THE CHEQUIT IS BACK WITH A SOFT OPENING OF THE NEW RESTAURANT FROM CHEF NOAH SCHWARTZ. (CREDIT: CHARITY ROBEY)
A major renovation is ongoing at The Chequit on Shelter Island, but a sampling of the food during a soft opening of the restaurant gives us hope for the future.
The menu, conceived by Chef Noah Schwartz of Noah’s in Greenport and executed by fellow Chef Darren Boyle, features Asian and American cuisine. While the menu is also still under construction, it’s encouraging in preview mode.
Let us take you through our first trip there:
The view
The mahogany porch with original-design spandrels offers charming views of Dering Harbor and of the 19th Century Victorian homes that dominate the neighborhood. Nowhere in sight is a building constructed later than 1900.
The drink
Winter on Washington Street ($16) is a sophisticated mix of Greenport Winter Harbor Gin, rosemary simple syrup, and lime served in an elegant, and shatterproof plastic cup.
The starters
We started with tuna poke ($22) and an order of scallion pancakes ($12). The crisp pancakes were layered thick with local spring onions, and the dipping sauce was excellent, soy sauce-salty with fruity yuzu and a chili-kick.
The main event
I ordered shrimp in the fried rice ($34) with sweet flecks of carrot and bright green edamame, with a fried egg on top and ate every grain. I thought I was going to skip the pork belly steamed buns ($15) that my dining partner ordered, but after one exploratory bite of the slightly sweet steamed buns wrapped around a savory slug of tender pork belly, perfumed with cinnamon, fennel, star anise and cloves, I soldiered on.
Around us, orders of Double Kobe Smash Burgers ($20) sped by to other tables filled with diners who fell silent as they lifted their brioche buns and dove in.
The encore
What is it about good key lime pie that empowers you to eat it, even if you were well-fed already? In this case, the refreshingly tart lime flavor and crumbly graham crust, paired with a tiny dab of whipped cream and candied walnuts were enough to inspire us to lift our plastic forks and enjoy the end of a meal that was a very good sign for the future of this beloved local inn.
The Chequit is located at 23 Grand Ave. in Shelter Island Heights.
In 1965, a 20-year-old Montclair Colony resident decided instead of paying 15 cents for ferry passage to Greenport, he’d take his date home in a motorboat he found tied up at the Bridge Street dock in Dering Harbor. A sign on the gunwales that he may not have seen in the dark, read “Shelter Island Police.”
Before Shelter Island established a Police Department in 1971, the Island was protected by constables — two or three full-timers who worked an 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift, and were on call overnight, were joined in the summer by a number of part-time constables.
The boat the man had highjacked belonged to the taxpayers, and when he returned it to Bridge Street, law enforcement was waiting. He paid a fine of $50 and got a suspended jail sentence of 30 days. The account in the Shelter Island Reporter made fun of his $50 fare when he could have paid a total 45 cents for a one way and a round-trip.
The early years of law enforcement on Shelter Island sound quaint and even charming by modern standards. Training was minimal, and the need to remedy that was at the heart of the decision to establish the Shelter Island Police Department in 1971, Chief James J. Read said. “Before the police academy, it was basically, here’s a badge and a gun and, ‘You’re going to be a policeman.’ People’s expectations of the police are very high now and we want to deliver on those expectations.”
On September 13, the Police Department will celebrate its 50th anniversary. The establishment of a department meant training for officers, assurance of more fairness and transparency in hiring and employment practices, and New York State accreditation.
“Whether you call 911 in Albany or Long Island, the level of service and professionalism should be the same,” Chief Read said.
Howard Cronin served as chief of the Shelter Island Police Department from 1971 to 1976, followed by George Ferrer, who served as an officer for 25 years and was chief for 19. He died after a heart attack suffered while on duty in 1996. Chief Read joined the department in 1987, and in 1998 became chief, the longest-serving member of the force in its history at 34 years. He is already the longest-serving chief.
One thing has not changed over the years. “People call us for everything,” the chief said. “If you’re not sure who to call, here people will generally call the police. Our animal control officer was recently showing me a hawk that she pulled out of someone’s pool.”
James J. Read, new man on the force, in 1988. (Reporter file photo)
Regular readers of the police blotter — the most popular section of the Reporter — have followed with fascination police interventions with dogs, cats, bats, deer, raccoons, osprey and porgies, among other critters.
Muffin, a long-haired chihuahua currently living with Mary Fran Gleason, can attest to that. Muffin was the dog of Mary Fran’s mother, the late Marion Gleason, and when Officer Tom Cronin came by one day to ask how Muffin was doing, Mrs. Gleason wondered why.
Officer Cronin explained that he had fielded a call saying the dog was wandering around the neighborhood, so he opened the door to the house and put Muffin back inside before Mrs. Gleason became aware that the pooch had escaped, an example of the kind of community policing that can only happen in a small town.
Community policing — then and now.
Dick Jernick grew up on Shelter Island, and spent 23 and a half years as a Shelter Island policeman starting in 1968 before there was a police department. He retired in 1992. In those early days, police were caretakers of last resort, and their wives sometimes answered late night phone calls for assistance.
But they did more than just take phone calls. “When I was a policeman, if we arrested someone who was a single parent, and there was no place for the kids to go, I had to bring home the children and my wife would take care of them,” Mr. Jernick said. “The state said if you’re going to keep bringing kids home, you have to get certified as foster parents.”
So the Jernicks became foster parents, taking in a total of 12 babies from birth to six months, when they were adopted.
Best and worst
Police in a small town face a special set of circumstances. “One of the best things about being a policeman is living and working here, and one of the worst things is living and working here,” Chief Read said. “The community struggles with boundaries and respecting boundaries. When a policeman is out with their family, maybe that’s not the best time to come up and discuss your domestic dispute, or your issue with the Town.”
But when it comes to the relationship between the police and the school community, the chief said, the closeness is all good. Building the FIT center, the tennis courts and Fiske Field were all school projects completed with support and involvement from the Police Department.
Before COVID, an officer would regularly take a lunch break at the school. Officer Anthony Rando teaches a class at the school designed to promote drug resistance.
“With the school, we consciously work to foster a relationship,” Chief Read said.
Changes in society, changes in the Police Department.
When the Department was formed, there was no such thing as school shootings, a tragic reality of school safety planning 50 years later. “If there is an incident at school, we don’t expect it to come, but we have to be prepared,” Chief Read said. “We are saddled with that. The other departments are half an hour away. We have to be able to respond.”
The recent preparation for Hurricane Henri gave Chief Read, who is the emergency management coordinator for the Island, the chance to allow the local media more transparency in return for help in getting the word out about storm safety. “We gave the local media access to the decision-making,” Read said. “We brought them in as something new and they got the word out.”
One area where adaptation has been harder is in hiring police professionals who reflect the diversity of the community. “It’s a challenge for us, especially if we look at the key area — having non-white males and females in that role,” he said.
New police officers must be hired from a list of people who take the civil service exam offered every four years, and the list of Shelter Island residents taking the exam in the past has included mainly white males. “As we’ve evolved into a more Hispanic community, we’re trying to figure out ways we can get more people to take the exam, and we want to have a Spanish-speaking officer,” he said.
Woman Officer Taylor Rando will join the force this year, filling the spot opened up by the retirement of Sgt. Terrence LeGrady in January.
The anniversary celebration will be all about family, which in the case of the Shelter Island Police Department is family by blood as well as by long association. Chief Read’s son, James Read III is on the force, as are the sons, grandsons, cousins and brothers-in-law of retired officers.
The ceremony will bring the 30 or so full-time officers who served the Shelter Island Police Department, their families and survivors together to recognize their many years of multi-generational service to the community.
Chief Read will conduct a short ceremony, followed by a dinner (family-style of course) across the street at the Fire House.
SAM KASS AT HOME IN HIS CUTCHOGUE GARDEN. (PHOTO CREDIT: DAVID BENTHAL)
Sam Kass is standing in front of his Cutchogue home like Adam surveying Eden. A flowering row of corn plants marches down one side, a thicket of white strawberries adorns the far corner and a tangle of cucumber and zucchini seems to be getting bigger every minute. Fat yellow squash blossoms peek from under large leaves, and butterflies and bees are everywhere. “Now will start to be a real pollinator time, soon the monarchs will start showing up,” Kass said. “A lot of life is a wonderful thing to have at your doorstep.”
Former White House chef Kass and his wife, Alex Wagner, a journalist and co-host of “The Circus” on Showtime, bought the house in 2015. “The first time I walked out here, I said, ‘Here’s where the garden is going to go.’ It was a giant circular driveway,” he said. “We put in raised beds, spent a lot of time on making compost and making sure we got good nourishment in the soil.” Their children, Cy and Rafael, were born a few years later. Now the garden produces more than enough food for the family all summer long, and the corn they planted this year was Cy’s idea.
You can’t call Kass a typical home gardener. During his time as White House chef from 2008 to 2014, he not only built a kitchen garden on the most iconic lawn in the world, he guided food policy and helped Michelle Obama establish her healthy-living initiative, Let’s Move. The White House garden was part of a bigger strategy to improve nutrition in the country, especially for kids. “We were symbolically putting a big stake in the ground and sending a message to the country; figuring out if it was the right time, is the country ready, and would it resonate,” said Kass. “It surely did.”
KASS IN FRONT OF HIS FIG TREE, CUT FROM A WHITE HOUSE TREE THAT TRACES BACK TO THOMAS JEFFERSON’S GARDEN.
The line from the White House garden to Kass’ garden in Cutchogue runs like the flight path of a pollinator. On a recent visit, he led the way to his favorite plant, a tree grown from a cutting of the White House fig tree. That tree came from a tree at Monticello, cut from a fig that Thomas Jefferson grew. I heard that Kass saved a White House fig tree from an overzealous volunteer gardener bent on composting it, a story that sounded a little too close to George Washington and the cherry tree to be true.
“Yes, that is a true story, and it was probably one of my proudest moments, outside of my children,” he said. “Whenever I had a rough day I’d take a walk down to the garden, take a minute, take a deep breath and go back to work. One day I had this feeling, a weird feeling, and I randomly went and checked the compost. The fig tree – really just a stick with some roots – had definitely been there a couple of days. It was very mad at me, didn’t grow for two years and then it just exploded. As you can see it’s another beautiful tree.”
Kass is planning to put more fruit trees on his tiny farm, enough for a little orchard, and more berries. So why would he plant a garden like this with so many great farm stands within walking distance? “First of all, so I can get shiso, daikon radishes, beans and certain kinds of squashes. I grow different varieties that people don’t grow around here. Lots of chili peppers,” he said. “But it’s really more the process of watching plants grow; how fast they grow, how fragile or resilient they are.”
His advice to someone looking to put a toe in the water of kitchen gardening is to start with something green and leafy. “It’s hard to mess up lettuce,” he said, although he has been brought to shame over melons. “I’ve been gardening intensively for twelve years and I still can’t grow a melon to save my life. I get fruit, it tastes terrible. I just don’t know what I am doing. Hopefully one of your readers reaches out … Send melon help.”
He follows a practice he established in the White House — where kids came to plant and harvest — with his own children. At times, the line between harvesting and eating in the Kass-Wagner household gets blurry. “I’d be walking around the garden and see a cucumber lying around with a bite out of it, or a half-eaten pea on the vine,” said Kass. “They take pride in the garden, and that’s everything.”
Kass sees an educational opportunity in every aspect of farming, even at this small scale. Today’s lesson was illustrated in corn, as Kass pointed out that Cy’s row of corn is taller at one end than the other because it gets more light. “You can see the power of the sun,” he told his son.
After taking several loads of spent garlic tops to the compost pile, 4-year-old Cy proudly brought out four shapely heads of garlic that could have been plucked from a still life.
“I planted and harvested all these!”
“We’re in his garden,” said Kass. “I’m just his spokesperson.”
(Photo Credit: David Benthal)
(Photo Credit: David Benthal)
(Photo Credit: David Benthal)
(Photo Credit: David Benthal)
(Photo Credit: David Benthal)
(Photo Credit: David Benthal)
(Photo Credit: David Benthal)
When Kass and Wagner were looking for a place to put down new roots, the North Fork’s locally grown products and rich food scene were a draw. “We came out here for a couple of weeks one summer six years ago and just loved it,” he said. “The vibe, the food, the wine, low-key nature of it. This place is very special.”
He’s a satisfied customer of Sang Lee Farms in Peconic, as well as 8 Hands Farm and Wickham’s Fruit Farm in Cutchogue, because, he said, “the way they do it is firmly rooted in this place.” Although the family dinner the night before came out of the garden, (purple cauliflower figured prominently) this chef also likes to indulge in take-out “whenever I possibly can.” He’s partial to Pizza Rita in Mattituck, Stirling Sake in Greenport, the North Fork Table and Inn food truck in Southold, and Jennie’s at Drossos snack bar in Greenport for fried chicken.
Kass said some of the most profound garden lessons illustrate the effects of a warming planet on the food supply. Tropical Storm Elsa had brought heavy rain and wind that morning, and Kass’ mother spent some time tending to mayhem among the corn stalks. “That big storm that just blew through — storms like that are definitely more frequent and more intense. It’s OK in my one little bed but if you’ve got 5,000 acres, you’re done,” said Kass. “We’ve gotten early heat where plants are tricked into putting out buds, pushing out fruit … then you get a cold snap. This increasing volatility is going to be really tough to deal with.”
Kass says the way forward for food production in a volatile climate is for farmers to raise a range of crops on their land, and his garden demonstrates that. “My cucumbers are late, but the eggplants are coming, the beans are coming, zucchinis, corn. The fall is the best, all the radicchio and the bitter greens.” Kass fretted a little that he hadn’t grown sweet potatoes this year for the first time. “The microcosm of the solution that’s embedded in a garden is the diversity that you plant. Look at how many plants I have to eat. As a model there is something profound and powerful about what is represented here.”
The work that Kass jump-started during his years as a senior advisor for nutrition policy in the Obama administration continues. Now an advocate for sustainable agriculture and consultant to businesses who want to adapt smarter practices, Kass is increasingly concerned about large, industrial farms centered around a single crop. “We’ve largely put all our eggs in a few baskets and that’s extremely risky. That works when we had a stable climate and unlimited resources of water and soil. We are carrying so much risk in terms of food security with so little diversity in our system. That’s something that’s got to change.”
For Kass, a garden is where meaningful change can start. “We don’t need to turn everyone into foodies,” he said. “We do need a lot more people to have a basic awareness and to care. That is the real work. It was a great joy [at the White House] and it has turned into a great joy here.”
End of summer? Naaah, it’s the beginning of boating. The best time to float is here. August and September are prime-time for your water-based explorations, and the North Fork is surrounded by aquatic adventure on all sides, whether by motor, sail or paddle. Here are some options for taking to the sea.
Take a narrated cruise to Bug Lighthouse
If you don’t own a paddle or boat shoes, all you need is two hours of calm weather on a Saturday night to go on a Bug Light Cruise with Bob Allen, great-grandson of the former lighthouse keeper. The Long Beach Bar “Bug” Lighthouse is the insect-like structure that can be seen from any East-facing vantage point in Greenport or Shelter Island. It was built to get mariners safely around a sandbar, just as the tour gets you and your fellow passengers safely from the dock at the East End Seaport Museum to the lighthouse, where you can disembark and take a look. On the way, you’ll see Greenport Harbor, Shelter Island and the most easterly part of the North Fork from a whole new perspective. Sailing dates are still available through September and can be reserved online. Bug Light Cruise and Tour, East End Seaport Museum, 103 3rd St. Greenport. Saturdays through September. $49/adults, $19/children for a two hour cruise.
BUG LIGHT HOUSE. (CREDIT: JEREMY GARRETSON)
Book a private eco-friendly tour of Greenport Harbor
If you are looking to tread lightly on the environment as you explore local waters, pass up the stinkpots in favor of a vessel that has been operating on a battery since 1999. Glory, an environmentally friendly tour boat of antique design, runs on eight batteries charged by an array of solar panels installed on the roof of Preston’s at the Greenport waterfront. Captain Dave Berson told me, “If the fish could vote, I’d be President.” Glory is a reproduction of a boat built for waterfront tours of an earlier era, and the back-in-the-day experience is part of what Glory delivers as she plies the waters of Greenport Harbor and Peconic Bay. Glory is docked at Preston’s Dock, 102 Main Street, Greenport. Call 631-477-2515, or visit http://www.greenportlaunch.com. $140 for a 45 minute private cruise for 4 people; $35 for additional adults and $20 for additional children, up to 10 people total
Live the yacht life without buying a boat
Vintage Yacht Kingfisher offers half-day, full-day, and multi-day charters out of Greenport on its beautiful 1959 50-foot Huckins Fairform Flyer. Each cruise is customized and can include extras like a private chef or tastings, said Dhardra Blake of Kingfisher Yachting and LuxuryDayCharters.com. She called an escape on the boat “the closest thing you can come to time travel”: Last fall, they even created a “Some Like It Hot” experience with retro food, music and the guests’ attire evoking the 50s era of the movie. You can also buy an annual membership starting at 30 hours of boat time. Book through October via www.yachtkingfisher.com or call 813.484.5663. Prices on request.
Sail away for the day with the Layla
How about boarding a 45-foot sailboat for a day ride with a few of your choicest friends? Captain Liz Gillooly and the elegant ship Layla (a Fastnet 45, one of only 19 made) are ready to make that dream happen. Orient is Liz Gillooly’s hometown, and she knows the local waters intimately. A lifelong sailor and U.S. Coastguard Licensed Captain, she could get you across the Atlantic, but if your schedule doesn’t permit that, you can book anything from a two-hour sunset sail to a 6-hour full day circumnavigation of Shelter Island with stops at all the nicest beaches for a swim. You’ll feel like Cleopatra on the Nile. Layla Sailing, 1410 Manhanset Ave, Dock H4, Greenport, 631-319-0161. From $700 for a private sail with 6 guests.
CAPTAIN LIZ GILLOOLY ABOARD THE LAYLA. (PHOTO CREDIT: DAVID BENTHAL)
Get some alone time out on a kayak
If your idea of bliss on the water is a journey under your own power, Shelter Island’s Marine Water Trail is ideal. Put in your kayak at the Burns Road Town Landing on Coecles Harbor, or rent one from Shelter Island Kayak Tours and spend a few hours paddling around the North shore of Mashomack Preserve, one of the most unspoiled waterways on the East End. You will see birds. You’ll glide over jellyfish. If it’s not windy, you may have the kind of meditative experience that helps you sort out some things. Get a map of the Coecles Harbor Marine Water Trail, and if you rent, call ahead and reserve a boat from Adam Mills at Shelter Island Kayak Tours, 80 Burns Rd. Shelter Island, 631-749-1990 . $60/adults, $30 children for a 2-hour guided tour; rentals from $30/2 hours.
