If I had to crown one recipe from the past year as my undisputed “Best Of” selection, it would be Stephanie Villani’s classic fish and chips. While it ran earlier in the year, this is fundamentally a cozy winter dish—it hits that perfect “pub season” sweet spot when there’s a real chill in the air, and you crave something hot, crispy, and deeply satisfying.
Stephanie, author of The Fisherman’s Wife: Sustainable Recipes and Salty Stories, brings the salty, sustainable heritage of our North Fork waters right to the plate, proving that simply is genuinely the best way to cook good fish. The magic is in the incredibly crispy batter, made with local Greenport Harbor Ale; as Captain Alex quipped, the beauty is that “some of it goes in the batter, and some goes in your glass.” This recipe is everything I love about elevated comfort food and remains the perfect bite for bracing against the elements.
