Fork & Fiddle Opens In Port Jeff, Offers "Southern Tasting" Menu

PORT JEFFERSON, NY — Fork & Fiddle, which takes flavors from the south and adds a bit of New York flare, joined the lineup of restaurants in Port Jefferson earlier this month. The new eatery, which can be found at 138 Main St., celebrated its grand opening Dec. 13.

Lisa Harris, the owner, said Fork & Fiddle provides "a southern territorial tasting experience." There are three ways to dine: southern grand tasting, family-style southern dinner or the traditional one item off an a la carte menu.

The southern grand tasting is the specialty of the restaurant. For $89 per person, the table is served 14 courses throughout the meal. Unlimited beer and wine is included in the package. At the end, diners get to enjoy a deep-fried apple pie. The entire table is encouraged to take part in the tasting, as Harris said it works best that way. Two to three dishes a time arrive at the table, and the process takes roughly an hour-and-a-half.

"Basically, we feed them until they can’t eat anymore," Harris told Patch. "I don’t want to say we serve you until you pop, but we kind of serve you until you pop."

The family-style southern dinner costs $28 per person and consists of mixed grill, country fried rice, salad, crispy ribs, biscuits n' gravy and deep-fried apple pie.

For those who don't want to order one of the two tasting options or see a single menu item they want to indulge in, they can choose a dish of their own, ranging from $13 to $22.

Whichever option you go for, food items include southern delicacies like baked mac n' cheese, smoked pork loin, lobster and grits, biscuits, corn & gravy, local fish of the moment, deep-fried devil eggs, meatloaf sliders and plenty more. The full Fork & Fiddle menu can be seen here. Harris highlighted the "Chicken-fried Quacker," which takes confit duck and deep-fries it with a chipotle cinnamon seasoning, hot honey and Ritz cracker crumb and is accompanied by a homemade fruit compote.

The restaurant also has a full oyster bar where customers can either fill a plate and bring it back to their table, eat oysters at the bar or incorporate them into their meal.

As for entertainment, the eatery has live music Thursdays through Sundays, featuring two to four-piece bands well-known throughout Long Island.

With the addition of Fork & Fiddle, Harris now owns four small food-related businesses in the Port Jefferson community. Her other shops include Prohibition Kitchen, East Main & Main donuts and Torte Jeff, a pie store that opened in October.

"I feel like I’ve learned so much from opening each business and seeing how each business has evolved," Harris said. "For us, the No. 1 priority is providing the best customer service that we can provide. We learned a lot from our experience with Prohibition how we need to serve people at Fork & Fiddle, and I feel like we’ve accomplished that."

Harris said Fork & Fiddle is great for accommodating large parties, something that Prohibition can't do. The new restaurant also has two community tables meant for diners looking to get to know their Port Jeff neighbors better over a more casual experience.

The restaurant can be reached at 585-888-3245 or info@forkandfiddle.com.

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