I asked you what you wanted to see more of here on LENNDEVOURS. One of the ideas mentioned was to create a page that lists BYOB restaurants on Long Island... and a great idea it is.

So, if you know about a BYOB restaurant, either email me or leave a comment here. I just need the name, town and any other information (corkage fees, etc.) I'll compile all of the information onto a page and post it to this site.

I'll start off by mentioning some BYOB restaurants that I know about and have been to:

• Kitchen - A Bistro in St. James: No corkage fee
• Thai Gourmet in Port Jefferson Station: No corkage fee
• Sabai in Miller Place: No corkage fee
• Love Lane Kitchen in Mattituck: No corkage fee on local wines

That's a good start, but I'm sure there are more. So let's get this list together.

Garden of Eve Organic Farm CSA Share: Week 1

I'm a week late (and forgot to take a picture of this week's share) but I wanted to post about our CSA share at Garden of Eve Organic Farm out on the North Fork.

From left to right (more or less): rhubarb, asparagus, strawberries, garlic scapes, eggs, Russian kale, mesclun, leeks, Swiss chard, red leaf lettuce and green leaf lettuce.

Lots of salads this time of year, but Nena also made some killer shortcakes to accompany some of the strawberries we got this week. Amazing how different locally grown strawberries are from the hard, flavorless berries at the grocery store, isn't it?

The Fifth Season Has Moved to Port Jefferson

Because we don't have any family nearby for babysitting, Nena and I have gotten a bit out of the North Fork dining scene. We did make it to Jedediah's and North Fork Table last year, but there was one more North Fork restaurant we wanted to try -- The Fifth Season in Greenport.

So, I was really disappointed over the winter when I heard that it has closed. Co-owner and chef Eric Orlowski is stringently dedicated to local ingredients (and wines) and his ever-changing menu has gotten rave reviews from critics and LENNDEVOURS readers. It seemed, however, that we'd not get to taste Orlowski's food.

This afternoon, that changed as Nena, Jackson and I walked around Port Jefferson village. There, across the street from the marina was a restaurant called The Fifth Season in a space that has played host to several restaurants in recent years. Could it be the same restaurant and owners? A quick Internet search revealed that yes, it is.

Turns out that Chef Orlowski and his wife have reopened The Fifth Season -- and a whole lot closer to our house. They are at 34 East Broadway, and are open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner and for brunch on Saturday and Sunday, http://www.thefifth-season.com

And, now that Jackson is old enough for non-family babysitters, it's going to be great to have them so close. Port Jefferson is a beautiful little Long Island Sound-side village, but the restaurants tend to be more underwhelming. Now, we might have one of Long Island's best restaurants 10 minutes away. That's definitely a good thing.

Can't Wait for our Garden of Eve Organic Farm CSA to Start

I don't think I've mentioned it here (not lately anyway) but our local grocery stores are awful. Pitiful really. They are particularly pathetic when it comes to the produce departments. The produce rarely looks fresh and it tastes great even less often.

That's just one of the reason we can't wait for our summer vegetable, fruit and egg shares to start at Garden of Eve Organic Organic Farm. It starts in a couple weeks, and our goal is to avoid the chain stores as much as possible for the 22 weeks of the program.

And, because I can't help but get involved in things I'm into, I've signed up to be a 'core member' and we had our first meeting with Eve last night to discuss event planning, member communication and volunteer programs at the farm. Our very own Donavan Hall, and his wife Denise, are core members as well. In fact, during the meeting, I got to taste some of his home brew (delicious) and even sampled some of their homemade mead, which was also good.

We talked about a lot of cool ideas last night -- chefs doing demonstrations with lesser-known produce, themed potlucks for members, a new blog and email newsletter program. It's going to be a lot of fun, but for me the real draw is the terrific produce we're going to get every week. AND, it will be good to have an excuse to drive out to wine country every weekend. I have to get our share, don't I?

Hamptons Restaurant Week 2008 Starts Sunday, March 30

You may have noticed the banner on the left-hand side of this site, but Hamptons Restaurant Week 2008 starts this coming Sunday and runs through April 6th. It's the sixth annual edition of HRW and it looks like they have more restaurants (and other vendors) lined up than ever.

LENNDEVOURS is proud to be a media sponsor this year and I'll be visiting at least a couple restaurants next week. One will be Southampton Publick House, which serves its own great beers. Not sure where else we'll go, but I'll definitely write about it.

There are some of the North Fork's top restaurants involved too, so don't let the "Hamptons" name scare you off if you live on the North Shore and hate the idea of driving to the Hamptons, even in the off season.

Check out the restaurant list for Hamptons Restaurant Week 2008 and make your plans early.