Since Mindy Gray took over and reopened sweet little Sagaponack General Store (542 Sagg Main St, Sagaponack, 631-536-5242) last spring, it hasn’t skipped much of a beat since establishing itself in 1878 as a dry-goods seller and informal community gathering spot. Part and parcel to that is staying open all darn year long, every day, from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. From fresh, filling food (oh, those rotisserie chickens!) to piles of penny candy to the charming adjacent post office and carefully curated specialty items that make great gifts (for you or someone else), Sag Gen combines the best of old-timey necessities with unique treats only found there.
1. Orient Linen Co. “Sagaponack General Store” linen apron ($95). Hand-sewn on the North Fork, these aprons double as the shops’ staff uniforms — but you’ll want one of the soft-yet-sturdy blue-striped kitchen staples for yourself.
2. Ballerina Farm Farmer Protein, 40 g ($76). Sag Gen is the only East End seller of this high-demand brand of powdered colostrum protein out of Utah. It comes in flavors like chocolate, vanilla and strawberry; the latter is used for the store’s popular iced strawberry matcha ($12.50/12 oz.).
(Photos by Doug Young)
3. Raw Sagaponack Honey, 7 oz. ($42). Local beekeeper Chris Kelly tends to the six onsite beehives that Gray keeps, cultivating homegrown honey that the winged little friends make from lavender and other flora growing on the property.
4. Erah of Inez “Olio Nuovo” Olive Oil, 375 ml ($59.95). Situated on a petite, organically farmed 36 acres in the Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara, Calif., the Zimmerman family grows three kinds of olive trees (Arbequina, Arbosana and Koroneiki) for their small-batch single-origin bottlings, of which Sag Gen is one of the few East Coast carriers. “Olio Nuovo” is a vibrant, fresh-pressed oil made in ultra-limited quantities.
5. North Fork Fresh Eggs, one dozen ($16.95). Pasture-raised on an organically farmed field in Southold, these free-range eggs come in a unique hexagonal cardboard package that’s always wrapped in a pretty ribbon inspired by the season at hand.
6. Sagaponack General Postcard (free). Sketched by local artist Dan Roe, this illustration draws from a historic photo and is always available in stacks for the taking. Come Christmastime, local kids are encouraged to use them to write to Santa and drop them off at the post office next door.
