Shore thing

North Fork Inn & Table, Claudio's, Silver Sands, Legends, getaway hotels, Ollin, Mexico City, Greenport, game 7, MORE

May 31, 2024

∙ Paid

GETAWAYS • North Fork

Dovetailing with the land

The Skinny: After three years of serving a four-course prix fixe at Southold’s North Fork Table & Inn, notable NYC chef John Fraser just flipped his seasonal menu à la carte. (Also new this summer, Fraser has reconceived the property’s food truck as Big Grin, slinging smash burgers loaded with seasonal toppings.) All told, it’s still one of North Fork’s best (and most beautiful) places to dine.

The Vibe: Creaking wood floors are just part of the character of this renovated local institution, which was built sometime in the late 17th century. The current cream-toned modern farmhouse aesthetic is pleasing, and runs from a main dining room, with its banquettes and freestanding tables, to the connected bar room.

The Food: Fraser’s long-held belief in supporting local farmers, ranchers, and fisherman carries over to the less structured dining format. He fries local Mattituck maitake and fuzzy coral tooth mushrooms in a light tempura batter, serving them beside a benne seed aioli. Roasted Montauk fluke is accompanied by new potatoes and ramp butter; and the 8 Hands pork loin hails from the namesake Cutchogue farm, its richness cut by cured lemon, and enhanced with fennel-garlic sausage.

The Verdict: A fitting application of the beautiful ingredients grown, raised, and fished in and around the North Fork, this is the area’s most honest, well-executed cooking. –Kat Odell

→ North Fork Inn & Table (Southold) • 57225 Main Rd • Reserve.

BONUS NORTH FORK INTEL:

→ GREENPORT: Dockside seafood retreat Claudio’s — which encompasses Crabby Jerry’s, Claudio’s Tavern & Grill, Claudio’s Pizza and Claudio’s Waterfront (above) — went under the knife during the off-season for aesthetic and culinary facelifts. Claudio’s Waterfront received the most work, and went heavier on the nautical theme, with thick rope accents, wicker and bamboo furniture, and a new blue and white stripe color palette. Meanwhile, new executive chef Darren Boyle (previously: Shelter Island’s Chequit hotel) updated the menu, dishes include a full-on lobster bake and new blackened tuna sandwich with a citrus wasabi mayo.

→ GREENPORT: Reports a FOUND correspondent, “Silver Sands Motel is such a gem. Eddie's Oyster Bar on the property feels like you're in the Long Island Riviera but their cute little ‘diner’ that opened this winter, Nookies, is equally adorable. Sit at the counter and have a shake (with or without booze) and a tuna melt that’s way better than it needs to be. Heard they’re expanding with outdoor tables starting in the summer.”

→ GREENPORT: Pizza crust skills honed at Pasquale Jones will come in handy when Ryan Hardy (who also oversees the kitchen at Charlie Bird and co-owns Silver Sands Motel) introduces Pip’s Cafe & Provisions on Main Street. He plans to offer everything from La Marzocco-pulled espresso drinks and seasonal focaccias to prepared meals and carefully sourced pantry items.

→ NEW SUFFOLK: Last summer, ocean conservationist Andrea Tese introduced sustainable seafood spot Minnow, and recently bought local hang and sports bar Legends Restaurant just across the street, where she’ll also be adding a nine-seat sushi counter helmed by a now-former Bondi Sushi chef, Hyun Soo Pak.

THE NINES • Getaways

Summer getaway, Shelter Island & North Fork

Sunset Beach (Shelter Island), Andre Balazs ode to South of France, $674
The Chequit (Shelter Island, above), classic old-school hotel, $1590
The Pridwin Hotel (Shelter Island), recently renovated on Crescent Beach, $930
Hotel Moraine (Greenport), recently refreshed, overlooking the Sound, $780
Silver Sands Motel (Greenport), updated rooms and bungalows with great vibe, $525
The Menhaden (Greenport), updated in-town boutique hotel, $575
Sound View (Greenport), seaside minimalism w/private beach, $775
North Fork Table & Inn (Southold), 4 boutique rooms + John Fraser restaurant, $1050
The Shoals (Southold), 20 suites + 20 boat slips, $625

All rooms king, July weekend, 1 night (minimum stays often required). Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@foundny.com.

GETAWAYS LINKS: Trying out Blade’s new Hamptons bus service: wine and traffic • Newly opened Shark Bar bringing back the BBC at former Cyril’s space in Napeague • Scribner’s Lodge in Catskills adds 12 round cabins designed by Post Company • Checking back in at Nantucket's grand dame hotel, The White Elephant • Dog-first airline BarkAir takes flight from NYC • Why NYC hotel rooms are so expensive right now • Vogue launches new Global Spa Guide.

CULTURE & LEISURE • Friday Routine

Yes, and…

AYUN HALLIDAY • chief primatologist, The East Village Inky; queen of the apes, Theater of the Apes
Neighborhood you live in: East Harlem

It’s Friday afternoon, how are you rolling into the weekend?
On Fridays, I take a break from writing and rehearsing to volunteer all day at the NY Common Pantry in East Harlem, a wonderful organization that reduces hunger and promotes dignity, health and self-sufficiency. It’s an opportunity to put my meager Duolingo gains to the test as I help Spanish-speaking clients order their groceries — they’re gracious and encouraging. I’ve made a lot of friends there..

At 4 p.m., after we’ve swept up and wiped down the counters, I may grab a couple of minutes in nearby Central Park — I love the Harlem Meer and the Conservatory Garden (though ye gods, I am sick of the construction!).

Where are you drinking or dining this weekend?
I love introducing friends from outside the neighborhood to Ollin, a cheerful, tiny, festively decorated, family-owned Mexican restaurant all the way east on 108th. I always resolve to branch out from the Plato Juancho, but it’s so damn good. The only thing that can turn my head is the mole, which is not always on the menu.

Another weekend fave is Amuse Bouche Bistro in La Marqueta, East Harlem’s historic indoor market. If I’m trying to err on the side of virtue, I’ll get their salad Niçoise with smoked duck, then go to the devil with some warm bread pudding for dessert. This is a daytime pick, as they close when the market closes. The owners are lovely, and stock a small selection of hard to find French groceries.

How about a little leisure or culture?
I’ve been getting into improv again, both as a performer and a spectator. If it’s a Friday night, you’ll probably find me at The Magnet for Premiere, the improvised musical, or the PIT for Centralia, a totally unique 3-man group that doesn’t solicit audience suggestions, just weaves one weird scene into another. I also dig Hell Yeah!, a younger group improvising hour-long musicals.

Any weekend getaways?
It takes a lot to get me to leave the city, but I’m heading upstate to the Mutual Aid Society, a cooperative artists’ retreat in Stamford, NY later this month, to participate in Ariel Gore’s Wayward Writer’s Camp. Taking the bus because I’ve gone native and forgotten how to drive a car. On one of Ariel’s last visits to NYC, I took her to the Coney Island New Year’s Day Polar Bear Plunge. Generally speaking, that’s more my style, weekend getaway-wise.

What was your last great vacation?
It’s been my pleasure to tagalong on several trips to Mexico City, to see Icaro Teatro’s excellent Spanish language productions of my husband Greg Kotis’ musicals. If we find a place we love, we become short-time regulars. The visit before last, it was Restaurante Mux. This trip, it was breakfast at Juana Juana. We also splashed out with a last minute reservation to Esquina Común, a semi-secret restaurant in the chef’s apartment building.

What store or service do you always recommend?
Orchard Corset. It’s such a beautifully old-school, no frills establishment, a throwback to a Lower East Side that no longer exists. You don’t get to pick. They size you up, and bring you a handful of bras to try on in the storeroom, which functions as a sort of communal dressing room. They fitted my daughter for her first bra and she loved it.

REAL ESTATE • Town & Country

Bridge and harbor

Town & Country is a new FOUND feature where we pair NYC listings with listings in nearby second-home markets. Today, a couple of classic looks, both listed this month, one in Harlem and the other in Greenport. Door to door: 2:30, if you leave now.

→ 529 Manhattan Ave (Harlem) • 5BR/3BA, 4240 SF brownstone • Ask: $4.25M • corner unit, 4 floors, 3 entrances • Days on market: 13 • Agent: Hermi Aquino, RE/MAX Distinguished Homes & Properties.

→ 101 Sterling St. (Greenport) • 3BR/3.2BA, 3187 SF house • Ask: $2.6M • upside-down layout with two en-suites • Days on market: 17 • Agent: Mariah Mills, Daniel Gale Sotheby’s.

NYC REAL ESTATE LINKS: Tracking latest office-to-residential conversions around Wall Street • Supertall 520 Fifth surpasses halfway mark in Midtown • Landmarks approves modern building for long-vacant Cranberry Street lot in Brooklyn Heights • How to attract an all-cash offer for your NYC property • NYC’s latest tree planting spree.

CULTURE & LEISURE • Necessary

Panthers vs Rangers • game 7 if necessary, Madison Square Garden (Midtown South) • Mon @ 8p • section 107, $2610 per
Crowded House • Bowery Ballroom (Lower East Side) • Fri @ 8p • GA, $124 per
Igor Levit & Stars of the NYPhil • David Geffen Hall (Lincoln Center) • Sat @ 8p, first tier center, $259 per

CULTURE & LEISURE LINKS: Flatiron’s Fotografiska building going on the market, museum will relocate • Have e-bikes made New York City’s streets a nightmare? • David Lewis Gallery in Tribeca to shutter • The battle over the Bed-Stuy tennis courts • Do online arts coaches really work?

LOST & FOUND • Behind the Paywall