Chefs Adam Kopetls and Elizabeth Rossetti in the dining room of their latest — and permanent — incarnation of 18 Bay. (Photo credit: Doug Young)
It started on Sept. 1 with an Instagram post. A series of photos that popped up after years of nothing. First, a picture of the façade of a stunning historic home with a mansard roof and wine-colored double front doors. Then, the real eye-catcher: a snap of ornate brass doorknobs flourished by a central flower design and trim plates that, just below the keyhole, feature the head of a wolf.
Chef Adam Kopels hadn’t posted a darn thing on his personal page since January 2023, and nothing much, either, on 18 Bay’s official Instagram page, since he and chef Elizabeth Ronzetti shuttered the popular Shelter Island incarnation of their slow, moveable feast in December 2022.
So when Kopels posted those shots of the very recognizable Dimon Estate on Manor Road in Jamesport (and adapted that wolf’s head as his profile picture), the buzz it created grew louder and louder with every whispered, “Is it true…?!?”
It was and it is. And it will be the permanent home of 18 Bay Restaurant — the beloved farm-to-forage-to-table eatery owned by Southold residents Kopels and Ronzetti that started over 20 years ago in Bayville and has been searching for its very own home. It seems, as far as addresses go, that the fourth time’s a charm.
Listen to the story here.
Amy Zavatto is the Editor-in-Chief for southforker, northforker and Long Island Wine Press. She's a wine, spirits, and food journalist whose work appears in Wine Enthusiast, InsideHook.com, MarthaStewart.com, the New York Post, Liquor.com, SevenFifty Daily, Imbibe, Men’s Journal and many others. She's the author of The Big Book of Bourbon Cocktails, Prosecco Made Me Do It: 60 Seriously Sparkling Cocktails, Forager’s Cocktails: Botanical Mixology with Fresh, Natural Ingredients, and The Architecture of the Cocktail. She is a respected judge for the American Craft Spirits Association’s annual small-production spirits competition, and has moderated numerous panels on the topics of wine, spirits, cocktails, and regional foodways. She is the former Deputy Editor for the regional celebratory publications, Edible Manhattan and Edible Brooklyn, as well as the former Executive Director of the Long Island Merlot Alliance. She is a member of the New York chapter of the international organization of women leaders in food, wine, and spirits, Les Dames d’Escoffier. The proud daughter of a butcher, Amy is originally from Shelter Island, N.Y., where she developed a deep respect for the East End’s natural beauty and the importance of preserving and celebrating it and its people.
