A smoky rack of barbecued ribs. Some colorful sushi rolls. Cuban sandwiches laden with pork and pickles. Or an order of butter-poached lobster.
That's the kind of food available these days to anyone boarding the Fire Island Ferry from Bay Shore, a town that has mushroomed in the past few years into a major restaurant destination. It's become a place where you can wine and dine before or after you cross the Great South Bay or order a movable feast to take onboard. In some cases, you can even have a meal -- or several -- delivered right to the dock.
Bay Shore hasn't always been so food-centric. "There's been a whole renaissance," said Al Horowitz, owner of the 5-year-old Smokin' Al's Famous BBQ Joint on Main Street. Liam Beardslee, chef-owner of newcomer Declan Quinn's, an inviting New American-Irish pub, remembers the way the town was when he left, after graduating from high school in 1989. "Main Street was like Beirut -- every other storefront
was boarded up," Beardslee recalled.
Boards down, construction up
Now, the boards are not only coming off, but there's new construction everywhere. Over the past few years, in addition to Smokin' Al's, the town has seen the opening of places both homey and haute: Tula Kitchen (vegetarian friendly), Peninsula FS (Chinese and Asian), The Pie at Salvatore's (coal-oven pizza), fatfish (waterside
contemporary) and The Lake House (highly lauded New American), to name a few. Winnie's Coffee Shop, a longtime fixture, was renovated and reopened last year under a talented and passionate chef.
So it's a heady mix of old standbys and exciting upstarts that add up to an alluring smorgasbord of choices for the Fire Island-bound.
Susan Thomson, who travels between Manhattan and Fair Harbor year-round, favors the soups and chowders at Nicky's Clam Bar, a longtime waterfront fixture right by the ferry parking lot. But she and her family also enjoy stopping for a Chinese/
Japanese dinner at Peninsula FS after disembarking from the ferry on Sunday afternoon. They'll also run in to pick up some 'cue from Smokin' Al's on the way to the dock on a Friday evening.
"After 30 years of traveling to Saltaire, it's so nice to see downtown Bay Shore coming to life," remarked Barbara Bonn, spotted at the ferry dock recently with a bag of takeout from Nicky's.
Bay Shore, in fact, works as a kind of larder for Fire Island. George Hafele, president of Fire Island Ferries, said that between Memorial and Labor days, three to four freight boats a day are dispatched to supply food to grocery stores, restaurants and homes on the island. Some of that cargo, he said, comes from Bay Shore restaurants that have strong followings among Fire Islanders; such restaurants even cater small parties. "They'll send over five, six or seven trays of food from time to time," he said.
Tony Bellucci, chef-co-owner of Winnie's Coffee Shop, may not deliver to the docks, but he's ready for ferry passengers to stop in and pick up his "self-contained clam bake" -- lobster, clams and corn on the cob, to be thrown on the barbecue grill later.
At Tullulah's Gourmet Take Out, which enters its second summer this year, chef-owner Steven Scalesse caters to those who walk past his store and pick up hearty and inventive sandwiches to take with them. "While I haven't delivered to the ferry yet, I would do it on Saturdays," Scalesse said.
Sunday post-ferry crowd
It's on Sundays that restaurants like Cool Water Grill are called upon to provide another kind of experience: some place to relax over a leisurely post-ferry meal. Owner Rob Dromerhauser said that since his restaurant opened last year, he has seated many a Sunday passenger coming straight from the ferry.
Bay Shore native Matthew Connors, chef-owner of the highly acclaimed Lake House, said that last year his newly opened restaurant drew "a little bit of Sunday business" from people coming back from Fire Island.This season, with the restaurant's recognition factor up, Connors is hoping to attract more Fire Island commuters. "We have another 25 seats outdoors on an enclosed patio on the water, which we didn't have last year."
Just blink, it seems, and there's something new going down on the Bay Shore food scene.
"We are starting to be called the restaurant mecca of the South Shore," said Donna Periconi, president of the Bay Shore Chamber of Commerce. Periconi said a new up-market Japanese restaurant will shortly begin construction on the eastern end of town. She also reports "serious inquiries" from an Italian and a seafood restaurant eager to join the Main Street hub.
The latest arrival in town is Mitsui, a handsome Japanese restaurant that started turning out tuna tataki and red dragon rolls less than a month ago.
And, yes, they will deliver to the ferry.
