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🐝 How to Actually Create Affordable Housing That Works

🐝 How to Actually Create Affordable Housing That Works

Housing Talk, The Magic Behind Love Lane Kitchen, The Fluffiest Pancakes

Thomas Loncar
April 03, 2026

Together With

Good Morning, North Fork! If you’re already thinking about Sunday’s meal, you’re not alone.

In today’s North Fork Buzz:

Housing Talk
The Magic Behind Love Lane Kitchen
The Fluffiest Pancakes

Ready, Set, Go!

The Lowdown

Housing Talk 🏡

A packed crowd turned out at Veterans Beach in Mattituck on Monday, where local officials and housing experts dug into one of the North Fork’s most persistent issues: how to actually create affordable housing that works.

In the nine months since being hired, Southold’s Community Development Project Supervisor Andrea Menjivar has been working through how to deploy funds from the town’s Community Housing Fund, a 0.5% real estate transfer tax that’s already brought in more than $6.7 million by the end of 2025.

Local employers, including the hospital, are struggling to hire because workers simply can’t find housing nearby. Seasonal housing remains another gap, currently being patched together in places like campgrounds.

Town officials say changes are coming. A public hearing on April 21 will address easing ADU rules, including potentially removing zoning board approval requirements for certain projects and allowing more flexible designs.

Greenport housing advocates pushed for bigger thinking: more multifamily housing, clearer incentives for developers, and even cooperative housing models.

Get the full story 👉 East End Beacon

The Magic Behind Love Lane Kitchen 🍽️

Love Lane Kitchen isn’t just a restaurant in Mattituck, it’s a community.

Owner Carolyn Iannone has built something that feels less like a business and more like an extension of her own life. Chalkboard specials, a self serve coffee station, and a bright yellow bike out front set the tone, but it’s the people that make it stick.

Iannone didn’t set out to run a restaurant. A journalism major turned wine industry worker, she became a regular here before eventually buying the place in 2012, a decision she made on instinct, not a long term plan.

Since then, she’s leaned hard into what makes the North Fork special: tight knit relationships. Local farmers drop off ingredients unannounced, winemakers swing by the back door, and much of her staff has been with her for years, including her sister, who helps keep things running smoothly.

That sense of community proved critical during COVID, when customers stepped up in a big way, buying thousands in gift cards to keep the place afloat.

Even now, Iannone keeps the restaurant open year round, taking a hit in the winter to stay consistent for both locals and staff.

Get the full story 👉 North Fork Sun

Farm Camp to Opera Stage 🎭

A chance encounter in a Cutchogue grocery store decades ago is now making its way to the opera stage.

In the 1990s, journalist Steve Wick followed a man on a bicycle to what turned out to be the last farm labor camp on the North Fork, a discovery that led to years of reporting on the lives of workers living in conditions that echoed modern day enslavement.

Those stories were later compiled into his 2024 book All That Remains. Now, they’re being reimagined once again, this time as an opera.

The project, led by the Rites of Spring Music Festival, brings together a New York based creative team. At the center of the story: a young woman repairing a broken bicycle, a symbol of movement, escape, and the systems that shape people’s lives.

The team is aiming for an in progress performance on July 19 at Sylvester Manor on Shelter Island, with a $50,000 fundraising goal to support development through 2027.

Get the full story 👉 East End Beacon

Photo of the Week

📸 submitted by Jodie Posner

Tag @NorthForkBuzz or email us at [email protected] to get your photos in The Buzz!

Foodie Friday 🍽

The Fluffiest Pancakes 🥞

There are two types of weekend mornings: the ones where you grab something quick and keep it moving, and the ones where you slow down, pour a second cup of coffee, and make pancakes from scratch like you’ve got nowhere else to be.

In our house, this is the go to pancake recipe. The one that gets requested, and made on repeat anytime there’s a free morning or a special occasion.

Because yes, boxed mix works. But from scratch pancakes? Fluffy, airy, slightly crisp on the edges, soft in the middl, it’s a different league entirely.

The secret here isn’t complicated, it’s just doing the basics right. A mix of baking powder and baking soda gives you that lift (aka those dreamy bubbles), while buttermilk brings a slight tang and helps everything rise just right. And if you don’t have buttermilk, no problem, regular milk with a splash of apple cider vinegar does the trick just as well.

What You’ll Need

Dry Ingredients:

3 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1.5 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1.5 tsp baking soda

Wet Ingredients:

2.5 cups buttermilk (or 2.25 cups milk + 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar)
1/4 cup vegetable oil (we like avocado oil)
1 tbsp vanilla
3 eggs

How to Make It

Start by whisking all your dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Don’t rush this part, getting everything evenly mixed upfront matters more than you think.

In a separate bowl, combine your wet ingredients and give them a good mix.

Now bring it all together. Pour the wet into the dry and gently fold it in (a rubber spatula is your best friend here).

Important: Don’t overmix. A few lumps are not just okay, they’re ideal. Overmixing = dense pancakes, and we’re not here for that.

Let the batter sit for a couple minutes. You’ll actually see it start to bubble a bit, that’s the magic kicking in.

Cooking Time

If you’ve got an electric griddle (we highly recommend getting one), this is its moment. You can crank out a bunch all at once and feel wildly efficient. If not, a non-stick pan works just fine, just a little slower.

Add some butter to your surface, then ladle the batter down.

Now’s your chance to customize:

🫐 Blueberries (classic for a reason)
🍌 Banana + chocolate chips (always delicious)
🥞 Or keep it simple and let the batter shine

Watch for bubbles forming and popping on the surface, that’s your cue to flip. Give the other side a couple minutes. You’re looking for a light spring when you press them (not squishy, no visible batter).

Stack them up. Add butter. and maple syrup, or swap in some jam if that’s your thing.

Making Easter breakfast or Brunch at home this Sunday give these pancakes a go. Email us pictures and how they turn out at: [email protected]

Nothing in this section is sponsored. They’re just fun things you need to know. I’ll always let you know when something is sponsored

A Quick Reminder: We Want Your Recipes

Just a reminder that we’re opening up this Foodie Friday space to you, we’d love to start highlighting your go to dishes in upcoming Foodie Fridays. Have a recipe you swear by? Send it over. We especially want to hear if you’re using local ingredients!

How to submit:
Email us at [email protected] with:

The recipe (ingredients + steps)
A photo (even an iPhone pic is perfect)
Your name
Optional but encouraged: a short story - when you make it, who you make it for, or why it’s special
Bonus points if you tell us which local purveyors you hit up for the ingredients

Live Music Breakdown

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Greenport Harbor Brewing (Pec) | Hopefully Forgiven | 1-4 PM
Jamesport Farm Brewery | Robin James | 2-5 PM

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THANKS!

Thanks for reading the North Fork Buzz today. Like what you read? Send it to someone who loves pancakes.

Tom Loncar- Publisher
Nicole Loncar- Editor + Partnerships