It’s been quite a while since Sandy & I took a stroll on Main Street in Cold Spring Harbor. Usually we drive through this cozy & picturesque little hamlet of a town on our way to Huntington, or pair it with a visit to the Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery*** or the arts & crafts fairs put on by, among others, the Cold Spring Harbor Fire Department. On this day…we ran into my next phood find for your ‘dining’ pleasure. Without even tasting some of these scrumptious looking baked goods here, I have a pretty good eye when it comes to what food tastes like by the way it looks…and you’ll see the update(s) right here!
For now…the best pretzel Sandy ever ate!
So we drive into CSH (no problem parking in this town). As we are perusing the shops on the main street Sandy spots a pretzel through the window of the Gourmet Whaler restaurant and bakery…and when Sandy sees a NYC style pretzel (I can’t describe it any other way) we stop. Fast forward a few minutes later and she looks up from her outside table and says to me as I walk out after marveling at the tantalizing selection of baked goods, “this is the best pretzel I’ve ever had”. That said, I went back in and bought the last few pretzels to share with the family at home and to see if there was anything else we might want to take home with us.
Check these out!
Cr(Y)um Cake
Need I say…Denise’s Famous Carrot Cake
Needless to say it was easy to find something else in their Thanksgiving special ‘hero’ sandwich made with turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy….and good enough to write about.
Phab!
Let me say there are few exceptions when writing about any restaurant that I decide to include in this blog after only one visit. The main reason…for now…the best NYC style pretzel resides right here at the nautically themed Gourmet Whaler!
Check out their complete coffee, smoothies in the summer & beverage menu!
Whoaaah! Vanilla Egg Creams! Where am I?
It’s not over. What will bring us back here, besides the anticipation of tasting more baked goods to start, is the genuine warmth we found in all the folks who work here…including the proprietors Denise and her husband Kevin, Max & Natalie and the sincerely happy baker Katherine. You know what they say about happy people…yes? It all filters down from the top!
Say hellooo to gracious proprietors Kevin & Denise!
Meet Max & Natalie out front!
Say HEY to the Queen of Yummy…Katherine!
See you folks soon! I’ll be looking to try that “Elvis Sandwich” on your fresh baked bread that I saw on your menu featuring peanut butter, Nutella and bananas 🙂
Oh yes…while you’re in town there are a few fun destinations very close by that you could visit before or after your fabulous breakfast or lunch at the Gourmet Whaler. Just across and down Main Street is the Cold Spring Harbor Fire House Museum.
https://www.cshfirehousemuseum.org/
So you are aware…there are 181 fire departments on Long Island and 175 of them are made up of all volunteer members. Since I’m a former Fire Commissioner for Muttontown in the East Norwich Fire Department and I’m a big proponent of supporting your local volunteer fire departments, it would be a fun way to educate yourself on fire prevention and at the same time support and salute the generations of residents who have been and continue to be a “volunteer”.
At the same time enjoy “Lots of fire history and lore surrounded by great restored equipment, photos and historical artifacts. It’s a big little museum”.
Meet Bob at the Cold Spring Harbor Firehouse Museum…Love that Greeting!
Say Hey to Tom waving at us from the back of the museum! Hey Tom!
It’s simply a proud state O mind!
Just a 3 minute walk east down Main Street on the same side and you have The Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum…
https://www.cshwhalingmuseum.org/
…or just a 3 minute ride west there is the Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery the kids would love!
Goodness! Between the CSH Firehouse Museum, The Whaling Museum and the Cold Spring Fish Hatchery, you can actually spend a whole day here and you have the Gourmet Whaler waiting for you for breakfast and/or lunch 🙂
A Reminder: In these times of Covid and especially with the variants surrounding us all, please wear your mask when requested and follow the protocols that keep us all as safe as possible!
Mangia bene’
As always, please feel free to use the comment box below.
Chef Bert
