Showing posts with label Long Island. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Long Island. Show all posts

Monday, June 30, 2014

Return to Long Island Wine Country

I grew up on Eastern Long Island so I’m always anxious to explore when I have a chance. This time it was a family affair, with my mother, and my daughter and her boyfriend.

You know the saying, “So little time, so many places to see?” That’s me when it comes to Long Island. For this trip I only had one day and decided we’d do the North Fork, which I haven’t been to in a while.

I contacted the Long Island Wine Council for some advice on new and unique wineries that would give me a wide range in a short period of time. They did a good job in choosing.

Our first stop was at Raphael Winery in Peconic. It’s a beautiful winery so it’s no wonder it’s popular for weddings

The winery is family owned and has been around for 13 years. Their selection included a little of everything. I especially liked the 2013 Rose, which is mostly merlot with a bit of pinot noir. It has a strawberry nose and hints of berries in a semi-dry wine. The 2010 La Fontana is a delicious red blend with a complex flavor that highlights licorice and blackberries.

I also recommend the 2013 Riesling. It’s light and fresh, perfect for a summer day. And, you can’t go wrong with their La Tavola White and La Tavola Red, both delicious and $20 and under.

Winemaker Anthony Nappa took me around the winery, which believes in sustainable practices. 

He then led us over to his own place, the Winemaker Studio, which also has Provisions for his chef wife to produce deli sandwiches, cheese plates, and other wine tasting accompaniments.

I enjoyed all of Nappa’s wines. My favorite was definitely the 2013 'Frizzante' Sparkling White Wine, a pinot noir, with some Riesling and gewürztraminer. It’s sold in a beer style bottle and just remembering it has me wondering if I can find a place around here to get some.

Also of note here is their most popular wine, a White Pinot Noir, currently bottled from 2012. It’s an orange colored wine that was produced with no oak and no malolactic acid, keeping it fruity and fresh. And, I can’t forget the 2013 Birdo Cabernet Franc with its chocolate taste.

Truthfully, just bring an extra suitcase and take home (at least) one of everything at the Winemakers Studio.

We took a tasting break to have lunch at one of the most well-known restaurants in the North Fork of Long Island, Claudios. I had heard they made a great Bloody Mary so I started with that. It had a little too much horseradish for me, but it fit the description otherwise.

The four of us shared two appetizers that were both excellent. The Fresh Mozzarella Tour was the Appetizer of the Day and was a fantastic combo of fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, pesto, and balsamic vinegar.

Our other choice is always on the menu and a must try. Spinach-Stuffed Brie with a berry compote is a superb mix of flavors.

Claudio’s specializes in seafood and my mother and daughter indulged with a Lobster Roll and a Lobster BLT.

My mom agreed with the reviews that the Lobster Roll was one of the best she had. My daughter really liked the Lobster BLT, but thought it could have been better if they didn’t fry the lobster. Her boyfriend and I went for the burgers.

When I say burger, this was far from an ordinary one. It was topped with arugula, tomato confit, and cheddar.

I wished I could finish it, but a Chocolate Brownie Sundae showed up at our table and I had to make a choice.

After lunch, we drove to Kontokosta Winery in Greenport. This is another place which is popular on the wedding circuit and I can see why. It’s a 62 acre waterfront property. The winery is fully wind-powered.

It is also the eastern most winery on the North Fork, giving them the ability to produce some different grapes with unique flavor.

The winery is fairly new, with the production building not ready until 2012, so they don’t have any old vintages here, but what they have is all worthy of a taste. Their 2013 Riesling is everything a Riesling should be – semi-dry with a fresh apricot nose and a bit of grapefruit and honeysuckle on the tongue.

They also have the best Sauvignon Blanc I’ve tasted so far from Long Island, filled with lemon and kiwi, with a slight hint of peach.


I wished we had more time for more tasting and exploring, but it was time to head back and get ready for dinner. The North Fork will definitely stay on my list of Long Island places to return to. 

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Leaving Montauk for Left Coast Kitchen

My daughter Sam spent the night with me in my beachfront condo at the Surf Club in Montauk. In the morning we headed downtown to Mr. John’s Pancake House. It had quite the unusual menu and after some time we decided on an order of ET Pancakes and Stuffed French Toast.

I’ve always been much more of a sweet breakfast eater than a meat one, and this one more than satisfied my sweet tooth. The pancakes were covered in semi-sweet and peanut butter chips and the French Toast was stuffed with cream cheese and covered in apples (a bit rich, but yummy). I knew I would have to add in another workout to make up for this.

Sam had to get to work, but I took my time enjoying the scenery in Montauk and the Hamptons as I headed west to meet up with my friend Melanie. I knew I had another big meal ahead of me so I kept lunch down to a fat free yogurt.

Dinner was at a place I had never been to, but had heard lots of good things about. Left Coast Kitchen in Merrick is as known for their cocktails as their food and is the brainchild of two food and drink lovers, Chris and Heather Randell. I was immediately impressed with the menus for both.

We started with some cocktails, a Pear Millionaire (Grey Goose Vodka, pear simple syrup and St. Germain) and a Morning Wood (Stoli Vanilla Vodka, Kahlua, Frangelico, Bailey’s Irish Cream and Van Gogh Espresso Vodka). They were both great, but loaded with alcohol, so we immediately ordered a Mediterranean Nosh to nibble on while we looked over the menu. It was a perfect combination of some of my favorites – hummus, olive-feta salad, spinach pie, warm pita.

The menu was filled with so many offerings it was hard to know where to start. I always go vegetarian when given the opportunity for creative options and that is definitely the case here. I started with Chopped Bliss (red beets, garden veggies, sun dried fruits, cous cous and goat cheese in sherry vinaigrette). It was so fresh and flavorful I could imagine this as a perfect lunch in itself. My main dish ravioli was also vegetable filled and though it was tasty, I wasn’t sure about the addition of corn.

Melanie had the Colossal Shrimp Cocktail with 2 Alarm Cocktail Sauce and sweet lemon aioli. She said it was delicious, as was her Sesame Crusted Yellow fin Tuna, roasted over Forbidden Risotto Morimoto and served with a sweet and sour asparagus stir fry in a wasabi dressing. The menu also offered a number of meat options (such as Root Beer Glazed Pork Chops) customers were enjoying.

Left Coast Kitchen has an extensive wine menu, but with dinner we tried the New Age Cocktail. It’s basically a combination of sangria and a wine spritzer, made with an Argentinian white (they don’t indicate which one, just that it’s No. 1 in Argentina).  It was quite fruity and one of those dangerous drinks that you keep guzzling down without realizing how many you’ve had.

Deciding which dessert to have was easy as Left Coast Kitchen offers the Tower of Power, which basically translates into one of every childhood favorite you’ve ever had. Despite the explanation from the waitress, I didn’t quite believe what arrived at our table. It was indeed a tower – with layers and layers of treats!

The “tower” included brownies, Fruit Loop cereal bars, yellow cupcakes, white chocolate macadamia cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, red velvet cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies and Oreo cupcakes. It was topped with cotton candy. Needless to say, we didn’t make a dent in it, but did get quite an audience trying to see how much of it we would eat. Finally, after we had sampled a bit of everything, Melanie decided to take the balance home to bring to her coworkers.

Another fun-filled trip to New York came to an end and I was heading back to the Midwest to get ready for my next Chicago adventure.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Hitting the Hamptons

As a teenager growing up on Eastern Long Island, I spent my share of time in the Hamptons. I even did the summer weekends as a young adult for a while. As the years went by, I wasn’t out there as much as I’d like, so when the opportunity came up to write for Hamptons Magazine on a weekly basis this summer, I figured it was a great excuse to get back in the habit of going out there.

Trip number one was with my friend Lynn. Wordhampton, a public relations firm that specializes on Long Island, set up an incredible schedule that would allow us to taste my way around the east end for three days. I don’t suggest a non-professional attempt this. Instead, make plans to visit these places (all great) when you have a chance to spend more time at them.

Stop one was at Little Red in Southampton and we were scheduled for a full lunch.  This is a cute little place in town, just off the water. They serve lots of seafood and Paninis, as well as salads and main dishes.  We sipped a few good cocktails, such as the Silver Tulip and the Southampton Sour, and enjoyed some salads, my favorite of which was the Roasted Beet, with Roquefort and goat cheeses in a port wine reduction.

When our “grilled cheese” arrived, we weren’t sure what it was, but we soon learned that the slow roasted duck, braised cabbage, Dijon and brie on sourdough was as good as it tasted. We finished up with some bites of two perfect desserts – Vanilla Cream Caramel and a Toasted Pecan & Honey Tart.

We left Southampton for East Hampton and checked into The Maidstone.  This beautiful old mansion had rooms in all directions with Norwegian touches (it's own by a Swedish company). I especially loved our “Out of Africa” room, modeled after the book written by Danish author Karen Blixen.  It truly looked like it was in the middle of an African safari, but had modern touches (like an IPod docking station and Wi-Fi).

After we changed, it was off to restaurant two, Muse on the Harbor in Sag Harbor. The place is brand new and they’ve got quite a bit to offer for their first season. We walked into to the sounds of Long Island’s own Billy Joel singing “Only the Good Die Young.” The décor was modern, bright and comfy. The bar is large and complete – they even make their own infused vodkas, as well as some unusual offerings (try the Basil Raspberry Beret).

We had some yummy Apple Smoked Pulled Pork and then were blown away by the day’s vegetarian special (chef/owner Matt Guiffrida has a vegetarian dish each night).  It was a Mushroom Parmigiana, a cutlet made from mushrooms that was breaded, pan-fried, covered in marinara sauce and mozzarella and served with a salad made from arugula, artichokes and gigante beans.

As much as we wanted to finish that dish, it was time to head off to Almond in Bridgehampton. The atmosphere there was totally different, with the restaurant on the main road and much more classic, complete with Nat King Cole playing in the background.

We sat at the bar and took a taste of “Fire in the Hole,” a drink made with jalapeño puree that was much too spicy for me, but a favorite of many customers. The Ruby Kiss was a bit milder and fruitier, with Ruby Red Absolute, grapefruit juice, lime, cranberry juice, St. Germain and a bit of simple syrup. We also tasted three incredible dishes – Brussels Sprouts Two Ways, La Gran Mac & Cheese (with black truffle and lots of cheese) and Goat Cheese Ravioli.

We got a bit lost trying to find Fresno, but that gave us a chance to digest before the next food (and also see a great sunset over the water).  When we walked into this cozy restaurant we were surprised to be greeted by Diego the bartender, making us a Cucumber Caipirinha in the style of his native Brazil!

The drink and Diego were the only things at Fresno that are from South America. The menu leaned toward the French, as illustrated by the asparagus and poached egg in truffle oil with shaved parmesan we first ate. The menu is filled with seafood (which both Lynn and I are allergic too), but we also were told the French fries here are famous and agreed. We passed on trying any as we were off for dinner, though we weren’t quite sure how we’d get through a full meal.

Dinner was at The Living Room, a beautiful fine dining room at The Maidstone.  We didn’t end up finishing our meals, but certainly not because we didn’t like them. The mushrooms on toasted brioche with a brandy cream sauce were full of flavor, as was the Ricotta Gnocchi, in a garlic broth with Swedish lamb meatballs (that were also stuffed with ricotta).  The Ginger Vanilla Crème Brulee was also something we hated to leave, but we were as stuffed as the meatballs!

By the time we were done eating dinner, we barely made our way up to our rooms before falling asleep. It had been a really long day and we had another one ahead of us. I had neglected the Hamptons for two long and it was time to make that up.