Trip to NY State – Long Island

Posted on | June 5, 2011 | No Comments

For the second phase of our New York trip, we headed out of the city towards Long Island. The weather was still gorgeous, as were some of the little towns we drove through. The beaches are quite different than on the West coast. Where’s the sand?! =D

The areas we saw were gorgeous, and I love the little lighthouses scattered about.

Our destination was the North Fork Inn in Southold. After hearing about Chef Gerry Hayden’s James Beard nomination, I thought we should try the restaurant. And heck, we may as well stay at the Inn too while we’re at it right?!

The building is basically an old, restored home. Nice, cozy dining room, with a very home-y feel to the place… and with a lot of class!

Thanks to my impeccable timing (sigh), most of the staff (including Chef Hayden) were not there the night of our stay. Duh, that night happened to be the James Beard awards! It was fun, though, to root for Chef Hayden along with the staff that were there. They were streaming the awards while we were having dinner, and giving us updates!

As for the food? Well, if it was this good while the Chef was away, I wonder how good it must be when he’s there! Everything we had was simply incredible.

Our amuse bouche was chilled potato leek soup with chive oil. The soup smooth and well seasoned… and that chive oil really added a nice flavor!

Assortment of roasted baby beets with goat cheese, pistachios, and sherry-shallot dressing:

I not only love beets, but I love goat cheese… So this appetizer was a no brainer for me. Everything was incredibly fresh, the dressing was perfect, and the pistachios added a nice touch to this salad.

Block Island fluke crudo, with crispy ginger cracklings, ruby red grapefruit, cilantro shoots, and olive oil:
Adam’s appetizer was just as good. The fish was incredibly fresh and tender, and the grapefruit added a refreshing element.

Pan seared Long Island duck breast, with ramps, baby carrots, French green lentils, and bacon jus:

We decided to get the most ‘local’ dishes we could, so Adam ordered the Long Island duck. Just about the freshest, most delicious duck either of us has ever had!

Sauteed Maryland soft shell crabs, with ten spring vegetables, cranberry beans, steamed mussels, and olive oil:

My choice was the soft shell crab, which had just come into season. These were tender and delicate, and especially flavorful in the middle! I liked the addition of mussels and cranberries. SO good.

For dessert, we ordered the chocolate souffle tart with espresso ice cream, which was chocolate heaven!

We also ordered the rose poached rhubarb with ginger ice cream. I love rhubarb, and this dessert was delicious… I just wish there’d been more rhubarb in it!

Somehow we ended up with two additional desserts?
The coconut ice cream and passion fruit sorbet were both quite good- and I’m a sucker for tapioca.

We had both eyed the donuts on the menu, but decided on other desserts…. but were given the donuts anyway. We tried a donut each, then smartly saved the rest for our ferry trip the next day!

Let me tell you, it was NICE to finish a long, leisurely, and large meal, plus wine, and be able to just walk upstairs to our cozy room afterwards. Now that’s how to enjoy a good meal!!

The next morning we were the only guests at breakfast (the Inn consists of only a few rooms). So we had this lovely veggie frittata, plus pastries, juice, etc. Yum!

Highly recommend the North Fork Inn, not only for dinner, but to stay at. Although we had a variety of completely different types of food throughout our trip, I think this meal was the best overall.

Everyone at the Inn was incredibly nice and accommodating. Just wish they’d won that James Beard award… Maybe next year!