Peak season at Orient Beach State Park (40000 Main Road, Orient) is heating up, and as of tomorrow the park is getting a new food purveyor. Aquebogue native Cass Dotzel, a Riverhead resident, is bringing her background in the arts and hospitality and her unique perspective to Third Culture Club — a snack bar, boutique and community gathering space, soft opening on June 5.
“Cass is so energetic, enthusiastic, creative, passionate and talented,” says Danielle Jacobs-Erwin, executive director of Friends of Orient Beach State Park, the non-profit partner for Orient Beach State Park. “She has so many amazing ideas and I think she’s going to be a great addition to the park and the visitor experience.”
When Dotzel learned of the opportunity to bring a business into the Orient Beach State Park building, she knew it was her chance to turn her art brand W.A.Y.F. (Where Are You From) into a physical space.
After years of putting her love for cooking on the back burner, she was thrilled at the prospect of tapping into her creative outlet to feed people. “I’ve always been obsessed with food and I’ve just been more of an amateur home chef,” says Dotzel. “I never thought about taking it seriously.”
Expect lobster-loaded stew, a twist on traditional prawn toast and what Dotzel calls her Long Island Gimburrito, made with gochujang chicken salad, bacon, pickled vegetables and everything bagel seasoning.
The menu, among the other components of the space, all comes back to what inspired Dotzel to bring her art brand to life — the term third culture, describing how a person identifies their culture as being composed of multiple cultures.
Third Culture Club brings together a casual food service station, boutique experience and art workshop space. (Photo credit: Cass Dotzel)
As a Korean-born individual with a German-Irish father from Brooklyn and a Mediterranean-Sicilian mother from New Jersey, when she learned the term, it resonated with her.
“That kind of shaped me as an adult reflecting, but as a kid I never really got it,” says Dotzel. “I just felt like I didn’t have a place.”
W.A.Y.F. became her visual diary of her third culture experience, but she’s looking to now translate the term into a community space as well. “It’s supposed to embrace that in between,” says Dotzel.
The boutique inside the Third Culture Club building will sell snacks — both local and sourced from around New York — artisan goods like prints and other handmade trinkets and grab-and-go food and barbecue items for those using the park’s grills.
Another facet of the small but mighty Third Culture Club will be Dotzel’s art workshops starting in July. She’ll lead attendees through lino stamp workshops and tutorials on color theory, printing on useful items like totes, button down shirts and bandanas.
It’s obvious in her work experience that Dotzel has dipped her toes into many areas, but at her core is an imaginative spirit. On the food side of things, she served as a former food and beverage director at The Suffolk and has offered a hand at Stone Creek Inn redesigning their food concept at Silly Lily Fishing Station. Now, Stone Creek Inn is serving as a commissary for Third Culture Club. Another one of her close connections, Jenny Werts over at Ellen’s on Front, has helped her get Third Culture Club off the ground and will be serving some specialty cocktails in Greenport come July in partnership with Dotzel.
Artwise, Dotzel is a textile designer in practice, having done work globally and for companies like West Elm, Flavor Paper and John Robshaw Textiles.
Expect innovation to be on the menu. Later this summer, Dotzel plans to bring beachy cocktails to the space, as well as other community events like workout classes and additional music to accompany the Friends of Orient Beach State Park’s live music on select Tuesday evenings.
Third Culture Club will be open Friday through Sunday, serving from noon to 7 p.m. through June; and open in July Thursday through Sunday with the same hours plus Tuesdays to feed the music lovers.
Learn more about Third Culture Club on their website and check Instagram for updates.
