Sometimes, the experience of dining is about more than just the food. Sometimes it’s the atmosphere, or the memory of a place that drives us to return. And sometimes it’s about the beauty of the place itself. Why wouldn’t we want to surround ourselves with beautiful spaces? Lucky for us, the North Fork is bubbling over with beautiful restaurants, places that provide more than just one part of the dining experience.
The Frisky Oyster, Robby Beaver’s playful Greenport haunt, has delicious food, to be clear. But it’s also one of the most beautiful restaurants on the fork, with its lush wallpaper and massive globe chandelier lighting. The warm, inviting bar is a lovely place to sidle up for a casual dinner on any given night of the week.
Just across the street is the spare, elegant Noah’s, where chef-owner Noah Schwartz serves locally sourced food to an adoring culinary crowd. The restaurant interior exudes a quiet, simple beauty: a muted palette, soft lighting, white tablecloths, wide windows showcasing Greenport’s Front Street.
Around the corner, First and South has a different vibe entirely, this one beautiful in a separate — but equal — way. The impeccably restored pressed tin ceiling is an ode to the building’s history, as are the dark wood accents. The feeling is akin to dining in someone’s home, a home that has been tenderly cared for over the course of a very long time. There is an unspoken beauty in this kind of space, a space that welcomes you back over and over again.
American Beech embraces Greenport’s connection to the water. With its white and gray floors, white shiplap banquettes, striped upholstery, and clean, bright lines, American Beech, also in Greenport, is the poster child of beach chic. The look is almost nautical, a nod to the town of Greenport itself, of course. Spend an evening inside this gorgeous restaurant and you’re bound to forget that the world outside even exists, however.
If it feels like Greenport corners the market on pretty restaurants, that’s just not the case. Mattituck’s aMano, the 12-year-old spot serving delicious Italian cuisine, is a softly lit, sparely decorated, warm space, offering diners decadent food in a cozy environment. In the warmer months, guests can sit on a small outdoor patio and enjoy the bustle of the North Fork from the perch above the street.
Down the road, at the Jedediah Hawkins Inn, diners can surround themselves with the beauty of history. The restaurant is housed in the restored 1863 home of Captain Jedediah Hawkins and honors the homes’ traditional bones. Dining in this slice of history is a true delight — as well as an unparalleled and beautiful experience.
Enjoy the finest offerings of the North Fork at these unrivaled restaurants, which provide food to remember and a beautiful experience that will live large in your memories. They truly are a joy — forever.
