Popular Chef Returns To Ram's Head Inn For 40th Anniversary

SHELTER ISLAND, NY — Chef Joe Smith has come home to Shelter Island, returning to his roots just in time to celebrate the milestone 40th anniversary of the Ram's Head Inn.

Smith, who began working as a dishwasher for James and Linda Eklund at the Chequit Inn when he was just a teenager, has served as sous chef and chef de cuisine at the Ram's Head Inn and has brought his culinary talents to Wolffer Kitchen in Sag Harbor and the Frisky Oyster in Greenport.

Now he's returned to his original employ as executive chef at Ram's Head Inn, just in time for the Ecklunds' 40th anniversary of owning the famed resort, according to Douglas Elliman.

Built in 1929, the building turns 90 in 2019; the property is currently on the market with Douglas Elliman for $9.75 million.

The 4.3-acre property comprises a 22-room inn, space for private events and weddings, a tennis court, and a restaurant, Douglas Elliman said. The 12,000 square-foot, three-story Colonial style manor house features 5,000 square feet of unfinished basement, deep water docks, eight moorings, and 800 feet of west-facing water frontage on Coecles Harbor, the listing said.

The inn is host to 22 rooms, a 110-seat restaurant, and indoor and outdoor space available for events and weddings; the property also has an all-weather tennis court and a regulation-sized bocce court, the listing added.

(Douglas Elliman Real Estate)

Douglas Elliman agent Peter Humphrey represents the listing. There is an additional 2.5-buildable-acre lot that's also available. The Ram's Head Inn has been the location of more than 800 weddings during the past 40 years.