Top 10 North Fork Foodie Bits from 2014

New openings, old favorites…2014 was a big year for North Fork foodies. Here’s a look at 10 of the most exciting headlines from the past year.

NoFo Chocolate Company to Open February 2015
Sweet tooths rejoice! Just this month, DansPapers.com reported that North Fork Chocolate Company will open a permanent location at 740 Main Road in Aquebogue on Valentine’s Day 2015. Founded by Ann Corley and Steven Amaral, the business got its start at Stony Brook University’s Calverton Business Incubator and had a popup in the Tanger Outlets food court from October 2013 to February 2014. “Chocolate and wine go great,” Corley said, adding that she appreciates being across the road from Woodside Orchards and Tom Schaudel’s The Petulant Wino…

The Petulant Wino Opens
Tom Schaudel, who heads aMano in Mattituck and Alure in Southold, among others on Long Island, opened The Petulant Wino at 739 Main Road in Aquebogue this year. The eclectic American restaurant replaced French establishment Comtesse Therese. For his extensive contributions to the ‘Eat’ End scene, Schaudel was honored this year at the inaugural Dan’s Harvest East End…

Dan’s Papers Adds Harvest East End to its Lineup of Summer Foodie Events
Dan’s Papers announced in June that it would be entering into a joint venture with Harvest East End to produce the Dan’s Harvest East End food and wine event. This was Harvest’s fifth year. Held at McCall Vineyard & Ranch in Cutchogue, the event attracted more than 40 Long Island winemakers, over 30 top regional chefs and even Governor Andrew Cuomo, who was on the move exploring Long Island Wine Country, which will soon have another coffee shop…

Hampton Coffee Company to Open in Aquebogue
Hampton Coffee Company announced this fall that the company will open its first North Fork location in Aquebogue. “It’s an old 1940s service station, which keeps our tradition of operating out of old car places going,” says co-owner Jason Belkin. The Southampton location was an old Mini dealership; the Water Mill location was also a garage and gas station in the ’40s; and the Westhampton Beach location was once a gas station. Like the Water Mill location, the new Route 25 shop will display photographs of the building from the ’40s. Hampton Coffee also has a mobile unit, which was all the rage on the North Fork this year…

Noah’s Mobile Unit Takes the Streets
Popular Greenport restaurant Noah’s added a mobile unit this year. Noah’s on the Road, a retrofitted vintage trailer, serves a seasonally inspired menu. The food truck was stationed at various wineries throughout the summer and harvest season. The perfect way to end a day on the North Fork after perusing the local fares at the various farmers markets…

Mattituck Gets a Farmers Market, Riverhead Farmers Market Goes Yearround
Mattituck opened its first farmers market this year on May 9, located in the Mattituck Florist on Love Lane. The idea for the farmers market was brought about by Maryann and Gene Krupski of Mattituck’s organic Mar-Gene Farms, Donna Burden of Donna’s Tradery and Danielle LaScala, the owner of Mattituck Florist. The group had been working to get the market up and running since November 2013.

A little farther West, the Riverhead Farmers Market, which initially opened in February in the old Swezey’s on East Main Street, was so popular that it became year-round. The market is indoors from November through May, and outdoors during the summer and harvest season. When the market returned indoors this November, it moved to a larger, 20,000 foot square space at 221 East Main Street. And, has expanded its hours from just Saturday to Saturday and Sunday. Speaking of purveyors, another unique one came on the scene this year…

North Fork Taffy Company
North Fork Taffy is made with hand-harvested sea salt from local waters. Using a century-old technique, North Fork Taffy is cooked in a copper kettle, rolled, placed on a taffy puller and fed into an antique Model K Taffy Machine that cuts and wraps it into those bite-size pieces you loved so much as a kid. With 16 fun flavors to choose from—like pumpkin spice, vanilla bean, North Fork red wine, coconut and chocolate fudge—the taffy is available at Southold Pharmacy, Sannino Bella Vita Vineyard, Fork & Anchor, Wickham’s Fruit Farm and Shelter Island Pharmacy, as well as online at northforktaffy.com. Perhaps they could find a storefront at the North Fork Table and Inn, which was put on the market in 2014…

North Fork Table and Inn Put on the Market
As the summer season wound down, the North Fork Table and Inn in Southold was put on the market—both the building itself and the business. The price tag for The North Fork Table & Inn—the number 1 Zagat-rated restaurant on Long Island—is $3.8 million, and that includes the popular Lunch Truck. The inn has four guest rooms plus additional bedrooms that are currently being used for offices and storage. Hot off the market, however, was a plethora of space on Love Lane in Mattituck…

Lombardi’s Market, Love Lane Toys Open in Mattituck
Lombardi’s Love Lane Market opened on September 10, bringing Lombardi’s signature Italian specialties to the heart of North Fork wine country.

The gourmet shop, located at the former site of Love Lane Market, has wood-fired pizza, sandwiches, cheese and charcuterie boards, antipasto, wines, pastas, fresh cheese and Lombardi’s brand of sauces. The shop is owned by the family behind Lombardi’s Market, Villa Lombardi’s catering hall and Mama Lombardi’s in Holbrook; as well as Lombardi’s on the Sound in Port Jefferson and Lombardi’s on the Bay in Patchogue.

Just in time for the holidays, another empty storefront was filled just down the street. Owned by the Dank family of Remsenburg, Love Lane Toys is at the corner of Love Lane and Main Road. Shelves are stocked with classic games, unique and educational toys, crafts, puzzles, trains and more.

Lieb Cellars Expands Its Reach
This year, Lieb Cellars joined the growing list of East End wineries and brewers to add hard cider to their offerings. The new dry sparkling hard apple cider, called Rumor Mill, is made with a selection of apples sourced locally from Briermere Farm in Riverhead and pressed at Jericho Cider Mill on Long Island. The “Rumor Mill” name was chosen out of more than 50 suggestions from Lieb Cellars staff members. It speaks to the small town nature of the East End and how rumors start and evolve. In tiny type behind the logo on the label, Lieb showcases some of the more outrageous rumors circulating around town earlier this year. For future bottlings, Lieb plans to update the labels with the latest gossip each year.

Rumor Mill hard cider is the latest innovation from Lieb Cellars, which made headlines this past year for releasing wine, under the Bridge Lane label, in new 3-liter box and 20-liter disposable keg formats.