From the day North Fork Roasting Co. opened its doors on Main Road in Southold last Valentine’s Day, it was clear the coffee shop would win over its patrons.
Now a video about the beloved java spot, produced by students at Hofstra University, is a winner too. A $15,000 winner to be exact.
Home Brewed Films’ 3 1/2-minute homage to North Fork Roasting Co. has been announced as the winner of a national competition hosted by Yelp. Thanks to their win in the Yelp Reel Local Film Festival, Hofstra students James Troici, Dan Wolff, and Jonathan Leiner will receive a $15,000 scholarship.
“It was awesome,” said co-owner Jess Dunne of news the video had won the award. “We’re pretty excited, too, because the video has now been shown in California and it’s really good for business that so many people get to see our product.”
The video was the idea of Mr. Troici, whose father was actually the very first person to a post a Yelp review of the coffee shop, which brews its own small batch product. He gave it five stars, of course.
Ms. Dunne said she’s really happy with how the video turned out and it’s since been posted on the company’s website as a way to give potential customers a chance to see what the business is all about before setting foot inside and smelling the artisanal aromas.
The film festival win is the latest in what’s been a whirlwind few weeks for Ms. Dunne and co-owner Jennilee Morris. The pair recently returned from an eye-opening trip to Guatemala, where they were able to learn about the coffee-farming experience and participate in a harvest.
On April 2, they’ll host an art show at North Fork Roasting Co., displaying the photos Ms. Dunne took on the “once-in-a-lifetime” journey, with proceeds benefiting the farm cooperative in Guatemala. The show will run from 6 to 9 p.m.
“Whatever we raise, we’ll send back to the farm we worked on,” Ms. Dunne said. “And we’ll be serving their coffee that night.”
