Farm Country Kitchen: The Chefs That Did "Farm to Table" Before It Was a Trend

Tucked away on the grassy banks of the Peconic River, Farm Country Kitchen in Riverhead has built a reputation as a restaurant heavy on high-quality, fresh seasonal ingredients and light on hype.

To hear owner Tom Carson tell it, the place “was farm-to-table before farm-to-table was a thing.” And in the 20 years Farm Country Kitchen has been in business, the focus has been on “doing it right and never sacrificing the quality of the food to make money.”

Humble looking from the entrance, cozy and full of farmhouse character on the inside, the space features a wraparound deck at the rear and a large outdoor dining area in the backyard, all of which is packed most afternoons and evenings from April until October.

Carson describes Farm Country Kitchen as creative Mediterranean-American cuisine featuring prime cuts of meat, fish, and shellfish, sourced as locally as possible, and a collection of specialty salads, pasta dishes and sandwiches. The menu changes seasonally under the direction of Carson and longtime head chef Todd Sabatini.

This spring, diners have been treated to one of Carson’s favorites, the Island Ciopino — shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels, garlic, basil, and San Marzano tomatoes with fresh arugula served over linguine. Other highlights include a pan-seared swordfish — often caught off Montauk — over angel hair pasta tossed with olive oil, roasted garlic, shallots, white wine, mushrooms and spinach and the grilled strip steak with a Gorgonzola cheese crust and port wine sauce served with Yukon gold mashed potatoes, and seasonal vegetables.

But long before the main course, Farm Country Kitchen is offering appetizers such as the fried artichoke hearts with a creamy horseradish sauce and mussels in a basil pesto cream. There are also small plates of imported cured meats and cheeses and a burrata dish with seared long stem artichokes, toasted bell peppers, red peppers, cherry tomatoes, and fried local goat cheese with grilled bread.

And then, there are the salads. A collection of six specialty salads all devised by Carson, a self-proclaimed “salad guy.” The Crescent Salad is slices of marinated duck over baby spinach, strawberries, goat cheese, almonds, cherry tomatoes, carrots, grilled pineapple with an Asian ginger teriyaki dressing. And the Park Bench is a spring mix with grilled chicken, dried cranberries, honey walnuts, cucumbers, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, feta cheese and Carson’s signature balsamic vinaigrette.

“I’m really proud of the food we put together and put out and I think it stands up to any other fine dining establishment anywhere on the East End, really. And in Riverhead, its unlike anything else,” the owner said.

Farm Country Kitchen started out in Carson’s own kitchen at home about 20 years ago. The restaurateur began selling salads and paninis to Riverhead locals. He’d fax out a menu to nearby businesses and other offices daily, take orders and then deliver the food. It was, as Carson says, “a hit,” but not sustainable at home.

A short time later, he found a boarded-up farmhouse in disrepair along the Peconic and saw its potential. For the first few years, a small staff continued making lunches there — a couple hundred per day — for delivery and takeout. Soon, customers started coming around, curious about the “cool old place” and beautiful river view.

Then they started eating their lunches on the spot, prompting Carson to put out some tables and chairs.

The restaurant was growing organically, like much of the produce and seafood Farm Country Kitchen sources from local farms and fishermen.

Before long, Farm Country Kitchen opened for lunch on Saturdays and Sundays, then for dinner and now the place is open for lunch and dinner six days a week, closed on Tuesdays. The house and porch seat 50, the garden seats 60.

“Now we’re seeing a couple thousand people come here a week from April through October,” Carson said.

And yes, some of his original customers are still coming, those workers in Riverhead hungry for a fresh lunch, maybe one of Carson’s famous salads, he added.

A recent menu of lunch specials included — as always — five special salads full of greens, nuts, proteins, cheeses, and fruits. There were also four paninis with a variety of melty cheeses, meats and tons of vegetables, a pasta dish, several sandwiches and wraps and three grain bowls.

What’s ahead for Farm Country Kitchen? This summer, Carson and Sabatini plan to launch a brand-new raw bar outside featuring oysters, shrimp, clams, lobster and crab “as locally sourced as possible.”

Carson can rattle off the sources for nearly every item on the menu and stressed that even when the items aren’t grown or harvested locally, they come from like-minded purveyors who prioritize quality. The striped bass and tuna Farm Country Kitchen prepares is caught in Montauk, for example, but the mussels come from Canada. Some of the lettuces are locally grown, but others come from other parts of the United States.

It can be difficult for local farmers to supply their own farmstands and local restaurants, especially during the summer, Carson said. East End farmstands are famously popular. But the owner strives to get as many ingredients as possible from his neighbors.

“Like I said, we were farm-to-table right from the beginning, before anyone knew what that was, and it’s just what we are,” Carson said.

Farm Country Kitchen at 513 West Main Street in Riverhead is open every day except Tuesdays, from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., year-round.