reddings, 8/22/08

Ann Redding and Matt Danzer are old friends from per se. They opened a gourmet market called Reddings on Shelter Island.





Reddings, 184 North Ferry Road, is in a prime location, near the ferry and adjacent to the water. The weathered wooden shingles and green-striped awning contribute to the store's welcoming charm.







No neon or plastic here. Reddings logo is painted directly on the window, giving the store a time-honored, old-school feel.







Ann, the cashier, working in one of her numerous guises: pastry chef, prep-cook, barista, general manager, buyer, janitor, accountant. She does not like it when I take photos of her and has been working 18-plus-hour days for six months.









Matt, the shop clerk, in one of his many roles: chef, prep-cook, general manager, meat butcher, fish butcher, buyer, pot washer, accountant.










A few of their prepared food items.



























Our picnic supplied by Reddings.








Jane munches on a tuna sandwich.










Potato Salad




















Grinding.















Jane and I at Wade's beach. We ate a Reddings peanut butter and jelly sandwich there as a snack.






















Day 2: We stopped in to Reddings to gather provisions. Ann, the barista, made us some lattes.
















Reddings was busy, busy the entire time we were there. Look at that line!












These are Ann's cupcakes. They have developed a following. A few moments after this photo was taken a lady customer bought all of the cupcakes as well as the chocolate covered strawberries. Watch your back Magnolia.












Matt working here as a bagger. He also makes a mean lobster roll.














Alain Ducasse trained Chef Nicolas "Nico" Cantrel lending a hand at Reddings.












Enjoying pain au chocolat with a latte, sitting in a vintage Parisian folding chair that was fabricated in Morocco. The chairs are one of many nice design touches at Reddings, including a large hanging meat hook, vintage light fixtures, and reclaimed wooden counters and tables bought in Pennsylvania Amish country.













Jane and I visited Crescent Beach, where we had another picnic with provisions procured from Reddings.











Jane's scuplture.



















I read out loud from Secret Ingredients, a compilation of food writing from The New Yorker. I also wore a purple hat.















Reddings crab cake. It was delicious.















Reddings lentil salad with proscuitto on a baguette.




















Grinding.















Mmmm.










Ann and Matt. Their vision and success are an inspiration to me.

Boating in the Peconic Bay, 8/21/08

Jen and Jim are old friends from per se. During the summer, they spend almost every weekend on their boat, the Poissonier. On a glorious weekend in late August, Jane and I joined them for a few days of nautical fun.




The Poissonier. Incidentally, Jen, Jim and I all once held the title, Chef de Partie Poissonier, up at the mall food court in the sky scraper.







We arrived at the marina in Jamesport late Thursday evening. White wine spritzes were promptly mixed.










Earlier in the day, I fixed some things for a picnic dinner. By the time we got to the boat we were ravenous and, immediately, tucked into pasta salad.








Mise en place for the pasta salad: roasted tomatoes, sauteed salmon, zucchini, rigatoni.











Oh what a treat! Jim procured some potted foie, which was served on grainy croutons with fig jam and ghetto salt.














In the galley, working it.






























Corn cake with salad of romaine and watercress.











Grinding.














After a comfortable sleep in the cozy cabin, Jen and Jane enjoying breakfast: eggs and brioche.






















Scrambled eggs with Grandma's garlic chives. We've been doing this a lot, but it is that time of year.



















Jim gets down on a pain au chocolat. When he was in cooking school, Le Cordon Bleu Paris, he made pain au chocolat during class one day. He brought home fifteen and ended up eating them all for dinner!












And we are off! This is Jen and Jane on the foredeck as we cruised to a sand bar near Shelter Island. The water was especially calm, almost glassy, and very beautiful blue. The sun shone. The air smelled of salt. It was glorious. Note: Riding on the foredeck when the boat is going at high speeds is dangerous and should be avoided. I learned this the hard way and was nearly tossed off the boat at 35 miles per hour.













Captain Jim.






















Our wake as we hit 35 mph.
















Shelter Island in the distance.












Jane and I on the sand bar. It was a mollusk cemetery covered in shells. The shells combined with thousands of pebbles and rocks, washed ashore from recent storms, made walking perilous. Better to float in the shallow water and harvest oysters. The oysters were everywhere and we collected more than a dozen.












Reentering the boat with our shellfish booty.












Anchored by the sandbar and chilling out.
















Famished from exertion, we rode to Claudio's in Greenport for lunch.












Fried bay scallops, fried oysters, fried clams, french fries, raw clams, steamers with drawn butter. Very satisfying.













Cruising back to Jamesport.












We docked and headed out on the North Fork to Shinn Winery.



















We tasted several wines: bubbly made in the methode champanoise; "first fruit" savignon blanc and semillon; "coalescence" sauvignon blanc, semillon, viognier, and chardonnay; rose; wild boar doe; and a bigger red made from bordeaux varietals. It was fun.






















The vines.

















This is Josie. We played catch with her while we tasted wine, until the owner told us to stop. Cool dog. Not so cool guy.















Beckett. She was the other vineyard dog. Cute puppie.


















We returned to the boat for a snack. The oysters were chilled and ready to eat. Jen shucked and later stabbed herself.















Jimmy took over the shucking.































These guys were really delicious -- juicy, briny, super fresh.

















I got some bruscetta going.



















Foie and Frog Hollow Peaches; Goat Cheese and Local Tomatoes















Chowing! After more exertion, we headed out to dinner at the Frisky Oyster, which turned out to be surprisingly good.