These North Fork spots will be closed for the season before you know it.
Alas. Summer cannot last forever. Perhaps we love the season so much on the east coast because it is so ephemeral and so short. There are, on the North Fork, a handful of spots — many of which enjoy the best views — that are open but for a whisper of the year. Blink and you just may miss them. Which is why you must visit them now, in the waning days of summer, before Labor Day has slipped past, and they’re closed until next Memorial Day. Here are a few of our new and old favorites.
The Shoals is among the most talked about properties to grace the North Fork this season. The Southold waterfront hotel is situated dockside, on a marina overlooking the Peconic Bay. With 20 suites and 20 boat slips, it’s a hotel with a view — and with incredible access to both land and sea. Guests can indulge in hotel amenities, like vintage Chris-Craft charter boats, which can be used to reach private beaches and local restaurants. But the Shoals also has another delicious secret: Little Ram Oyster Company, a woman-owned oyster program featuring a summer pop-up on Wednesdays known as the Shuck Shack. Stop in for a sunset view, Little Ram oysters on the half shell, caviar, cocktails, and more — but only until summer ends.
At Duryea’s Orient’s Beach Club, you can while away an afternoon watching the Cross Sound Ferry arrive and depart, set to the backdrop of the undulating blue of the Long Island Sound. The raw bar, which boasts four types of oysters, top neck and littleneck clams, jumbo shrimp, snow crab, Alaskan king crab, and chilled lobster, might even make a land lover a convert. Grab a bottle of bubbly and sit with your feet in the sand at this casual spot, where dessert is as simple as an ice cream sandwich (one version even features Cookie Monster-flavored ice cream) or a scoop of lemon sorbet.
The century-old Claudio’s Restaurant on Main closes its doors in fall, and it’s a long, cold winter without the restaurant’s iconic seafood and steaks. Now is the time to order the restaurant’s North Fork oysters Claudio, teeming with spinach, Parmesan, and pancetta, while enjoying a view of Greenport’s incredible waterfront. The whole steamed lobster, serve with local summer corn and a baked potato, is knock-out delicious, and a reminder of how fleeting the summer season truly is.
Part of the Claudio’s group (and just as seasonal), Crabby Jerry’s, on the water in Greenport, closes just as the Greenport summer crowds disperse. With that in mind, you’ll want to get there post-haste, especially for the lobster roll, which can be ordered in any of three ways: Claudio’s, Connecticut, or Cajun-style, served, in all three styles, on a potato bun. The fried fish dishes are to die for, as is the view, and while it’s bittersweet to say goodbye to summer, it’s best to go out with a bang, and not with a whimper. Crabby Jerry’s surely knows how to kiss summer goodbye with style.
