"It's a comfortable, elegant and a genuine place with fantastic food. It's a place I will go to again and again."
"There might be no lovelier dining spot on the North Fork than the deck of this former grist mill."
"The inn's clean white walls, with classic trimming and views overlooking Mattituck Inlet, offer an inviting atmosphere for dining and a window onto the very environment that produces many of the ingredients featured on each dish."
"It remains to this day ever so slightly under the radar, easily accessible by boat for lunch, and worth going the extra two miles by car for a comfortable atmosphere and serious food experience."
"...an excellent place for a burger on the deck, overlooking the lazy, verdant Mattituck estuary."
Notable Edibles: The Old Mill Inn is Green
Meandering down Cox Neck Road, off Route 48 in Mattituck, you quickly begin to feel like you are lost. Or that you just found a truly special place. Part Hudson Valley, part Louisiana Bayou, you catch fleeting glimpses of water and wildlife as you turn onto West Mill Road and empty onto Mattituck Harbor.
Baymen pull oyster cages onto docks. Cormorants surface with baitfish. Eelgrass sways with the tide. A towering mill house rises to your right. The former grist mill converted to the Old Mill Inn sits on the water at your left. “Views from the deck locate us smack dab in a very lovely and delicate ecosystem,” says Bia Lowe, co-manager of the Old Mill Inn.
So, when one of the seven co-owners learned about the Green Restaurant Association, a Massachusetts-based group that helps members compost their waste, reduce their water and energy use, and generally lighten their load, it was an easy sell. “Restaurants are monsters environmentally,” says Lowe. “We wanted to put ourselves on the map in terms of taking leadership in this area.” And, after making a number of changes over the last year, the Old Mill Inn has earned the title of the first “certified green” restaurant on Long Island.
The restaurant delivers its fry oil to nearby Shinn Estate Vineyards, where it is converted to tractor fuel.
“Look, you are eating lobsters from the Sound, drinking pinot blanc from a winery half a mile away, and watching egrets fish in the inlet,” says Lowe. “It’s only logical to make a commitment to the environment.” (The Old Mill Inn is open for lunch and dinner every day but Tuesday; 298-8080, theoldmillinn.net.)