Spring on the North Fork brings with it a palpable anticipation. The daffodils and hyacinths start opening, as do the farm stands along Main Road and Sound Avenue. One by one, with each burst of color and “we’re open for the season” sign, summer finally feels within reach. It’s a feeling that is currently radiating from the dining room at Little Fish on North Sea Drive in Southold.
That pre-season energy is unmistakable when my partner Justin and I arrive around 5 p.m. on the Tuesday before Easter. After shimmying around a large laundry bin full of clean napkins temporarily parked inside the vestibule, we step into the cheerful, sunset-inspired space to find the staff in full prep mode.
Owner Arden Gardell greets us with an enthusiastic hello, introducing us to the team before excusing himself to finalize an email blast he has been trying to send since morning. When the phone rings for the second time in just a few minutes, it’s remarkably evident why the task is taking so long.
Meanwhile, a flurry of activity buzzes around us: the staff is busy moving plants, mopping floors, and setting tables for their first weekend of service. Gardell finally looks up from his computer, taking in the sun-splashed room.
“Look at that! It’s starting to look like a restaurant again,” he beams before disappearing into the kitchen again.
As Little Fish enters its fourth full season, the team isn’t just reopening; they are unveiling a refined menu, new culinary systems and an exciting Easter brunch that perfectly highlights the collaborative spirit of the North Fork.
Baptism by coconut carrot curry soup
As most seasoned East Enders know, the Gardell family is no stranger to navigating the chaotic demands of the restaurant business. They are currently celebrating the 22nd season of 668 The Gig Shack in Montauk, an eatery opened by Gardell’s parents, Tracey and Lewis, in 2005. All three of their boys worked there, along with many of their friends. Despite some growing pains in the early days (thanks to a few change-resistant locals), the space is now a beloved community staple, with Gardell’s brother Gray currently at the helm.
Recalling those messy early years, Gardell laughs as he tells the story of the time his best friend Nico accidentally knocked a massive vat of coconut carrot curry soup off the grill, which splattered on the floor. The resulting explosion “covered the entire ceiling in bright orange curry dots.”
Kyle Pomerantz was one of those childhood friends-turned-employees who has known the Gardell brothers since middle school. Today, he is helping Little Fish with social media, parked with his laptop and camera at the corner of a bar currently covered in power tools and random decor.
Pomerantz easily sums up the family ethos: “If you’ve ever met Tracey or Lewis, they just have a vibe about them … They like to think that family isn’t just blood. It’s people that you surround yourself with.”
New kid on the block
It was that family-first mentality that likely landed Gardell the Southold location, previously home to Elbow East for more than three decades. Gardell and his wife, Reina, looked at spaces all over the East End, but he describes a miserable, cold November day meeting with longtime owner Billy “Tyke” Berliner as his true “aha” moment.
“I think when they realized that there was going to be an incoming family, they got really excited by that, and that gave them a sense of continuity,” Gardell recalls. “There was a vision immediately… It wasn’t just an idea. It was a reality.”
That vision is something Berliner still gets to witness firsthand. Rather than running the kitchen, the former owner now simply enjoys the dining room as a patron.
“I think they love it. I think it blows their mind,” Gardell says of Berliner and his wife’s return visits over the years. “They’ve always been, I think, very grateful to see how we’re doing. Tyke himself has often used the line, ‘If I were a younger man…'”
(Justin Aharoni photo)
The location — across from Kenney’s Beach — holds deep nostalgia for Reina, who spent her childhood summers renting properties on the very same street where Little Fish now stands. Gardell quickly won over neighbors by prioritizing total transparency.
“I didn’t try to make false promises… my plan is to be here a long time. My plan is to be a good neighbor,” Gardell explains. “I like to think that we’re a family business bringing another family business here… I just kind of said, ‘Give me the chance to prove myself.’”
Pomerantz has watched his friend’s honest strategy pay off through serendipity and word of mouth, quickly turning first-time diners into loyal regulars. “You have people walk up to your door thinking they’re going to the Elbow Room and, by mistake they stumble into Little Fish, and then they continue coming here,” Pomerantz notes. “That’s really how you build a true local business.”
Culinary systems and spring flavors
Like any successful venture, Little Fish is constantly evolving. After our chat, Gardell gives the staff a quick rundown of how to access their schedules on the Square app before stepping to the bar with his new head chef, Corey Piascik, to dissect the upcoming menu additions. (Don’t worry — Gardell assured me that fan favorites like the cornbread and spicy tuna tartare taquitos aren’t going anywhere.)
Piascik echoes that notion, saying he “didn’t want to come in like a bull in a china shop,” so culinary changes will be subtle at first. A major focus of his is implementing systems that buy the kitchen bandwidth to be creative and plan months in advance.
“With so much great produce and variability through the seasons… dable this year to take a lot of these dishes, like the swordfish Milanese, [and] have various toppings adjust through the season,” Gardell notes, explaining how the dish might shift from spring arugula and pickled onions to late-summer tomatoes.
Once the tweaks are finalized, the dishes head to the upper dining room, where Pomerantz uses the golden natural light to photograph them. Up first: delicata squash coated in a sweet, sour and spicy agridolce, studded with an imported Italian ricotta that is fermented in volcanic ash for a funky finish with blue cheese vibes. Next, a vibrant roast Gochujang chicken arrives with a honey-chile marinade.
There’s also a fragrant Skull Island prawn bisque utilizing a sustainable, house-made fumé crafted from halibut bones sourced down the road at Braun Seafood. That same umami-rich fumé will also amp up the flavor profile in returning house favorites like the Monkfish Tikka Masala.
Once the photo shoot wraps, the plates land back at the bar arranged family-style. The staff gathers around, actively tasting the spring fare so they can authentically describe the flavors to the incoming weekend guests.
A hyper-local Easter menu
Little Fish experimented with brunch last year, but it will officially become a weekend staple starting in 2026. They are kicking things off with an Easter Brunch on Sunday, April 5, which reads like a beautiful love letter to regional purveyors.
The Avocado Toast Grand Bazaar is elevated by fresh arugula from Treiber Farms and grilled sourdough from 1610 Bakery. The Gravlax & Latkes Eggs Benedict utilizes eggs sourced fresh from Deep Roots Farm, as well as farm-raised, sustainable Hudson Valley steelhead.
“Instead of using classic lox or salmon… there’s this steelhead fish farm in the Hudson Valley making these beautiful sides of farm-raised, sustainable steelhead,” Gardell says. “It looks and tastes very much like salmon, yet we have a local story to it.”
Gardell is equally thrilled about a new partnership with Ursula XVII from Disset Chocolate, who is acting as an offsite pastry chef for the restaurant. For Easter, she has crafted a bespoke, geometric white chocolate egg finished with delicate pastel brushing.
Inside the thin chocolate shell hides an “olive oil cake, raspberry, and a citrus crémant,” Gardell explains. “By working with our partners and really focusing on core ingredients… we can continue to be fun and cool and different, and have a menu far more interesting and diverse than a kitchen this size should be able to provide.”
Following Easter weekend, the team will take a brief pause on brunch service to refine details before officially rolling out regular weekend offerings in May. It is a fresh season for a restaurant that is putting down deep roots. With Elbow East having held court in this building for over 30 years, Gardell knows exactly the kind of longevity this location is capable of, and hopes to match it.
“That’s the plan!”
not quite accurate!!! Bill and Tike are different people!! somehow they were melded into one person in this article!!