Monday Night Munchies

It is as hot a topic as a Wine Country tasting room debate over red or white. The Giants got a big win on Sunday, the Jets have a Monday Night Football clash tonight. Is the East End bleeding blue or green?

“I would say it’s a Jets town, especially now,” says Stephen Wirth, owner of Digger O’Dell’s Fine Food & Spirits in Riverhead. “They’ve had two really good years, and now everyone’s a Jets fan. Some of us old-school guys who are Giants fans have to tolerate this stuff.

“My best friend and cousin, Jonathan, is a huge Jets fan,” Wirth continues. “We used to go to like five Jets games and five Giants games every year. We’d laugh, because it used to be that when you went to a Giants game, it was lobsters and red wine and appetizers and a mature crowd, and then you’d go to a Jets game and it’s Schlitz out of a can, hot dogs, people eating chips right out of the bag and wiping their hands on their shirts. A Jets game was like a frat party, and a Giants game was like going to see polo.”

Regardless of who’s playing, Wirth knows that football and food (and some great craft beer) are a pairing everybody loves. “What I like to do for the Monday Night Football games is to put something on the menu that’s relevant to the home team. So if it’s Chicago vs Green Bay in Green Bay, we’ll do a Cheesehead Sandwich, or if it’s in Chicago we’ll do a Chicago hot dog the way Chicago guys eat it. If it’s in Indianapolis, we’ll do chili cheese fries because that’s a big thing in Indy.”

So what’s he serving up for the Jets and Dolphins on Monday Night Football tonight? You’ll have to go find out for yourself.

“Monday Night Munchies” is brought to you by Digger O’Dell’s Fine Food & Spirits. Visit Digger’s for “Monday Night Football”—and any other time—at 58 West Main Street in Riverhead (631-369-3200) or at diggerspub.net.