Sharpen Your Culinary Skills This Winter at the Sound View Academy

With winter setting in – no more fall festivals, apple picking, or pumpkin picking – it’s now the true offseason for the North Fork. With that comes a treat for both residents and the occasional winter visitors – the Sound View Academy.

Sound View Greenport is a hotel located just north of Greenport village with beautiful beaches and named for its stunning overlook of the Long Island Sound. Sound View and its restaurant, The Halyard, launched The Academy on Dec. 6. Aimed at refining the culinary skills of anyone interested in signing up, the program features cooking, wine, and mixology classes. The three all have their own academies within Sound View; the Culinary Academy, the Wine Academy, and the Mixology Academy.

“Most of us that work at both the properties [Sound View and The Halyard] live in the area, and we all know that the North Fork is still a very seasonal place to live and to work,” Mishi Torgrove, complex general manager of Sound View, said. “There isn’t that much to do for hotel guests or for people in the community during certain times of the year. Hospitality is, obviously, a big passion for myself and for the rest of the team, and we’re looking for a way to offer something to our guests and the locals that resonates with our passion for hospitality. Food, wine, and cocktails are the three pillars. And so, we have different team members teaching each class. Each class is a reflection of what resonates with that team member personally.”

Several classes have already passed since the Dec. 6 launch date. The Culinary Academy has already taught guests how to prepare “elegant yet easy” dishes that will wow your holiday guests. The Wine Academy held a class on how to pair wines. And the Mixology Academy took guests to the past to teach them about Prohibition-era cocktails.

“The Academy will offer more than just cooking or cocktail lessons — we will take participants on a sensory journey that truly celebrates the North Fork’s rich heritage and ingredients,” Torgrove added. “It’s an unparalleled opportunity for guests to engage deeply with the area’s agricultural and culinary traditions.”

There are a few classes scheduled for January.

On Jan. 3, the Mixology Academy will host “Timeless Cocktails,” where Sound View’s beverage team will teach guests how to make martinis, margaritas, Old Fashioneds, and more. The “Friend of the Farmer” Wine Dinner will be held on Jan. 9, where guests will enjoy a dinner featuring ingredients from KK’s The Farm in Southold and wine from Macari Vineyards. On Jan. 13, the Culinary Academy will host “Pasta on the North Fork,” a hands-on pasta-making class where participants will learn to craft fresh pasta from scratch and pair it with flavorful sauces for an authentic Italian experience.

“‘Timeless Cocktails’ stemmed from our internal training and what that looks like for new hires,” Torgrove said. “Everyone is welcome, but it is mandatory for our bartenders to participate and to complete a certain curriculum. We start with the origin and the history of spirits. We talk about how beer, wine, and then eventually liquor came to be, where it originated – some of the key players in these technological advancements. And then we dive into some of the more modern stuff and the business behind cocktails… For ‘Friend of the Farmer,’ we have a longstanding friendship with Ira Haspel, owner of The Farm. It’s a beautiful thing what he’s doing, and his whole ethos on how he operates the farm. It resonates deeply with us in our approach to culinary cocktails and even wine from the kind of regenerative or sustainable agriculture stance, and there are still a tremendous amount of people that live in the area who don’t really know the full story of the biodynamic farming he does. It’s definitely worth sharing for anyone interested.

“It’s also an opportunity for people to sit with each other and connect in the moment which I think is rare in today’s kind of fast paced society, even on the North Fork. The water always creates a calming experience at Sound View. Even in the winter, sitting in the library, sitting in the lounge, sitting in the piano bar, and being able to look out over the stormy waters in a warm, inviting kind of atmosphere, really helps to complete that, that sensory kind of integration that we’re looking for with these classes.”

The slowdown in business in the offseason presents creative opportunities for those willing to challenge themselves, Torgrove says.

“It allows us to spend a little bit more time focusing and developing each one of these classes, these modules, to really make it the best that it can be, because we don’t have the kind of onslaught of the summer season in full swing,” Torgrove said. “In peak season, there isn’t as much bandwidth to be able to create these unique experiences.”

Sound View Greenport is located at 58775 County Road 48 in Greenport and can be reached at 631-477-1910 or soundviewgreenport.com.