The East Hampton Town Board took a careful look at land use and zoning changes recommended in the Amagansett Corridor Study Tuesday and decided to do away with one of the most controversial of them - the creation of a new "planned commercial district" to the east of the hamlet. The study was commissioned by the board with the intent of making its recommendations a part of the Town Comprehensive Plan.

The district eliminated would have allowed large supermarkets, retail stores, fast food restaurants, drug- stores, and filling stations to call Amagansett home. The new district would have stretched along the north side of the Montauk Highway from Abram's Landing Road east to Bunker Hill Road.

Nowhere But There

In this area, the study suggested permitting retail stores of up to 15,000 square feet and superstores as large as 25,000 square feet by a special permit. At the same time the study recommended against allowing stores larger than 10,000 square feet in Amagansett's central business district.

Taken together, the suggestions left larger stores and supermarkets nowhere to go but in planned commercial districts. The problem as the board saw it was that the only planned commercial district in the town would, at least at first, be in Amagansett.

"It was an ill-advised recommendation," Town Councilman Len Bernard said. Mr. Bernard, the Town Board's liaison to the hamlet's Citizens Advisory Committee and an Amagansett resident himself, also pointed out that the new zone seemed at odds with other goals of the corridor study, mainly that the village be "pedestrian oriented."

A highly intense commercial district outside the village center would promote sprawl, he said. He also asked whether anyone would realistically walk from the village center to do shopping near Bunker Hill Road.

"I don't think this is what anybody wants," he said.

Inconsistencies Seen

"It seems to me like we're restarting Amagansett with this," Councilman Thomas Knobel said at Tuesday's meeting. He foresaw big traffic problems going to and coming from Montauk, if the new zone were created.

Supervisor Cathy Lester suggested instead that land at the east end of Amagansett be developed with senior housing and few small shops.

Eliminating this portion of the study will have a trickle-down effect on other proposed land use and zone changes contained in it, but the Town Board seemed confident that doing so would reflect the wants of residents.

"There are a lot of inconsistencies that really need to be ironed out," Mr. Bernard said.

Bipartisan Decision

The decision was a bipartisan one, something that has become increasingly rare for the Town Board. It also was in line with an editorial in The Star on June 12.

The corridor study, a hefty document completed in the spring by two firms, Land Ethics Inc. and Abeles Philips Preiss and Shapiro, contains nearly 300 pages of observations and suggestions for how the hamlet might best deal with future pressures without sacrificing the qualities that the majority agrees are appealing.

"There's an agreement as to the type of future development we want for Amagansett," the town planning director, Lisa Liquori, said yesterday. East Hampton and Sag Harbor, of $179.71 per $1,000 of assessed value. Eighty percent of taxable properties are not in a village.

Eight Dollars More?

Properties inside the villages, which levy their own taxes for police, highway, and other services, would pay the town $83.71 for each $1,000 of assessed value.

Specifically, a house with an assessment of $7,000 would pay about $1,258 in town taxes next year in the unlikely event that Supervisor Lester's budget were approved as is. This year, that same house paid about $8 less. A village resident with the same assessment would pay $586 next year under the same scenario, about $2 more than this year.

Those rates represent increases over this year's rates of 58 cents and 29 cents.

The preliminary budget calls for a $22.52 trash tax, a 3.3-percent drop from this year's rate of $23.28 per $1,000. The townwide trash district was created in 1992, and the tax rate has increased each year since then. A nearly 40-percent jump between 1996 and 1997 resulted in partisan and unpleasant debate.

Trash Deficit

Mr. Haran, the budget officer, said the proposed tax decrease resulted from a halving of the Solid Waste and Recycling District's budget deficit. At the end of 1996, the town faced a $400,000 deficit in that account, and had to borrow the money to balance the budget. Mr. Haran said this year's deficit financing would come to no more than $200,000.

"And it will be zero next year," he added optimistically.

He blamed the financial difficulties of Timothy Volk, the owner of the town's two largest carting companies, for a good portion of the deficits. In the first case, a 1995 settlement in bankruptcy court had town officials expecting "a humongous receivable" from installment payments totaling roughly $400,000 in fees Mr. Volk's firms had accumulated by using the town recycling plant. Just a few of the installment payments materialized.

Conservative Projections

Last year, the settlement was renegotiated with the town accepting 50 cents for every $1 of debt. Mr. Haran said the town had no choice then but to write off about $160,000, a major factor in this year's expected $200,000 shortfall.

The revenue projections in the trash budget are now "very conservative" and no change in the stagnant commodities market for recyclables is expected, he said. The Supervisor's budget shows $50,000 in projected revenues, the same as last year's.

Elsewhere in the budget, the town highway tax would drop 8.5 percent. Levied against properties outside the villages, that tax would generate $2.85 million of the Highway Fund's $3.2 million budget for next year. State and Federal aid make up nearly all of the rest.

New Employees

In her budget message, also released Tuesday, Supervisor Lester said she had recommended adding just three new employees to the payroll. A purchasing agent, who would earn $25,000, could save the town even more by buying equipment and supplies in bulk, and an additional social worker, who would be paid in part by a grant from Suffolk County, she said.

The third new employee would be a police officer, a $32,700 addition to the Police Department's proposed $5.4-million budget. Comprising a larger segment of the overall operating budget than the garbage or highway funds, the department is expected to have a $4.7-million payroll next year for 50 officers, eight dispatchers, and seven others.

AMAGANSETT

Citicorp to Wilshire Funding Corp., Cranberry Hole Road, $509,000.

BRIDGEHAMPTON

Silverman to Anthony and Natalie Moody, Farm Field Lane, $400,000.

Golub to Geri Bauer, Noyac Path, $271,500.

Bauer to Edward Gordon and Three Ponds Farm Inc., Mitchell Lane, $600,000.

EAST HAMPTON

Warren to Edward and Valerie Nalbantian, Town Lane, $445,000.

Bankers Trust Co. to Francis Di Spaltro and Darren French, Route 114, $190,000.

St. Petersburg J.C. Dev. to Peter and Margaret Dictenberg, Egypt Lane, $753,000.

Giaimo to Charles and Geraldine Sanicola, Oyster Shores Road, $160,000.

MONTAUK

Republic National Bank to Louis and Rosalie Corradi, South Flagler Court, $225,000.

Brooks to Tamara Kozlakowski, South Euclid Avenue, $162,000.

Watson to Janjor Dev. Inc., Old Montauk Highway, $425,000.

Sarullo to Horacio and Lynn Mercado, Fir Lane, $150,000.

Owen to The Nature Conservancy, DeBusy Road, $157,500.

Pelegri to Janet Pitts, Duval Place, $154,000.

NORTHWEST

Billings to Manzi & Manzi Equities L.L.C., Pass Road, $247,000.

Dessy to Richard Wahmann and Martha Baas, Settlers Landing Lane, $215,000.

Bernstein to James Barron and Jane Farhi, Hedges Banks Drive, $543,000.

King to Vincent Horcasitas, Bearing East Road, $225,000.

SAG HARBOR

Alfano to Mihail and Mary Belesis, Cliff Road, $525,000.

Young to Suzan Johnson, Mere dith Avenue, $164,000.

Shepard to Lorraine Egan, Concord Street, $360,000.

Hallock to David and Jane Duran, Ridge Road, $153,000.

SAGAPONACK

Kamahda International Investment Co. to Parsonage Pond Dev. Corp. II, Parsonage Pond Road, $440,000.

Max Partners to Rainer Schoenback, Silver Lane, $1,600,000.

Konner to Clifford Foster, agricultural reserve area off Montauk Highway, $550,000.

SPRINGS

Kabonac Corp. to William and Victoria Lundin, Parsons Close, $292,500.

Halpin to Mary Kate, Tyrone Drive, $150,000.

Heiple to Rachel Kleinberg, Florence Street, $180,000.

WAINSCOTT

New Sunshine Realty to Sergio and Erika Iaccarino, East Gate Road, $265,000.

WATER MILL

Foster to Constantine Fotos, agricultural reserve area off Hayground Road, $165,000.

Wright to Marc and Carolyn Rowan, Deerfield Road, $430,000.

The board of directors of Peconic County Now, the organization that has been leading the drive for secession of the East End from Suffolk County and its formation into a separate county, has voted unanimously to bring a lawsuit to compel the State Legislature to consider legislation that could lead to a Peconic County.

For two years in a row, State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has blocked Peconic County legislation from reaching the floor of the State Assembly. This year, he did not allow the legislation to move despite a face-to-face meeting with representatives of Peconic County Now and a pledge that he would "think about" the Peconic measure "again."

Silver Inaction

Peconic County Now's board has decided to bring a lawsuit, said Shelter Island Supervisor Huson (Hoot) Sherman this week, because "we could not get the speaker, Mr. Silver, to move any kind of legislation onto the floor of the Assembly so that we could have a debate and a vote on Peconic County and that doesn't look like it's going to change."

"We're going to have to go in a different direction," said Mr. Sherman, a member of the Peconic County board, "and that's the lawsuit. We're going to force the Legislature to do its job. One of the things they are empowered to do is to assist in creating municipalities and counties and, obviously, that hasn't happened as far as a Peconic County is concerned."

Forced To Sue

Larry Cantwell, the East Hampton Village Administrator and chairman of Peconic County Now, commented: "The reason the lawsuit is being brought is that we believe that under the State Constitution the Legislature is obligated to put into process the steps through which counties can be created. We are forced to do this out of frustration. The legislative process is not working. It has broken down."

The board of directors of Peconic County Now, at a meeting on Sept. 19 in Riverhead, voted to bring the lawsuit. It is to be filed in State Supreme Court in Albany, said State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. of Sag Harbor, also a member of the Peconic County Now board.

Irresponsible

In an interview this week, Mr. Thiele said that among the attorneys who will be working on the lawsuit will be Russell Stein, a former East Hampton Town attorney; Linda Riley, a former Southampton Town attorney and now East Hampton Village attorney; Stephen A. Grossman, a Sag Harbor attorney, and Mr. Thiele himself.

The crux of the lawsuit, said Mr. Thiele, will be the State Constitution's provision that "the State Legislature shall provide for the creation of new counties - not may but shall."

He said the lawsuit will charge that the "State Legislature has failed to execute its responsibility under the State Constitution. When the Constitution says shall, a whole host of cases declare that that means the legislature shall do something. Shall does not mean that the legislature will do something when it feels like it."

Staten Island Concerns

A delegation of Democratic Peconic County activists met earlier this year with Mr. Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, pressing for movement of the Peconic County legislation. The meeting in Albany with Mr. Silver was ar rang ed by the State Democratic Chair wo man Judith Hope of East Hampton, who, since she was East Hampton Town Supervisor two decades ago, has been an advocate of secession of the East End from Suffolk and formation of a Peconic County. She was present at the meeting and joined in urging Mr. Silver to allow an Assembly vote on the Peconic County measure.

Mr. Silver's opposition to the Peconic County legislation appears to stem, say Peconic County activists, from his concern that if successful, the East End secession drive might aid the bid of Staten Island to break away from New York City, which Mr. Silver and other officials from New York City, other than those from Staten Island, oppose.

Staten Island Problem

However, Mr. Cantwell said that at the meeting with Mr. Silver, the Peconic County Now delegation sought to separate the Peconic County issue from the Staten Island secession bid. And, according to those present at the gathering, Mr. Silver promised he would reconsider wheth er to allow the Peconic legislation to move. In the end, he didn't allow it to get to the floor of the State Assembly.

The legislation would have set a new process in which counties can be formed in New York State. It specified a number of threshold requirements including minimum population and size, a petition and referendum process, and a condition that any area seeking to become a new county have an economic "feasibility study" done, which study would be "authorized or at least partially funded by the state."

Haphazard Process

"State government has an interest in insuring that local government is as effective, efficient, and responsive as it can be for its citizens," declared a "memorandum in support of legislation" attached to the blocked bill. "This includes providing a government structure that can best accomplish these goals."

It was noted that the State Constitution says the State Legislature "shall provide for the creation and organizations of local governments [and] in the case of towns and villages, there are specific processes." However, in the case of counties, there is no uniform set of procedures in place relating to the creation of new counties. Rather, in the past, new counties have been formed by a haphazard, ad hoc process without any uniformity."

New Uniformity

As a result, "there exists a great deal of uncertainty regarding legal issues relating to the creation of new counties. This legislation would eliminate this uncertainty and meet the constitutional requirements of providing for the creation of counties by instituting a set of uniform procedures and substantive requirements that would have to be met."

The legislation sets a minimum population of 75,000 and a size of 250 square miles and requires that a "feasibility study either authorized or at least partly paid for by the State of New York must be completed. This will give the State Legislature continued control over the creation of new counties, and will insure that petitioners and subsequently voters in a proposed county will have the information necessary to make an informed decision."

A petition and referendum process was to be set up through which residents of an area seeking to form a new county can vote. There was a formula for the division of assets and liabilities between the existing county and the area seeking to break away.

Tax Reduction

Although having general scope, the legislation also made clear it has special bearing on the East End of Long Island. "Finally, it should be noted," declared the memorandum, "that a movement to create a new county from the five easternmost towns of Suffolk County has been initiated. A feasibility study was completed in 1995 that was 50 percent funded by the State of New York" that found a "reduction in property taxes of about $250 per taxpayer" if there would be a new county, "largely due to the second home real estate market valued at $10 billion" on the East End.

And it cited the vote held on the East End last year in which 71 percent of those balloting supported "allowing for a binding referendum on the new county."

"It should be noted that this legislation would honor that referendum and allow a Peconic County petition to be initiated," said the memorandum. "However, this law would also apply equally to any other territory in New York which could meet the substantive requirements of its provisions."

Awaiting Mr. Silver

In the State Legislature in Albany, a bill cannot get on the floor of either house without the approval of the leader of that house. In 1996, when Mr. Silver also blocked Peconic County legislation from getting to the floor of the Assembly, a companion Peconic bill did come before the State Senate where it was approved.

This year, a Senate version of the Assembly Peconic bill was held back - as members wait for Mr. Silver to allow movement of the Peconic bill in the Assembly.

2Constitutional Reform

Bridgehampton

September 29, 1997

To The Editor,

In November, voters will decide whether or not to hold a constitutional convention in 1999. The League of Women Voters of New York State believes there are three compelling reasons to vote no. One, the delegate selection process is flawed and will not lead to real citizen participation at the convention. Two, while the Constitution needs some revision, there is no public demand or societal upheaval at this time that justifies opening the whole Constitution to change. Three, the projected $45 million cost is excessive when there are alternative means to bring about constitutional reform.

Unless the delegate selection process is changed by the Legislature, it is probable that political professionals, indeed, many of the same Assemblymen and Senators or local party leaders, will control the convention. Independent campaigns against regular party candidates will be very difficult. Nonparty-endorsed candidates have to brave ballot access laws, and, even if they pass that test, campaigns could cost as much as $150,000. If, as we fear, party delegates dominate the convention, then the same party leadership that controls the Legislature will control the convention. As Alexander Hamilton and James Madison said, the likely candidates would "be parties to the very questions to be decided by them" - questions of state finance, or needed legislative and judicial reform.

History has shown that when there was a real hue and cry from the people for change, constitutional conventions met that challenge, but when there was no public outcry, they have failed.

In 1821, because of attacks on individual liberties, a Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution. In 1846, responding to the spread of Jacksonian democracy, the franchise was extended and most public offices became elective. In 1894, because of widespread corruption, severe restrictions were placed on the Legislature.

Consider the most recent case where there was no hue and cry. In 1967 the state spent $10 million on a convention that ended in failure. The exact same selection method led to a convention where Republicans and Democrats made up all but three of the delegates (who were Liberal Party representatives) and literally sat on opposite sides of the aisle. The "revised" constitution was soundly voted down by a 3-to-1 margin.

In the current atmosphere of partisan, special-interest, and single-issue politics, a unified commitment to true constitution reform seems remote. Why risk opening sections of the Constitution like the preservation of individual rights, the obligation to care for the needy, and environmental protections, such as the "forever wild" clause to elimination from the Constitution?

Finally, the cost this time around is estimated at $45 million, not counting in the cost of presenting and electioneering for and against passage.

The League of Women Voters has always worked for reform through democratic means. The New York State legislative process can certainly use reform. But there are alternatives to a convention, other means for bringing about constitutional change.

The Legislature itself can propose amendments, which after approval by two successive, separately elected Legislatures, are placed before the people. Another is the proposal of the 1993 Goldmark Commission for action panels, appointed by the Governor and the Legislature, that would present to the Legislature integrated reform packages with a mandated vote up or down by a specified date.

The League of Women Voters strongly urges voters to vote no on the constitutional convention proposition.

Sincerely,

GAIL DAVENPORT

Government Co-Chair

League of Women Voters of the Hamptons

Oppose Convention

Hampton Bays

September 28, 1997

To The Editor:

The New York State Chapter of the National Organization for Women voters urges a no vote on the ballot question of whether to convene a New York State constitutional convention.

Our present Constitution is essentially a progressive document. A convention that could rewrite the whole thing could eliminate reproductive and other rights. It's a risk we don't want to take.

The delegate selection process, which would be based on New York Senate district lines, is stacked for conservatives, incumbent lawmakers, and political leaders. The Senate district lines are the most conservative lines in the state; just look at the Senate and its dismal record. We don't want conservatives rewriting the Constitution.

The present Constitution does not restrict abortion. Given the anti-choice legislation from Congress and the states, and diminishing protections by the Federal courts, we must hold tight to what we have.

Many anti-abortion bills have passed the New York State Senate but failed in the Democratic-controlled Assembly, so none have been enacted into law. Delegates could write anti-choice proposals, including denial of Medicaid funding for abortions, mandatory parental consent or notification, waiting periods, mandatory state-written counseling for women seeking abortions, a ban on abortion methods, and eliminating the "aid, care, and support of the needy" provision, further threatening the health and welfare of low-income women and children.

Besides abortion-rights advocates, there's a long list of organizations that oppose the constitutional convention, including the League of Women Voters, Family Planning Advocates of New York State, Citizen Action, the New York Civil Liberties Union, the Bar Association of the City of New York, People for the American Way, welfare groups, unions, and environmental and teachers groups. It is also opposed by some conservatives and anti-tax groups that don't want to spend upwards of $50 million on it, including the Conservative Party, CHANGE-New York, and the Christian Coalition.

Additional information on this issue is available from the NOW-NYS office at 4 Avis Drive, Latham, N.Y. 12110.

JENNIFER LINDAHL

Corresponding Secretary

East End NOW

Vast And Beautiful

Calexico, Calif.

September 1997

Dear Star -

Last week I wrote, but didn't send, "How could I possibly have encouraged someone to come with me to this cauldron, this inferno, this impossibility? Did I spend six days driving through Toad Suck, Ark., or Bucksnort, Tenn., to drown in my own sweat?"

Well, it's a week later and the blood has thinned somewhat, and it's cooled down to 96 degrees at 8 a.m., rather than 107 degrees at 8 a.m. My solar panel is up so I have light and water and I feel more like a human than a puddle of grease. I have the campo to myself and San Felipe as well, as no sane person would come down until at least the middle of October.

The shrimp boats are out, which means the sea is cooling to below normal shower temperature and their lights at night are so beautiful.

This country of ours is vast and beautiful. More people should move to the middle. I drove some of the same roads in Arizona I drove last year in the motor home - I was impressed! I must have been absolutely terrified.

Here I am and here comes Nora (hurricane). I've never been through one of these on this coast - will let you know what happens.

So today, with thinner blood and a week behind me, my biggest problem is if I'll get smacked by a jumping mullet as I swim or buzzed by one of a swarm (seven) of hummingbirds vying for my feeder.

I miss East Hampton and all my friends, big and small. I think of how beautiful the fall is on Main Street. I'm already looking forward to next summer.

Life is good.

Love to all,

JUDY HUBBARD

Please address correspondence to [email protected]

Please include your full name, address and daytime telephone number for purposes of verification.

The organizers of the new Hamptons State Bank in Southampton Village expect to receive state approval by Oct. 17 and be open for business by early January.

Thomas Behringer, a Southampton attorney who helped found the Bank of the Hamptons in 1965, said once the New York State Banking Board gives its okay, the bank will be allowed to solicit operating capital. It plans to raise $7 million through an initial public offering of 700,000 shares at $10 each. A minimum purchase of 500 shares will be required.

If the initial public offering does not sell out, Mr. Behringer said the bank would offer the remaining shares in smaller blocks. "This is a long-term investment," he said. "We don't wish to give the impression that someone will double their money over night."

Filling A Niche

"We're not going to be any threat to the banking community, but we think we can fill a niche," said Mr. Behringer. The Hamptons State Bank will try to "tailor our products and services to the community of Southampton," he said. "This is something that bigger banks can't do."

The bank will offer a full line of services including savings accounts and business, installment, and equity loans as well as mortgages. It expects to receive approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insures deposits up to $100,000, by November.

The new bank will occupy the former Corrigan Building, a red brick structure on North Sea Road. Extensive renovations, including the construction of a vault, will be required. It has obtained a 20-year lease on the building.

Going With The Trend

Along with Mr. Behringer, two other former presidents of the Bank of the Hamptons, John F. Kidd and Ronald Krawczyk, are involved. Mr. Kidd, who is retired, lives in Sayville. Mr. Krawczyk of Patchogue was most recently an executive vice president with the Suffolk County National Bank, which purchased the Bank of the Hamptons in 1994.

The idea for the new community bank was born when the three men and others associated with the Bank of the Hamptons met each other for a Christmas dinner in 1995.

Other organizers include William Hattrick, a former Southampton Village Mayor and a vice president with Prudential Securities in Southampton, Joe Raynor, a Water Mill engineer and development consultant, Susan Vahradian, owner of the Arrow Laundry on Main Street in Southampton, and Charles T. Stevenson, a Southampton summer resident.

Although the news in recent years has been full of reports of large national banks gobbling up their smaller competitors, Mr. Behringer said the prospects for a "boutique" bank were good. "The major banks are going to get bigger and bigger because they are acquiring all the time," he said. "But the trend shows that boutique banks will do well. It's the number of ones in between, the regional banks, that will be getting smaller."

Babette's may be the only restaurant on the South Fork to serve a tofu dish to knock the socks off even a dedicated carnivore.

I know, I know. There are certain reigning prejudices about health food. The uninitiated have been heard to mumble, "How many stomachs will I need to digest this?" as they order some form of gluten-based meat substitute. Too often, health food seems to have a hearty flavorlessness that no amount of tamari can conquer.

Not so at Babette's. Here, health conscious means more than just vegetarian.

The menu is a multiethnic bag of tricks with a smattering of cuisines from around the world - Moroccan, Japanese, Mexican, Thai, Italian, Creole - reinterpreted for a South Fork audience. There is an abundance of choices for true vegetarians and plenty in the way of seafood and poultry for the non-veg set.

With an ultracool decor and a steady soundtrack of background music by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughaun, and Ray Charles, Babette's would fit in as well in downtown Manhattan as it does on East Hampton's Newtown Lane.

They don't serve Coke, they serve China Cola. And instead of Rolling Rock and Budweiser, the microbrew Sierra Nevada is the beer du jour. The tuna is dolphin safe and the chicken is free range. Get the picture?

We started off big, with pan-seared five-cheese ravioli, a popcorn chicken salad, a barbecued tofu and grilled vegetable quesadilla, and an Indonesian Waldorf salad. The ravioli was drizzled with a Balsamic reduction and rubbed with a light olive oil-and-basil mixture.

The Waldorf salad was nothing like Grandma's mayonnaise-based apple-walnut melange. Instead, baby greens were tossed in light, sweet dressing with smoked tempeh, celery, apples, walnuts, and raisins. Both were quite good and are recommended.

The chicken salad, a special served with peach chutney and greens, seemed to need some kind of dressing. It was less impressive.

Double Thumbs Up!

By far the best appetizer was the quesadilla. This is the one to order when you want to show a disbelieving meat eater that tofu can be really, really tasty.

A whole-wheat tortilla is stuffed with barbecued tofu, grilled veggies, and a jack cheese, in a slightly spicy barbecue sauce, and served with greens, avocado, sour cream, and fresh salsa. Double thumbs up.

The sampler, an appetizer including hummus, tabouleh, cold sesame udon noodles, and bits of the same barbecued tofu, also gets high marks.

Any one of the starters might have been just right for a light meal. Ba bette's kitchen does not subscribe to the big plate, small portion aesthetic.

Someone Else's Dinner

The first time I ate there, which was only recently, I couldn't help but ask the diners at a neighboring table what they had ordered. I had been hoping to catch a glimpse of someone's entree, but this was after my selection was already made.

The woman seated at the table smiled back at me, obviously as pleased with the beautiful and plentiful dish before her as I was impressed by it, and informed me it was the wasabi-crusted salmon teriyaki.

My pan-seared boneless rosemary chicken was very good, with plenty of steamed greens and garlic-mashed new potatoes, but I made a mental note to try the salmon next time.

Authenticity

And so I did. This rather untraditional salmon is crusted with horseradish mustard and sesame seeds, and finished with a light teriyaki sauce. Three or four pieces are garnished with pickled ginger and more wasabi, then coupled with a side of wild rice pilaf and steamed vegetables. It is flavorful, but not too spicy.

Someone else tried the playa enchiladas, which contained blackfish, shrimp, black beans, and polenta in a whole wheat tortilla with poblano sauce and Cheddar cheese. While the shrimp were a bit tough, the dish as a whole was well executed and tasted more authentic than the average East End enchilada.

Two of our group went for the simple turkey burger served with roasted potatoes. One jazzed it up with Cheddar cheese and "turkey bacon," which he said was as good as the real thing, no kidding.

Babette's proves that eating healthy doesn't mean eating dull, and that the best elements of vegetarian cuisine can enhance a well-rounded menu in surprising ways.

Distinct Satisfaction

What's more surprising is that the various cuisines represented on the menu are more than just names. Each dish brings something different to the palate, a distinct and satisfying taste.

The real pleasure of Babette's is seeing such creativity in vegetarian dishes and seeing so much of it. Every restaurant on the East End offers salmon or chicken, but to find tofu or tempeh done with the same flair commonly applied to meats, poultry, and fish is rare indeed.

Those who don't understand health food may not appreciate how special this is, but those who do will probably go back to Babette's again and again.

Robert Giard, a photographer who lives in Amagansett, will discuss his new book, "Particular Voices: Portraits of Gay and Lesbian Writers," at the Book Hampton in East Hampton Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

"Particular Voices," published by M.I.T. Press, contains 182 photographs selected from more than 500 Mr. Giard has made since 1985, when he began creating an archive of portraits of gay and lesbian writers across the United States. The result is, according to a release, "the most extensive photographic record of the gay and lesbian community ever undertaken."

Each photograph in the 320-page volume is accompanied by a selection from the writer's work, chosen by Mr. Giard in consultation with the writer. The book also includes introductory essays by Joan Nestle, on lesbian writing; Christopher Bram, on gay writing, and Mr. Giard.

The writers whose images appear in the book cross all literary genres, and range from those with a limited readership to international figures, some of whom live or have lived on the East End. Among the latter are Edward Albee, Terrence McNally, Blanche Wiesen Cook, Lanford Wilson, Clare Coss, and David Leavitt.

Following his presentation, Mr. Giard will answer questions from the audience and sign copies of his book.

Kaye Ballard's comedy and song routine will take center stage at the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor Saturday night. The dynamic actress and singer has enjoyed a long career in almost every form of show business - burlesque, vaudeville, nightclubs, movies, records, radio, and television, as well as the stage.

Rex Reed once described Ms. Ballard as "the funniest woman in New York"; The Daily News dubbed her "one of the great irrepressible clowns of the musical theater - entertainment at its best." Her career was launched with the musical "The Golden Apple," and Broadway audiences have also seen her in "Carnival," "Funny Girl," "Chicago," "Wonderful Town," "She Stoops to Conquer," and Joseph Papp's all-star revival of "The Pirates of Penzance."

She has also wowed audiences with her one-woman shows "Kaye Ballard - Working 42nd Street at Last" and "Hey, Ma . . . Kaye Ballard," both of which received Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations. On tour, she was seen in "Nunsense" and in "The Odd Couple" with Sandy Denis, and her appearances on comedy and variety TV programs include "The Perry Como Show," "The Doris Day Show," and more than 150 appearances on "The Tonight Show."

Ms. Ballard's Bay Street performance will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday. Tickets, at $25, can be reserved by calling the theater's box office.

Two new exhibits, one a show of Taiwanese drawings and the other a selection of works by Fairfield Porter, will open at the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton this weekend.

"Fairfield Porter, From the Permanent Collection of the Parrish Art Museum," is a traveling exhibit that is coming home for a month. "Tracing Taiwan: Contemporary Works on Paper," is visiting from abroad.

"Tracing Taiwan" looks at current developments in Taiwanese drawing and explores the medium's relationship to Chinese artistic traditions. The exhibit features four artists whose work touches on cultural and social tensions on the island of Taiwan, which was settled by Chinese immigrants, went through periods of Dutch and Japanese rule, and then, after 1840, became the seat of the Chinese nationalists' Republic of China.

Ink Scrolls

Huang Chih-yang's figurative ink scrolls quote the language of religious talismans popular in Taiwan. Hou Chun-ming retells ancient Chinese mythologies through allusion, bodily images, and explicit language of modern Taiwanese culture.

Yu Peng recreates Taiwanese landscape with a sense of cultural and physical dislocation. Hsu Yu-jen's landscapes are cut with lines of text, suggesting the environmental de struction that resulted from Taiwan's industrialization.

The show was organized by the late Alice Yang for the Drawing Center in New York. Ms. Yang died in a car accident this February shortly after accepting a curatorial post at the Parrish.

This exhibit and the Fairfield Porter show will open with a members' preview reception on Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m.

Mr. Porter lived in Southampton for part of each year from 1949 until his death in 1975 and painted some of his most important works there. The exhibit documents the emergence of a new power in Mr. Porter's work after 1948.

A Fusing Of Styles

The artist, a colorist whose work grew more and more intense over the years, painted the people and things he was familiar with - his house and studio, and his family and friends in domestic surroundings. He used the woods and paths near his summer house in Penobscot Bay, Me., and the Southampton area as a backdrop for most of his art.

"Though his landscapes convey a powerful sense of place and his portraits transmit a strong sense of the sitter's presence," wrote William C. Agee, the curator of the exhibit, "his concern was not the literal transcription of what he saw before him."

Instead, Mr. Agee wrote, Mr. Porter found the life of the painting in the paint itself. According to the curator, Mr. Porter's work sought to fuse the realism of simple observation with the energy of Abstract Expressionism.

The exhibit will be accompanied by a number of public programs. A three-week program led by Ellen Keiser about how art inspires writing will begin with a visit by Anne Porter, the artist's widow, on Saturday at 5 p.m., preceding the opening reception. Mr. Porter himself was an accomplished writer and poet whose art criticism was published in Art News, The Nation, and Art in America.

Mrs. Porter, a poet and longtime Southampton resident, will read from her late husband's poetry.

The Porter exhibit and the show of Taiwanese drawings will open to the public on Sunday.

There is an old family tradition in the ballet, that what is learned from the master or mistress is passed down by the principal dancers to the little ones. That tradition was brought from Russia to the United States by the late George Balanchine, the master choreographer of this century, and he encouraged his favorite dancers to keep it alive.

And so, endowed with his legacy, a dozen or so of his principal dancers have become disciples, teaching his style and preserving his ballets all over the world. A few, quite literally, were endowed; he left the rights to about 100 ballets he felt were worth something to a handful of friends.

"I am of the first Balanchine generation, the first generation after his death. It is an enormous, important responsibility," said Karin von Aroldingen, formerly a New York City Ballet principal dancer. She lives in Southampton and Manhattan, and was, at the end of Balanchine's life, the favorite among his favorites.

A Legacy

"I still want to dance sometimes but I owe something to the second generation, as do we all." She said she feels enormously grateful to see there is a strong second generation of Balanchine disciples.

Peter Martins, whom Balanchine named to replace him as Ballet Master-in-Chief, is, like Ms. von Aroldingen, of the first generation. Mr. Martins has a 30-year-old son, Nilas Martins, who, like his father, began dancing at the Royal Danish Ballet School in Copenhagen and became a principal dancer at New York City Ballet.

Ms. von Aroldingen inherited the rights to six ballets - "Serenade," his first American ballet and the most popular, as well as "Liebeslieder Walzer," "Stravinsky Violin Concerto," "Une Porte et Un Soupir," "Vienna Waltzes," and "Kammermusik No. 2" - and, as a trustee of the Balanchine Trust, travels all over the world staging his productions.

It was long before his death, though, that Balanchine coaxed her into preserving his legacy. When she was in her mid-20s, and still an active soloist, the ballet master convinced her to teach 8, 9, and 10-year-old girls in the School of American Ballet, which he founded in 1934.

Also A Painter

"I told him no. How could I teach? I was still dancing. And girls that small, they have no concentration. But he told me that is the way it was done in Russia."

Buried in Oakland Cemetery in Sag Harbor, Balanchine died in 1983. He lived for a short time in the Canterbury Mews in Southampton, having bought an apartment there across from Ms. von Aroldingen and her husband, Morton Gewirtz.

They now live off Flying Point Road, with an armoire in the foyer that Balanchine painted himself in brightly colored, whimsical Russian style and watercolors and pastels on the walls, equally vivid and colorful, painted by Ms. von Aroldingen.

"We dancers are not at all intellectual. We like color and music and beauty and excitement."

She said she studied during layoffs from dancing at the Art Students League and laughingly recalled how she once tried to paint a scene from the biblical story of the prodigal son, which had also been made into a ballet. Her teacher thought the better of it and suggested something on a lighter theme.

Her repertory of vibrant flowers and landscapes was shown last season at the Millennium Gallery in East Hampton.

Ironic Death

Forty-nine years after Balanchine founded the School of American Ballet, now one of the most prestigious in the world, he died, ironically, of a mysterious ailment that repeatedly tipped him off balance. It was not diagnosed as Jakob-Creutzfeldt, known these days as mad cow disease, until some time later.

Barbara Horgan, who was Balanchine's secretary for many years, encouraged him to write a will so the rights to his ballets would not revert to a brother still living in the then Soviet Union. Balanchine's style was anomalous there and, being the legacy of a defector in any case, could have even been banned as counter-revolutionary or confiscated by the Government.

After his death, Ms. Horgan created the Balanchine Foundation, an educational organization, and Ms. von Aroldingen became the ballet mistress and a trustee of the Balanchine Trust, which protects his name by acting as a clearinghouse for requests to stage his ballets.

A Strong Mentor

More than 800 productions have been staged worldwide since his death, overseen by a network of roughly 15 of his principal dancers. Ms. von Aroldingen herself has worked in mainland China, Korea, Africa, Australia, and across the United States.

"We have such a strong network that I know nothing will be lost in my lifetime. Balanchine was like Stravinsky. They said now is now, I don't care what's after me. But we care."

Her immense loyalty to his work stems from her regard for the work but also for him. He was her mentor, recognizing her talent, helping her to develop into an important dancer, then encouraging her to extend the dancer's all-too-brief career by teaching and staging ballets.

As she wrote in "I Remember Balanchine," a collection of memoirs written by dancers, friends, and other associates, he was also a substitute father - and a bit of a mother sometimes too.

A "Good Dictator"

They cooked grand feasts together, spent holidays together with her family here and with her mother, who lives now in the mountains outside Salzburg, Austria, and, according to biographers, it was she whom Balanchine called for in his last days.

"He was a dictator in a sense but in a good sense. He used to tell me, 'I could give you food and even chew it for you but you have to swallow.' He didn't like change. He made adjustments. He gave us artistic freedom to interpret; if I wasn't good at turning to the right we went to the left."

And, they were both emigrees. Her family, originally from Berlin, was evacuated during the war to Griez, in former East Germany. She was born there in 1941, the second of three daughters. Toward the end of the war, her father, a scientist, went to meet a group of professors in Czechoslovakia. He never returned, and his disappearance remains a mystery, she said.

Only To Dance

After the war, her mother one by one brought her three daughters back to West Berlin and they lived there, in rather somber circumstances, with relatives. Ms. von Aroldingen recalled hearing music that made her want to dance when she was 9 years old.

"I never played with dolls. I always wanted only to dance," she said, adding there was no money for ballet classes after her father's disappearance.

So, she auditioned at a private ballet school and was awarded an eight-year scholarship. At 10, she was chosen from among 200 girls to dance the title role in "The Little Match Girl," a film that continues to be shown in Europe around Christmastime.

Trained in the classical Russian tradition, but also in modern and folk dancing, she passed her state exams in dance theory and history at 16 and joined the corps of the modest American Festival Ballet for an eight-month run.

With Lenya

At the same time, Tatjana Gsovsky, who ran the Frankfurt Opera Ballet and was the wife of Victor Gsovsky, a respected ballet master and choreographer, also attempted to hire the teenager.

"I was so young, it was such an honor, but I had to tell her I already had an engagement. She thought I was snotty," shrugged Ms. von Aroldingen.

Madame Gsovsky persisted, though, hiring her a few years later to share the lead role in a stage production of Kurt Weill's "Seven Deadly Sins" with Lotte Lenya. The voluptuous redhead, known for her throaty cabaret style, sang the part of Anna and Ms. von Aroldingen danced it, the two of them emerging on stage under the same black cape.

It was an honor for the 17-year-old newcomer; Ms. Lenya was a major star in those days and was singing Anna for the third time - she first sang it in the original, groundbreaking production in 1933 and, later, in 1958 in New York, with Allegra Kent, the prima ballerina.

To New York

Two years later, the singer ar ranged Ms. von Aroldingen's first meeting with Balanchine, an audition in Hamburg in 1962.

"I was absolutely terrified. I fell off pointe. I was shaking. But Balanchine said later he had X-ray eyes and could see through the nerves."

Two weeks later, she received a letter inviting her to tour the U.S. with the New York City Ballet. She accepted, wiggling out of her Frankfurt contract with a fabricated elopement.

"I didn't speak English. I found it very hard to communicate when I got to New York. But, after all, dance is the universal language," she said.

Still, her training in the Russian style - muscular, strong, and firmly grounded - conflicted with the highly refined and highly musical Balanchine style. She had to learn technique all over again but her long, slim physique, which would have been considered an unathletic anomaly by the old school, fit perfectly the swan-necked, swift, and hyper-extended profile of the Balanchine ballerina.

Last Performance

"There was a saying about Balanchine, that he could see music. The steps, the dancers, the costumes, the sets - everything was the music."

Her first appearance was as a monster in Stravinsky's "Firebird," and her second as a demi-soloist in Bizet's "Symphony in C."

"I did demi-solo parts but I was not technically a soloist for five years. The parts and the titles did not matter to me in any case. I only wanted to dance."

In 1972, she was named a principal dancer, for whom Balanchine especially created 18 roles. The first was the female lead in an abstract ballet set to Stravinsky's "Violin Concerto," where she danced "an incredibly acrobatic" pas de deux with Jean-Pierre Bonnefous.

"Violin Concerto," which she danced many times and was bequeathed to her, was her favorite, and it was to become the piece she requested for her final performance; she retired from dancing in 1984, a year after her teacher and mentor died.

Choreography

"He knew us better than we knew ourselves," said Ms. von Aroldingen, adding that the roles he created for her - in, among others, "Who Cares?" "Vienna Waltzes," "Kammermusik No. 2," and "Une Porte et Un Soupir" - and the 50-odd other roles for which he chose her were versatile, deceptively difficult, and often highly romanticized.

Many of them also involved waltz music, and she recalled one critic who labeled her "the empress of the waltz."

In addition to coaxing her to teach, Balanchine asked her in 1976 to stage a ballet for him. Again she protested that she was not ready to do anything other than dance. Again Balanchine prevailed.

"He said, 'No dear, you have eyes and a body!' " She chose "Liebeslieder Walzer," Brahms's love songs (and, of course, waltzes) played by four piano voices - soprano, mezzo-soprano, bass, and tenor - and completed the choreography in just three weeks.

On The Road

"It was hard. The waltz needs two people, and I had to learn how to dance the boy part. I used a little girl small enough to lift as a stand-in for the girl part. But Balanchine knew I could do it. He put me there . . . but he never complimented much."

She eventually had to stop teaching altogether; his ballets are in such demand that she is constantly flying from one production to another. The Star caught her between Birmingham, England, and Salt Lake City, where Ballet West will perform "Violin Concerto."

"It is characteristic of Balanchine that his works look so easy to perform but, technically, they really are very, very hard. I sometimes have to suggest that a young company pick an easier ballet," she smiled, adding later that "I could just say no but I never do. Balanchine belongs to the world."