Breathe

Inside the North Fork Wine & Food Classic

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With the sun setting over the North Fork’s first planted vines, hundreds of food and wine lovers celebrated the region’s bounty at the first-ever Northforker Wine & Food Classic at Borghese Vineyards in Cutchogue Thursday.

The event, a showcase for the North Fork’s finest purveyors, served as both a toast to the end of summer and the start of something new for the Northforker staff, our readers and the business partners who help make this community the special destination it is.


Both inside and outside of the tent at Borghese Vineyard in Cutchogue, the Northforker Wine & Food classic was among the parties of the year. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)

“As the North Fork has evolved into a culinary destination, the Northforker Wine & Food Classic was designed to celebrate our local restaurants, wineries and breweries that make the east end so special,” said Times Review Media Group publisher Andrew Olsen.  “It was a huge success and is a great extension of the Northforker brand.”

More than 650 guests attended the first-of-its-kind event, hosted at the birthplace of Long Island wine. The star of the evening: North Fork wine and food deserving of a showcase.

“We appreciate all of the support of our sponsors who helped make the event possible, including presenting sponsors Sheri Winter Parker of Corcoran (at right in photo above) and Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital,” Olsen said. “The setting at Borghese Vineyard surrounded by the vines was spectacular. Gio Borghese (pictured below) and his staff were incredibly gracious hosts for the event.”

Allissa Goodale, Giovanni Borghese, Evie Kahn and Regina Kinsey at the Northforker Wine & Food Classic at Borghese Vineyard in Cutchogue Thursday. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)

Participating restaurants included Ammirati’s of Love Lane, Balo Foods, The Chequit, The Dimon Estate, Disset Chocolate, Grace & Grit, Insatiable Eats, Luchacubano, North Fork Chocolate, Meats Meat, North Fork Flour Shoppe, Oysterponds Shellfish, Piesans Pizza, Rugged Jacks, Seaside Grill, The Catered Fork, The Halyard, The Treatery and The Village Cheese Shop.

  • North Fork Flour Shoppe.(Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Meghan Saccone of the North Fork Flour Shoppe. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Stacey Soloviev, Noah Schwartz and Emily Kessler of The Chequit. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Reina Melchor, Riva Weiss and Chef Adam Kaufer of Grace & Grit. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Cones from Grace & Grit. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Ronan Cruz and Nathan Hitchcock of The Halyard. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • The Halyard. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Leah Tillman and Michael Affato of The Village Cheese Shop. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Village Cheese Shop. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • A cuban sandwich from Luchacubano. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Chef Balo Alvarez of Balo Foods. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Balo Foods. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Josh Clauss, Larry Mondello and Kenny Valentine of Meat’s Meat BBQ. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Meat’s Meat BBQ. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Chef Marco Barrila of Insatiable Eats. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Insatiable Eats. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Peter Sidote and Salvatore Pesce, co-owners of Piesans Pizza Co. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Piesans Pizza Co. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)

Vineyards and wineries included Borghese, Chronicle, Clovis Point, Coffee Pot, Ev&Em, Harbes, Jamesport, Macari, Palmer, Paumanok, Peconic Bay, Pellegrini, Pindar, Pugliese, Sannino and Sparkling Pointe.  Guests were given a complimentary Northforker wine glass.

  • A toast to the first Northforker Wine & Food Classic. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Sheryll Hubert of North Fork Special Events and Dan Kuehn, sales manager at Chronicle WInes. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Greg Gove and Stacey Soloviev of Peconic Bay Winery with Times Review Media Group publisher Andrew Olsen, center. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Julie Kosmynka and Meghan Corazzini of Macari Vineyards. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Elizabeth Leibert and Macey Reichel with Lenz Winery. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • AnnMarie Pugliese of Pugliese Vineyard. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Scott Romomd and Nick Caridi of Osprey’s Dominion. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Luzie Mau and Philipp Emmerich of Palmer Vineyards. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Anthony, Marisa and Lisa Sannino of Sannino Vineyard. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Sarah Pietroforte of Paumanok Vineyards. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • JP Gomez, Rose Sanders, Ron Goerler and Rachel Sunday of Jamesport Vineyards. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Tracey Carragher with White Oak Wines. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Laura Klahre of Coffee Pot Cellars. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Kyle Clausen with Greenport Harbor Brewing Co. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Christina Oman and Doug Pearsall of Eastern Front Brewing Co. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Rob Raffa and Jeanne Smith of Ubergeek Brewing. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Mariah Fannon of North Fork Brewing Co. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • The crew from Peconic County Brewing Co. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Nick Vitale, Meagan Byrne and Ryan Byrne of Take Two Brewery. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Matt Cardaci and Dan Chekijian with Twin Fork Beer. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Kidd Squid Brewing Co. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Christian Migliara and Miranda Pfautsch with Westhampton Beach Brewing Company. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Danielle, the general manager with Montauk Distilling. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • The sponsored cocktail bar from Compari. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Salta Torres and Seneca Parraga with Campari. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Mermaid Water. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)

There were local breweries on hand as well, including Eastern Front, Greenport Harbor, Kid Squid, North Fork, Peconic County, Take Two, Twin Fork and Westhampton Beach. Montauk Distilling provided craft seltzer and Campari served cocktails.

  • Brendan Dunn and Alex Laczay enjoy the 360 Photo Booth. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Vehicles from sponsor Lucas Ford were on display outside the tent. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Sponsor Goldsmith’s Boat Shop had boats on view. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • A scene from the party. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • A scene from the party. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Riverhead Town Supervisor Yvette Aguiar was in attendance. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Publicist Susan Magrino enjoying Balo Foods. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Jim and Donna Baldridge. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Chris and Morgan Caufield. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Keith and Debra Homan with Jim Altebrando, Kevin Wood, Jeff Hausner, Chrissy Brancaccio, Kyle Patac. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Michael Gerazounis, and Mariam Atin. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Eugenia Valliades and Mike Golia. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Jackie Hannan, Brianna Baron, Tom Hannan and Kristen Hannan. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Bill MacGregor and Danielle Muscara. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Cheryl and Fred Seifert. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • A scene from the party. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • A scene from the party. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Stephanie Sack, Megan and David Rice, and Jayla Snider. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Jessie Bennett and Linda Sweeney in Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital’s sponsor area. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • A scene from the party. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • A scene from the party. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Stephanie Saladino and Chef Steve Amaral. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Michael Passantino and Stephanie Raccuglia. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Brenda Groubard, Kathy Anderson and Debbie Silverman. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Maggie and Eric Deschamps. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Eric Dahler and Dhardra Blake. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Times Review Media Group publisher Andrew Olsen and VP of Sales and Events Steve McKenna. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Brian Parker and Anthony Martignetti. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Marc Cantone, Brad Ascalon and John Mazur. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Giovanni Borghese and Kara Hoblin. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Sponsor Anthony DeVincenzo of California Closets with Kim Costa and Steve McKenna. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • A scene from the party. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Linda Farinha, Lana DeRosa, Tome DeRosa, Vicki DeRosa and Victor Farinha. A scene from the party. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Thomas O’Leary and Amy Kirincic and John Kirincic. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • Giovanni Borghese and Andrew Olsen. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • In the Groove Band provided the entertainment. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • In the Groove Band provided the entertainment. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • In the Groove Band provided the entertainment. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • In the Groove Band provided the entertainment. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)
  • In the Groove Band provided the entertainment. (Credit: Barbara Lassen)

Additional sponsors for the evening included platinum sponsor California Closets; gold sponsors Intelli-Tec and East Bay Builders; silver sponsors Campari, Aperol Spritz, Appleton Estate, Espolon Tequila, Skyy Vodka, Grand Marnier and Wild Turkey; and bronze sponsors Ocean Electric, Goldsmith’s Boat Shop and Lucas Ford.

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