SEPTEMBER 2017 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 51
Keeper of the flame
Stephan Bogardus’ continuing pride in the place Gerry built
Chef Gerry Hayden and Claudia Fleming hired
the baby-faced Stephan Bogardus shortly after
they opened The North Fork Table & Inn in
Southold in 2006.
It was heady times for Bogardus, fresh from
the Culinary Institute of America, working for
Hayden, a three-time James Beard award nominee
62 longislandpress.com • SEP TEM BER 2017
and a pioneer in farm-to-table dining, now a
staple at many fine restaurants.
“Gerry didn’t teach me recipes, he taught me
techniques,” Bogardus says. “It was also a great
opportunity to learn menu design and management.
I learned how to put the pieces of the
puzzle together while having a really strong
mentor.”
After two years, thinking he had learned all he
could at North Fork Table, Bogardus headed off
for a job in Florida. The following year, he asked
if he could spend his summer vacation with his
old mentor, who by then had been diagnosed
with ALS, the neurodegenerative condition also
known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
Bogardus stayed on, executing his mentor’s
creations as the disease slowly stripped Hayden
of his motor skills.
“I was the hands for his mind,” Bogardus says.
When the 50-year-old Hayden passed away,
Fleming and her partners, hospitality experts
Mike and Mary Mraz, were unsure of what
direction the restaurant should take, and briefly
put the property up for sale. Then, unanimously,
they offered the job to Bogardus.
“We figured out what was working, what wasn’t
and how to make the restaurant thrive,” he says.
“We started evaluating our techniques and have
been vigilant on what goes on the plate, trying to
keep every dish locally sourced.”
The press quickly took notice, with The New
York Times giving glowing marks, saying,
“Nearly everything we tried was exemplary. The
dream continues.”
The positive reviews have attracted many aspiring
chefs to head east to work with Bogardus and
what he calls the Table’s “encouraging vibes.”
“Young cooks who are driven tend to go where
the accolades are, so we’ve got a great crew
working here now,” he says. “We’re a bunch of
food nerds who take pride in what we do and in
sharing the experience.”
For Bogardus, that means maintaining the
Table’s deep-rooted relationships with local
farmers and keeping an eye on the ledgers, his
second love.
“Next to food, numbers are the things I like
the most. I like the intricacies and details of the
food, but then I like to go to the books,” he says.
The combination of Hayden’s mentoring and
Bogardus’ giving nature has brought a new spirit
to The North Fork Table & Inn.
“I want to harvest that energy and reciprocate to
others what Gerry had done for me,” Bogardus
says.
“It’s just a part of who I am.”
– BEVERLY FORTUNE
The North Fork Table & Inn
57225 Main Road
Southold, NY 11971
631-765-0177
www.northforktableandinn.com
FOOD & DRINK
