Editorials

Editorial: Shellabration bigger and better than last year

KATHARINE SCHROEDER PHOTO | Greenport Harbor Brewery owner Rich Vandenberg hands out tastings in front of the East End Seaport Maritime Museum during the second annual Greenport Shellabration Saturday

Greenport’s newfound reputation as a destination for foodies and oenophiles was underscored in a big way this past weekend via the second annual Shellabration promotion. The streets of the village were alive with hundreds of would-be gourmands.

And so, too, were restaurants and food shops bustling on what might otherwise have been a relatively quiet winter weekend.

The organizers (founder John Kramer, event chairman Joseph Pagano and Greenport Business Improvement District president Peter Clarke) and beneficiaries (the Greenport Rotary Club and Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Southold Project in Aquaculture Training) deserve special thanks for making this year’s Shellabration even bigger and better than 2012’s inaugural event.

And hats off to the participating restaurants and vineyards for presenting the North Fork’s unique synergy of food and wine (and beer!) at its very best.

If we might offer one word of constructive advice, here’s hoping next year’s event succeeds in involving Greenport’s other businesses. Something as simple as offering discounts and/or special promotions to bearers of the Shellabration wristband could be a win-win for all concerned.