While locally sourced ingredients are at the forefront of many North Fork meals, no one does it quite like Paumanok Vineyards at their annual 10 Mile Dinner.
This year’s feast, set for Aug. 23 from 5 to 8:30 p.m., features plenty of local produce, dairy and meat products paired with Paumanok wine.
For Kareem Massoud, winemaker at Paumanok and chef Tom Schaudel, an East End culinary legend, this day proves to be one of their favorites for the artistry it allows.
“It’s the creative process that gets me out of bed,” says Schaudel, who co-owns aMano in Mattituck and A Lure in Southold — just a few of his endeavors over 50-plus years as an East End chef.
The dinner dates back to over a decade ago when Outstanding in the Field, a traveling outdoor dinner series, hosted an event at Paumanok.
“It was amazing, and we were like, ‘Wait, we can do this on our own,’” says Massoud.
The vineyard was influenced by Outstanding in the Field to set up a long outdoor table with a tent in case of inclement weather. Massoud then had a cousin who was a chef come to the vineyard to put on a similar event.
A few years later, Long Island Wine Country hosted a 10 Mile dinner in celebration of the region’s 50th anniversary.
In 2023, Paumanok made the 10 Mile dinner an official reoccurring event to celebrate the richness of local offerings. “The whole idea of a 10 Mile dinner is that everything served at that dinner is originating from within a 10-mile radius of the winery,” says Massoud. “It’s a true farm to table type of event.”
The 2025 version has Paumanok pulling library wines from their cellar, including a 2013 Petit Verdot, a 2019 Cabernet Franc. They will also be serving current releases, including the 2022 Minimalist Chardonnay and the 2021 Blanc de Chenin.
While wine lovers tend to clamber to the event, Massoud says it is also great for someone looking to learn more about Long Island wine as he talks through the selections during the dinner.
On the food side of things, Schaudel, who Massoud’s parents connected with in the 1990s over their love for wine, has a menu stocked with local corn vichyssoise, burrata made at aMano, Acabonac Farm’s sirloin and much more.
While traditionally the wines are selected to match the food menu, Massoud and Schaudel do things their own way, switching the order.
“I’ve been drinking probably way too much wine for way too many years,” says Schaudel. “So I have a pretty good idea of what stuff is going to pair with.”
For this menu he wanted the citrusy flavor of the sauvignon blanc to cut through the unctuousness and fattiness of the corn vichyssoise, and he wanted to pair the mild burrata with something heavier and found the Minimalist Chardonnay to be just that.
The evening will be full of similar conversation, discussing the details of what attendees are eating and drinking.
“This is one of the most fun things we do,” says Massoud. “Putting together a dinner like this, selecting the wines and celebrating the chef.”
To reserve a spot click here.
