See our Facebook page: Comtesse Therese Vineyard and Bistro

COMTESSE THÉRÈSE: The French-American Bistro

Comtesse Thérèse is the only vineyard restaurant on Long Island, featuring exclusively Comtesse Thérèse wines along with our own-grown herbs and Long Island duck, seafood, and vegetables. Featuring the French-American cuisine of Chef Arie Pavlou; trained at the Cordon Bleu in Paris, he applies classic French techniques to locally grown, seasonally ripe ingredients and generously uses our own wines in his soups and sauces. Try our French onion soup made with local duck broth, our escargots marinated in Comtesse Thérèse rosé, the local fish caught daily by Phisherman Phil, and our chardonnay corn soup (in season) !

BISTRO HOURS (WINTER):

Wed- Friday: open for dinner at 5 pm

Sat-Sunday: open at 12 pm for winetastings, lunch, and dinner.

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.

$24.95 prix fixe dinner. Wed. & Thurs. 5-7 pm

$24.07 prix fixe lunch. Sat. & Sun. 12- 4 pm

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.

Confit de canard (duck leg) from neighbor Crescent Duck Farm of Aquebogue, with local vegetables.

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 by Cordon Bleu-trained Chef Aristodemos ("Arie") Pavlou.

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.

"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." Dan's Papers, Feb. 2011.

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." 

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 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.

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.

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.

Chef Arie holding a fluke, with Phisherman Phil Carlin out of Mattituck Inlet

Chef Arie taking cherrywood and hickory-smoked duck breasts out of the smoker

Chef Arie's house-aged steak with a wild mushroom and cream sauce - delicious with any of the Comtesse Thérèse merlots and cabernet sauvignons!

Confit de canard (duck leg) with local Farmer's Smiley's potatoes, local spinach, and fresh herbs. Photo credit, Stephen Lang, L.I. Pulse

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

NEWSDAY photo, Doug Young, Dec. 10, 2010

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

photo credit NEWSDAY

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.