It’s a January of take-out, when skyrocketing infection rates are just another reason to eat, drink and be merry in the safety of your own home.
But there’s take-out that involves burgers and fries, and then there is the kind where you get braised short ribs, or seared foie gras.
Here are three fine-dining options on the North Fork and Shelter Island to take take-out up a notch.
Virtual restaurant, very real food
Chef Taylor Knapp and his wife and partner Katelyn of the popup restaurant PawPaw have been pleasing diners at The Lin Beach House in Greenport with local delicacies for two years and now you can take it home. This winter’s offering is a Fowl Feast, half a local chicken (or duck) and an imaginative array of pre-dinner portions, side-dishes, sweets and the aforementioned foie gras.
The next date is Friday, January 28, with more dates to be announced in February and March. Book your take-out ($45, picked up at The Lin) today.
Date Night on the Ferry
Vine Street Café on Shelter Island draws diners from both forks for their homey and elegant meals, and what could be more home than taking the food with you?
If you’re coming from away, make time to watch the sun set on Crescent Beach and do a little shopping in the Vine Street Market, where you can stock up on their small batch tomato sauces, meatballs and pulled pork.
Vine Street Café’s take-out menu travels well, especially Spinach Mornay, a baked side dish with bacon and cheese that qualifies as an entrée in my book, or Vine Street’s signature Bolognese, a classic red meat ragu of pork, veal and sausage topped with parmesan and parsley and served with pasta or a creamy risotto of butternut squash, ricotta salata and herbs. For dessert, the sticky toffee pudding will arrive chez vous with its almond brittle and toffee sauce ready to pour out its charms.
Vine Street Café will be open for dinner Wednesday to Monday through MLK Day (closed Jan 18, reopening Thursday Feb. 10). Place take-out orders online.
An elegant dinner, delivered curbside
If you were spending winters on the North Fork before the pandemic migration, you know that Legends in New Suffolk offers white-tablecloth dining by the bay, even when the weather is frightful.
In a nod to our new reality, Legends now offers curbside service for take-out.
Good travelers include such entrees as a Tuscan seafood stew with tuna, shrimp, salmon, mussels and a lobster tail.
The boneless short ribs are braised in red wine with mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts, and the pan-seared and roasted Norwegian salmon with coconut curry sauce arrives with jasmine rice, green zucchini and cherry tomatoes.
Order online for takeout.
