From the Fyr 6.25.2026

Farm Forecast

Well, we learned something from our first attempt at Wood Fired Fridays:

You guys really, really like pizza.

As we've mentioned, after an incredible turnout and a lot of thoughtful feedback, we decided to make a few changes. The biggest one? We're taking everything people loved about the experience and turning it into something even better.

Starting July 10th, Wood Fired Fridays officially return as a reservation-only dinner series.

Just 40 seats.

One beautiful farm.

One thoughtfully curated menu.

One summer evening you don't have to plan yourself.

The best part is I feel it at my core that this version captures what we were trying to create all along.

When I think about my favorite summer memories on the North Fork, they almost always involve a table full of people, incredible food, and nowhere else to be. The sun starts dropping lower in the sky. The air cools off just enough. Someone is telling a story. Someone else is laughing too loudly. Nobody is looking at their watch.

That's the feeling we're chasing.

This won't feel like going out to a restaurant. There won't be a giant menu to decipher or a dozen decisions to make. You won't be wondering if you ordered the right thing or feeling rushed through your meal so the next reservation can sit down.

And it won't feel like waiting in line and grabbing food from a truck, while your toddler runs away hangrily as your partner searches for a good spot on the grass.

Instead, imagine arriving at the farm, being escorted to your seat with a smile and then allowing yourself to settle into the evening. Looking out over the fields. Watching the kitchen work its magic. Knowing that every detail of the menu has already been thought through for you. The one night of this week where you didn't have to even think about dinner except for showing up (not to mention you don't have to clean!) Every ingredient selected intentionally. Every course designed to tell a story about what's happening on the farm and in the season at that exact moment.

The menu will change every week based on what is growing, what is available, and what is inspiring the kitchen. Some weeks there may be pizza. Some weeks there may not. What won't change is the commitment to serving beautiful food made with ingredients we genuinely believe in.

One of the things I love most about limiting these dinners to just forty guests is that it allows the evening to stay personal. Small enough that it still feels intimate. Large enough to create that energy that only happens when people gather around a table together.

And perhaps my favorite part of all?

If the weather decides not to cooperate, nobody has to panic. We simply move indoors and continue the evening. No checking forecasts all day. No wondering if plans are cancelled. No scrambling for a backup. Just show up hungry. The farm takes care of the rest.

These dinners are the closest thing we offer to stepping directly into the world of Fyr & Salt. The food, the farm, the people, the ingredients, the creativity, the seasonality, the hospitality. All of it wrapped into one evening.

Tickets are live now, and with only forty seats available each week, I have a feeling they won't last long.

If you've ever wanted to experience the farm this way, this is your chance.

Cafe Highlights

There are certain menu items that develop a following. Not because they're trendy. Not because they're flashy. Just because they're consistently so good that people stop reading the menu when they see them.

The bánh mì is one of those items.

I've watched people walk into the cafe, see it on the board, and immediately know what they're ordering. Decision made. No further investigation necessary (which, if you've seen our menu, as short as it is, it can be impossible to decide!) Which honestly makes sense. It's crunchy, bright, herbaceous, messy in all those delicious ways you want something to be messy, and somehow tastes even better eaten outside on a summer afternoon. If summer had an official sandwich, this would be a strong contender.

The other item I'm still irrationally dreaming about this week is the kale, ricotta, and mushroom crostini. Partly because it's delicious. Partly because it wasn't even supposed to be here. This started as a dish for a private event on the farm. One of those bites that had people looking around the table asking, "Wait...what IS this?" The answer is basically toast. Very, very good toast.

Fresh ricotta folded with sautéed freshly picked greens from the farm, piled onto housemade sourdough and topped with mushrooms. It's rich without being heavy, simple without being boring, and honestly a perfect example of what happens when great ingredients are allowed to do what they do best. It's also a reminder that not everything needs seventeen ingredients and a fancy names.

Sometimes the answer is just really good bread.

Market Highlights

One of my favorite games to play in the market is looking into other people's baskets. Yeah, that's me. That nosey little creep checking out your basket. But I'm not beng creepy. Just curious.

Summer shoppers are fascinating.

Winter shoppers arrive with a mission. Summer shoppers wander. Someone comes in for eggs and leaves with kimchi, sourdough, and pepper jam. Someone else stops in for lunch and somehow leaves with chicken salad, beef tallow, and a wedge of cheese. Nobody seems entirely sure how it happened. And everyone has something excited to prepare and eat (or just eat if you played your cards right!).

I love that. Because the market isn't really a grocery store. It's more like a collection of really good ideas. A spoonful of sambal that rescues a boring dinner. A jar of kimchi that somehow ends up on eggs, tacos, grain bowls, and sandwiches all week. A loaf of sourdough that disappears before you even get it home.

The Green Goddess Chicken Salad falls squarely into that category for me.

As a private chef, I probably make more chicken salad than almost anything else. Not because it's always that exciting. Because it's useful. And useful foods are wildly underrated.

A container of chicken salad can become lunch, dinner, beach food, road trip food, wrap filling, sandwich filling, grain bowl topping, or that thing you eat standing in front of the refrigerator at 4 pm because life happened and lunch never did.

Especially this time of year.

Fourth of July is right around the corner and while everyone loves the idea of backyard entertaining, nobody actually wants to spend the entire holiday cooking. We want to be outside. We want to be swimming. We want to be sitting in lawn chairs while somebody's kid runs through a sprinkler.

Our food should help make that happen.

Kitchen Spark

"We all find ourselves in food ruts, so here's a little spark to light the fyr in your kitchen."

The Chicken Salad Spectrum

Every private chef has that one recipe they could make in their sleep. For me, it's chicken salad. Not because it's fancy. Because it solves problems.

One of my favorite weekly food prep hacks (for myself and my clients) is buying or roasting two chickens. One becomes Sunday dinner. The second becomes possibility.

Once that chicken is shredded, suddenly half the week's meals are halfway done before they even begin.

You'll Need

• Cooked shredded chicken

• Dijon

• Yogurt and/or mayonnaise

• Celery. Always. Don't skip this.

• Fresh herbs

• Salt and pepper

And then whatever else sounds good (sky is the limit here, but just to get your creative saliva flowing. Think protein, fiber, carbs, healthy fats - all in one spoonful):

• Cranberries (or actually chopped dates are incredible!)

• Apples, grapes, or pears

• beans, pickled onions, cumin and bell peppers

• kimchi

• shallots or fennel

• Scallions

• Curry powder with lime, raisins, shredded carrots

• Walnuts, pecans, and/or Pepitas

• Hemp seeds

• Pickles and/or relish

• Fresh dill and/or parsley

• Chives and/or scallins

How I Do It

1. Shred the chicken while it's still slightly warm.

2. Mix with yogurt, mayo, or some combination of the two.

3. Add something crunchy.

4. Add something bright.

5. Add herbs.

6. Taste.

7. Pretend you'll save some for later.

Stretch It

Here's where chicken salad becomes a lifestyle.

1. Stuff it into tortillas.

2. Roll it into the egg-white wraps from a few weeks ago.

3. Pile it onto toasted sourdough.

4. Serve it over greens.

5. Spoon it onto cooked farro.

6. Stuff it into pita pockets.

7. Eat it with crackers at the beach.

8. Turn it into after-sports quesadillas by layering shredded chicken and cheese between tortillas and throwing them in a skillet.

9. Add some Mexican seasoning and tuck it into tacos with whatever vegetables are hanging around in the fridge.

The point isn't really the chicken salad.

The point is that one simple ingredient can become ten different meals.

And in the middle of summer, when we'd all rather be outside than standing over a stove, that's exactly the kind of cooking I can get behind.