By Ray Rogers
A pharmaceutical-looking beaker billows hazy, chai-scented smoke throughout the dining room at the North Fork Table & Inn in Southold. With great fanfare, its contents are poured into round glasses holding a melon tequila cocktail. This fragrant fog is designed to introduce a first note to your palate. The “Melon Cloud” libation is a glorious spectacle to kick off what will turn out to be a memorable meal.
Amy Racine, 2026 James Beard Foundation Award semifinalist and beverage director of JF Restaurants, brought her “Unfiltered” wine dinner series to the Table tonight, and it was a vibrant way to open the summer season at chef and restaurateur John Fraser’s North Fork outpost. She was joined by special guest Jopus Grevelink, senior beverage manager for José Andrés Group at The Ritz-Carlton New York, who oversees Zaytinya, Nubeluz, Bazaar Meat and Bazaar Bar. Together, their expert wine pairings matched the zest, vigor and nuanced flavors on the plate.
It doesn’t get more hyperlocal than the cleverly named “Two-Mile Salad,” featuring KK’s The Farm lettuce, fresh local herbs, and nutty, alpine-style Mecox Sigit cheese—with every single ingredient sourced within a strict two-mile radius. I could live on the sides alone: “broken” cannellini beans and smoky kale crowned with a delightful parmesan crisp; a hunk of roasted cabbage with a punchy, kimchi-like kick; house-made milk bread with a pesto glaze.
The main event comes with our mains—morel mushroom pasta and king trumpet mushroom steaks with a burnt shallot demi-glace—paired with a blind wine taste test dubbed “Local Legends: Global Greats.” Can you guess which is the local pour, and which hails from overseas? I failed. Ha! But the delicate fizz of the local sparkling was far more elegant than I anticipated from a winemaker down the road. There are no losers here, though: the robust rosé cava was a delight, too, and I came away with two new North Fork favorites: Lieb Cellars sparkling rosé, and this tastefully appointed, delightfully cozy Inn. I walked up the wooden staircase to my charming room for the night, happy and satisfied.
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