Farmers Market

The Montauk Farmers Market has its seasonal debut next Thursday. The market will take place each Thursday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the village green, through early October.

Red Stixs

The new restaurant this season in the Water Mill space that formerly housed Trata is Red Stixs, which serves “Beijing-style Chinese cuisine,” according to the restaurant’s website. Among the menu items are hand-pulled noodles and dumplings, some of which are made during a nightly “noodle show.”

At James Beard House

Roman Roth, the winemaker at Wolffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack, will be a co-host tonight at the James Beard House in Manhattan for a dinner featuring a menu by Jacques Gautier of Palo Santo restaurant in Brooklyn. Wolffer wines will be served with each course. The dinner is $170 per person, or $130 for James Beard House members.

Grass-Fed Beef

Townline BBQ in Sagaponack has announced that as of the end of May all of the meats used for dishes on the restaurant’s menu are from grass-fed, antibiotic and hormone-free animals that are humanely raised. The decision follows a goal of being a “green, organic, and healthy restaurant,” according to a press release.

Along with the new products, the restaurant has instituted a new ordering system whereby customers may order their choice of smoked meat — beef, pork, and chicken — in quantities of a quarter-pound, half-pound, pound, or as a sandwich.

Financier Patisserie

Financier Patisserie, a Manhattan bakery, has opened a summer pop-up store in Water Mill. The shop will serve croissants, pastries, cookies, and other treats, along with coffee drinks, on Thursdays through Sundays until Labor Day. Cakes will be sold by special order only, with orders placed in Water Mill a week ahead, for the following weekend, or through the Manhattan store or Financier’s Brooklyn catering department by Wednesday for pickup in Water Mill on the weekend.

At Pierre’s

At Pierre’s restaurant in Bridgehampton, diners may see the upcoming soccer World Cup games on TVs that will be set up in the library and in the dining room. Some tables will be arranged for communal-style dining, so that soccer fans can enjoy the games together. Two new drinks are available on the menu at Pierre’s: Pauline’s Mojito, made with passion fruit, and Melissa’s Botanist Therapy, made with Botanist gin, fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice, fresh basil, and Cointreau.

Parrish Cafe Closes

Art of Eating Catering closed its cafe at the Parrish Art Museum last weekend. The Amagansett-based catering business, founded by Cheryl Stair and John Kowalenko in 1989, had operated the eatery at the museum for the past year, and issued a press release thanking the Parrish for the opportunity. However, the partners said, they feel the need to focus on their main catering business.

The Golden Pear, which has cafes in several East End hamlets, will take over the Parrish space. A limited menu will be served on Fridays through Sundays during a transition period, until the cafe opens full time on June 16.

New Beverages

Low-calorie, all-natural juice-based carbonated beverages are the product sold by Captains Neck & Co., a new family-run company in Southampton. The bottled drinks currently come in two flavors: citrus mint, and grape and ginger. They are available at a number of local delis and markets. Free home delivery is also offered. Information can be found at the company’s website, captainsneck.com.

Doppio East

126 Main Street

Sag Harbor

803-3444

I dined at Doppio East in Sag Harbor the other night. It had been open only a week so far, and though this is a bit early to review a restaurant, sometimes we feel that if you are open for business and charging for your product, you are fair game. But I assure you, I did take into account the newness of this establishment.

Doppio East is the fourth in a series of chain restaurants owned by the Timeless Hospitality Group. The other Doppio Artisan Bistros are in Huntington, the West Village, and Greenwich, Conn.

Some of the redecorating and renovations done by Madison and Main, which last occupied the space, remain. Doppio East is a bit lighter and more streamlined. There is a nice long bar to the right of the entrance. A tall table with no stools is to the left of the bar, and tables and banquettes fill the rest of the room, opening to a pretty patio in the back. There are cool Edison-bulb light fixtures, chandeliers here and there, and some exquisite flower arrangements. Along the walls are some brass candle sconces nestled in picture frames. With real live candles! More on this later. . . .

Some of the other Doppio locations are known for their pizzas. As Doppio East has yet to get permission to install a pizza oven, we’ll have to wait for that. The website assures us that “all Doppio breads, pastas, and dressings will be made in house.” A more interesting promise about Doppio East on its website is “taking advantage of its location in one of the pre-eminent fishing villages of Long Island, Doppio provides some of the best seafood the island has to offer.” Well, now, I’m not sure Sag Harbor is or ever was a pre-eminent fishing village. It certainly was an extremely busy whaling port back in the 1700s, but whale oil was used for lamps, so it was kind of more like a major oil port. I don’t see a lot of fish in the waters of Sag Harbor; I see oligarch-sized yachts and Grady-Whites. Doppio East does have black bass on the menu, so props for that.

The meal begins with good warm bread and olive oil. We started with appetizers of crispy calamari and shrimp, Adriatic seafood salad, and short ribs. The crispy calamari and shrimp were good, but the lemon tartar sauce was pooled on the bottom of the plate so you didn’t have a lot of control over how much sauce you got with each piece — you got it with everything. There were a few zucchini chips and slivers of potato mixed in, which was a nice touch, but the lemon tartar sauce could have used a bit more lemon.

The Adriatic seafood salad was a bust, with cool calamari, octopus, shrimp, and cockles on a few arugula leaves with no discernible dressing. The short rib was very nice, just needed salt and pepper. The meat was rich and tender and the sweet and sour sauce with peppers was tasty.

For entrees we ordered the linguine with cockles, two orders of the fettucini with Bolognese (but one with linguine instead of fettucini), the black bass bouillabaisse, and branzino. The linguine with cockles was very good and lemony. The only problem with it was that the dried peppers in it had been sliced up so there was no avoiding getting a jolt of extreme heat by surprise. Might be best to leave the peppers whole like at a Thai restaurant so they can be fished out or chomped into voluntarily, depending on your tolerance of heat on the Scoville scale. My 15-year-old guests, Harry and Jerry, enjoyed their linguine and fettucini with Bolognese sauce, although the portions were a bit small for an entree. Harry declared it had “a good ratio of cheese to sauce” and Jerry said “I could have eaten more but it was satisfying.” Gosh, I love budding gourmands! I’m pretty sure the fettucini was made in-house, the linguine not.

The black bass bouillabaisse was pretty good but a bit sweet and not very saffrony. The rouille on the one piece of toasted bread served on top was also a bit sweet, not spicy-garlicky. The branzino was very good, served with citrus-braised fennel. The fregola (a pasta similar to Israeli couscous) served with it was super buttery.

The service on the night of our visit was pretty good. My only complaint about our waiter brings us back to the candles. As there was a light breeze passing through the restaurant, the candles were dripping wax onto the back of the banquette and splasing onto the back of Jerry’s shirt. When we pointed this out to the waiter he suggested we blow out the candles. No concern or apology for getting wax on clothing. Can you imagine the hell to be paid if it had happened to a high maintenance lady guest wearing a chartreuse shahtoosh!? Another problem was the nerve-wracking din coming from the kitchen. The angry shouting and clattering of dishes is something the staff needs to work on.

The prices at Doppio East are moderate. Small plates and salads are $10 to $17, pastas are $19 to $25, entrees are $25 to $36, and desserts are $11. As it was only open a week at the time of our visit, there were only two desserts available, both made in-house. We tried both, a vanilla panna cotta and the ubiquitous molten-ish chocolate cake. The vanilla panna cotta was an excellent version, silky rather than gelatinous, not too sweet and full of vanilla flavor. Why it was garnished with basil leaves is a mystery. The chocolate cake had good flavor but was served cold.

If I were to give a grade based on the food and service at Doppio East I would give it a C-. Based on the fact that it is brand new, I will give it a B-. Here’s hoping that the promises they have made will come to fruition.

For Dads

A complimentary Bloody Mary or Budweiser beer will be served to fathers who have lunch on Sunday, Father’s Day, at Navy Beach restaurant in Montauk.

At the Harbor Bistro in East Hampton, “Big Daddy” specials will be offered on Sunday. They include a 2-pound lobster, a 24-ounce “cowboy steak,” a 12-ounce filet mignon, and a half or full rack of Mongolian barbecue ribs. Entrees will be served with steamed jasmine rice, garlic-confit potatoes, or house fries and asparagus. Dads will also be offered a half-price deal on pints of Montauk Offland IPA beer.

The Father’s Day celebration at La Fondita, the Mexican takeout shop in Amagansett, will include $30 make-your-own-taco packages that include the fixings to feed a family of four.

At Townline BBQ in Sagaponack, all “Townline Que” combo packages, which include sandwich fixings and sides, a pulled-meat sampler, a chicken and rib dinner, or a mixed “extravaganza,” prepared for differing numbers of people, will come with a choice of a six-pack of beer in cans on Sunday. In addition, all draft beers will be sold for $4 all day.

Steak for two, or a hefty meal for a special dad, will be offered on Sunday at Nick & Toni’s in East Hampton for $90. The menu will feature a 32-ounce Painted Hills ribeye served with grilled local asparagus and wood-oven roasted North Fork mushrooms. The special also comes with a complimentary glass of wine.

Father’s Day at Rowdy Hall in East Hampton will bring drink specials, including happy-hour prices on pints of beer all day long. Rowdy Hall hats will be on sale for $6.

Dads in Montauk will find a surf and turf barbecue prix fixe at 668 the Gig Shack. The $27 special will include a choice of three items from a list of meats — grilled skirt steak, ribs, or chicken thighs prepared with different marinades — fish, vegetables, and side dishes.

Lobster Special

Jumbo lobsters are on special, for $9.99 a pound, at Stuart’s Seafood in Amagansett, just in time for a Father’s Day fete.

Soccer and Specials

World Cup soccer fans will find beer specials at the bar during the games at several watering holes.

Pints of Montauk Brewing Company’s Driftwood Ale will be $5 at Indian Wells Tavern in Amagansett during all games today through Sunday.

Rowdy Hall will also celebrate soccer today through the weekend with draft beer and Brazilian caipirinha specials served in a commemorative cup, and a raffle and a trivia contest with prizes. Townline BBQ will have similar beverage specials, including its special cocktail on tap.

Cooking Class

Leading the next East End Chefs cooking class of the Old Whalers Church in Sag Harbor will be Livia Hegner and Marianne Farrell, the owner and manager of the Pepalajefa gourmet food shop in Sag Harbor. Starting tonight at 6:30, they will demonstrate how to make a variety of items from the shop menu. Admission is $20. Space is limited.

Booze Delivery

Using Minibar, a free new app, orders can be placed for wine and spirits to be delivered to residents from Westhampton to East Hampton, provided a minimum number of bottles — totaling $100 or more — is ordered. Delivery is guaranteed within two hours or less through the service, which has been up and running in Manhattan. Participating stores on the South Fork are Zabi’s Wine and Spirits in Southampton and the Sag Harbor Liquor Store.

Contessa on Tour

Ina Garten, East Hampton’s own Barefoot Contessa, will head out on a five-city book tour to promote her new cookbook, “Make It Ahead.” At Wil­liams-Sonoma stores in Boston, Chicago, Denver, Beverly Hills, and Cupertino, Calif., Ms. Garten, a winner of both Emmy and James Beard Foundation awards for her eight best-selling cookbooks and her Food Network show, “Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics,” will talk about her work and about enjoying food with family and friends at her East Hampton house.

    With local artisans purveying such homemade comestibles as cheese, sea salt, and wine, it was only a matter of time before the production of spirits found its way to the South Fork. As the zeitgeist would have it, two such projects have emerged at the same time, and one local farm is selling product to a Brooklyn ginsmith.

    For years while tending bar at Murf’s, a Sag Harbor tavern built in 1792 from the wood of a whaling ship, Jason Cyril Laan said he was “always hoping to find a secret recipe for rum in the rafters.” Alas, neither he nor Michael McQuade, another bartender at the establishment, ever did. So the two rum drinkers did the next best thing: came up with their own.

    Taking advantage of the latter-day “explosion of local spirits,” the duo decided the world, or at least the South Fork for now, needed a flavored rum with character. With history in mind — rum originally was transported from the Caribbean in provision barrels that had formerly been used to store such ingredients as tropical fruits and spices — they found old bourbon casks in which to age their rum, then infused it with botanical extracts. The virgin rum, which they export from Trinidad after a six-time distillation process, is virtually flavorless.

    They’re not telling what flavorings were added, but a shot of the complex elixir expressed a robust cherry nose, a bitter coffee note, and a pronounced nuttiness on the palate. “We like to call it the ‘unrum rum,’ ” said Mr. Laan. “We steered away from traditional tropical spices.” The finished product makes a fine sipping spirit, and also a worthy partner for tonic water, the mixer of choice for Mr. Laan.

    Last summer the duo took their idea to Baiting Hollow’s Long Island Spirits, the folks behind Liv Vodka. They explained that they didn’t want the two-dimensional quality of flavored vodkas, but preferred a libation “that felt like it had been around the world on an old sailing ship.”

    Less than a year after finally saying to each other, “Let’s do it,” the pair will be bottling the aging spirit this week for its launch into local stores and restaurants today. A small-batch operation, the first run will be 12,048 bottles, and each batch will have its own unique flavor profile. So far, the liquor, which retails for $37, will be available at nine local establishments, among them the DePetris Liquor Store in Bridgehampton, Fresh Hamptons, Muse in the Harbor, and Bell & Anchor in Noyac.

    Next on the partners’ agenda will be to add ingredients grown close to home. “We’re trying to find ginger locally,” said Mr. Laan. They are also planning to make a “shrub,” a 17th-century cordial made with fruit, vinegar, and simple syrup, which they hope will make a formidable mixer. Meanwhile, they look forward to hearing what the Ministry of Rum, a drinking club that contacted the duo in order to taste their product, has to say about the latest sugar cane spirit.

    Sam Lester of Pantigo Farm in Amagansett doesn’t exactly make spirits, but he does sell beach plums to Brooklyn’s Greenhook Ginsmiths. The company distills an American dry gin laced with an unconventional blend of botanicals including chamomile, elderflower, cinnamon, and ginger, to which they add the wild fruit to make their rendition of sloe gin, traditionally made with sloe berries. Mr. Lester sells the company 750 pounds of the tart fruit per year. It has received rave reviews for what Greenhook calls “the world’s first ever commercially produced beach plum gin liqueur,” and is available at Domaine Franey Wines and Spirits in East Hampton.

    In a toast to the farm-to-bottle movement, Dean Foster of Foster Farm, a 460-acre potato farm in Sagaponack, intends to distill vodka from his own crops. It is a potentially lucrative move for a farmer determined to keep agriculture alive in an area that grows more houses than foodstuffs.

    Farming profits aren’t what they used to be, what with global competition, the high cost of living on the South Fork, and shipping costs. “So many things are against us,” he said. So he too is hoping to hitch his wagon to the growing demand for small-batch spirits.

    In 2012 his family purchased the old Kaminsky farm, which, he said, “is good land, 15 acres north of the highway,” as much to “save some of the heritage around here” as to make it the headquarters for his upcoming enterprise, Sagg Distillery. The location, near the railroad tracks, “presented a perfect spot for a farm distillery — not too close to neighbors” with a garage with pre-existing nonconforming status that can function as a small farm distillery to produce up to 400 gallons a year.

    Mr. Foster, whose family “showed up here in 1639,” had been incubating the idea for several years. It became a realistic proposition last year when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo passed a law promoting small-batch craft spirits. He is in the process of getting his farm distillation permit, mandated by both the state and federal governments.

    The transition makes perfect sense when you consider that his potatoes have been used in several award-winning vodkas, the names of which he was reluctant to give. He has hired a master distiller who moved his family here from Utah and is living in a house on the farm.

    “I’m hoping to be up and running making recipes by September,” he said, “but I don’t see any distillation starting before the first of the year.” Vodka is just the beginning phase of his plan. “We’re going to move into fine whiskies, scotches, bourbons, and brandies — all estate grown.” His motto: “Grow local, drink local.”

    Fans of the Lester and Snyder families’ prepared food and fresh fish and produce will be pleased to learn of Round Swamp Farm’s new Bridgehampton market and bake shop, which will open on Friday, May 16. The location is 97 School Street, more or less behind the Candy Kitchen and across the way from the Bridgehampton Community House.

    The space is Round Swamp’s first foray away from its Three Mile Harbor Road, East Hampton, location (which is now open Thursday through Sunday). It will be open every day except Tuesday at 8 a.m., closing at 6 p.m. most days and at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Pierre’s “Melting Volcano”

    Pierre’s in Bridgehampton has a few additions to its May menu. There is a classic gazpacho, a reworked tuna tartare with wasabi dressing, white asparagus, soft-shell crab, and whole, deboned dorade Provencal. For dessert, a “melting volcano” of a dulce de leche will entice those with a very sweet tooth. Pierre’s is taking reservations for Mother’s Day brunch.

Cooking Demonstration

    Reservations are being taken for a June 1 cooking demonstration at Temple Adas Israel in Sag Harbor by Kim Kushner, the author of “The Modern Menu.” Ms. Kushner cooks kosher, using contemporary techniques and local ingredients. Copies of her book will be on sale following the 10:30 a.m. demonstration, which will include light refreshments. Sign-ups by phone are with the temple office.

Gosman’s Open for the Season

    Gosman’s Restaurant is open for the season from noon to 10 p.m. every day except Tuesday until May 27, and seven days thereafter. The bar is open until midnight.

Shellfish Festival

    Slow Food East End has announced a June 19 shellfish festival at the Montauk Lake Club. Starting at 6:30 p.m., chef and student teams will compete in an oyster and clam cook-off to benefit the organization’s Chefs to Schools program. The cost is $40, $35 for Slow Food East End and Dock to Dish members. The event is co-sponsored by Stirring the Pot Radio, which features Stephanie Sacks on WPPB-FM on Thursdays and Saturdays. Tickets are on sale at slowfoodeastend.org.

Mother’s Day Specials

    Mother’s Day is Sunday, and a number of South Fork restaurants have announced special menus and other inducements for those looking to make Mom happy.

    East Hampton’s Living Room at c/o the Maidstone is offering a Mother’s Day fixed price, three-course menu for $69 from 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Choices will include starters of oysters, roasted fennel and lemon soup, and tarte flambe. For the main course, there will be a choice of open-faced lasagna, grilled rib eye, whole roasted poussin, spring vegetable omelette, or a seafood skewer over bouillabaisse. Items from the regular menu will be served from 5:30 p.m. Reservations have been suggested.

    Brunch specials at Nick & Toni’s in East Hampton include starters of house-cured salmon and local pea vines with poached egg, and a main course of soft-shell crab and pea-and-potato hash. Mothers get a free Sagaponack Spritz, a cocktail of Channing Daughters Vervino, lemon juice, Bitterman’s Orange Cream Citrate, and club soda or sparkling wine with strawberry puree.

    Harbor Bistro on Three Mile Harbor Road in Springs has a $25 brunch on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be omelettes, eggs Benedict, prime rib, and a watermelon and feta salad.

    Just up the road at Harbor Grill, Mother’s Day guests can dig into a “bottomless” brunch for $14.95 per person from 10 a.m. Starting at noon, $3 mimosas and Bloody Marys will be available.

    At Almond in Bridgehampton, the $40 Mother’s Day brunch menu includes pork chop Milanese, house-made chicken sausage and eggs, nicoise salad, and eggs Benedict. The brunch will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

    Mom gets a free Bloody Mary or mimosa at Navy Beach in Montauk’s noon to 4 p.m. lunch on Sunday. The cost will be $40 for a choice of chowders or beet and arugula salad, an entrée of salmon, pasta, or burger, and dessert.

    Mother’s Day specials at Indian Wells Tavern in Amagansett include shrimp cocktail, mushroom ravioli, cod over lemon beurre blanc, shrimp scampi, roast duck, and a surf and turf of shrimp and a half-pound filet mignon. Indian Wells is open from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. all week.

Rowdy’s Additions

    Rowdy Hall restaurant in East Hampton has announced several additions to its menu. They include salads with arugula, orange, almonds, and feta; a classic wedge of iceberg lettuce, boiled egg, bacon, and Russian dressing, and kale with golden beets, wheat berries, and avocado-honey dressing. New entrees are hangar steak bordelaise or au poivre, duck breast with Israeli cous-cous with mint and peas, and salmon with peas, baby carrots, and asparagus with mint aioli.

    Spring vegetables are on their way, and if you have your own garden perhaps you have already gotten a few sprightly leaves of spinach and lettuce. Of all the seasons, I think spring’s vegetables go the best together. Or perhaps we’re just so grateful they are here?

    The corn and tomatoes of summer are certainly a match made in heaven. But by that time we have so many options to choose from at the market and in our gardens, we take the abundance for granted. Winter vegetables also go together marvelously. There’s just something so comforting and earthy about a ragout made from little potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips, and leeks.

    Spring is promise. And after the winter we have had, I suspect all of us will be relishing the fiddlehead ferns and pea shoots, ramps and scallions, asparagus and morels more than ever.

    I just spent a few days in Virginia, which always provides a tantalizing glimpse of what we will get in a few weeks. At Restaurant Eve in Alexandria I had a crispy piece of hake on a bed of quite buttery baby peas, slices of asparagus, and spring onions, so delicious. Stinging nettles were also on the menu, which are apparently a bit difficult to harvest but once tamed in some boiling water taste like spinach.

    Asparagus and rhubarb are available now. Rhubarb is excellent in a compote, that is, until strawberries are available to make crisps and pies. James Beard’s recipe for rhubarb compote is as simple and delicious as can be. Add as much sugar as you like, simmer, and serve warm with a dollop of creme fraiche. For a lighter dessert use Greek yogurt. I make big batches of this and freeze it. The first asparagus of the season should be treated like the star it is, simply steamed and topped with a bit of the best butter you can find! Go ahead and spend money on those fancy French butters, but for my money, you can’t beat Kerrygold Irish butter. Once the prices go down and asparagus is plentiful, add it to frittatas, roast it with Parmesan cheese, and stir it into risotto with baby peas.

    Fiddlehead ferns are the coiled shoot of ostrich ferns. Their season lasts only a few weeks so keep an eye out for them. They have a bright flavor similar to artichokes and green beans and should be cooked for about five minutes to eliminate any possibility of bitterness. From that point you can serve them cold with a vinaigrette, in a cream sauce, or how about with browned butter and prosciutto? Choose very small ones with a bright green hue, avoid the ones that are yellowing or wilted. Use them as soon as possible, within two days. Scrape off any fuzzy brown scales and trim the ends before cooking.

    Morels are mostly found in moist areas around dead or dying elm, sycamore, and ash trees. They are another brief spring treat that goes beautifully with other early vegetables, and especially with eggs. When you see them in the markets (or foraging with an expert ’shroomer) pick each one individually. They can be expensive. Because of the odd spongy surface, it can be hard to clean them. If you must wash them, do it quickly before cooking. Slice them in half lengthwise and give them a brief rinse. The flavor is nutty and meaty, excellent alone or in a cream sauce with Madeira wine and served over veal or chicken.

    Dandelion greens (we all have those, don’t we?) can be a bit bitter but are so loaded with vitamins it’s worth incorporating them into your salads or combining with other cooked greens such as kale and bok choy. They have a lot more vitamins A and K, calcium, and iron than broccoli. Naturally, you want to harvest them in areas free of lawn chemicals. If you like chicory, which is popular in Italy sauteed with garlic and red pepper flakes, try the same method with young dandelion greens. Some people even incorporate them into smoothies, as they are believed to have many medicinal properties as well.

    Spinach can be picked small for salads or allowed to grow bigger for cooking. Generally, there are two kinds, flat leafed and crinkled, or “savoyed.” In cool spring and fall weather spinach can be quite sweet. It goes very well with olive oil, butter, cream, nutmeg, dill, and ginger. Lemon and garlic and miso are delicious with cooked spinach and a few drops of sesame oil are excellent on a spinach salad. When cooking, keep in mind that it reduces dramatically. Count on approximately 3/4 to 1 cup cooked to each pound of raw spinach.

    We are just at the beginning of our growing season, but all of these spring delicacies are appearing in the markets from slightly farther south. Start cooking with them now and those dark days of relentless snow and cold will soon be a distant memory.

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At Gosman’s

    Nightly specials at Gosman’s Dock in Montauk are as follows: Sunday features a $24 special on lobster, including a 11/4-pound crustacean, corn, coleslaw, and fries; Monday is rib night, with St. Louis-style barbecued ribs served with fries for $15, and on Wednesday the local catch of the day is served with a glass of house wine for $24. On Thursday, seafood pasta is the special, for $15, and fried food is featured on Friday, with a choice of fried shrimp, fish and chips, or a fisherman’s platter for $15. Gosman’s is serving lunch and dinner daily except Tuesdays, with nighttime meal service till 10 p.m., and drinks served till midnight.

Farmers Markets Return

    Weekly farmers markets are starting up for the season. Tomorrow is the opening day for the East Hampton market on North Main Street, with hours from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and for the Hayground School farmers market in Bridgehampton, which runs from 3 to 6:30 p.m.

    The Sag Harbor farmers market on Bay Street, which runs on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., opens this weekend for its 11th year with a vine-cutting ceremony on Saturday at 9 a.m.

At Smokin’ Wolf

    Smokin’ Wolf BBQ in East Hampton has a new offering from Gula Gula Empanadas: an empanada featuring the shop’s pulled pork, along with sweet potatoes and mango. The ice cream bar is now open for the season.

In the Harbor

    The Beacon in Sag Harbor reopens tonight and will be serving dinner nightly. Lunch service will be added in July. Sam McCleland, the executive chef, is introducing some new seasonal dishes to the menu.

    On Noyac Road in Noyac, the Bell & Anchor is hosting lobster night on Wednesdays beginning at 5:30 p.m. The menu features a choice of various lobster dishes, at various prices.

For Young Ballplayers

    The Harbor Grill on Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton will welcome East Hampton Little League players and their families during the season, through mid-June, by providing burgers at half-price and free ice cream to children who come in uniform to dine after their games.

Burger Night

    Wednesday is burger night at little/ red restaurant in Southampton. A grilled bistro burger platter with French fries, lettuce, tomato, Vidalia onion, and spicy bread and butter pickles will be $10. Toppings of cheese, sautéed onions, black truffle mousse, and avocado can be added at additional cost.

Wine at Topping Rose

    A wine dinner next Thursday at the Topping Rose House in Bridgehampton will feature Steve Clinton, a California winemaker, who will pour three selections from each of his two labels, Brewer-Clifton and Palmina wines. They will be paired with a four-course spring meal. The dinner will begin at 7 p.m. and cost $175 per person.

Sienna Restaurant

    Sienna opens on Saturday at 44 Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton. The restaurant, which is paired with a summertime “ultralounge,” features “modern Italian” cuisine. Donatella Arpaia, whose other venues include Kefi, Anthos, and davidburke & donatella, is the new chef this year.

Estia’s Little Kitchen

    Estia’s Little Kitchen in Sag Harbor is serving dinner Thursdays through Sundays, and is offering a three-course prix fixe for $29 between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. It features a choice of salad or soup, any entree from the menu, and a choice of dessert. Specials this weekend include grilled artichoke and steamed mussels in a New Mexican chile broth, for starters, and, as entrees, swordfish tostada, roasted flounder, or roasted Long Island duck breast.

Opening in Montauk

    The Harbor Raw Bar & Lounge will open on Friday, May 23, on West Lake Drive in Montauk. Advertised as a “small plates, cocktail-focused restaurant,” it will include a “robust raw bar with towering seafood plateaus.” The chef is Pierre Rougey, a former French Culinary Institute instructor who earned three stars from The New York Times while cooking at Barrique Kitchen and Wine Bar in Babylon.

    My son’s friend Omar came to visit the other day and presented me with a plastic cup of green stuff. “I got this smoothie at _____. It cost $20!” The green stuff was starting to turn grayish and separate in the cup. I politely took a sip and wished the nice young man had saved his $20. It tasted awful.

Juices and smoothies have become so popular, it seems that as soon as people exit their spinning or yoga classes they have purple or green beverages attached to their hands, expensive purple or green beverages! Are they worth it?

    Having worked in a restaurant that had a smoothie menu, I can tell you this, the fruit in your smoothie was most likely carelessly cut up three days ago. The protein powder addition is Brand X, and the wheatgrass should have been tossed in the trashcan a week ago. You are better off eating a single piece of fruit and a carton of yogurt . . . for a 10th of the price.

    Some local places like Juicy Naam and Provisions in Sag Harbor do a booming business with smoothies. These establishments have such a high turnover you can be pretty sure the ingredients are as fresh and organic as can be. But what about those bigger commercial chains that have jumped on the smoothie bandwagon? You would be shocked to know the sugar and fat content of many of their smoothies. Planet Smoothie’s Java the Nut has 22 grams of fat in a 22-ounce portion. Smoothie King’s Strawberry Hulk has 1,035 calories and 32 grams of fat per 20-ounce serving. Dairy Queen takes the cake with the seemingly healthy sounding Tropical Blizzard, which contains 62 grams of fat!

    Smoothies can be made with soy, almond, or any kind of milk you desire, yogurt, fresh or frozen fruit, various vegetables, and additions like protein powder, ground hemp, chia, and flax seed. You get into the danger zone when you add chocolate, peanut butter, or sweetened syrups. If you’re going to have a smoothie as a meal substitute, make or buy one that has at least five grams of protein and plenty of fiber, otherwise you’ll be hungry again very soon. For sweetness I like to use good maple syrup or local honey. For fiber I add oatmeal and I find that a nice chunk of ginger or citrus adds some zing, especially to vegetable-based smoothies or juices. “Superfood” powders are a matter of taste; I like Spirutein. Whey protein is easy to digest and contains all the essential amino acids. Coconut water is good because it is rich in potassium and electrolytes. Bananas add richness but also a good bit of sugar. Try a quarter or half an avocado instead. Although high in fat, avocados are full of potassium, B-complex vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber. They also contain oleic acid and linoleic acids that are helpful in reducing L.D.L. cholesterol and increasing healthy H.D.L. cholesterol.

    Store-bought juices and smoothies cost on average between $5 and $20 with add-ins. Naturally, you’re better off making your own. It’s worth the investment to get a super strong blender like a Vitamix or a juicer from Breville. Food is just too fun and important to me to make smoothies a regular habit. I believe they should be the occasional supplement, not substitute for a meal.

    For making homemade smoothies I like to keep a variety of fruit in the freezer. When berries are a reasonable price at the market I freeze them on trays, then transfer them to Ziploc baggies. I have lost all faith in those bagged baby carrots and baby spinach leaves. It really is worthwhile to get carrots that still have their frilly greenery on top and buy spinach by the bunch. Yes, you must wash and/or peel these vegetables but the vitamins and flavor will be astonishingly better. Experimenting with different yogurts is fun; try sheep or goat’s milk if cow doesn’t agree with you. Avoid the fruity sweetened ones, you’ll just be ingesting more sugar you don’t need. Use high quality cocoa powder instead of chocolate syrup, and try various herbs and spices like mint leaves, cinnamon, and cardamom. If you add raw almonds, other nuts, or goji berries to smoothies, soak them overnight in the refrigerator, this will make them easier to blend and digest.

    While I would like to believe that most of us are eating balanced meals every day, full of proteins and fiber and vitamins and complex carbohydrates, sometimes it’s just not possible. Smoothies are a fun and refreshing way to get some of our vital nutrients, just be aware of what they’re made of, and of what they can do to your wallet.

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Revised Hours

    The Beacon, which opened for the season in Sag Harbor last Thursday, has adjusted its hours for the season, and will serve dinner from 6 p.m. on Wednesday through Sunday.

Farm Shares

    Shares are still available for the community-supported agriculture program at Amber Waves Farm in Amagansett. Members may begin picking up weekly allotments next week; they will be distributed on different days at locations in Amagansett, Southampton, Montauk, and Sag Harbor. There will also be designated days for picking one’s own crops at the farm. More information is available online at AmberWavesFarm.org.

La Brisa

    La Brisa restaurant in Montauk, an eastern outpost of Tacombi in New York City, has reopened for the season and is serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner from 9 a.m. to 4 a.m. on Thursday through Monday. Among the menu items are breakfast and seafood tacos, coffee made with beans from the Mexican highlands, freshly roasted in New York, and a new cocktail menu.

Early Birds Win

    At Harbor Bistro in East Hampton, an early bird prix fixe is offered for $19 between 5 and 6 p.m. on Thursday through Sunday. Tax and gratuity are additional. Sample menu items, which are subject to change, include lobster bisque or a mixed green salad to start, vegetable stir fry, orecchiette Bolognese, or a crispy lobster “bundle” with citrus slaw as entrees, and, for dessert, profiteroles, ice cream, and sorbet.

New at the Inn

    The Bridgehampton Inn is adding a restaurant at its Montauk Highway, Bridgehampton, site. Opening on June 4 will be a 50-seat dining room, with more tables available al fresco, in the old main-floor gathering spaces at the inn. Cocktails will be served at a hand-crafted walnut bar in the original 1795 tavern room. The chef de cuisine will be Arie Pavlou, who has classic French experience. Dinner will be served on Wednesday through Sunday.

New Chef

    Marlon Rambaran is the new chef at the Backyard Restaurant at Solé East in Montauk. Mr. Rambaran, who trained under classic French chefs such as Daniel Boulud, Alfred Portale, and Georges Perrier, will offer a seasonal menu centered on fresh local fish and vegetables. Sample items include scallop ceviche, tuna tartare, pulled pork banh mi-style, mussels frites, stuffed lobster, and herb-roasted local chicken. A grill menu section features selections of meat and fish that can be prepared with a choice of sauces such as house aioli, chimichurri, and a lemon-caper emulsion.

    The Backyard is serving dinner on Thursdays through Saturdays, as well as lunch and brunch on the weekends.

Bay Kitchen Bar

39 Gann Road

East Hampton

329-3663

Lunch and dinner, seven days

     There are few greater pleasures than enjoying a water view, slurping some local oysters and clams, and sipping a light, mineraly Muscadet. Now, how about if that view is one of the prettiest of Three Mile Harbor (at the end of Gann Road), your oysters are a mere $1 each, and your glass of wine is $5? I say gaze and slurp and sip away!

    This lovely happy hour offering is just one of the reasons to go to Bay Kitchen Bar, the latest establishment situated where Andrra resided for two seasons, Boathouse for a few, and Bostwick’s for many. If you’re on the back nine of life, you may even remember Georgette’s in this spot.

    Having gone through numerous transformations over the last few years, the upstairs restaurant is now a spacious and streamlined place, jaunty and nautical with blue and white everywhere, a large outdoor lounge area, and good water views from every seat thanks to large mirrors on the back walls.

    We enjoyed the outdoor area while waiting for our other guests to arrive. The staff was cheery and attentive, taking our drink and oyster orders immediately.

    Upon being seated you get a basket of warm bread and a dish with roasted tomatoes with crumbled feta cheese and chopped parsley, probably a less filling way to begin your meal than butter and/or olive oil, but don’t stuff yourself on it. There are better things to come.

    We couldn’t resist trying one of the house juleps, a blackberry concoction that could have come straight from Louisville, Ky., . . . assuming Louisville also has some creative mixologists. It was properly prepared with a mass of crushed ice and just the right amount of sweetness, bourbon, and mint, served in a julep cup with a metal spoon/straw.

    The oysters were Prince Edward Island, Three Mile Harbor, and Montauk, all delicious, served with a garlicky mignonette and cocktail sauce. From there we moved on to tuna ceviche, crab and fish cakes, charred baby octopus, and baby lettuce, kale, and herb salad. The tuna ceviche was very good and a generous portion. Large diced chunks of tuna were mixed with a bit of crabmeat in a citrusy dressing and garnished with heirloom cherry tomatoes and diced avocado. The crab and fish cakes were also very good, two perfectly sized cakes, well seasoned on a bed of sweet corn salsa. The charred baby octopus was the best of all. It was perfectly charred, giving it a crunchy texture but still tender. There was a hint of Middle Eastern heat to it, and the crispy tentacles were served on top of warm couscous with roasted cherry tomatoes strewn around. The baby lettuce, kale, and herb salad was good, just not crazy good. Maybe it’s too early in the season to expect a variety of herbs, this one had a few chives. The dressing was nice, lightly sweet with local honey.

    For entrees we had the summer vegetable salad, pan-seared fluke, mustard crusted tuna, handmade spaghetti with baby clams, spit-roasted Long Island duck, pan-roasted black bass.

    The spit-roasted duck was, without a doubt, one of the best duck dishes we’ve ever had. It was a huge portion, half a duck, with dark mahogany crisped skin and tender meat. Clearly it had been cooked long, slow, and carefully. Most of the fat had been rendered out and it was served on top of a frisee salad with watercress and bits of lardons.

    The summer vegetable salad was a pretty composition of haricots verts, carrots, peppers, red onion, squash, tomatoes, and feta cheese. It was virtuous and tasty. The pan-seared fluke was delicious and buttery, served on some roasted corn kernels and wilted spinach, and loaded with capers and lemon. Fluke is often overcooked in restaurants, but this was just right.

    The mustard-crusted tuna was also excellent. It was four huge slices, very rare inside, with a crunch coating that again had a hint of Middle Eastern flavors, cumin, and coriander. It was served with lots of heirloom cherry tomatoes, Calamata olives, and haricots verts. The handmade spaghetti with baby clams was another winner, although the guest who ordered it thought the addition of lardons gave it too much of a smoky flavor. The pasta was excellent, big thick strands like the pici of Montepulciano.

    The pan-roasted black bass was very good, served with roasted broccoli rabe, kale, and fingerling potatoes. The side dish we tried, the crisp lemon and thyme potato fries, were outstanding, super crisp on the outside, fluffy inside.

    Considering Bay Kitchen Bar has been open a very short time, it’s a miracle the service was as good as it was. The place filled up throughout our evening there, but every single staff person was cheery, polite, and friendly. They look like they’re enjoying themselves. How refreshing! Our waiter was excellent, knew his stuff, and every lost utensil was replaced promptly.

    Besides the simple and creative bar menu, the wine menu is worthy of mention. It is appropriately heavy on white wines, all the better to enjoy with seafood, and is also very reasonable. The design is also quite fetching, done by Bay Kitchen Bar’s chef-owner, Eric Miller’s, son, Adam.

    The prices at Bay Kitchen Bar are moderate. I would say moderate to expensive if the portions were small, but they are quite generous. Raw bar items, crudos, and ceviches are $12 to $78 ($78 is for the huge raw bar platter that includes lobster), small plates and salads are $12 to $19, entrees are $14 to $39, sides are $6 to $8, and desserts are $10.

    We tried three desserts, and I’m sorry to say only one was really good. We sampled the key lime tart, Greek yogurt panna cotta, and vanilla pound cake hot fudge sundae. The key lime tart is a sight to behold, a big round tart with a pretty mound of French meringue lightly browned on top. It was delicious and tart, but had become weepy, as meringue tends to do, especially when made in a humid environment.

    The Greek yogurt panna cotta was a bit too thick from the gelatin and a tad chalky. The berry sauce was good, though. The vanilla pound cake wasn’t pound cake at all, but was more like angel food cake or a dense meringue. The minor flaw of presentation was an over-enthusiastic dose of confectioner’s sugar all over the plates. Kind of pretty but watch those sleeves!

    There were six of us on our maiden voyage to Bay Kitchen Bar and all of us were happy with our food. I would have loved to have tried the whole belly clams and would go back in a heartbeat for the oyster happy hour and the divine roast duck.

    Eric Miller has been in the restaurant biz a long time and knows his way around local seafood. Bay Kitchen Bar is a fitting venue for his talents . . . and the view ain’t bad either.