HungryHamptons: Briermere Farms (Riverhead, Long Island)
The Gluttoness — August 28, 2009
Clockwise, from top left: Briermere Farms’ pie menu, Pies, more pies and cookies.
Restaurant: Briermere Farms (view site)
Address: 4414 Sound Ave., Riverhead, NY 11901 (view map)
Grade: A-
Recommended Dishes: Fresh Blueberry Cream and Apple Crisp Pies
Hours: Mon-Thu 9am-5pm; Fri-Sun 9am-5:30pm
Everyone has their favorite Hamptons farm stand, but when it comes to fruit pies, everyone’s favorite is Briermere Farms. It looks like any other on-site greenmarket, but the outdoor display of tomatoes, sweet plums and snap peas isn’t why pie lovers rush to Riverhead. Rather, it’s the tiny indoor bakery that brims with homemade fruit pies, cakes, cookies and freshly baked breads. The seasonal pie list features classic fillings like Peach, Cherry and Pumpkin (come fall), and of course, the fruit is all from their own farm. Briermere also creates clever combinations like Blackberry Apple and features less frequently used fruits like Boysenberry and Apricot.
Briermere Farms’ fresh Blueberry Cream Pie, $28.
Briermere is particularly well known for its cream pies, which can be topped with either apricot-glazed fresh fruit or cooked fruit pie filling. The bottom is lined with a buttery crust and a delectable, smooth whipped cream cheese base. On the weekends, specials like Lemon Meringue, Coconut Cream and Chocolate Cream rarely last until the 5:30pm closing time. The fresh Blueberry Cream Pie is out of this world. The mountainous arrangement of sweet sapphires is impressive enough, but it’s the simple trifecta of flaky crust, fruit and billowy cream that is simultaneously rich and refreshing.
Fresh Blueberry Cream and Apple Crisp Pies.
Briermere’s other standout is the Apple Crisp Pie ($16), the only pie given the “crisp” treatment, an atypical one at that. It’s covered completely with a crust onto which the crisp is adhered. The result is an exorbitantly crunchy coating. Once you break through the covering, the freshly caramelized apples spiced with brown sugar and cinnamon ooze out decadently. It’s legitimately one of the best apple pies ever, making Briermere a mandatory stop on any summer trek out east.
HungryHamptons: Snowflake Ice Cream Shoppe (Riverhead, NY)
The Gluttoness — July 17, 2009
There are several hidden gems on Eastern Long Island worth bragging about, one prime example being Snowflake Ice Cream Shoppe, a roadside ice cream shop in Riverhead, NY, which has been open for business since the 1950s. It’s a great pit-stop en route to the Hamptons and a fantastic rainy day destination if you’re out there already.
Restaurant: Snowflake Ice Cream Shoppe (view site)
Address: 1148 West Main Street (Route 25) (view map)
AlwaysHungry Grade: A
AlwaysHungry Recommends: Peconic Swamp Thing, Sorbets
Snowflake is everything you’d expect from a mom and pop roadside ice cream parlor that first opened in 1953. The small space on Route 25 with the giant swirled cone atop it, was purchased in 1987 by Carolyn and Stewart Feldschuh from its original owners, Herb and Joan Kunitz. The ice cream is homemade, and the soft sorbet may be the closest thing to authentic water ice you can find in New York.
Creamsicle and Black Raspberry Sorbet
As for the ice cream, it’s rich and creamy, and comes in about 30 fabulous different flavors. Aside from standard favorites like Mint Chocolate Chip, Strawberry, Cookies and Cream, and Maple Walnut, there are more interesting flavors like: Banana Split and Peanut Butter Cup. The owners’ favorites are Carolyn’s Peconic Swamp Thing: chocolate ice cream, raspberry fudge and brownies, and the Cherry Pistachio, which Stewart Feldschuh is responsible for. It’s a lime green pistachio ice cream riddled with black cherries, an homage to Mr. Feldschuh’s favorite childhood dessert at a local Chinese restaurant in Long Beach, NY, where he grew up. The perfect bite is at the bottom of the cup where the pistachio and cherry flavors eventually meld together.
Cherry Pistachio and Peconic Swamp Thing Ice Cream
Snowflake also offers a flavor of the week. For example, on the Fourth of July it was Red, White & Blueberry. You can send ice cream flavor suggestions to Snowflake by e-mail if you hope to have them turn your dream dessert into a reality. If there were to be a “The Gluttoness” flavor it would include: strawberry ice cream with real strawberries, crushed Butterfinger and a butterscotch swirl.
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