When I was a kid, sometimes, on the coldest of cold winter days, the waters between the mainland and Shelter Island would freeze so solidly that the ferries—to the south or north sides—were frozen in. Or at the very least delayed a bit as the powerful boats worked to pummel their way through the thick ice sheets in the bay. While there’s certainly a teeny-tiny bit of “Yipes!” associated with being stuck where you are, sequestered as an unwitting prisoner of nature, there’s also something kind of freeing about it. It’s the notion of well, I guess the only place I really need to be is right here, right now.
Sometimes I find I need a little bit of that “sit still” enforcement, a kind of it’s-out-of-your-hands permission to stay where I am. That’s the duality of the holiday season, right? And it’s why I find I need that permission (or, perhaps, a little wrangling from Mother Nature) to just breathe, be still and chill.
When you do, you tune in more to what’s around you—and while I know the word on the street is always that the Hamptons are dead in the winter, it’s not true at all. It’s pretty interesting around here in the off-season, and if you just hang out and pay attention, you’ll find treasure in the calm.
That’s what I really like about this issue of Southforker, our annual end-of-the-year Holiday edition. It gets right to the pleasures of the still season—from the rising voices of the 80-year-old Choral Society of the Hamptons to the quiet art of baking challah to the decades-old charm of one of my absolute favorite stores on the East End, the Wharf Shop in Sag Harbor. And hey, fun fact: did you know the Wharf Shop once had an outpost on Shelter Island? It’s true! That’s how I met co-owners Gwen Waddington and Nada Barry, and I’ve been a fan ever since.
We dip into the slow-down pleasures of a meal at Saaz in Southampton, sip oh-so fine rare, aged Japanese whiskies with Sen’s Jesse Matsuoka, learn how to deck our halls (and our tabletops) in styles that suit any home and hearth and learn how to make a spectacular ginger cake with the very talented pastry maestro Rémy Ertaud.
There’s lots of gifts on these pages to help you appreciate time on the South Fork, and time at home, too.
Happy Holidays, South Forkers—I wish you peace, love and lots of reasons to just … be.
Amy Zavatto
Editor-in-Chief, Southforker
