James Lubetkin, an amateur baker who lives in Amagansett, brought home four blue ribbons and a second-place prize for baking from the New York State Fair in Syracuse, and was among seven people chosen to compete for the fair’s culinary grand prize.

Mr. Lubetkin, who entered 10 of the baking competitions, won top honors in the creative apple pie, vintage cake, quick bread, and pastry categories and second in the heritage cookie category. The pie, a French apple Breton, was also the top-rated apple pie in the state by judges at the fair, which ran from Aug. 23 through Sept. 4. 

His vintage cake was a seven-layer dobos cake, his winning quick bread was a pumpkin bread, and his apple strudel was tops among pastries, while his Austrian hazelnut linzer cookie took a not-too-shabby second place among heritage cookies. His chocolate raspberry valentine cake, frosted orange pound cake, and carrot cake received honorable mentions. 

Entries were graded on taste, appearance, and texture, he explained last week, but with everything generally delicious the competitions tend to be won or lost “based on appearance.” The tricky thing with a baking competition, he said, is that you can’t be sure the entry has turned out well because you can’t sample it in advance. “You can’t enter three-quarters of a cake having had a taste of it yourself.” 

“All the baking I did for the fair I actually did here in Amagansett,” Mr. Lubetkin said. He then froze the cakes and cookies, but “the cakes that had icing, or the cookies that had stuff in between them I took up there and finished in the Syracuse area,” where he rented a house with a kitchen for the duration of the fair. 

“The apple Breton is a fairly easy thing to make and it freezes pretty well,” he said, but “the one I liked most is a seven-layer cake.” 

Mr. Lubetkin, who is retired from a career in public relations and public affairs, entered his first county fair baking competition about two dozen years ago in Ohio and has been competing ever since. In the Cleveland area, he would often enter as many as 12 or 13 competitions, many of them happening simultaneously. The New York State Fair spreads the baking competitions out over more days, making it easier for bakers. 

“I grew up in New York City and my mom was one of those people who was always in the kitchen. Being the youngest of three kids, I always had time to spend with her.” He started off with Betty Crocker mixes and soon advanced to baking his own cakes from scratch. “When I had kids and they were really young, I’d ask them what type of cake they wanted for their birthdays, and it just grew into other things.” 

Closer to home, Mr. Lubetkin has been a contestant at the Long Island Fair in Old Bethpage, the Springs Agricultural Fair, and the chowder contest at the East Hampton Town Trustee’s Largest Clam Contest, where his Bonac chowder won the top prize in 2016.

Despite his culinary success, he says his wife, Marika O’Doherty, is the better cook in the family. “I do the stuff that people go wow over and she does the stuff that’s really good.” However, in addition to baking and making a mean clam chowder, Mr. Lubetkin also smokes meats, with brisket a particular specialty. 

And all this out of surprisingly modest kitchen. His oven, he said, “is the least sexy oven you can have.” Outside, “I have a small Weber grill and my smoker is about two feet by two feet square and about four feet high. It’s amazing how in those two little things you can get an awful lot done.” 

While he has won many awards for his baking, he is quick to admit his shortcomings. “The hardest thing for me are the real pies with the true crusts,” he said. As for his winning apple Breton, “This particular dough is almost like what you call a cookie crust. Anyone can really do this.”

One of the tricks to the recipe, which can be found online, is to cook the apples first. “It does two things: It keeps the pie from getting soggy and it creates a much more concentrated apple flavor.” 

His most important takeaway from his years of experience: Bake in advance and freeze. “For cakes and filled/frosted cookies that require many steps, the time-consuming part is the measuring, mixing, and then the actual time in the oven.”

Click for recipe

Art of Eating Catering, now based in Bridgehampton, is offering a special catering to-go menu in recognition of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The menu, which is subject to change, includes smoked fish, tuna, egg, and whitefish salads with bagels and cream cheese, dips, potato pancakes, chopped liver, gefilte fish, vegetable kugel, and main courses such as roasted local organic chicken, herb-crusted fish, filet mignon, and whole roasted salmon along with a selection of sides. 

Springs Tavern Fall Specials

Fall specials at the Springs Tavern include a Tuesday-night two-for-one taco deal from 6 to 9 p.m. for $22.95. Choices include chicken, pork, or vegetable tacos. Beginning on Tuesday, the Salty Canvas will hold a weekly Paint and Sip party at the tavern. For $45, participants will receive a cocktail or glass of wine or beer, and an appetizer, along with their painting materials and instruction. The event is child-friendly.

Pre-Theater Dinner

The 1770 House in East Hampton will cater to theatergoers attending the JDT Lab performances at Guild Hall on the next two Tuesdays. Those who make a reservation with the code #JDTLab may sit down beginning at 5:30 p.m. Orders will be taken by 6:30 p.m., in order to insure a timely arrival for the 7:30 p.m. curtain time.

New Fall Hours

The Bell and Anchor in Sag Harbor has new fall hours. It is serving dinner beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays through Sundays. Reservations have been recommended. 

Fall Prix Fixe

At Redbar Brasserie in Southampton, a prix fixe menu is offered on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. A two-course option includes an appetizer and an entree for $30; diners may choose to include a dessert with a $35, three-course prix fixe. 

Barbecue Day

Baron’s Cove restaurant in Sag Harbor will be the hot spot on Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m. when Rob Shawger, the leader of the Salty Rinse BBQ team, and Matty Boudreau prepare a feast that includes smoked and glazed baby back ribs, and Montauk Brewery beer can chicken, with all the fixings. There will be live music by the Tom and Lisa Trio starting at 2 p.m. 

Artists and Writers Night

Almond restaurant in Bridgehampton will restart its Artists and Writers Night series on Tuesday at 7 p.m. with Allie Wist as the presenting artist. Ms. Wist, the associate art director at Saveur magazine and a recent graduate of New York University’s food studies master’s program, is an artist, art director, and photographer whose work is anchored in food culture and food systems. Dinner will be a three-course prix fixe for $45, served family style and including a glass of local wine or craft beer. The price includes a gratuity but not tax. Reservations are required. 

Nick and Toni’s Brunch

Sunday brunch is back at Nick and Toni’s. The weekly menu, served from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., will be a la carte, and will include specialty brunch cocktails.

When it comes to our attention that a food establishment has not only survived, but thrived, for more than 20 years on the East End, that is worth noting and celebrating. Such is the case with the Hampton Chutney Company, based in Amagansett Square, with two more locations in New York City and one soon to open in Los Angeles.

The founders, Isabel and Gary MacGurn, met in 1987 in Ganeshpuri, India, when both were cooking at an ashram. They were unloading coconuts when a bag of them fell on Isabel’s head. Gary came to the rescue, and they became good friends and nothing more for the next seven years. They traveled in different directions of the world and finally began dating in 1992.

Gary had grown up in San Diego, a surfer dude who attended community college “for five minutes.” Isabel was raised on the Upper West Side, attended private schools and the Wharton School of Business. 

He was raised Presbyterian and had always been fascinated by saints. “Twelve saints got to hang with Jesus. Why only 12? I wanted to hang with a saint!” At the age of 20 he was living on an uncle’s farm in a six-by-eight cabin with no electricity, tending a garden, milking cows, and making cheese and butter. His brother sent him a tape of mantras, which inspired him, and his uncle encouraged him to visit India, “which was like going to Mars,” he recalled. “I’d never been out of California.” He began following Swami Muktananda, affectionately referred to as “Baba,” and then moved into an ashram and washed dishes for thousands of people a day. After years of travel, he became a cook and was particularly drawn to dosas, a thin, sourdough crepe made with rice and lentils, filled with all manner of vegetables or meat, and served with chutneys.

“I was in love with them. They appeal to all ages. You can add cheese, avocado, and whatever is seasonal.”

The couple moved to Amagansett and worked on a business plan. They began by making chutneys at home and selling them at farmers markets, then gourmet shops in the city. When the much-feared health inspector showed up on their doorstep and shut them down, they worked out a deal with the late Jeff Salaway to open a chutney business in what was previously the Honest Bakery, now La Fondita, in 1997. From the get-go, business took off. They started making dosas that patrons could take outside to eat at picnic tables as they gazed upon the beautiful landscape oasis that is the Bayberry Nursery.

After three years they moved to their current location in Amagansett Square. Business initially dropped off by 30 percent. “Everyone thought we’d shut down, they didn’t realize we’d just moved down the road.”

When you walk into Hampton Chutney Company you will always hear the chants playing in the background. The atmosphere is calm, the staff friendly, and the food outstanding. “The chants are important, the sound infuses the food and the atmosphere, they enter you and are super powerful. You can have a five-star restaurant, but if there is anger and cursing in the kitchen, it will be in the food. For the staff, our mission statement is: ‘Welcome everyone with love and respect.’ This goes for everyone, our vendors, our customers, and ourselves. Not everybody can work here, we set a high bar, and we have very little turnover.”

Their sons Julian, 18, and Ravi, 16, have both worked at their parent’s establishment. Julian is in his second year at Georgetown University and is working for Senator Charles Schumer. Ravi is a junior at East Hampton High School and loves tennis. 

“It’s a great experience for our boys to work here. They see how hard everyone works and we bond over it when we get home,” Gary said.

There are lots of school field trips to Hampton Chutney, and it deliver dosas to the Amagansett School every Tuesday.

What has always impressed me the most (besides Gary’s contagious enthusiasm, happy demeanor, and his wife’s calm kindness) is how perfectly consistent the quality is. Every dosa is brand-spanking fresh, every chutney zesty and imaginative. They are healthy and affordable. There are plenty of other offerings there: delicious soups, uttapams (a thicker, open-faced crepe made with the same batter), sandwiches, cardamom coffee, lassis, a children’s menu, ice cream, cookies, and a few shelves of well-curated gourmet items.

The MacGurns follow the three Ayurvedic tenets of eating. “Too many people eat unconsciously. You should eat foods you can digest easily and get more energy from. Eat the right amount of food. Eat according to season.” In spring you will find dosas with asparagus, in fall and winter, there will be butternut squash and beets.

When they’re not working their tails off (Isabel working the cash register and managing the business end, Gary cooking and greeting guests), they like to cook Italian food at home. When the season calms down, they take biking trips to Block Island, visit Julian in D.C., and Gary’s parents in San Diego. Hampton Chutney is closed only three days of the year, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Every year they take the entire staff to Harvest on Fort Pond, and for date nights the couple treat themselves to dinner in the tavern at 1770 House.

Everyone who knows Hampton Chutney Company has his or her favorite dosa and chutney. I’m a Number Six Masala Deluxe gal myself. It’s filled with spiced potatoes, spinach, roasted tomatoes, and jack cheese. They toss in a few chopped jalapeños (Gary’s recommendation) and I top it with the tomato and cilantro chutneys. My son grew up on Number Eleven, filled with smoked turkey, roasted onions, spinach, and jack cheese.

The MacGurns found their passion and live completely by their beliefs. The rest of us in our community get to be fed well by these beliefs. Here’s to at least 20 more years of happy, healthy dosas, orange blossom perfumed lemonades, and the best chutneys outside of India.

For Football Season

Yes, it’s that time again, and Townline BBQ in Sagaponack will mark the season with specials at the bar during football games and at happy hour. Offered on Thursdays and Fridays from 4 to 7 p.m. and all day on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays will be cocktail deals, bargain beer and wine, and edibles such as “garbage fries” (French fries with cheese sauce, chili, sour cream, and jalapenos), nachos, wings, and a “Happier Meal,” featuring a cheeseburger or hot dog, fries, and a beer for $9. Free popcorn and peanuts, too.

New Restaurant

Luis D’Loera, the owner and chef at Michael’s restaurant in Springs, is set to open a new restaurant next month, The Blend at Three Mile Harbor, in the space on Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton formerly occupied by the Harbor Grill. The restaurant will feature local ingredients, made in-house and influenced by the dishes of northern Italy, southern France, and the Mediterranean. The menu, which will change seasonally, will include entrees ranging $15 to $38: burgers, steak, osso bucco, veal chops, veal liver, rabbit,  duck, roast chicken, rigatoni Bolognese, and more.

Among the seafood choices are crispy-skin salmon and bass, grilled tuna, and seafood risotto. An extensive list of appetizers includes baked clams or oysters, steamed mussels, fried calamari, soups, salads, and homemade focaccia with olives and cheese. 

Oktoberfest Fare

This week’s Oktoberfest offering at Rowdy Hall in East Hampton, available today through Sunday, is sauerbraten with braised red cabbage and turnip-potato puree, along with Black Forest ice cream bombe for dessert. Rowdy also has a selection of Oktoberfest beers on tap, as well as a tasting flight of beers to sample.

Sen Closed Till Spring

Sen has closed for the season for renovations. The Sag Harbor restaurant will reopen in April. 

This year is the 25th anniversary of the Hamptons International Film Festival, which runs from next Thursday through Oct. 9. Congratulations, HIFF!

This got me thinking about food in films and films about food. There are so, so many, I thought it prudent to divide them into categories: the films that are specifically about food — “Babette’s Feast,” “Mostly Martha,” “Chef,” “Burnt,” “Chocolat,” “Waitress,” “Ratatouille,” “Tampopo,” “Big Night,” and the marvelous “The Hundred Foot Journey” — and the movies that are not about food whatsoever, but in which a scene with or about food becomes one of the most memorable in the entire movie — “Goodfellas,” “The Godfather,” “It’s Complicated,” “Tom Jones,” “Mystic Pizza,” and “Amelie.”

Sometimes food is just a prop in a movie; sometimes it becomes the star. We are all drawn to food scenes because they are familiar to us, as family dinners, as foreplay, as fights.

Food can be a useful tool for actors. In the movie “Big,” Tom Hanks is magically transformed back into a young boy. When he finds himself at a grand party, he picks up an ear of baby corn and consumes it as if it is a full-sized ear, nibbling the kernels daintily from one end to the other. In “What About Bob?” Bill Murray’s character follows his therapist (Richard Dreyfuss) to his vacation home and plops himself down to enjoy their porch supper. His enthusiastic moaning and compliments to the therapist’s wife makes Dreyfuss’s blood boil. 

“Mmmmmm, Faye, this is scrumptious! Is it hand-shucked?”

In “Goodfellas,” the character Henry Hill narrates Paulie’s way of slicing garlic with a razor blade. The scene demonstrates that even though the mobsters are in prison, they are not doing without; they can still prepare a fine Italian feast behind bars.

Everyone remembers the iconic scene in “Annie Hall” when Woody Allen and Diane Keaton attempt to cook lobsters. (That scene, by the way, was filmed at the Amagansett house of The Star’s editor, David E. Rattray!) In “It’s Complicated,” the scene where Meryl Streep makes chocolate croissants for Steve Martin’s character makes you want to run out and buy 20 fresh croissants. The food for “It’s Complicated,” “Julie and Julia,” and “Eat Pray Love” was all made by the talented Susan Spungen, an occasional East End resident. “Julie and Julia” is a fine example of a movie that’s better than the book, in my opinion. That buttery hollandaise with artichokes!

Food in movies is often intertwined with sex. For instance, that dumb scene in “9 1/2 Weeks” where Mickey Rourke feeds a variety of refrigerator items to a blindfolded Kim Basinger — ice cubes, maraschino cherries, a jalapeño. What a sadistic dude. In “Tom Jones,” one of the most famous scenes is Albert Finney sharing a gargantuan feast with a lady friend. They consume the food lustily and messily, beginning with soup, then lobster, chicken, and oysters, followed by ripe pears. “Tampopo” is a film all about noodles (ramen) but the more memorable food/sex scene involves a raw egg yolk being passed back and forth orally between lovers until . . . well, check it out for yourself if you like.

In movies that are specifically about food, there is usually a climactic food scene. Remy the rodent in “Ratatouille” cooks for Anton Ego “the poison penned restaurant critic.” Why are we restaurant critics always portrayed as monsters? Same portrayal in “Mystic Pizza.” 

In “Big Night,” the preparation of timpano is epic. Timpano is a complicated concoction of homemade pasta, layered with more pasta, meatballs, sauce, hard-boiled eggs, mozzarella, and salami. Oof!

In 2005 I had the unique experience of making all the pies for the movie “Waitress,” now a Broadway musical. I was flown back and forth to Los Angeles to make the pies four or five times. The movie was shot at a diner an hour outside of L.A., which meant 30 to 40 pies had to be transported each time. I was confident in my pie making skills but not in my ability to navigate the L.A. freeways, so I’d make someone else in the crew drive them out to the set. It was fun to teach Keri Russell how to roll dough and hang around craft services with the other actors and crew.

When it comes to authenticity in the movies, one of my pet peeves (in “Burnt” and a few others) is the immaculate restaurant kitchen, chefs with spotless coats, and chopping scenes with the fingertips exposed. No restaurant kitchen is clean during the rush, chefs’ coats get spattered with all manner of food and grease, and every good cook knows to curl his or her fingertips under while chopping to prevent the loss of digits. The movie “Chef” is one of the few that got all of it right.

Mike Nichols once said that all movies, plays, and life in general, are about three things: fights, seductions, and negotiation. The same could be said about food in movies. Fights: “Animal House.” Seduction: “It’s Complicated” and many more. Negotiation: “Five Easy Pieces” and “Goodfellas.” Those gangsters had to do something to get all that fresh parsley, tomatoes, and garlic past the guards. 

The wonderful writer and director Nora Ephron often put recipes in her books (“Heartburn”), and food played an important role in many of her movies. She once said, “I have made a lot of mistakes falling in love, and regretted most of them, but never the potatoes that went with them.”

To paraphrase the director Federico Fellini: “Life (and film) is a combination of magic and pasta.” ­

Chef, Farmer, Winemaker

A dinner with a theme of “chef, farmer, and winemaker” will be served later this month at the James Beard House by Michael Rozzi, the chef at 1770 House in East Hampton, along with Michael Cohen, the restaurant’s wine director. The theme pays homage to the teamwork behind the success of the restaurant, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary. 

The anniversary celebration dinner will take place on Oct. 26 at the James Beard House at 167 West 12th Street in Manhattan. Tickets are $175, or $135 for James Beard Foundation members, and reservations can be made through the foundation.

The menu will feature five courses that showcase local bounty, including Montauk fluke and Bonac clams, and items from Mecox Bay Dairy, the Milk Pail, and Amber Waves and Balsam Farms. Four courses will be paired with wines from the Kontokosta Winery in Greenport. Following hors d’oeuvres, dinner will include hand-cut spicy Montauk fluke, roasted cauliflower and Brussels sprouts salad, organic North Fork quail, pasture-raised Bridgehampton beef, and apple en croute with preserved summer cherries.

Job’s Lane Gastro Pub 

(and others . . .)

10 Windmill Lane

Southampton

631-287-8703

Daily from 11:30 a.m.

So you’re in Southampton for the Hamptons International Film Festival, going from the Southampton Cinema to the Southampton Arts Center, and you’re really hungry and want to grab a bit to eat between films. Where to go? Luckily, there are quite a few options, from the simplicity of a healthy smoothie or salad from the Village Gourmet Cheese Shop to the quiet opulence of Sant Ambroeus.

Here are some of your choices, all within blocks of the Southampton Cinema at 43 Hill Street. 

Le Chef Bistro serves simple and delicious French fare in a cozy setting. Besides the a la carte menu, you can enjoy tempting prix fixe items such as country paté, sautéed local flounder, and creme brûlée. 

Paul’s Italian Restaurant offers hearty Italian dishes and is probably the closest to the theater. Closer to the arts center, the Southampton Publick House, located in the old Driver’s Seat, has a wonderful selection of its own fine beers and IPAs, along with good pub grub like short ribs and quesadillas. 

The Village Gourmet Cheese Shop on Main Street has a huge variety of sandwiches, along with super healthy build-your-own salads and smoothies. Down the street, 75 Main has everything from branzino to beef hash, and some excellent sidewalk people watching. Silver’s is another charmer, famous for its B.L.T.s made on Eli’s Tuscan bread, along with nicely balanced soups like Russian borscht and French potato leek.

In the mood for classic German fare? Check out Shippy’s Pumpernickel for sauerbraten, bratwurst, and tender chicken schnitzel. Le Charlot, on Main Street, offers French dishes like salad Nicoise and steak tartare. Sant Ambroeus, also right on Main Street, is famous for its silky gelato and dainty pastries, but also has a formal dining room offering sophisticated Italian items like vitello tonnato, seared octopus salad, and delicate raviolis stuffed with spinach and ricotta. Save room for the Gianduia and an espresso. This hazelnut sponge cake layered with mousse, wafers, and cream will fortify you for the next movie. Or make you want to take a nice nap. 

On a recent visit, we tried Job’s Lane Gastro Pub, formerly the Tuscan House, located very close to the theater. It has a beautiful, long, dark wood bar and open, airy seating in the dining room. There are many, many large flat screen TVs around the space, so if you need to catch up on any sporting event around the world, this is the spot. 

The portions are huge, so be prepared to share or have leftovers. It has a brick pizza oven and the menu leans more towards Italian than gastro pubby fare. We tried the bruschetta, which was absolutely delicious and could have easily fed four people. It was four slices of hot, grilled garlic bread topped with sliced cherry tomatoes with a touch of vinaigrette and shredded basil. It was one of the best versions we’ve ever had, so good that we asked where the bread came from. All we could get out of our waitress was “Brooklyn.”

We also tried the Job’s salad, which was a tasty mountain of mixed greens, slivered sun-dried tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, red onion, and goat cheese, surrounded by warm, grilled quarters of portobello mushrooms. My guest ordered the wagyu beef burger, which was cooked to order, served on a toasted English muffin with excellent hand-cut fries. The service was friendly and leisurely, so if you’re in a hurry, be sure to tell the waitstaff. Prices are $18 to $32 for starters, salads, and specials. Pizzas are $25, paninis, burgers, and pastas are $14 to $34, and sides are $8 to $16.

The weather just might be pleasant enough to enjoy outdoor dining, and quite a few of these restaurants offer that. And hey, if you feel like straying farther afield, take a stroll down North Sea Road to the sweet cottage that is Tate’s Bake Shop. You will find cookies and baked goods worth bringing home from your trip to Southampton, like the addictive cayenne chocolate cookies that aren’t sold anywhere else. 

Enjoy the 25th Hamptons International Film Festival, our beautiful East End, and sample some of our fine local restaurants between flicks. Go Killer Bees!

Bistro Eté

760 Montauk Highway

Water Mill

631-500-9085

Bistro Eté is a little jewel. It is the kind of place I’m not sure I want to share with you because it is tiny and charming and the food is a delicious mash-up of French, Middle Eastern, and Greek . . . oh, let’s just call it Mediterranean cuisine. 

This newish restaurant is where Muse once was, tucked into that most bizarro of commercial real estate wastelands, the cluster of white, usually empty, buildings in Water Mill.

The small space opens up with a bar across from the entrance and a small dining room to the right. Silver-dipped crown bulbs adorn the walls, casting the light back on the walls with no glare into the room. There are a few herb plants here and there, some tiny framed works of art hang on the walls, and the tables and chairs are unadorned wood. It is deceptively simple and plain, which makes it relaxing.

Upon being seated you get a basket of warm rolls, brushed with a bit of herbed olive oil. We began our meal with roasted eggplant, roasted Brussels sprouts, grilled tomatoes, and duck wings. 

The roasted eggplant was pretty as a picture, just like the cover of Yotam Ottolenghi’s vegetable book “Plenty.” It was a large, tender slice of eggplant topped with some drizzles of faintly yellow yogurt seasoned with just the right amount of saffron. A sprinkling of pomegranate seeds gave the eggplant some tart crunch. 

The roasted Brussels sprouts salad was a unique combination of quartered sprouts and cubes of grilled Halloumi cheese with a tahini dressing and more pomegranate seeds. Halloumi cheese originated in Cyprus, which is where the restaurant’s chef, Ari Pavlou, hails from. It is a salty, chewy cheese, usually made with sheep and goat milk, and can be grilled or fried without losing its shape. It was a welcome and unusual addition to the earthy sprouts.

The grilled tomato appetizer was also excellent. You can season a mediocre toma to with salt and pepper and top it with cheese and cook it and, chances are, it will taste pretty good. It was very evident that this dish started with excellent, ripe, local tomatoes. They were topped with very good Asiago cheese and accompanied by a dainty, delicately dressed green salad. 

The duck wings were crazy good, the five “lollypopped” wings were coated in a sweet, slightly spicy glaze, like jerk seasoning, and served on top of a peppery curried slaw.

For entrees we ordered zucchini “zoodles” with tomato sauce, a striped bass special, and sea scallops. The zoodles were a big hit, raw and slightly crisp but warmed, and the tomato sauce was fresh, simple, and perfectly seasoned. 

The striped bass was bathed in a rich, creamy champagne summer truffle sauce, which sounded risky but worked. It was served on top of a dollop of mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach. The scallops were also excellent — five cooked-just-enough sea scallops served with a slightly sweet curry sauce and timbale of rice with sautéed spinach. And a few more pomegranate seeds. They like pomegranate seeds here.

The service on the night of our visit was excellent and not just because our waiter, Scott, is a former colleague from my years as pastry chef for 95 School Street and the Laundry restaurants. He is charming and knows his stuff. The prices at Bistro Eté are moderate to expensive, but closer to moderate when you consider the fine quality of the food. Soups, salads, and other starters are $10 to $26, main dishes are $28 to $38, sides are a mere $8, and desserts are $12 and all made in-house, as are the ice creams.

We tried zucchini cake, orange sorbet, mint chip ice cream, and a peach tart. The zucchini cake was the only one that did not greatly impress. It was in muffin form, cut into three slices layered with whipped cream. It just wasn’t very zucchini-y. The orange sorbet was very good, light and refreshing, and the mint chip ice cream was superb and “made with mint from the chef’s garden.” Usually I am a fusspot about my mint situations; spearmint is for cocktails, peppermint is for ice cream. But this ice cream had a perfect balance of the two. Plus the chocolate chips were very bittersweet, making this a grown-up’s mint chip ice cream. 

The peach tart was one of the best I’ve ever had. It had a most delicate, buttery, sugary crust that was paper thin and crisp. The filling was frangipane, an almond pastry cream mixture, and it was topped with super-thin slices of peach. The tart was perched on a generous mound of whipped cream.

The dessert menu also offers some to-go items: a pint of ice cream, candied orange peel, truffles, and more. We departed with the candied orange peel, which was delicious and is something rarely seen outside of Europe. A nice touch.

One of my guests is vegetarian, the other is currently avoiding dairy products, and isn’t that just the way things go these days? Neither of them found the menu difficult to navigate, nor did they have to make any special requests. The menu is seasonal and heavy on vegetable offerings.

By the end of our meal I started thinking, “Hmmm, maybe this would be a nice birthday dinner location. . . .” I hope I can get in.

Tickets are on sale at $100 each for a “hook ’em and cook ’em” event at Navy Beach restaurant in Montauk on Sept. 6. Fourteen chefs from Barcelona Wine Bar locations nationwide will spend a day fishing for fluke, striped bass, and bluefish and then prepare a meal from their catch. The main dish will be served along with vegetables from Amagansett’s Amber Waves Farm, seafood from Dock to Dish, beer from the Montauk Brewing Company, and Paumanok Vineyards wine. Diners will be asked to vote for their favorite course. 

A portion of the proceeds from the dinner will benefit the Navy SEAL Foundation. Tickets can be reserved on Eventbrite.

Quail Hill Farm in Amagansett will hold its annual Great Tomato Taste-Off on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at the farm. The farm has been growing old favorite varieties of tomatoes along with some new ones — 42 types in all, including cherry, paste, and standard tomatoes in all shapes, sizes, and colors — and those who attend will be able to sample and rate the tomatoes. 

Volunteers are being sought for help harvesting tomatoes and setting up tomorrow, as well as for the event on Saturday; those who can lend a hand have been asked to contact Jane at [email protected]. 

Restaurant Cookout

An all-American cookout at Baron’s Cove in Sag Harbor on Sunday will feature burgers, hot dogs, barbecued chicken, and bratwurst on the grill, prepared by Matty Boudreau, the chef, and his team, between 1 and 5 p.m. The Jon Divello Trio will play music live from 2 to 5 p.m. Also on the menu will be pretzel bites with beer cheese, sliders, and clams casino. 

On Tumbleweed Tuesday — the day after Labor Day next week — Baron’s Cove will offer a selection of small plates for its happy hour menu from 3 to 7 p.m. and feature a new cocktail, the Reposado Smash, made with reposado tequila, chile liqueur, blackberries, basil, and lime juice. 

Fresh Fish Competition

On Wednesday at Navy Beach restaurant in Montauk, a Hook ’Em and Cook ’Em dinner will also serve as a competition among 14 chefs from Barcelona Wine Bar and Restaurant locations across the country. Along with Christopher Lee, the James Beard Award-winning chef at Navy Beach, they will go out fishing for fluke, striped bass, and bluefish, and then use their catch of the day to prepare a family-style meal that includes local produce and other seafood. It will be served along with Montauk Brewing Company beer and Paumanok Vineyards wine, and canapés provided by the restaurant. 

Diners will be asked to vote for their favorite course. The cost is $100 per person for the 7 to 10 p.m. event. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Navy SEAL Foundation. Tickets can be reserved on the Eventbrite website by searching for “Hook ’Em and Cook ’Em.” 

North Fork Foodie Tour

Tickets are on sale for the 11th annual North Fork Foodie Tour, an opportunity to visit 20 sites and get a glimpse behind the scenes at farms, wineries, and other places that produce local artisanal foods and beverages.

The self-guided tour will take place on Sept. 10 starting at 10 a.m. at the Peconic Land Trust Agricultural Center at Charnews Farm in Southold. Tickets are $25 per adult (free for children ages 12 and below). Among the places that can be visited will be the Catapano Dairy Farm, Sang Lee Farms, Greenport Harbor Brewery, North Fork Hops, Southold Bay Oysters, Browder’s Birds, Macari Wines, Goodale Farms, and Lavender by the Bay. There will be activities such as tastings, demonstrations, and games throughout the day, as well as talks on topics such as using herbs and wild plants, and on developing a pickle business.