Vegging Out On the North Fork

My diet preference would be pure vegetarian. That’s for sure. Having said that, I have just spent the last six months in Argentina, where, in one restaurant, I was shown how to cut the steak with a spoon. No kidding. Or to a place in Patagonia where the world-famous patagonian lamb was grilled before my eyes, yielding the most tender pieces of meat I have ever eaten. Or how about a local chef, who when hearing I was looking for trout, asked me to come back the next day, to give him time to “catch me some." I did, and he did. Again, freshest trout I’ve ever had.

But now I am back on the North Fork, and this is vegetarian heaven, or is it? Trying to eat only organic food, I am thrilled with the variety of local organic farms, such as and and and many others which I would like to hear about from our readers.

The restaurants around here, however, are another story.  I have gone to some of the best, and sadly, some of the worst. And, in many cases, the only vegetarian option I find is a salad.  And as you can surmise from my recent food extravaganza in Argentina, I am far from being a salad eater. Usually, Italian food is a safe bet, but I have arrived this year to find that in many local italian restaurants — they put meat in everything, from sausage, to beef, to veal, to chicken, to name a few. I am sure that I could ask them to make me a dish without meat, but it is just too much trouble.

So what’s a veggie wanna-be to do?

Well, I have found many excellent vegetarian dishes in many different places, and it has given me a chance to explore and find not only good, but reasonably priced meals all over the place.

For starters, I went to in Mattituck after a movie, and had a delicious spinach feta quesadilla, nice and spicy, a taco salad and a very good guacamole. Not bad, for starters. Of course I can always drop in at the on Love Lane for a real good cheese platter with baguette. On Tuesdays, I can go toand get the best pizza this side of Florence from the beautiful truck of Rolling in Dough Pizza. I only have one problem with this pizza, and that is that I can’t stop eating as I try all the different delicious toppings! 

In Greenport, there are my favorite panini aton Main Street made of spinach and fontina cheese, grilled and served warm.  Just writing about it makes my mouth water. If you like sushi, and you are a pescatarian, D’Latte can do that, too. I did have some of their veggie rolls, and of course the edamame and the miso soup.  If you are in the mood for a more substantial meal, you can walk down the street to for a great veggie burger,  followed by a really really good cupcake!

Also in Greenport,on First Street offers a wide variety of vegetarian dishes.  Yesterday, I had a very authentic and extremely HOT rajas taco, with refried beans, queso fresco, rajas poblanas and plenty of cilantro. There are other options which I love , like the beets and goat cheese salad, the purple cole slaw (excellent and good for you too!), the wild arugula salad, with shavings of fresh parmesan cheese, the spanakopita and the very special good grains salad. 

Driving back towards Cutchogue today, I stopped at the best kept secret in town for authentic Mexican food: of Southold, on the North Road in Southold Square. As they say, it ain’t just chicken. The kitchen staff is Mexican and they put out the best tacos ever, and I must say, the best guacamole, with freshly baked and warm chips.  Their latest are the huaraches, not to be missed, an oval sized home made corn tortilla topped with all kinds of goodies. Mine, of course, was just  beans, with cheese, lettuce, and their very special sauce. Unfortunately, I have the same problem here that I have with the pizza, can’t stop eating!

There are many more choices in the North Fork, when it comes to not eating anything that ever had a face, like my vegetarian daughter used to say. And I won’t deny that there is plenty of wonderful fish, meats, and chicken, some of it grain fed, organic or wild. But unless someone can show me a steak that I can cut with a spoon or a freshly caught patagonian pink salmon trout, I’ll just stick to my veggies, thank you!

What’s your favorite veggie meal on the North Fork?