The Magazine: High Summer 2009
Aftertaste:
AFTERTASTE: Elixer of Life
“Bonac Tonic” is the nickname for Hampton Dairy lemon-flavored iced tea. Originally made by Schwenk’s Dairy in East Hampton, Bonac Tonic has become an icon for Springs, the area around Accabonac Harbor where family names like Miller, Lester and Bennet ruled. Kevin Miller claims to have been the first to coin the phrase “Bonac Tonic,” [...]
Seaworthy:
SEAWORTHY: Throw Back the Big Ones
“I never get tired of how beautiful it is here,” says Amanda Switzer as we shove her boat into Accabonac Harbor on a sultry, flat-ass morning. Amanda is a professional guide specializing in fly-fishing. She’s also a wife and mom, a videographer and a person who likes fish at least as much as she likes [...]
Melting Pot:
MELTING POT: Calling All Fressers
Noshing goes local with the North Fork Synagogue’s foodie tour. No one knows for sure when the first Jewish families settled on the North Fork. But by the late 1800s, Jewish peddlers were selling their wares across Long Island, and by 1901 Congregation Tifereth Israel had been founded in Greenport. Few if any North Fork [...]
On Good Land:
ON GOOD LAND: The Community Farm That Could
What happens when the Town of East Hampton leases 42 acres to a few idealists? My connection to EE CO Farm began in 2001, with a call from Lauren Jarrett inviting me to lunch with her and Annie Bliss. “We want to pick your brains about farming,” she said. Jarrett (a successful graphic artist) and [...]
Accommodations:
ACCOMMODATIONS: Ingmar Would Be Proud
An old-world hotelier carries the Maidstone Arms into the 21st century. The Living Room in the Maidstone Hotel in East Hampton bills itself as a “slow food restaurant and lounge.” Unlike many businesses that use trendy catch phrases for marketing purposes, the Living Room and the entire Maidstone Hotel follow through on their claims Part [...]
Back of the House:
BACK OF THE HOUSE: Reddings Market
The Island shop where head-to-tail is only part of the appeal. “The rule is,” says Matthew Danzer, as he brandishes an 8-inch breaking knife, “cut flesh with a knife and use a saw or scissors to cut the bone.” Danzer is setting to work on a four-week-old suckling pig in the back of Reddings, the [...]
Cult of Taste:
CULT OF TASTE: To Drink, Perchance to Teach
A couple of educated oenophiles find their calling in a wine-country classroom. Who hasn’t faced a desire to change careers, to get out of an office and into something you’re passionate about? Something that involves travel and perhaps the consumption of fine wine. The head scratching starts. Maybe a wine journalist, a consultant, a sommelier, [...]
Artisans:
ARTISANS: The Power of Sour
A third-generation pickle man comes into his own. Nicholas Horman had been up since 4 a.m., getting ready to bring his five-gallon buckets of pickles to market, and by early afternoon, as the neighboring farm stands began to break down their tables, he was still happily plugging his product to a steady stream of customers. [...]
Behind the Bottle:
BEHIND THE BOTTLE: Raphael
Naturale, 2008, $20 What does Long Island taste like? Richard Olsen-Harbich may not have an exact description just yet, but as far as our wines go, he’s getting closer to an answer. “Long Island wines and wineries are still searching somewhat for their identity,” he says. “So what makes it a Long Island wine and [...]
Front of the House:
FRONT OF THE HOUSE: Mr. Accommodating
A successful South Fork restaurateur touches every table. David Loewenberg’s life is punctuated by moments in restaurants. He recalls his father’s mother bringing him, as a child, to a funky place on the Upper West Side, where they supped on frogs’ legs, and the warm bread came to the table impaled with a bread knife. [...]
In the Kitchen With:
IN THE KITCHEN WITH: David Nyce
The mayor of Greenport knows his way around the food community. The kitchen of David Nyce and Jennifer Benton looks a lot like their lives: a work in progress. Nyce, a furniture maker and the mayor of Greenport Village, is constantly taking pieces of things and putting them together to create something, whether it’s dinner, [...]
Edible Entrepreneurs:
EDIBLE ENTREPRENEURS: Reaping Benefits
A loaf made from local wheat is only the beginning. If you listen to conventional wisdom, strawberries—which absorb pesticides like blotting paper—can’t survive the East End’s damp spells without chemicals. Yet a member of the wild strawberry family, Mara de Bois, which will soon yield intensely flavored, tiny, organic berries, marches in defiant rows along [...]
Winemaker's Wonderings:
A WINEMAKER’S WONDERINGS: My Dancing Partner
There exists an unresolved debate in the wine world. Some propose that great wine is made in the vineyard, while others suggest that it is made in the cellar. The reality is that each statement is only half true. The old adage “it takes two to tango”—whether referring to the dance or, more often, an [...]
On Good Land:
ON GOOD LAND: If Mr.Trump Were an Organic Farmer
What happens when six apprentices live together for one growing season. If Donald Trump thinks that watching people learn his business is interesting drama, he should see what the apprentices at an organic farm go through. In 2008, our six full-season apprentices (who come on board from April 1 until mid-November) and five “novice” apprentices [...]
Farmgirl Angst:
FARMGIRL ANGST: Who Stole June?
It has been the rainiest and coldest year of my short farming career. Normally, June is the most precious and anticipated month for a farmer. So how could the month of longest days get banished to a static gray wasteland of perpetual April? There were about five days when you could be on the tractor. [...]
Notable Edibles:
NOTABLE EDIBLES
Paternal Pasta If your father is a chef and restaurant owner, don’t expect his summer job suggestions to include being a lifeguard or working in a clothing shop on Newtown Lane in East Hampton. The three daughters of Colin Ambrose, owner of Estia’s Little Kitchen on the Sag Harbor Turnpike in Sag Harbor, were given [...]
GRIST FOR THE MILL: Letter from the Editor
Food is all about accommodation, isn’t it? This is perhaps most transparent in the restaurant business, where hosts and servers and cooks do right by making people feel at home. “We are in the business of accommodation,” as restaurateur David Loewenberg tells it. “And you know how good you are by how happy people are.” [...]