With a week in NY and some planning on our part we had the opportunity to try several new-to-us restaurants and some interesting new beer and wine establishments.
Bellport Beer & Soda, Bellport
“I’ve never waited outside a liquor store for it to open before…” Indeed. But we don’t normally drive 3 hours before 10am either. This store was recommended for its large selection of craft beers so we made it a stop on our first trip back from JFK airport. We arrived about 10 minutes early, hence the wait in front of the store.
We were glad we waited as they did have a very nice selection including Dogfish Head 120 minute and several Midnight Sun Brewing beers we haven’t seen on the East Coast.
Bobbique, Patchogue
A busy restaurant serving BBQ and beer in Patchogue, this was a great stopping point on one of our trips back from JFK. Leandra and I split a beef brisket platter with fries and mac & cheese. The BBQ sauce was very good with a nice tanginess and the corn bread was surprisingly light. Their beer list is also fairly impressive with over a dozen interesting beers on draft and many more in bottles.
Grey Horse Tavern, Bayport
Needing an early dinner on yet another trip to JFK, we met my parents and Aunt Joy at the Grey Horse Tavern. Though the bar portion was quite busy with happy hour, the restaurant itself was fairly quiet. We found the onion soup was a bit thin, but Leandra enjoyed her bacon cheeseburger, and my parents were also quite happy with their scallops entree. As we were leaving my aunt said she was happy to find a new place fairly close to her condo, so that’s a pretty good endorsement too.
Farm Country Kitchen, Riverhead
We had a late lunch/early dinner at Farm Country Kitchen with my parents and recently arrived Ryan and Emily the Sunday before Christmas. Situated in a quirky old building along the river this must be a great spot in the warmer months. In the winter the seating is a bit more limited but still nice. Lacking an alcohol license we were able to bring our own wine and beer which made for a nice extended holiday mid-day meal.
The table shared a portobello mushroom stuffed with sun-dried tomato hummus (left below) and most of us ordered sandwiches for our meal.
Desserts were tantalizing and we tried several including the chocolate cake (that’s one serving! and half came home…)
chocolate deliciousness
Greenport Harbor Brewing, Greenport
Tucked away a block off Main Street, Greenport Harbor Brewing has a fun tasting room on the second floor of their building. Though a little unfortunate that you can’t simply buy a pint (options are to try a tasting flight of all beers for $8 with a souvenir glass or fill up a growler) it is still worth stopping in from time to time to see what seasonal beers they have on offer. We especially enjoyed the Antifreeze, Leaf Pile and Baltic Porter and Ryan enjoyed the IPAs.
Oh, and they allow dogs too!
a certain furry someone was tired of standing on the floor…
Frisky Oyster, Greenport
We’ve been to this restaurant before but not since New Years in 2007 so we were curious to see if we would still like their food. Thankfully, they did not disappoint. Leandra tried the truffle fries and the beef short ribs and I had the country salad (made with frisee, which I normally don’t like but enjoyed here) and the duck confit spring rolls. Ryan’s sea bass was perfectly cooked and my dad also enjoyed the shaved brussel sprout appetizer and his own serving of duck roll.
They also had something I had not experienced before, listing several wines ‘on draft’ out of a keg. We definitely enjoyed the rose and riesling.
Biere, Greenport
We first noticed Biere when we visited the nearby Greenport Harbor brewery, so when we returned to Greenport later in our trip we decided to try this restaurant. Unfortunately, the main restaurant is only open for dinner, but we talked someone into pouring us a beer, my parents a glass of wine, and enjoyed soup from the attached D’latte. All were great and reminded us to stop at One Woman Vineyards (below). We would definitely try to go here for dinner on a future trip.
One Woman Vineyards, Southold
As we do each Christmas, we visited our favorite vineyards (Lenz, Macari and Roanoke), but also made time to visit a vineyard that was new to us, One Woman Vineyards. With a sizable list of white wines, including a Grüner Veltliner, this vineyard definitely had a good set of options for me. Our favorites were the 2010 Gewurztraminer and the previously mentioned Grüner Veltliner.
After this visit One Woman Vineyards has been added to our list of favorites for future visits.
the tiny red tasting room