Technically, yesterday – being Monday – was supposed to be a short, sweet post for Chef’s Day Off. As it turns out, yesterday was anything but that for me. I will spare you the boring details of my all-too-full day and skip to a tale of two chefs.

First, note that chefs are chefs, no matter where in the world they are. They work long days then proceed to celebrate (or salvage) these days with equally intense debauchery. A dear friend of mine is a chef in the Philippines, which puts him pretty much exactly on the opposite side of the planet and exactly 12 hours time difference from me, which makes for a perfect friendship when you keep strange late hours. The catch is that one of us is just getting started for the day while the other is just getting rolling for the night… that’s actually the fun part, and where my day began yesterday.

I was in my office in between projects, texting with my friend before getting on with my crazy day. He was finishing dinner at his restaurant with a group of friends, including a Kiwi wine collector from Los Angeles (nobody’s ever from just one place in this business). They had been enjoying what seemed like some pretty amazing wines including a Tamesis Pritchard Hill Cab  (from an exclusive area of Napa Valley) and Mollydooker’s “Carnival of Love” Shiraz from McLaren Vale, Australia, two wines I would have loved to try – especially with that crew. When I said as much (by text) my phone rang and I ended up talking with the enthusiastic Kiwi wine collector about everything from great Shiraz to various cult Pinots from California, to a point where I was craving a big fruity, spicy red to replace my morning coffee! If I can’t get back to the Philippines any sooner to enjoy one of those wine dinners, I will at least need to make a trip to LA sometime in the near future.

Fourteen hours later (yes, that’s how long my work day was!), it was my turn. Our event for the Philoctetes Foundation (mentioned in the previous post) was a great success so we celebrated with a few rounds of our new favorite house cocktail, “The Swedish Chef”, a Nils and Dave special – carbonated caraway vodka, clarified apple juice, cucumber juice, Dolan vermouth and elderflower liqueur. After a couple of these at the end of a long day, I could barely keep my eyes open. My friend, on the other hand was just finishing a morning swim and sent a “sweet dreams” from the other side of the world.

As I mentioned earlier, we started our North Fork Wine Country weekend at Jamesport Winery. Owner, Ron, and host Jake were very kind, generous and accomodating. The wines were equally pleasing… We tasted pretty much everything they had on offer and at least one that wasn’t. We were particularly interested in there program of supporting SPAT, an organization that promotes the sustainable development of local shellfish aquaculture, with proceeds from their East End Series (loved them all, especially the rose and the Cinq blend).

From there to our lodging, a 1950’s motel in Greenport, Silver Sands. What a treat! Waterfront rooms facing the Peconic Bay with a private beach, clean, cozy, and less than half the typical wine country room rate!

On to our last winery of the day, Shinn Estate. Another great find! They had several interesting (in a good way) whites including a “white Pinot Noir” – essentially a still blancs de noir. Yummy! Even better, a spicy rich Bordeaux-style blend aptly named “Wild Boar Doe”.

For dinner we were craving something equally as retro as our lodging. Too bad Gregg hates seafood so much, some good options here. Instead we opted for Emilio’s Pizza in downtown Greenport… Highly recommend it!

We returned for an evening in the motel’s panelled sitting room (like a 1960’s beach cottage) for an evening of more wine and fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. This is the life!