Pulling a chef away from their kitchen is nearly impossible, leaving us with very few chances to get to know the person responsible for the food on our plate. But just before the busy season entered full swing, we were able to sit down with five of the best chefs from across the North Fork. Through a series of rapid-fire Q&A we got to learn about these highly regarded local talents, where they came from, their likes and why they do what they do.
NOAH SCHWARTZ, Noah’s
In 2010, chef Noah Schwartz and his wife, Sunita, decided to follow their dream and open up a “mom-and-pop eatery” on the North Fork. For over the past two decades, Schwartz has been an integral part of a new wave to change the culinary scene on the North Fork. His American-style eatery, Noah’s, serves a rotating menu of seasonal and farm-to-table ingredients and he’s been recognized nationally for his creative approach to sustainability, farm-to-table dining and his support of agritourism.
Q: What coffee place do you have to hit before work and what do you order?
A: Because we’re in Greenport, usually I’m stopping in Aldo’s. We also serve his coffee at my restaurant. I always order a hot macchiato.
Q: What is the best part about being a chef?
A: Working closely with local purveyors and farmers and getting to really be in touch with the season and what’s growing.
Q: What has been the most rewarding moment in your career (so far)?
A: Cooking at the James Beard House in New York City as well as being awarded best chef from northforker. It was really nice to be honored by my community.
Q: What is your favorite after-work meal?
A: I love my wife’s cooking. She usually makes Nepalese curry, which is very different from what I make at the restaurant. I walk into the house and I’m like, “Oh, that smells good,” after being at work and sometimes not eating all day.
Q: What is your go-to ice cream order?
A: I love the salted caramel from Magic Fountain. It’s sweet and savory at the same time. I don’t like a lot of sweets but that salty little kick in the background gets me every time.
Q: Would you rather grow vegetables or flowers in your garden?
A: I would rather grow vegetables. Ironically, I grow a lot of squash because I serve a lot of squash blossoms at the restaurant, which is one of our signature items in the summer. But other than that I don’t grow any flowers.
Q: In your opinion, what is the best place to grab a burger?
A: I like the burger at the Barrow Food House in Aquebogue.
Q: Where do you go to clear your mind/de-stress?
A: The beach by my house.
Q: What is your most controversial take on life on the North Fork?
A: I’m a big proponent and fan of the growth of the culinary scene on the North Fork and in Greenport, even though it does put direct competition on our back door. I think it makes us like a great foodie destination and brings more people to our area. So I’m all for young entrepreneurs, chefs and restaurant people to bring their exceptional food-related businesses out this way.
Q: What is your No. 1 recommendation for newcomers?
A: I recommend exploring all the local farm stands and seeing what the local farmers produce and grow. I love KK’s The Farm’s organic heirloom tomatoes. I recommend newcomers take little drives to explore the many farm stands and pick up their favorite vegetables for dinner. I think it’s one of the pleasures of living in this area.
Q: How long is your commute?
A: It takes me less than 15 minutes to get here.
JENNIE WERTS, Ellen’s on Front
Chef Jennie Werts spent the majority of her childhood on the North Fork with her parents and brother, Andrew. With a lifetime affinity for cooking, Werts spent her summers working at restaurants on the North Fork, eventually graduating from the International Culinary Center. She has since held senior positions working with highly regarded chefs across New York City, but her dream was always to open a restaurant on the North Fork. In 2021, her dream came true when Werts and her brother (also now her business partner) opened Ellen’s on Front. The pair also own and operate a summer pop-up restaurant at the historic Drossos Motel and mini-golf.
Q: What coffee place do you have to hit before work and what do you order?
A: I like Aldo’s. I’m pretty plain, I just order coffee with milk but I also love his croissants. Although I’m not a sweets girl, his pastries are incredibly buttery and I love how strong his coffee is.
Q: Bay or Sound?
A: Neither. I’m not a water person, to be quite honest. But if I had to answer, growing up we would fish with our family on the Sound. So, I guess I like the Sound more because fishing is associated with it.
Q: Brewery or vineyard?
A: I’m more of a beer drinker gal than a wine gal. I like going to Greenport Harbor Brewing Company in Peconic. I like playing cornhole and the other outdoor games they have there.
Q: What is the best part about being a chef?
A: I enjoy seeing people and I like to see or hear about their enjoyment of the food I serve. I’m a people-pleaser and think being a chef is part of that. If you can cook good food, it’s a good vehicle please people.
Q: What has been the most rewarding moment in your career (so far)?
A: We are a family-oriented restaurant, so a lot of kids come in and we’ve encountered a few children that are interested in food that would call themselves “foodies.” My brother is typically the one to notice and bring them to me in the kitchen. It’s cool to share and teach the experience of being a chef to the younger generations and see their passion so early on.
Q: What is your go-to ice cream order?
A: Pretty much every Sunday when I was a kid, we would play mini-golf at Drossos in Greenport. And every time I would get the vanilla soft serve. It’s still my favorite.
Q: In your opinion, what is the best place to grab a burger?
A: Founders Tavern in Southold is my go-to place.
Q: Where do you go to clear your mind/de-stress?
A: I head to the pickleball court on Peconic Lane.
Q: What is your most controversial take on life on the North Fork?
A: I think despite Chapel Lane being shorter than Albertson Lane, the abruptness of the turn onto Chapel makes it not worth taking. And Albertson is a better road for that. It is too short and you always come in hot. Albertson is a much more scenic road anyways.
Q: What is your No. 1 recommendation for newcomers?
A: Visit the baby goats at Catapano. They’re adorable and pick up some goat cheese while you’re there.
Q: How long is your commute?
A: I live in East Marion, so seven minutes.
CHRIS KAR, The Dimon Estate
Chris Kar was born and raised in Southold Town. He grew up in the kitchen of his parents’ longtime local mainstay, the Jamesport Country Kitchen. Working in restaurants across the East End and in Colorado, Kar eventually took over as head chef at the Jamesport Manor Inn in 2020. Last year, he finished renovations on a completely reimagined restaurant, now The Dimon Estate.
Q: What coffee place do you have to hit before work and what do you order?
A: It depends on where I am on any given day. If I need a quick pick me up I get a Celsius from Black Sheep Bagels in Jamesport. But, recently I’ve been obsessed with the cortados from North Fork Roasting Co.
Q: Summer or fall on the North Fork?
A: Summer. There is just more opportunity for beach days. The fall is nice for like two weeks until you realize how many leaves you have to pick up.
Q: Bay or Sound?
A: I like the bay. I grew up on the bay so I’m super biased.
Q: What is the best part about being a chef?
A: My favorite part is experimenting with food. When you finally have that moment — where you taste something and have an “aha moment,” that is most satisfying for me. I love to create food that is unique and that I haven’t cooked a million times before. New creations excite me.
Q: What is your go-to ice cream order?
A: I get the cookie monster from Magic Fountain. It makes your mouth blue, but it’s delicious. A close second is their s’mores flavor. It reminds me of a bonfire in the summer — but it’s ice cream. So a whole nother level.
Q: Would you rather grow vegetables or flowers in your garden?
A: Vegetables, but flowers are a close second at this point. We have a tremendous amount of them planted around the restaurant this year and I’ve loved growing them. But tomatoes are my number one. They are my baby plants and taking care of them is a labor of love — but tomatoes are beautiful and come in every color, size and shape. The complexity of different amount of flavors that you can get from something that is essentially the same plant is absolutely stunning.
Q: In your opinion, what is the best place to grab a burger?
A: Barrow Food House. I grew up with Kyle, the chef there. We used to go skiing together. His burger is like an ode to Big Mac but with Wagyu beef. It’s very elevated.
Q: Where do you go to clear your mind/ de-stress?
A: There’s a beach about three blocks away from where I live that I go to on my days off. I’ll set up chairs or inflatable tubes and drink a beer.
Q: What is your most controversial take on life on the North Fork?
A: I don’t like when people say we are “Brooklyn” of the East End. Every time I read an article that says that I cringe. I feel like there is a lot of pressure to become that but there is no way of it happening because the people who live here, for the most part, would choose to live here 99 out of 100 times over anywhere else, including Brooklyn.
Q: How long is your commute?
A: 25 minutes.
ROBBY BEAVER, The Frisky Oyster
Robby Beaver owner and executive chef at The Frisky Oyster, another Front Street mainstay. Inspired by both of his grandmothers, Beaver had a longtime love for cooking. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 2003, having worked in kitchens across Virginia throughout the ‘90s and early 2000s. In 2007, Beaver and his wife, Shannon, moved to Southold and by 2008, he’d become executive chef at The Frisky Oyster. The couple purchased the restaurant two years later and Beaver reinvented it as an upscale French-style upscale eatery with an emphasis on locally sourced ingredients.
Q: What coffee place do you have to hit before work and what do you order?
A: Aldo’s is just a few doors down so I always go there. He makes the best mocha in the world; it’s his signature. I order it hot or iced depending on the season.
Q: Where do you consider the start of the North Fork?
A: It starts right in my backyard in Aquebogue.
Q: Summer or fall on the North Fork?
A: I would say summer. I enjoy the amount of activity. Every business is thriving and all the farms and the farm stands are completely flush with produce. The fisheries are in full swing. I think it’s the best representation of everything that happens out here.
Q: Bay or Sound?
A: I am a bay guy. My oldest has been sailing the bay since he was six and now our two younger ones also spend a lot of time in the bay, so it’s a special spot for us.
Q: What is the best part about being a chef?
A: I have the ability to make someone happy within just a few moments. No matter what’s going on in somebody’s life, you can almost always put a smile on their face with the right bite of food. There is something very organic and primal in enjoying food, not many careers offer that sort of experience with other people.
Q: What has been the most rewarding moment in your career (so far)?
A: When Eric Ripert and his family ate at The Frisky Oyster unannounced. He complimented several things and then he asked me who my pastry chef was. At the time, I was doing all of the pastries myself. I have a pecan pie on the menu that is my grandmother’s and my mother’s recipe. I’ve kind of reworked it and he complimented me on the crust and the ice cream — and coming from someone of that pedigree it was pretty rewarding.
Q: What is your go-to ice cream order?
A: The flavor of the week at Snowflake. My wife grew up here and has been going there since she can remember so it’s a pretty nostalgic place for the both of us.
Q: In your opinion, what is the best place to grab a burger?
A: Barrow Food House. Both their Wagyu smash burger and their veggie burger are to die for. Especially the beans and mushrooms on the veggie burger are my number one pick.
Q: What is your most controversial take on life on the North Fork?
A: I don’t agree with the assumption that the Hamptons are “better than the North Fork.” I feel like the majority of people have finally experienced enough of the North Fork or caught up with the times enough to know that it’s kind of the other way around. The restaurant scene on the North Fork blows the Hamptons away.
Q: What is your No. 1 recommendation for newcomers?
A: Take the drive all the way out to Orient. Stop at farm stands, vineyards and restaurants along the way. Sample as much food and wine as you can because that’s the heartbeat of life out here. The people, the food and the beverage are all curated on-site all within the North Fork and it’s worth checking out.
Q: How long is your commute?
A: It’s 28 minutes — unless it’s apple or pumpkin season. Then it’s an hour and a half.
LAUREN LOMBARDI, Lombardi’s Love Lane Market
Cooking is in her blood. Lauren Lombardi is a part of a famous Long Island culinary family. After graduating from the French Culinary Institute in New York City, she opened Lombardi’s Love Lane Market in September 2014. The market pays homage not only to the Italian restaurants her family is known for but to the North farm-to-table fare she fell in love with early on. Her market and her catering service are committed to the pleasure of simple, rustic and delicious food and she’s made a name for herself locally with her artful, Instagram-worthy catering spreads.
Q: Summer or fall on the North Fork?
A: I love the summer, the produce is in abundance, the fisheries are in full swing. It’s the best.
Q: Brewery or vineyard?
A: I love sitting among the vines, so definitely vineyards.
Q: What is the best part about being a chef?
A: I enjoy that I get the opportunity to make people happy through my food.
Q: What has been the most rewarding moment in your career (so far)?
A: Doing stylized shoots with northforker. I love developing those recipes, making the food and sharing the recipes. I love being able to stylize the shoot, it’s one of my favorite parts about my job and where I work.
Q: What is your favorite after-work meal?
A: I will always stop at Little Fish. They make tuna tartare taquitos that are to die for.
Q: What is your go-to ice cream order?
A: The maple walnut ice cream from Magic Fountain.
Q: Would you rather grow vegetables or flowers in your garden?
A: I like both, especially if I can grow vegetables with flowers, like zucchini and herbs like chive blossoms.
Q: In your opinion, what is the best place to grab a burger?
A: I typically try to eat mostly vegetarian and Barrow Food House has an amazing veggie burger.
Q: Where do you go to clear your mind/de-stress?
A: I like to kayak off of Orient Beach State Park. Or any beach.
Q: What is your most controversial take on life on the North Fork?
A: I just want to keep the North Fork true to its roots. That’s all.
Q: What is your No. 1 recommendation for newcomers?
A: Watch a sunset while you’re here.
Q: How long is your commute?
A: It’s about 30 minutes.
