Using fresh and delicious fruit in a cocktail can make all the difference.
Taking this to another level, North Fork Table and Inn switches up the fruit used in its stone fruit old-fashioned with whatever stone fruit is ripest at the time.
“As North Fork Table & Inn is surrounded by farms and great produce, we are excited to work with produce in an even more focused timeline than the four seasons,” says Amy Racine, beverage director at JF Restaurants, a New York-based hospitality group that owns the New American restaurant housed in a historic countryside home in Southold. “While the stone fruit will be offered through the majority of fall, we have been able to work with different stone fruits in many forms of ripeness, as they each have a unique timeline for ripeness moving from late summer into November.”
Rob Krueger, the restaurant’s head bartender, created the stone fruit old-fashioned. Keeping ripening dates in mind, he selected stone fruit as the cocktail’s main ingredient. The type of stone fruit used in the cocktail varies by season, as fresh and flavorful ingredients are at the core of North Fork Table & Inn’s dining and cocktail menus.
“It has been adapted from ripe peaches into sweet cherries, and now the cocktail has turned to focus on local plum, which are beautiful this time of year and will be for the next few weeks,” Racine says. “As we go out of fall, we look forward to showcasing preserved stone fruits and starting the cycle over as the weather warms next year. It’s exciting for guests to see the transition of the fruit through our cocktails while honoring the lifecycle of great produce in this area of Long Island.”
The cocktail stone fruit old-fashioned features Four Roses Single Barrel bourbon, bitters and stone fruit.
“Guests have been very delighted by this signature take on an old-fashioned,” she says, “since it livens up a classic and creates a sense of place and time by using the latest expression of local fruit.”
The North Fork Table & Inn is located at 57225 Main Rd. in Southold. It can be reached at 631-765-0177 or northforktableandinn.com
