Here’s where to dine on the North Fork this season
By Hannah Selinger
The coldest months of the year often mean fewer dining options. But on the North Fork, you can still fill your belly with all that is delicious, even in the chilly months of February and March. Be sure to visit these five North Fork restaurants, which are serving up breakfast, lunch, and dinner all season long.
The Frisky Oyster
Open to diners from Wednesdays through Sundays, this seasonally minded Greenport restaurant offers warm environs for those interested in dining out in the coldest time of year. The menu changes regularly, but guests can expect items like Peconic Gold oysters, served with garlic spinach and aioli, California quinoa cakes with farro and toasted walnuts, and seared sea scallops with pumpkin risotto. The restaurant is also offering take out options during the restaurant’s regular hours, for those who prefer to dine at home.
Love Lane Kitchen
This charming Mattituck restaurant is always the perfect place for a meal, no matter the time of day. Locally rooted breakfast, lunch, and dinner offers everything from house-made pastrami on grilled rye to a crab cake Caesar salad. A currant-studded carrot cake, made with cream cheese frosting, is a decadent finish, as is a towering slice of chocolate layer cake. Seating is available outside (so layer up in your winter best!), and food is also available for take out.
Ellen’s on Front
Located right in the heart of Greenport —on Front Street, naturally — Ellen’s on Front offers a creative take on comfort food. Start with the honey butter chips or the citrus- and herb-marinated olives, share an order of duck wings with lemon-pepper glaze (or a clam flatbread pizza), and tuck into an entrée of sweet tea-brined fried chicken, grilled marinated spare ribs, or steak frites. Sandwiches, like the crispy chicken thigh with house-made pickles, or the swordfish sando with herb aioli, are never disappointing. Dining is available in the restaurant, but you can also grab your meal to go.
Barrow Food House
Now back from their January break, Barrow Food House, in Aquebogue, serves rib-sticking winter food in a cute and cozy environment (there is limited bar seating available, and everything is also available for take out). The house salad comes with oven-dried cherry tomatoes and house-cured bacon, the burrata plate is amplified by fig chutney, and the horseradish-crusted roast beef sandwich is brought to life with pepperoncini and Provolone. For dessert, snag a healthy chia pudding or a Mazarin tart made with a raspberry and almond filling.
Erik’s in Southold
Indoor and outdoor seating is available at this breakfast and lunch haunt, which serves up sandwiches, egg dishes, and hot chili and soup (the restaurant’s famed soups change regularly — some recent examples include chicken-mushroom barley and shrimp Creole with rice). Daily specials include hot dishes, like grilled chicken over pasta with creamy pesto. Breakfast is served daily from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. and lunch is served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
