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Wine Press: The Riverhead Project is a ‘place you should try’

By Vera Chinese

Dennis McDermott
SAMANTHA BRIX PHOTO | The Riverhead Project owner Dennis mcDermott in The Vault, the basement of his restaurant, where private parties can be held in an area that once was a bank vault.

I think I found my new “special occasion” dining spot.

Although it has been more than six months since downtown’s The Riverhead Project opened its doors on Maple Avenue, it wasn’t until Saturday that I had my first meal there. I make no exaggeration when I say I was blown away.

As someone who is skeptical of anything that is liked by most people (what can I say, I’m a curmudgeon), I approached The Riverhead Project with an eyebrow raised. After being honored by the Riverhead Chamber of Commerce, lauded by every politician in town and receiving a glowing review by the New York Times, I wondered if the place could live up to that much hype.

But from the moment I entered to the time I left, everything was actually perfect.

READ THE FULL REVIEW ON OUR WINE PRESS BLOG

Vera Chinese has been the editor of northforker.com and northforker magazines since May 2014. Prior to that she spent two and a half years as a staff reporter for the New York Daily News. She joined the Riverhead News-Review as a staff writer in January 2010 and was named Associate Web Editor nine months later. She previously worked for the Southampton Press Western Edition and was named the third place 2008 Rookie Reporter of the Year by the New York Press Association. She graduated from Wagner College in 2006 where she received a bachelor's degree in English. She earned a master's degree in English education from New York University in 2007. She is a 2002 graduate of Eastport High School and has lived on the East End for more than 20 years.

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