Restaurant Review: Cooperage Inn

If you’re looking for a casual and inviting place to have a delicious brunch this Sunday, you need look no further than Cooperage Inn. Located in beautiful Baiting Hollow, Cooperage is the perfect setting for brunch with your sweetie, a bunch of your girlfriends, or with the whole family!

Each guest receives a complimentary Bloody Mary or Mimosa – I chose the refreshingly bubbly Mimosa – and it teased my taste buds in anticipation of the sumptuous meal coming my way.

The extensive buffet includes all of your favorite breakfast items, from scrambled eggs to pancakes, but it also includes a couple other treats for you breakfast lovers. First is the omelette bar, manned by Chef Corey this past weekend. You can choose from a variety of ingredients – peppers, onions, tomatoes, an assortment of cheeses and other omelette goodies – and Chef will prepare it right in front of you while you wait. I was definitely in the mood for an omelette, and I chose onions and feta cheese to go into mine. I love onions with just about everything, but I had never had feta with my eggs – and oh, my! The onions were slightly sweet from their initial sauté in the prep kitchen and the feta melts ever so slightly and becomes this salty, creamy element that was heavenly. Chef Corey can also make you a Belgian waffle, if you’d like, and this week’s waffles were covered in a delicious raspberry sauce – yum!

On the buffet line, I grabbed some of my favorites – crisp bacon, savory sausages, and roasted-to-perfection potatoes. I couldn’t pass up a taste of Cooperage’s French toast, served alongside warm maple syrup. The toast was crisp on the outside, and the inside was warm and decadent. A surprise on the buffet line came in the form of one of my all-time favorite breakfast dishes – Eggs Benedict. The poached egg retained its runny yolk center, to my surprise, and the hollandaise was rich and creamy, not at all oily as some tend to be.

Cooperage had an impressive and beautiful fresh fruit display, but I was intrigued by their fresh juice options – particularly the watermelon juice, which I found to be exceedingly refreshing and not at all too sweet as I was expecting.

Other brunch items included a whole roasted turkey, carved in front of you by the chef, rigatoni a la vodka, Caesar salad, an array of fresh and cooked vegetables, a variety of salads, seafood and pasta…the list goes on. All of the food looked inviting and most importantly, it looked fresh and delicious!

Of course, we must not forget dessert – and you will be glad you didn’t, because the dessert served at the Cooperage Inn brunch is second to none. I enjoyed their famous bread pudding, which was rich, creamy, decadent and just plain good eats. The homemade rice pudding disappeared quickly from my plate. I nibbled on chocolate-covered shortbread, gingersnap bars, pecan cookies, banana chocolate chip scones, strawberry shortcake, apple pie…It was all so good. My compliments to Cooperage’s obviously talented pastry chef.

At $24.95 for adults, $15.95 for kids ages 5-10 and $5 for kids ages 2-4, brunch at Cooperage Inn is not only one of the best brunches on the North Fork, it’s one of the most affordable! Located at 2218 Sound Ave in Baiting Hollow, Cooperage Inn serves its Sunday Country Buffet starting at 10:30 a.m., with final seating at 2 p.m. Call 631-727-8994 for reservations, or visit www.cooperageinn.com.