Silver Sands may be tucked away down Silvermere Road in Greenport, but Finn O’Hara’s talents are no hidden secret. One of our Best Chefs of 2025, he’s made quite a delicious mark on the serene seaside redux. O’Hara started in restaurants at the tender age of 14. By 17, he’d convinced his mom to let him drop out of high school, earn his equivalency diploma and head to the International Culinary Center in Manhattan.
After that, he didn’t spend a day out of chef’s whites, working at places like chef Michael White’s nod to Emilia-Romagna, Osteria Morini in SoHo, and Cervo’s on the Lower East Side. But it was his four-year stint at the Michelin-starred The Four Horsemen in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that both honed his abilities and sparked a think-outside-the-mise-en-place creativity. “It was mind-blowing for a young cook,” O’Hara says. “They were into whole-fish butchery and there was an incredible attention to detail.”
At Nookies and Eddie’s, his food is at once fun and approachable yet full of sincere local sourcing and the kind of nuanced creativity that makes you hyperaware that what you’re eating is far from ordinary.
But if you ask O’Hara, it’s all about eastern Long Island’s bounty. “What is it about out here that’s so attractive? I would be remiss if I didn’t say part is the product and the other location — and using
the product in the location,” he says. “It’s a combination deal.”
What are O’Hara’s favorite things? He’s happy to tell you.
Favorite spot to grab a coffee Pip’s Café & Provisions (218 Main St., Greenport, 631-318-0363) is 100% my favorite place to get coffee. Which, you know, I’m technically the chef there as well; however, it really is. Our general manager Nico Odenwelder, who actually worked with me at The Four Horsemen, is now running it for us. Not to sound like I only care about chefs, but he is a chef. There’s a huge level of pride that chefs have about any product they create, and he takes pride in it.
Favorite outdoor hobby Me in a nutshell — cooking is one of my biggest hobbies, but the other two biggest hobbies are fishing and — this is super dorky — I’m a huge birder. I’m an absolute nerd. Everyone I work with is sick of hearing about birds.
Favorite place to grab a drink or a beer This one is so easy for me. Brix and Rye (308A Main St., Greenport, 631-477-6985) is like no other. It’s a portal. You walk in and you’re like, ‘Where am I?!’ I kind of feel like I’m in Brooklyn or Manhattan but glad I’m not. Evan [Bucholz] holds this extremely high standard for cocktails, he’s on the bar every night and he remembers your name every time.
Favorite pizza spot We’ve worked hard on our pizza program at Eddie’s, so that, but also 1943 Pizza Bar (308D Main St., Greenport, 631-477-6984) — and I will call out eating it at Brix & Rye! That’s the best experience. We visit the farms and have orders waiting every day, so I have a unique insight into who else is ordering from farms. I always see 1943 at multiple farms, which is so cool, and I don’t think people expect that from a pizza place.
Favorite fishmonger Locally, 100% Southold Fish Market (64755 Main Road, Southold, 631-765-3200). Charlie and the whole team, they are our guys, used them from day one. And a special nod to a company we just started using called Dock to Dish. What’s really cool, and what’s inspired our menu in a big way, is they do this bycatch box weekly and bring you 15 pounds of bycatch every Wednesday. Whelk, blowfish, butterfish, cape shark. It’s been enormously successful.
Favorite old-school North Fork business I want to call out Preston’s (102 Main St., Greenport, 631-477-1990). It’s such an old-school business and the staff and owners are the nicest people ever. They have done so many nice things for me. And the Cutchogue Diner (27850 Main Road, Cutchogue, 631-734-7016), of course, because it’s perfect.
