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Chef Noah Schwarz in his Greenport kitchen.

Chef Noah Schwartz has signed on as executive chef at the Suffolk Theater.

Schwartz, of his eponymous farm-to-table restaurant in Greenport, is bringing locally inspired dishes to the Riverhead theater. He took over the position overseeing the venue’s performance, wedding and private event menus in early January while his Front Street restaurant was closed for its annual mid-winter break.

“It’s much easier to get people into the theater than to Greenport during a snowy time of year,” Schwartz said. “This lets us cross-utilize our staff and keep everybody busy.”

Since opening in 2010, Noah’s has become a destination for locally sourced small plates. Theatergoers can expect a more causal take on the same high-quality dishes served at the restaurant.

“We’re going to be sourcing from local farms and letting people know where the ingredients are coming from,” Schwartz said. “People who are coming from up island will be able to try things from Catapano Dairy [in Peconic] or Satur Farms [in Cutchogue] that they might not have known about before.”

Schwartz replaces chef Matt Kar, owner of the Jamesport Manor Inn and Christopher Michael Catering, as the theater’s executive chef. Kar first signed on to the position in February 2017.

The theater’s new à la carte menu now features dishes on the Noah’s winter menu, including an artisanal cheese plate and the chef’s signature Crescent Farm duck barbecue. They are also offering a $33 prix fixe dinner menu.

Performing artists will also inspire additional specials.

“We’re looking to cater to the audience that is visiting,” he added. “On Valentine’s Day there was a Frank Sinatra cover band. We researched what he liked to eat and came up with an Italian-inspired menu with local little neck clams.”

Schwartz said the wedding and private events menu will feature traditional fare with an emphasis on local, fresh provisions.

Suffolk Theater general manager and artistic director Daniel Binderman said in a statement Tuesday that Schwartz’s approach completes the concept for the historic venue, which reopened five years ago and now puts on approximately 100 shows annually.

“It’s a great match,” Binderman said. “People come out to the East End for not only the shows, but the experience. We already carried local wines and chef Noah brings the local ingredients. It makes for a wonderful completion of what we’ve been trying to do at the theater.”

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