Summer 2009

Forgive the necrophilial New York Times for suggesting a couple weeks before Memorial Day that life on the East End would be compromised by the hobbled economy. (“Lowkey” was the polite euphemism.) Theirs is a city-mouse perspective, sorely out of step with all the tasty annuities set to mature this post–Wall Street summer.

Didn’t they hear about the inaugural meeting of the Sag Harbor Oyster Club—a couple dozen intrepid shellfish gardeners will be sowing their first spat on Independence Day and slurping up the returns this fall? Or consider the bull market in farmers markets cascading down the food chain, buoying old-time farmers, a few wineries, and food entrepreneurs like Taste of the North Fork preserves, David Falkowski’s gourmet mushrooms, and Fat Ass Fudge made from Catapano Dairy goat milk. How’s that for rich?

You see, cutting back is a relative act. Decorating the yard with a flock of hens and a clothesline isn’t a sacrifice. It’s freedom. That’s why former banking executives are finding second callings as vintners. Why Mecox Dairy is investing in noteworthy new cheeses. Why the Sidor family has reinvented their potato farm with an artisanal chip that is wowing afficianados—it’s a top seller, from the Handy Pantry in Mattituck to Murray’s Cheese in Manhattan. And why, in the latest installement of her “No More Not Cooking” series, Evan Harris heals her phobia with the help of fish cakes—both kid-friendly and hardscrabble.

More than ever, the neighborly trumps the imported. Michael’s Wines and Liquors on East Main Street in Riverhead, the largest seller of Long Island wine on the Island, has watched the region swell and ripen despite the waxing and waning of the larger economy. From Springs to Sag Harbor, food pantries are feeding a growing appetite of folks without food, managing with some creative recipes, new relationships with farmers, and the continued generosity of locals willing to chop some greens, stir some soup or stuff sandwich bags.

Where one business falters, there may be hope for the next in line. Like a beehive throwing off a spring swarm, the chef and manager from Inlet Seafood spawned Fishbar, taking their seafood connections with them. A new chef at Jedediah Hawkins House offers immaculate farm-to-table cuisine at a lower price than the previous management.
Shea Stadium may be no more, but Citi Field is pouring Long Island wine and serving Peconic Bay oysters. And you can take that to the bank.

-Brian Halweil, Editor