First Fridays on Love Lane is a locavore’s dream come true.
With more than 15 local vendors selling mostly food and beverages, it’s not difficult to spend the entire evening eating and drinking your way down the street.
While you can definitely make a night out of that, at this month’s First Friday I challenged myself to consume only a handful of items forcing me to be strategic in my choices.
Here are the five things I tried at June’s First Friday.
Shrimp cocktail from Braun Seafood
You know how sometimes you make a statement about something being the “best ever” but you don’t truly mean it, well, that is not the case here. When I tell you this was the best shrimp cocktail I’ve ever had, I mean every word. Incredibly fresh and subtly sweet, these giant shrimp cocktail were the perfect way to kick off my First Friday eating adventure.
Bucket Rides American Wild Ale from North Fork Brew Company
Although there were many great beverage options at this month’s First Friday, NoFo Brew Co.’s Bucket Rides was my beverage of choice. This wild fermented wheat ale is made with locally cultured blackberry yeast. It was light, fruity and absolutely delicious — the perfect beer to sip while strolling down Love Lane.
Fondue from The Village Cheese Shop
Nothing beats melted cheese, so a heaping serving of fondue over cubed bread was an obvious choice. June’s fondue offering was the Switzerland, which combines three Swiss mountain cheeses, white wine and touch of cherry brandy. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t scrape the bowl.
BLT lobster taco from Mattitaco
It’s unofficially summer on the North Fork, which means lobster salad in my book. And serving lobster salad with smoked applewood bacon in taco form seems to be a home run, but not just for me, as Mattitaco sold out of this item fast. Every bite screams summer.
Jelly doughnut from North Fork Doughnut Company
I don’t typically need a reason to eat a doughnut, especially from NoFoDoCo, however, this past First Friday happened to be National Doughnut Day, so obviously a doughnut was my dessert of choice. Even though there were so many creative options to choose from (hello, Captain Crunch) and old favorites (like the strawberry frosted pictured above) I opted for a traditional jelly doughnut that had just the right amount of filling.
