Celebrate 2017

Whether it’s celebrating the end of 2016 or the start of 2017, there are a number of options for those who want to go out, eat, and party.

At Indian Wells Tavern in Amagansett, chef specials will be offered from 5 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, and $5 glasses of prosecco will be available all day on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. A New Year’s Eve party will feature $5 blood orange champagne cocktails, half-price bottles of prosecco, and a 10-foot projector playing music videos all night long, until the ball-drop at midnight is shown on TVs throughout the restaurant. 

Tasting Menu

The 1770 House will serve a $110 holiday four-course tasting menu from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. For a first course, diners can choose from ceviche or meat dishes such as Wagyu beef with caviar, fluke tartare, and cured Scottish salmon. Second-course choices could include crab chowder, winter truffle risotto, and seared Montauk sea scallops. Sample entree choices are roasted rack of lamb, braised veal cheek, seared tuna steak, or duck breast. The chef will choose the fourth course, and there will be an optional cheese course for an extra fee. 

On New Year’s Day, beginning at 5 p.m., dinner will be served a la carte in the 1770 House dining room, and in the downstairs tavern, where chicken parmigiana, lamb and chickpea curry, and Korean barbecue Berkshire ribs will be added to the classic tavern choices of burgers and meatloaf.

Party at Almond

A New Year’s Eve prix fixe dinner at Almond in Bridgehampton will include four courses created with local ingredients. Service will begin at 9 p.m., and guests will receive party favors and a glass of champagne for a toast. The cost is $105 per person plus tax and gratuity. The menu, subject to change, includes appetizer choices such as Peconic Bay scallop hash, spicy tuna tartare, house-cured wild boar prosciutto, and shrimp cocktail, followed by chestnut soup and a choice of duck, surf and turf with lobster ravioli and braised short ribs, and roast salmon as entrees. 

Almond will offer a la carte dining, including a choice among holiday specials, earlier in the evening, prior to the prix fixe dinner, and bar snacks and specialty cocktails will be served at the bar. 

Gatsby Style

The New Year’s Eve dinner party at the Living Room restaurant at c/o the Maidstone inn in East Hampton will have a Gatsby theme, with a “toast to new beginnings” at midnight. Dinner — a three-course prix fixe for $95 per person plus tax and tip — will be served from 5 to 10 p.m., with the after-party, with dancing, going until 1 a.m. The menu includes a choice of curried butternut squash soup, farro salad, kale Caesar salad, baked oysters, scallop crudo, or crispy braised veal followed by entree choices of filet mignon, poached lobster, roasted halibut, kale and mushroom lasagna, and duck breast. A glass of champagne will be included as well. 

At Rowdy

At Rowdy Hall in East Hampton, the New Year’s specials will begin at lunchtime on Saturday, with potato leek soup, a short rib grilled cheese special, and an omelette with smoked trout and crème fraiche added to the menu. Dinner specials will include a smoked trout salad, a rack of lamb entree, and chocolate tart for dessert. On the first day of 2017, Rowdy will be open for lunch but closed for dinner, serving “hair of the dog soup” along with a special of a poached egg with hollandaise sauce served with Balsam Farms sweet potato and brisket hash.

Nick and Toni’s

New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day at Nick and Toni’s in East Hampton will feature a la carte specials. The restaurant will be open for dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and for New Year’s Day brunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sample menu items for Saturday night include Peconic Bay scallop salad, a wood-grilled veal chop, and a chocolate and champagne Napolean for dessert. A special brunch entree will be lobster benedict with crispy prosciutto.

Mexican in 2017

All-day specials at La Fondita in Amagansett on New Year’s Day include chilaquiles, lamb consommé, tacos with steamed lamb, tripe soup, and barbacoa de borrego, or steamed chile-rubbed lamb served with beans, rice, salad, tortillas, and avocado salsa.

New Year’s at Pierre’s

Dinner reservations are being taken at Pierre’s in Bridgehampton for seating between 8:30 and 10 p.m., with a three-course prix fixe to be served for $135 per person. After dinner, patrons can retire to the restaurant’s upstairs lounge. The menu will include appetizers such as lobster bisque, vegetable terrine, chicken soup en croute with curry and coconut milk, lobster risotto, and oysters on the half shell. Among the entree choices will be Chilean sea bass, Maine lobster fricasee flambé, mixed seafood, veal tenderloin, beef filet, and rack of lamb. The dessert course will bring a choice of French meringue with raspberry ice cream, coconut custard, and chestnut mousseline, or ice cream.

Wise East End winter warriors are likely already scheming, making some plans to add highlights to the coming weeks in order to stave off cold-season boredom and ennui. 

One upcoming highlight could be the next Artists and Writers Night at Almond, when the Bridgehampton restaurant will have Laurie Lambrecht, a photographer whose work has been shown widely on the East End and in galleries nationwide, as host.

The gathering will feature a discussion as well as a family-style three-course meal created by Jason Weiner, Almond’s executive chef. The cost, excluding tax, is $45, which includes a glass of local wine or craft beer, and gratuity. Reservations are required. 

The fireplace has been crackling nightly at Dopo La Spiaggia, an Italian eatery with a Sag Harbor location that recently opened another restaurant at the former Race Lane in East Hampton. The East Hampton Dopo is open nightly at 5:30 and for lunch and/or brunch on Saturday and Sunday. Happy hours are Sunday through Friday at 6:30, with half-price cocktails, beer, and wine by the glass as well as complimentary bar snacks. 

For a regular old night, or lunch, out, Service Station in East Hampton, which opened this year on Montauk Highway where Winston’s was, is open every day year round from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. On Saturdays and Sundays, brunch is served. 

Cozy Italian food is always a winter highlight, and can be found at Serafina on East Hampton’s North Main Street on Fridays through Sundays throughout the winter. Dinner hours on Friday and Saturday are 5 to 10 p.m., while service on Sunday begins at noon for lunch and continues until 9 p.m. 

If you haven’t yet made it to Zigmund’s, the bar and small-bites venue in Bridgehampton opened in mid-2016 by the restaurateurs behind Almond, this weekend will be the last chance to do so: It is closing after a karaoke night from 8 p.m. Sunday to 1 a.m. the next morning.

Zigmund’s was a pop-up, its owners, Jason Weiner and Eric Lemonides, recently explained, designed to temporarily fill the empty Bridgehampton Turnpike space after Fresh, a vegan-centric restaurant and music venue, closed. Zigmund’s followed suit with a music lineup and added a late-night menu. The Almond locations in Bridgehampton and in Manhattan’s Flatiron district remain open year-round.

Cafe Closes

The Manhattan offshoot of East Hampton’s well-regarded Nick and Toni’s, a North Main Street restaurant that draws high-profile diners as well as dedicated locals, closed its doors last weekend. Nick and Toni’s Cafe opened two decades ago on the Upper West Side, near Lincoln Center. Along with Nick and Toni’s here, Rowdy Hall, Townline BBQ, and La Fondita, it was among the restaurants operated by Mark Smith and partners in the Honest Man Restaurant Group, and the only one in New York City.

Art of Eating Moves

Art of Eating Catering and Event Planning, which has used the former Honest Diner in Amagansett as home base for years, is moving to Bridgehampton. New headquarters with a larger kitchen and offices, tasting room, and commissary, will open next month on Butter Lane in a building partially occupied by Soul Cycle. The move, according to a press release, will accommodate both “a substantial growth in business” for the caterers and “a new vision” for the diner, which is owned by the aforementioned Honest Man Restaurant Group. 

With one restaurant in the group’s holdings newly closed, could there be a plan in mind for the diner? So far Mr. Smith is mum.

Half-Price Wine 

Indian Wells Tavern in Amagansett is offering diners half-price bottles of wine with certain meals on Thursdays and Sundays. On Thursday, it is a $29 prime-rib special, which includes soup or salad and the entree served with baked potato and vegetables. On Sunday, the wine special is available to those who order the weekly a la carte chef special.

At Beard House

Damien O’Donnell, the chef and co-owner of East Hampton’s Harbor Bistro and Harbor Grill, has been invited to cook at the James Beard House in Manhattan, which honors guest chefs from around the world with the opportunity to present a five-course meal.

On Jan. 28, Mr. O’Donnell will present “East Meets East End,” a menu using local ingredients to create his signature Asian-style dishes. Each course will be paired with wines from the Wolffer Estate in Sagaponack. The dinner begins at 7 p.m. with passed hors d’oeuvres: yellowfin tuna poke, winter fluke ceviche, tandoori-spiced fried oysters, Bonac clams, and Mongolian beef short-rib lettuce wraps. 

Courses will include Maine lobster tail tempura, sea scallops, roasted duck breast, Kobe beef tataki, and a pistachio financier for dessert. The cost is $175 per person, or $135 for James Beard House members. Reservations with the James Beard House are required.

At D’Canela

D’Canela restaurant on Amagansett’s Main Street is open daily, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. On Mondays, margaritas are half price. Tuesday nights are fajita nights, with a $16 special, and on Wednesdays, burger nights, a $16 meal includes a glass of wine or beer. D’Canela also offers senior citizens, ages 60 and up, a 20-percent discount on Mondays through Fridays. 

I thought driving to Islip at 3 a.m. on Friday in a snowstorm was white-knuckle harrowing. Little did I know that several hours later I would have just missed dodging a bullet at the Fort Lauderdale airport.

I’d been wanting to go to Key West for an extended time for years. Eight months ago I finally booked a tiny house in Old Town with a dipping pool. Key West, the Conch Republic, is “close to perfect, far from normal” as the ad campaign cleverly claims. It is one mile by four miles, easily traversed on foot, bicycle, golf cart, scooter, or Harley-Davidson without a helmet. 

Within this area there are between 350 and 700 restaurants, depending on whom you ask. Of those hundreds, at least 75 are excellent, offering everything from Cuban to Caribbean to crepes to just plain, old seafood like hogfish, fresh Florida pink shrimp, grouper, red snapper, and stone crab. Conch fritters, key lime pie, Cuban cigars, and rum drinks can be found on every corner. It is a relaxing, crazy, laissez-faire tropical island. It is also trashy, filled with day-trippers off the cruise ships, tattooed drunks, and way too many skanky T-shirt shops. 

I love it so much I tell my friends not to come here.

I have always enjoyed solo travel and dining alone. I’ve never been one of those ladies who bring a novel to keep them company in a restaurant or the modern equivalent: the cellphone appendage. Watching people, listening to chatter, and engaging the waiters and chef in conversation is my idea of a good time. Having worked in restaurants for many years, I speak the language and frequently get a tour of the kitchen or a good recipe.

When I booked my visit, I checked websites to see if any fun festivals were happening. Sadly, I will be leaving before the food and wine festival takes place, but I discovered that there will be a literary seminar next week with the likes of the poet laureate Billy Collins and Joyce Carol Oates. It is fully booked, but stay tuned, I may find a way to break in. Regardless, I’m pretty sure I will bump into Robert Caro or Joe Klein or Curtis Sittenfeld sipping a Papa Doble at one of Key West’s many fine bars. A girl can dream. . . .

When I arrived in Key West and went to the real estate office they told me the house wasn’t ready yet. “There’s a wine bar to the left, a rum bar on the right, come back in an hour” they suggested. I opted for the rum bar, and that’s when I learned from the blaring TVs that a shooting had taken place at the Fort Lauderdale airport literally two minutes after I left. I spent the next 20 minutes frantically texting my son and friends to let them know that I was okay and safely ensconced on a pleasant porch on Duval Street sipping a dark rum. I was feeling very lucky indeed, and heartbroken for the victims, and then I discovered that the fine folks of the Transportation Security Administration had broken my computer. Day One was spent getting a new computer.

On the first night, I dined at a place called Blackfin. I had fried hogfish in a mild curry sauce with rice and string beans. Hogfish is delicious! It’s a mild fish that tastes like a cross between flounder and striped bass.

I have only been here three days and the grocery store is half a mile away, so every day I buy as much as I can carry home. My mode of transpo is known as the “10-toe turbo” in Jamaican patois. (Note to self: Flip-flops are not good for walking many miles a day.) On each trip I stock up on more supplies: coffee, lemons, limes, garlic, lettuce, bread, eggs, butter, just enough for simple meals at home. 

In the morning I make a pilgrimage to a bakery that has been in Key West since the 1970s, called Croissants de France. The chef is from Brittany and makes the most glorious buttery, crunchy, sugary, flaky version of kouign- amann I have ever had. It is as good as I remember, but the croissants look large and pale and sad and they are filled with coconut cream and other tropical nonsense, so I wouldn’t recommend those.

For lunch, in a torrential downpour, I went to Nine One Five for one of the best meals I’ve had so far: Brussels sprouts with preserved lemon, Szechuan tofu with eggplant, and fish tacos made with grouper. I spent a few hours chatting with Justin, the waiter from Lithuania, and Zach Moses, the chef who came to Key West from Blue Hill and Flex Mussels in New York City. He shared his recipe for spiny lobster ravioli filling, and they gave me a garbage bag/poncho for the walk home. 

I confess that I was so tired and lazy that night that I bought a Five Guys burger with fries and ate it on my patio. The fries were excellent. I think they put Old Bay seasoning on them.

On Sunday morning (59 degrees with 25-mile-per-hour winds) I went bright and early to Blue Heaven for shrimp and grits and banana bread and a slice of its famous Key lime pie. The shrimp and grits were superb — buttery with scallions and a sprinkle of shredded white cheddar cheese. After that it was a tour through the Hemingway house, which is always fun, but the tour guide was a simpleton. He suggested we tell all of our friends that the house is available for weddings in the garden. He pointed to a structure and said, “Here is our outdoor chapel,” but it was pretty obviously a chuppah for that day’s ceremony. Whatever. There are 53 six-toed cats in residence, all descendants of the original cats belonging to Ernest himself.

For lunch I waddled to Santiago’s Bodega in Bahama Village, another place that was highly recommended. It’s okay. I had more shrimp, this time grilled with chorizo and bathed in garlic sauce. For dinner I had a rum drink with Jimmy Fallon and the Golden Globes.

I haven’t been to the beach yet, haven’t snorkeled or grilled at home, and haven’t been on a glass-bottomed boat, but I will be doing all these and more. Tomorrow I meet friends of friends, and for the rest of my stay, I have occasional houseguests. There is a farmer’s market on Thursday, and I think I found a good source for fresh fish to cook at home. I might get a tan and do some “day drinking.” Nine One Five will be my hangout. I plan to stalk the famous writers arriving in a few days and attempt to gain access to the literary seminar.

In the meantime, I will swat away the palmetto bugs, a.k.a. cockroaches, a.k.a. Bombay canaries, that have found their way into my conch house, try to sleep through the rooster-crowing that begins outside my window at 2:30 a.m., find as much good food as possible, make new friends, and count my blessings that my timing was lucky in Fort Lauderdale. 

Key West, you are indeed close to perfect and far from normal.

To Honor Veterans

In conjunction with Veterans Day tomorrow, Rowdy Hall is offering a 15 percent discount to servicemen and servicewomen who dine in the East Hampton restaurant tomorrow. Military ID is required. Rowdy Hall serves lunch and dinner seven days a week. 

Wine Knowledge

The Wednesday night wine workshops at Wainscott Main Wine and Spirits continue next week with a session called “Methode Champenoise in New Mexico: The Wines of Gilbert Gruet,” presented by Mark Toepke of the Gruet Winery. 

Each weekly session begins at 5:30 p.m. and costs $10. The next, on Nov. 30 after a Thanksgiving break, will feature a comparative tasting of sauvignons. Those interested in attending have been asked to call the store or send an email to [email protected] to sign up. 

Thanksgiving Plans

Art of Eating Catering in Amagansett is taking orders through next Thursday for Thanksgiving dishes. Starting with a fresh, never-frozen, free-range turkey raised in Water Mill, which is delivered with extra broth to add while warming, to give the house that Thanksgiving smell, and including soup to nuts — hors d’oeuvres, salad, stuffing, gravy, sides, and desserts, along with breakfast items for the morning after, the business will have holiday meals to go ready for pickup on Thanksgiving morning. The menu and other details can be found at hamptonsartofeating.com. Vegan, gluten-free, and vegetarian choices are included.

Also providing dishes for a catered holiday meal, Smokin’ Wolf in East Hampton has packages for up to 16 people that include all of the fixings, from cranberry sauce to potatoes, vegetable side dishes, pies and other desserts, appetizers, and alternate entrees.

The Living Room restaurant at c/o the Maidstone inn in East Hampton will serve a three-course Thanksgiving Day meal, with a choice among several items per course, for $75 a person, or $35 for a child’s portion. Entrees will include roasted organic turkey breast, fresh roasted ham, roasted acorn squash with wild rice, wild salmon, and lasagna Bolognese.

Winter Farm Shares

Winter farm shares at Quail Hill Farm are available, and will provide the holders with items such as root vegetables, fresh greens, herbs, winter squash, carrots, garlic, dried beans, and wheatberries from Friday, Nov. 18, until February. The farm is owned and run by the Peconic Land Trust; those interested in shares may contact the trust at its Southampton offices. 

Last Call for Café Max

Local bay scallops have arrived at Café Max in East Hampton just in time for its last couple of weeks in business, as the restaurant is to close after Nov. 26 after 25 years in business. Till then, however, there is a $22, three-course prix fixe dinner offered all night, all week.

Feel like a field trip? The Greenport Shellabration, a fund-raiser for the Cornell Cooperative Extension marine program, will take place from noon to 4 p.m. on Dec. 3 and 4. 

Wristbands, which are $20 and often sell out early, entitle foodies to attend the first tasting of the day, featuring a glass of Greenport Harbor Ale and a raw bar tasting of clams and oysters at the Greenport Harbor Brewing Company, and to sample small plates of shellfish-centric menu items for $5, and local wines and beers for $3, at a lineup of Greenport restaurants. Wristbands can be ordered online at shella bration.li.

Thanksgiving Alternative

For a Thanksgiving alternative, Momi Ramen will be open today from 5 to 10 p.m. Tomorrow, the restaurant will serve from noon to 11 p.m. 

To the Next Holiday

Coming up on Dec. 3 is Wolffer Estate Vineyard’s Lighting of the Vines in Sagaponack — the grapevines will be illuminated with 15,000 LED lights — charity wreath auction and holiday gathering. From 6 to 8 p.m., there will be hors d’oeuvres, wine, mulled wine, and other goodies, as well as jazz and a silent auction of holiday wreaths created by artists, designers, and business owners. Fighting Chance, a nonprofit helping cancer patients, will receive the proceeds. Tickets are $75 plus tax and fees, or $35 for children ages 6 and below. 

Sunday Brunch

Swedish pancakes, eggs Benedict, organic yogurt, salads, and more is on the Sunday brunch menu at the Living Room restaurant and in the lounge at c/o the Maidstone inn in East Hampton. Brunch is served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Next Up at Wainscott Main

“The Sauvignons: A Comparative Tasting” is the topic for the next Wine Wednesday session at Wainscott Main Wine and Spirits. Adrian Chalk, the manager at Adrian Chalk Selections at MS Walker, will present the talk and tasting on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Admission is $10. 

’Tis the Season

A Buy Local, Give Local holiday market at the Amagansett Farmers Market on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. will offer an opportunity to purchase comestibles made by Anke’s Fit Bakery, Bonac Bees, Browder’s Birds, Peconic River Preserves, and the Amagansett Sea Salt Co. 

Nonedible, locally crafted items for gift-giving will be available as well. The Amagansett Wine Stand at the market will be open during the event, and the market, which will close after the weekend, will offer some products at half price. Holiday gift baskets packed with local products will also be for sale. 

Station for Parties

The Service Station restaurant in East Hampton is booking holiday parties, offering a $25-per-person special for lunch, or $38 per person for dinner. Two-hour office parties can also be scheduled at a cost of $30 per person. The menu can be found on the restaurant’s website. 

Tauk at Trail’s End

63 South Euclid Avenue

Montauk

631-238-5527

Dinner, 5 p.m.

Lunch, Saturday and Sunday, noon. Closed Wednesday

It is especially hard to write a review of a place that you wanted to like, thought you should like, and hoped to like, but it ends up being a rather expensive disappointment. Such was the case with Tauk at Trail’s End.

Upon entering, one gets a sense of déja vu, as in “I think I’ve been to this recently renovated restaurant in Montauk.” The color scheme is white and blue, lots of wood, outdoor furniture indoors, metal chairs, a surfboard on the wall, and some artwork that is somewhere between Jackson Pollock’s dripped paint and a child’s spin art. 

Once seated, we got some warm Italian bread dotted with sesame seeds and some herbed olive oil. For starters we tried a fried calamari special, shrimp and crab wontons, and tuna poke. 

The tuna poke was fresh and delicious, small cubes of tuna lightly tossed in a ponzu dressing and served with some crisp wonton triangles and a dab of wakame (seaweed) salad. The calamari was okay — tender but pale and a bit oily. The marinara sauce was good, chunky, spicy, and garlicky, but needed salt. The five wontons were pretty good, and the dipping sauce was tasty with ginger, spice, and a hint of sweetness. The slaw served with it was a bit weird, kind of tan and purple, tasting mostly of sesame oil. 

For entrees we ordered the lobster linguini and two specials: Long Island duck breast and crisp tilefish. The lobster linguini dish was a huge platter of pink and creamy pasta. It had a bit of an off-smell, which we were pretty sure wasn’t the funky-odored pecorino served with it. We tried a few bites and left the rest. The duck dish was sliced duck served more medium than medium rare. The sauce, described as fig-raspberry-brandy, mostly tasted of  raspberry jam. One side dish was a vegetable medley of carrots, broccoli, red peppers, and zucchini, waaaaay overcooked and swathed with bits of garlic. It would have been tasty if the vegetables hadn’t been so soft. The additional accompaniment of cubes of roasted sweet potatoes lacked seasoning. 

The crisped-skin tilefish was also a whisper past its sale date. It also was not crisped. This dish was served with the aforementioned overly pliable vegetables and some lukewarm red-skin mashed potatoes.

The service on the night of our visit was very friendly. Our waiter, Sean, was knowledgeable and professional. The prices are moderate to expensive, way too expensive for the quality of the food. Appetizers are $14 to $36, salads $12 and $15, entrees are $18 to $44, sides are $8 to $16, and desserts are $12 to $14.

For dessert we tried the special of apple crisp and Tauk’s signature dessert “Snafflized” cheesecake. The apple crisp was no longer crisp; the topping had receded into the fruit a while ago. The flavors were good though, and the garnish of Granny Smith apple slices drizzled with caramel sauce was pretty. 

The Snafflized cheesecake is house-made cheesecake covered with Reddi-Wip, then branded with a brown sugar crust. Bruleed brown sugar usually tastes pretty darned good but this tasted like a cross between a marshmallow and gas from a blowtorch (or overheated salamander oven). We asked what “snafflized” meant and nobody knew, but one wag suggested checking the Urban Dictionary. Indeed, there it is: “The snaffles, obtained through smoking marijuana, are when you reach the stage where you feel physically bloated, and would, under sober circumstances, never continue eating, yet you do.” That sounds about right. Snaffle also has a few more definitions in this dictionary but this was the cleanest one I could share in this family newspaper.

Tauk at Trail’s End is a cute place with a charming and friendly staff, and God bless them for staying open in the winter; there aren’t a lot of choices in downtown Montauk this time of year. But for the quality of the food, the prices should be lower, and, no matter the price, the fish fresher.  

South Edison restaurant in Montauk will remain open through the winter months on Thursdays through Sundays. On Thursdays there will be an all-night happy hour, and from 5 to 9 p.m. a $25 prix fixe will be offered. On Sundays, brunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. In addition, oysters will be served at half price.

Tavern Thursdays

The 1770 House is once again offering Thursday night specials in its downstairs tavern. Beginning at 5:30 p.m., a signature burger, meatloaf, or Korean barbecue ribs can be ordered for $17.70. House wine will be $9 a glass, and house beers $5.

At the Maidstone

The ladies night at the c/o the Maidstone lounge will take place on Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m. Besides half off the bar menu, including half-price wine and cocktails, there will be an opportunity for shopping from local vendors. The half-price bar deal is also on Fridays, “teachers night,” from 3 to 6 p.m. In addition, the inn’s Living Room restaurant is offering a nightly prix fixe for $35.

Red Catering

Kirk Basnight of the Red/Bar Brasserie and Little/Red in Southampton has launched a catering service featuring menus and dishes by Red/Bar’s new executive chef, Todd Jacobs. 

Protest Prose

The next Artists and Writers Night at Almond restaurant in Bridgehampton gets underway at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, with a theme of “Protest Prose and Notes on Comfort.” It will feature artists sharing stories of resistance and protest, while a three-course family-style dinner is served. The cost, which includes a glass of local wine or craft beer, and gratuity, is $45. Reservations are a must. 

At Baron’s Cove 

Food and drink specials will be on the menu tomorrow at Baron’s Cove in Sag Harbor, which is throwing a tree-lighting party and ugly holiday sweater happy hour. The tree lighting will occur at 7:15, and there will be live music by the Lynn Blue Duo from 6 to 10 p.m. Those attending have been asked to take a donation of a warm hat, scarf, socks, or gloves for donation to the Maureen’s Haven homeless outreach program. 

How did a meatball from Staten Island with a 45-year pedigree wind up with a shrine to itself in Bridgehampton? The journey of Tony Meatball began in 1971, when Anthony and Joanne D’Andrea, first-generation Italians, opened the RoadHouse, a restaurant some three miles west of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.

Over the years, several items stood out from its huge menu as signature dishes: clam pizza, chicken Parmigiana with baked rigatoni, escarole and beans, and meatballs. Mark D’Andrea took over the restaurant from his parents in 1990, and it is still going strong. “My executive chef, Dina, started at 40,” he said. “She’s 87, and she’s still there.”

Mr. D’Andrea had never heard of the Hamptons until friends from Pennsylvania’s Valley Forge Military Academy invited him to visit during the summers. After a few visits, he fell in love with the area and has been coming back ever since, but to this day does not have a house here, although he has been actively looking. “I’ve long thought this would be a wonderful place to retire, but I would need to have a place to get my grandmother’s meatballs and sauce.”

Then, last summer, Mr. D’Andrea found and began construction at a space on Bridgehampton Main Street. At a fund-raiser for the Gimme Shelter Animal Rescue in Southampton, where his meatballs were among the attractions, he met Catalin (John) Jurim, who was working the catering end. By the end of the day, Mr. Jurim had signed on as manager of the new venture.

Tony Meatball opened Aug. 10. “We gave away thousands of meatballs,” Mr. D’Andrea said. “By Labor Day I had complete confidence I had made the right decision coming here.” Early on, Mr. Jurim, who commutes 60 miles to and from Babylon each working day, saw Pierre Weber, owner of the eponymous restaurant next door, driving by in his Citroen. “I flagged him down and thrust a meatball through his open window.” Soon after, Mr. Weber sent a bouquet of flowers to the shop.

The menu is simple, with two kinds of meatballs. The “Tony” meatball is made from pork, beef, and veal; the “skinny” meatball from grass-fed beef and chicken. Either can be served simply, with house-made tomato sauce and the addition of rigatoni or a house salad, or on a hero roll. The meatballs are baked, not fried. Each meatball is seven ounces, and plates are dusted with Pecorino Romano cheese and topped off with a dollop of ricotta.

The narrow, pristine space sparkles with white tile and wainscoting, red walls, an unpainted tin ceiling, and a long counter. The space doesn’t allow for much seating. There are a few stools, a miniature table and four chairs for kids, and a long counter for those willing to stand. Much of the business is takeout.

Mr. D’Andrea is pleased that he is not infringing on anybody else’s business. “I’m not selling steak, I’m not selling pizza. I’m selling my thing.” His thing is a piece of the RoadHouse. His brother Michael, who also worked at the Staten Island restaurant while growing up, now owns Macaluso’s restaurant on Miami’s South Beach, where the clam pizza and meatballs are just as popular as on Staten Island.

Tony Meatball is open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m., Sunday from 11 to 8. On Friday evenings, Mr. Jurim said, they are willing to stay open later if telephoned from the road — within reason, that is.

It began with the invitation that couldn’t be refused: “Would you and your friends like to come to Paris for Thanksgiving?” Hot diggity dog, yes, please!

There would be five in our traveling group — my childhood friend Dicky, his wife, Beth, their daughter, Alice, my son, and myself. We all sprang for the extra legroom in coach class. To me this was to be a historical family trip. Dicky’s grandparents and my grandparents had lived in Paris and were the best of friends. Dicky’s mother and my mother had also lived in Paris and were best friends throughout their lives. Dicky is one of my best friends, and now here we were, taking our children to Paris, a fourth-generation pilgrimage. We went equipped with video cameras and the addresses of our ancestors. We never used the former, nor sought out the latter. But, boy, did we eat!

The terrorism alert from Homeland Security for Americans traveling abroad over Thanksgiving was somewhere between high and severe, so traveling with the most precious of cargos, our children, may have seemed foolhardy, but this was Paris.

We arrived on Wednesday morning in a jet-lagged stupor. After stumbling around the perimetere of the Pompidou Center, we took our chances for lunch at a tiny bistro called Le Chat Zen. It was pretty good. We got omelettes and lentils with sausage. We returned to our friend’s house for an afternoon of serious napping before we ventured out for one of the best meals we were to enjoy on the whole trip.

Chez George is one of the oldest and best bistros and was beloved by Julia Child. Framed mirrors all around, brass railings, lacy curtains, uniformed waiters, and tables so tightly strung together they have to be pulled out for patrons to slip through to sit against the wall. I began my meal with one of my favorite salads, celery remoulade — simply julienned celery root bound in a mustardy, creamy vinaigrette. The most memorable dish of the evening (and the whole trip) was a smoked herring salad ordered by our host. I’ve had many variations of herring (creamed, pickled, you name it) and care for none of them. But this was a mellow, warm, and slightly oily assemblage of a few fillets with potatoes, onions, and carrots. As at many bistros and brasseries, the servers simply put a huge dish down in front of you and you serve yourself as much as you like. Beware this generosity when the chocolate mousse comes around! We continued the meal with beef filets in brandy sauce, sole meuniere, frisée salad, and more. A glorious tarte tatin (upside-down apple tart) completed the meal before we trekked the mile or so home.

On Thursday morning I pitched in by stringing beans for our evening feast for 16 people. But not before gorging on a special pastry called praluline, basically a brioche studded with hot pink candied almonds and hazelnuts. After wandering the streets for hours we had lunch at Le Bouledogue, another tiny, charming cafe-brasserie in the neighborhood. Named for a family of bulldogs that lived on the premises, Le Bouledogue now has one last dog standing, or more like snoozing and snuffling, with the occasional indignant bark at his owner. This is another delightful aspect of Parisian restaurants, dogs are welcome inside, health department concerns be damned. Here we ate salmon tartare, steak tartare, poached leeks, cod on a bed of buttery smashed potatoes, and another version of that ethereal smoked herring salad. 

The cheap and cheerful Beaujolais Nouveau had just come out, so for about $4 we were able to enjoy a few glasses of hat. Which brings me to the prices. Without a doubt, every single meal was cheaper than a cheap meal where we live. I mean, even cheaper than a burger at LT Burger or ribs from Townline BBQ or a sandwich from Mary’s Marvelous. Granted, we weren’t dining at any fancy restaurants, but the reverse sticker shock was heartening.

After an afternoon of more walking (we averaged six to eight miles a day, thank goodness, because I consumed every frite in sight), we required a little snack of street crepes, prepared on a huge cast-iron disc and customized with fillings like Nutella, strawberry jam, or just some good French butter.

Our Thanksgiving meal was another memorable feast prepared by Tom in a kitchen so small you couldn’t even fit two people in it. A turkey ballotine had been stuffed with bread and paté de campagne, the string beans were adorned with sautéed chanterelle mushrooms, Brussels sprouts were dotted with lardons, and a mysterious and silky puree turned out to be a combination of carrots, potatoes, celery root, and creme fraiche. For dessert Tom had made pumpkin pie and his partner, Mike, had gotten some merveilleux crunchy meringues filled with whipped cream and topped with chocolate shavings.

Early Friday morning we fortified ourselves with small baguettes filled with ham, cheese, and butter before we explored a once-a-year flea market-brocante looking for bits and bobs to take home. I found a sterling silver cocktail shaker for a mere $25, not discovering a crack in the lid until I got home. That’s cool; it still works. An aged hippie who knew Jim Morrison during his brief time living in Paris sold me some brass flatware. Lunch was another classic spot, Chez Janou, where we had a risotto made with farro and sea scallops, fish soup, octopus salad with roasted peppers, head-on shrimp with a basil-flecked rice, and an intriguing salad of tomatoes, green beans, a poached egg, and roasted chestnuts.

For dinner at Brasserie Balzar we indulged in foie gras, choucroute garnie, roast chicken, crabmeat with avocado and grapefruit salad, bone marrow, and onion soup.

Saturday was our last day and you may be wondering, “No museums? D’Orsay? Louvre? Picasso?” Well, we walked around all of them but couldn’t bear the long waiting lines. And besides, museum time would have cut into our grazing activities. To me, every pastry shop and fish store and even grocery stores were worthy of oohing and aaahing and photo taking. We lunched at Le Procope, one of the oldest restaurants in Paris, where we enjoyed oysters, smoked salmon with blinis, creamy spinach raviolis, chicken, and sole.

For our last supper we opted for a brand-new Vietnamese restaurant in the Marais called Hanoi. We were ready for crunchy vegetables, highly spiced food, and less cream. We had spring and summer rolls, mushroom dumplings, chicken with lemongrass and chiles, and pho. 

The only mementos and gifts I came home with are all food related: small jars of Amora mustard for my brothers, flaky cookies and chive crackers for friends, a few small tins of duck and goose foie gras for whomever.

We killed time at the airport by gorging on our last croissants at Fauchon. I slipped the butter pats into my bag so I’d have a little breakfast-treat memory upon our return. 

The first thing I did when I got home was trot over to Harbor Market in Sag Harbor to visit Paul Del Favero. He gets a delivery from Russ and Daughters every week and I asked him to include some smoked herring in the next shipment. I promised that if my experimentation with a recipe for that exquisite salad is a success I would share it with him.

Four full days in Paris was enough. Our children enjoyed and appreciated every aspect of it, especially the food and scenery. Every now and then we would toast our good fortune, give thanks, and remind ourselves of this historical trip, the fourth generation of dear family friends returning to the stomping grounds of our expat ancestors.

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