Restaurant Week in Long Island, April 3 through April 10, 2011

You say spring has played a cool trick on you?  March Madness seems so last month?  What’s a foodie to do with ramps and asparagus just peeking out at the Greenmarkets?  Wine and Dine your way through Long Island Restaurant Week, Sunday, April 3 through Sunday, April 10, 2011 and celebrate the bounty of Homegrown Long Island.

The food and drink celebration is the first Spring Long Island Restaurant Week.  The Island’s Fifth Annual Fall Long Island Restaurant Week will launch Sunday, November 6 through Sunday, November 13.

With the local waters teaming with fresh fish and local food artisans such as Catapano cheese and Sally Nadler Honey -- to the myriad farmers including Balsam Farms, Early Girl Farms, the Rottkamp Farms and their kissin’ cousin, the Andrew’s Family Farm and Sang Lee and Satur Farms, there is a bit of head-scratching as to what took so long to celebrate spring cuisine at Long Island’s best eateries. 

The local growers and food craftsmen’s fidelity to the Long Island terroir are the enduring inspiration to Long Island’s master chefs.

My soon to be published book, Homegrown Long Island, offers an intimate -- behind the kitchen door and the garden gate -- to the best Long Island chefs. It explores the unique relationship to the small-scale farming and fishing that gives the Island’s pasture to plate cuisine its distinctive cuisine.

Here is the list of the Top Long Island Restaurants that will be featured in Homegrown Long Island – along with their growers and food artisans.

Get a jump-start and enjoy now during Spring Long Island restaurant Week http://tiny.cc/wttp8

North Shore

Bistro M, Chef Mitchell SuDock, Glen Head -- The Rottkamp Farm

18 Bay, Chefs Elizabeth Ronzetti and Adam Kopels, Oyster Bay/Bayville – Sang Lee Farms

Cool Fish, Chef Tom Schaudel, Syosset – Paumnok Vineyards, Satur Farms

Swallow, Chef James Tchinnis, Huntington – Swallow Garden, Sally Nadler Honey

Kitchen A Bistro and Kitchen A Trattoria, Chef Eric Lomando, St. James – Kitchen A Bistro Garden, Early Girl Farm

Mirabelle Restaurant and Tavern, Chef Guy Reuge, Stony Brook – Mirabelle Garden

South Shore

The Lake House, Chef Matt Connors, Bayshore – The Farm at St. Peter’s

Grey Horse Tavern, Chef Meredith Machemer – Grey Horse Garden, Catapano Farms, The Fish Store

The East End

North Fork

North Fork Table & Inn, Chefs Claudia Fleming and Gerry Hayden, Southold –  Iberco Pigs

Jedediah Hawkins Inn, Chef Keith Luce, Jamesport – Jedediah Hawkins Inn Garden

Satur Farms, Chef Eberhard Mueller, Cutchogue – Satur Farms Garden

Cuvee Bistro & Bar at the Greenporter Hotel, Chef Deborah Pittorino  --  Greenporter Garden, Satur Farms

The Frisky Oyster, Chef Robbie Beaver -- KK Haspel Biodynamic Fruit Farm

Amarelle, Chef Lia Fallon, Wading River – Andrew’s Family Farm

Scrimshaw, Chef Rosa Ross, Greenport – Scrimshaw Garden, Satur Farms, Sang Lee Farms

Vine Street Café, Chef Terry Harwood, Shelter Island – Sylvester Manor Farms, Sang Lee Farms

South Fork

Loaves & Fishes, Chef Anna Pump, Sagaponick – Loaves & Fishes Herb Garden, Pike Farms, Bridgehampton Inn Garden

The American Hotel, Chef Jonathan Parker, Sag Harbor – Ted Conklin American Hotel Garden

Almond, Chef Jason Weiner, Bridgehampton – Pike Farms

Foody’s, Chef Bryan Futerman, Water Mill --  Hayground School Garden, Mecox Farm, Halsey Farmstand

Southfork Kitchen, Chef Joe Isidori, Bridgehampton – Southfork Kitchen Garden, Dale & Betty’s Organic Farm

Nick & Toni’s, Chef Joseph Realmuto, East Hampton – Nick & Toni’s Garden with Peconic Land Trust, Balsam Farms

Della Femina, Chef Michael Rozzi, East Hampton – Balsam Farms, Sidor Farms

1770 House, Chef Kevin Penner, East Hampton – 1770 House Garden, Quail Hill, Herb Eikhouse

Fresno, Chef Gretchen Menser, East Hampton – Fresno Garden, Balsam Farms, Mecox Bay

The Living Room at the Maidstone Inn, Chef James Carpenter, East Hampton – Maidstone Garden, Early Girl Farm, Zaluski Farms, Balsam Farms

Starr Boggs, Chef Starr Boggs, West Hampton – Starr Boggs Garden, Halsey’s Green Thumb Organic Farm

OSO Restaurant, Southampton Inn, Chef Bryan Naylor, Southampton – Stephanie Evanitsky, Mecox Bay Dairy, Wickam’s Fruit Farm

Drink

The Mega Million bonus to Long Island Restaurant Week is the food pairing with the North Fork’s excellent wines grown in the local vineyards and lovingly produced in xx wineries such as Bedell Cellars (www.bedelcellars.com) and Shinn Estate Vineyards (www.shinnestatevineyards.com)   Local, fresh-squeezed juices abound at many restaurants, especially The Living Room at the Maidstone Inn in East Hampton.  And the not to be missed, over-the-top Long Island Vodka , (www.lispirits.com) made with the best of Long Island’s famous potatoes!  Its award winning flavor is outstanding for martinis or in a cocktail of choice. As Long Island’s first craft distillery – it’s another head scratcher.  What took so long to pay homage to those famous Long Island spuds?!

The eight-day long promotion features a special prix fixe dinner offered by all restaurants. Long Island dining will be available for bargain prices. The idea is simple: for one week, Sunday to Sunday, all participating restaurants offer a three-course prix fixe for $24.95 all night, except Saturday when it will be offered only until 7 p.m. Each restaurant offers their own unique menu.