Halloween 2014

Living on the North Fork of Long Island, Halloween isn’t just a day for dressing up and asking for candy, it’s a season and a mindset. It’s a mix of a harvest celebration with bales of hay and corn stalks, a dress rehearsal for Christmas with lights and macabre decorations, and a chance to reconnect with your inner seven-year-old in a way that has become socially acceptable: the Halloween Party.

For the better part of a decade, we (these were our pre-North-Forks days) attended a Halloween party hosted by a friend in his home. Attending Rick’s Halloween party was a rite of passage, a litmus test for how cool, accepting, and willing to do something truly over the top you were. When he decided he could no longer manage these events, a void was not just left in our social calendar, but our hearts as well. There were people we only knew from these parties, which was amazing since we all wore elaborate costumes and masks. “Were you Madonna last year? And you, you were the Joker?”  The annual Halloween Party had become a part of our lives and we missed it.

For a few years we looked for something to do in place of those parties. Since none of our friends were mad enough to attempt to duplicate Rick’s parties, we decided that going to the businesses and restaurants we regularly haunted mightn’t be a bad idea (the one and only Halloween pun).  Whether it was a restaurant, a bar, or a taproom, being in a familiar public setting in costume may not seem as enjoyable as when you were seven and going trick-or-treating with your friends, but when everyone gets into the spirit, it becomes an adult version of the childhood act: accepting of the weird, celebrating the daring and different (after all, no one wins for “most boring costume”). Whether it’s the waitstaff who, also in costume, linger at your table or the rebellious act of being in public dressed as you wouldn’t normally dare, the evening takes on a different feeling because you’re all in this together. Sometimes the chef will prepare dishes especially designed for that night, either because they containing evocative autumn flavors or are decorated with a miniature pumpkin and a spider ring. It could be the live music and dancing, drink specials or the really cool people cooking and serving your food and drinks: A win however you look at it.

On the North Fork, the events of note for the Halloween Weekend:

Michael Anthony’s Food Bar – 2925 North Wading River Road, Wading River NY, 11792 , 631-929-8800 :

• Friday: “Trick or Treat”: Bring the kids by for candy, and help them decorate by bringing a pumpkin and they’ll treat you with a $15 gift certificate.
• Saturday: Gotham City at the FoodBar. The staff will be in costume, offering drink and menu specials all evening. Prize for best costume will be awarded.
• Sunday: Dia de Los Muertos: Evening-long Day of The Dead Mexican specials all evening.

First and South – 100 South Street, Greenport, NY 11944 , 631-333-2200 :

• Friday: Monster Bash: Costume Party with prizes awarded, 10PM-Close

Greenport Harbor Brewing Company Peconic Tasting Room – 42155 Main Road, Peconic, NY 11958, 631-477-6681 :

• Friday: Party 7-11, Noah’s On The Road Food Truck, costume contest with prizes, live music with Nick Kerzner and Chris Hurley. Bring a non-perishable food item or toiletry for CAST, Community Action Southold Town, and get a free beer.

Main Street in Riverhead is having their Edgar Allen Poe Festival all weekend. Events and readings will be occurring all over the town including readings of Pit and the Pendulum, Telltale Heart, and the Raven at Digger’s – 58 W Main St, Riverhead, NY 11901 , 631-369-3200.

Crooked Ladder Brewing Company – 70 West Main Street, Riverhead, New York 11901 , 631-591-3565 : a “No Power Happy Hour” on Saturday, with the tasting room lit only with candlelight. Come in a costume for 10% off and taste special beers.