see our Newsday video on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz6LgHVS4ho
See our Facebook page: Comtesse Therese Vineyard and Bistro ("Like" the page and get a coupon for a complimentary glass of wine)
COMTESSE THÉRÈSE BISTRO IS OPEN!!
Long Island's only vineyard restaurant!
our own wines . . . . our own fresh-grown herbs. . . .
Aquebogue duck, Long Island seafood & local North Fork vegetables!
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HOURS:
Wednesday, open for dinner 5 pm
Thursday, open for dinner 5 pm
Friday, open for winetastings from 12 noon - 5 pm, and dinner from 5 pm
Saturday, open for winetastings, lunch and dinner from 12 noon onward
Sunday, open for winetastings, lunch and dinner from 12 noon onward
Closed Monday and Tuesday
Please call 631-779-2800 for reservations. If the restaurant is closed when you call, please leave a message. Or email reservations@comtessetherese.com, including your phone number and we will confirm your reservation by phone or email.
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To see our menu, click on the MENU icon at the bottom of this page.
To read reviews, click on the REVIEWS icon at the bottom of this page.
For information on upcoming special events, click here.
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Members of the Long Island Wine Society
Wine, Cheese & Chocolate Tasting. April 28, 2 - 3:30 pm. An unusual pairing of four Comtesse Thérèse wines with four artisanal chocolates and four handcrafted North Fork cheeses. "Chocolate Sommelier" Roxanne Browning of Exotic Chocolate Tasting, and Comtesse Thérèse owner/winemaker/amateur cheesemaker Theresa Dilworth explain the nuances behind cacao beans and cheesemaking. $30. Limited to 12 people in the Versailles Room upstairs.
Winemaker Dinner Series. Private dinners hosted by owner & winemaker Theresa Dilworth. Featuring a special soup cooked by the owner herself, several courses from Chef Arie Pavlou, a cheese & chocolate course with local and homemade cheeses, and a full complement of wines. Held on Saturday evenings at 6:30 pm on April 7, May 5, and June 3, 2012. $100 per person includes tip and gratuity. Limited to 12 people in the Versailles Room upstairs.
Facebook Fan Offer. Become a fan on Facebook and receive a coupon for a complimentary glass of wine. Comtesse Therese Vineyard & Bistro.
$24.95 prix fixe dinner. Wed. & Thurs. 5-7 pm
$24.07 prix fixe lunch. Sat. & Sun. 12- 4 pm
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Long Island's first and only winery and restaurant in one location! In a historical house from the 1830's charmingly renovated in the Napoleonic style at 739 Main Road in Aquebogue, NY (phone 631-779-2800), the intimate 28-seat bistro features our own Comtesse Thérèse wines paired with local and Bistro-grown food, prepared with classic French elegance by Paris Cordon Bleu-trained Chef Aristodemos ("Arie") Pavlou.
"Boom! We were suddenly on the North Fork of France . .
. Comtesse Thérese looks like it's been here, on the North Fork of France, for a good 180 years. One expects to run into novelist George Sand or perhaps Honore de Balzac at the tasting bar."
The Sky Room, the main dining room
Addie WInter and Chris Mentz at the wine bar
Executive Chef Arie Pavlou, Manager/Sommelier Dianne Delaney, and 105 lbs of oyster mushrooms that Arie foraged in Riverhead and Cutchogue. Photo courtesy of BarbaraEllen Koch, Times-Review Newspapers, 11/29/11.
Chef Arie with farmer Doug Cooper of Mattituck
The Bistro was inspired by the small restaurants in the wine regions of St. Emilion, the Medoc, Burgundy, Tuscany, etc. -- where it's taken from granted that only local wines, and locally grown seasonal food, are served. By keeping the menu short, local and seasonal, we are also able to keep the prices reasonable.
The bistro serves only the award-winning, food-friendly Comtesse Thérèse wines - including Sauvignon Blanc, Russian Oak Chardonnay, Rosé, Blanc de Noir, Hungarian Oak Merlot, Tradtional Merlot, and the Aquebogue Estate Merlot and Aquebogue Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. In fall 2011 we plan to release the world's first-ever Canadian Oak Cabernet Sauvignon from the fantastic 2007 vintage. We also make our own fruit and herb wines at the Bistro.
"Some Comtesse Thérese wines, such as their 2005 Chateau Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (peaking right now), are available exclusively at the bistro. The house's most popular wine is its 2005 Hungarian Oak Merlot. Try it; it's dry and subtly spicy."
Other beverages are next-door neighbor Woodside Farms' apple cider, and water with sprigs of our own Bistro-grown mint. In the winter, we grow the mint, thyme and rosemary inside, so we have it year-round!
Manager & Sommelier Dianne Delaney
Manager & Sommelier Dianne Delaney, a former Saks Fifth Avenue model who Dan's Papers called a "
fast-talking, wise-cracking Bostonian sommelier," made food and wine her passion and profession after living in Spain as a teen-aged exchange student. A Riverhead resident, she has worked in the wine and food industries and has published articles in Grapezine and, more recently, Dan's Papers. See Dianne's articles published in Dan's Papers (Sommelier Stress, May 27, 2011) and Newsday (Wine & Cheese Pairing, December 15, 2010).
Arie (Aristodemos) Pavlou, of Wading River, is Executive Chef. An experienced North Fork game hunter, fisherman, and mushroom gatherer, Chef Arie has long grown his own herbs and fruits for the kitchen, and is very familiar with Long Island wines, with years of professional culinary experience on the North Fork as well as agricultural work at the Comtesse Thérèse vineyard. "I never knew before how labor-intensive vineyard work is. Now I know what work goes into producing a bottle of wine, so I appreciate it more."
Chef Arie is a graduate of the L'Ecole Cordon Bleu in Paris, France, and trained at Michelin-starred restaurants in Provence, France; at Le Cirque 2000 in Manhattan; and René Pujol, also in Manhattan. He was formerly co-owner of the Hotel Coeur de Vignes restaurant and inn in Southold, where the wine list was a several-time recipent of the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence.
Chef Arie holding a fluke, with Phisherman Phil Carlin out of Mattituck Inlet
Chef Arie is currently an instructor of culinary arts at the Culinary Institute at Suffolk County Community College on Main Street in Riverhead, which our sous chef, Lijo Chacko, attends as a student. Arie is the co-author of two books, "Wonderful Ways to Enjoy Foie Gras" and "Great Soups the Easy Way."
Smoked duck and fish are a Chef Arie speciality. He uses local peach, apple and hickory woods, local grapevine cuttings, and oak staves of our wine barrels to impart delicate aromas into the smoke.
Read the article on Chef Arie's mushroom foraging in The Suffolk Times, Riverhead News-Review, and the Long Island Wine Press.
Chef Arie taking cherrywood and hickory-smoked duck breasts out of the smoker
House-aged steak with a wild mushroom and cream sauce
Martin Vasquez in the kitchen, helping Chef Arie
Confit de canard (duck leg) with a ragout of vegetables
The Sky Room set for a private wedding rehearsal dinner. Call 631-779-2800 or email Dianne Delaney at reservations@comtessetherese.com for more information on private parties
Comtesse Thérèse wines with pumpkins at Rottkamp's Farm of Baiting Hollow, one of the Bistro's food suppliers
The Wine Garden
Under the solar-lit grapevine arbor, thyme creeps between the paving stones. An herb garden along the western edge grows 20 types of herbs, and a miniature vineyard has been planted with Dijon clones of chardonnay. Guests may also enjoy a wine tasting under the outdoor wine bar, amidst the ivy and hops vines. Views of the Wine Garden and the five-acre apple farm to the south can be had from the bistro's roof deck, also solar-powered.
View to west, to neighbor Bob Gammon's Woodside Farms, summer and fall
Ceilings and walls in the Bistro's main dining room, the Sky Room, have been painted with the sunny yellows, light blues and white clouds of Long Island skies, along with moldings decorated with the gold of the Comtesse Thérèse wine label. Local artist and L.I. Wine Ambassador Chris Gordon painted the clouds on the sky blue ceiling.
Owner and Chef together painted the ceiling of the smaller dining room, the Constellation Room, with 12 constellations of things found on the North Fork, including "The Vintager" - a farmer holding an old-fashioned harvesting tool, a fox, hawk, hunting dogs, fish, crab, dove, heron, goblet, sails and others.
Local artist Eileen Sanger's peaceful oil paintings of Long Island vineyards, creeks, harbors, and farm vistas adorn the walls. Click here for article on Eileen Sanger's art.
At the 42 acres of properties at Union Avenue in Aquebogue, about a half mile away, blackberry, raspberry and blueberry bushes have been planted. Extensive herb gardens located at owner Theresa (Tree) Dilworth's house in Mattituck, full of earthworms from years of composting, supplement the fresh herbs on the daily Bistro menu.
Mint and Belgian chocolate chip ice cream, house-made with fresh mint from the Bistro garden
NEWSDAY photo, Doug Young, Dec. 10, 2010
THE NEW YORK TIMES, In the Tasting Room, the Cheese Plate Evolves. Susan M. Novick, September 9, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/nyregion/at-wine-tastings-going-beyond-a-simple-cheese-plate.html?_r=4
POUR IT ON
Dianne Delaney is the manager and sommelier at Comtesse Thérèse bistro in Aquebogue
Photo: Gordon M. Grant for The New York Times
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NEWSDAY, Joan Reminick, June 1, 2011
. . . . A prime starter on that dinner is a lovely cream of asparagus soup, the springtime elixir crowned with a fresh asparagus spear. On the a la carte menu, escargots are plump, redolent of garlic. I'm surprised how light and appealing a combination of Brie and wild mushrooms in puff pastry turns out to be.
My favorite prix-fixe entree is a juicy, peppery hanger steak au poivre. . . . But the Crescent Farms smoked duck breast -- hauntingly smoky, tender and moist -- is the hit of the evening. . . ."
To see the full Newsday review, Newsday photo gallery, or Newsday video, see the NEWS page.
photo credit NEWSDAY
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Confit de canard (duck leg) with local Farmer's Smiley's potatoes, local spinach, and fresh herbs. Photo credit, Stephen Lang, L.I. Pulse
L.I Pulse review, Richard Jay Scholem, July 22, 2011
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DAN'S PAPER review, Issue #44, Feb. 4, 2011
"One of the few true French bistros on the East End, Comtesse Thérese is filled with delights."
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Manager/Sommelier Dianne Delaney's article on "Sommelier Stress" in Dan's Papers, May 27, 2011
Manager/Sommelier Dianne Delaney's wine & cheese pairing article in Newsday, Dec. 15, 2010
Owner Tree Dilworth's article in Dan's Papers. "Local Wine Pairings,", June 2, 2011
Owner Tree Dilworth's live interview on the wine business, on Fox Business News. Dec. 3, 2010 "Room for Wine During Recession"
Chef Arie Pavlou, Sommelier Dianne Delaney, and vineyard owner Tree Dilworth were on the radio with Chef Tom Schaudel and Malibu Sue McCann. Click here for the link to "Playing with Fire", January 22, 2011, WHLI 1100AM.
Manager & sommelier Dianne Delaney and Chef Aristodemos (Arie) Pavlou
Dianne Delaney and Chef Arie Pavlou with top 15 graduating students from RIverhead HS, June 16, 2011, at a special dinner in their honor. See articles in Riverheadlocal.com and RiverheadPatch.com
Manager & Sommelier Dianne Delaney, Executive Chef Arie Pavlou, and owner/vintner Tree Dilworth
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MORE PHOTOS
Click here for behind-the scenes photos in the kitchen
Click here for photos of the upstairs library and hall
Click here for photos of the Versailles room upstairs
Click here for photos of a private dinner in the Sky Room
Click here for photo gallery of Café Shakespeare, June 25, 2011
Click here for photo gallery of Art in the Wine Garden, July 2, 2011
Click here for photos of the Nov. 6, 2010 rock concert featuring chef Tom Schaudel and his rock band
Click here for photos of the holiday staff party, December 2011
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Comtesse Thérèse BISTRO
739 Main Road
P.O. Box 2799
Aquebogue, NY 11931
631-779-2800
located on the south side of Main Road
just east of The Modern Snack Bar and Church Lane
across the street from the former Fauna Restaurant
Please call 631-779-2800 for reservations. If the restaurant is closed when you call, please leave a message. Or email reservations@comtessetherese.com, including your phone number and we will confirm your reservation by phone or email.
