Tickets to Port Jefferson Mac & Cheese Crawl During Annual Ice Festival Are Sold Out!
It’s (probably) the cheesiest thing to hit Port Jefferson village. The wildly popular Mac & Cheese Crawl in Port Jefferson happening during the village’s annual Ice Festival is sold out. According to Barbara Ransome, Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce director of operations, all of the allotted 200 tickets are gone.
“I have people calling me six months in advance because they know it sells out quickly,” she said.
Ransome said people should not despair though because there is a whole weekend of fun activities planned. The Mac & Cheese Crawl taking place Saturday, January 27th and Sunday, January 28th coincides with the annual Port Jefferson Ice Festival.
Head down Port that weekend to enjoy all the festivities, including horse and carriage rides, ice-themed games, hot chocolate at PJ Lobster House, and live ice carvings. Festival-goers can play ice corn hole, ice golf, ice tic tac toe, ice bowling, and ice skating. There will also be an interactive ice graffiti wall.
If you were lucky enough to snag Mac & Cheese Crawl tickets, participants can choose to walk in any order they want to visit participating restaurants. Each ticket holder is permitted one tasting per location and is required to get their ticket stamped at each spot. There are 14 restaurants taking part in the Mac & Cheese Crawl in total.
Lisa Harris, who owns Torte Jeff Pie Company on East Main Street, said that she’s thrilled to be a part of the annual Mac & Cheese crawl again this year.
“It’s always so much fun to see attendees returning year after year,” she said.
Harris revealed that she has something special cooking for the crawl.
“We’re planning a maple bacon apple mac & cheese this year with aged Gouda,” she said.
One of the newest entries into the Port Jefferson food scene is Castaways. While owner John Sarno said they won’t quite be open for business yet on the festival dates they are participating, which gives people a sneak peek into what they have to offer.
“It’s a precursor to introduce us to the village,” Sarno said.
Castaways will be serving up their take on lobster mac & cheese at the crawl.
“The lobster will be plentiful,” Sarno promised of their dish.
Another twist on the traditional mac & cheese comes from SāGhar.
“We’ve been doing this since we moved into the village,” said SāGhar owner Indu Kaur.
Kaur says that the crawl is great for the down Port economy in the winter when it’s slower and helps bring people to the village.
For the crawl, SāGhar brings its Indian fusion sensibility to its entry serving mac & cheese with tikka masala sauce.
Spycoast Pub is in their third year participating in the Mac & Cheese Crawl.
“Definitely looking forward to it as it’s always a solid turnout and it’s always nice to see the Port Jeff streets filled with people this time of year,” they said in an Instagram message. “We’ll be serving our mac & cheese balls with a Thai chili sauce. And will have a boozy hot chocolate inside.”
The full list of participating restaurants for the Mac & Cheese Crawl include:
- Barito Tacos & Cocktails
- Castaways Steak & Seafood
- Curry Club at SāGhar
- Ferryman’s Grille at Danfords Hotel
- Gourmet Burger Bistro
- Nantuckets
- Pasta Pasta (Only Saturday)
- Port Bistro & Pub
- Revival By Toast
- Spycoast
- The Steam Room
- The Whiskey Barrel
- Tommy’s Place
- Torte Jeff Pie Company
Rain dates for the Port Jefferson Ice Festival and Mac & Cheese Crawl are Saturday and Sunday, February 3rd and 4th.
If you have a ticket to the Mac & Cheese Crawl you can pick up your booklet beginning January 22nd up until your ticket date. To get your booklet you must visit the Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce at 118 West Broadway and present proof of purchase to receive your ticket booklet. For more info call (631) 473-1414.
