On Sunday afternoon behind the bar in the little red building across from the Montauk Movie, Vaughn Cutillo pulled the handle and out poured a “blond-haired lady in a black dress.”

    That’s one way the Irish describe Guinness Stout. Except in this case it was the Montauk Brewing Company’s Guardsman Stout, as dark, rich, and smooth a draft as any beer lover could ask for, named for the Montauk Coast Guard station and crew of the cutter Rid­ley that is based there. The Guardsman will be introduced and dedicated to our local Coasties on Saturday from 7 to 10 p.m. at Swallow East, a venue chosen for its view of the Coast Guard station across the harbor. There will be free food and beer.

    “They are this community’s unsung heroes. They are overlooked a lot. They work in a harsh environment, and they’re ready for everything. It’s stressful. The Guardsman is a beer that gives back,” said Mr. Cutillo, who, with his partners Eric Moss and Joe Sullivan, founded the Montauk Brewing Company three years ago.

    The Guardsman is the eighth brew concocted by the three amigos. Their popular Driftwood Ale will very soon be available in cans sold in stores, and a new ale, Arrowhead Irish Red, will be on tap at the brewery as well as most bars and restaurants from Southampton to Montauk in time for St. Patrick’s Day. The homegrown brew masters have come a long way in three years.

    “We used 18 pounds of grain to make our first batch in the basement. Now we use 11,000 per batch,” Mr. Cutillo said, the beer making having been moved from the basement of the little red brewing company headquarters to a full-scale brewery in Pennsylvania to keep up with demand.

    “The Coast Guard station has a softball team and they come in after the game and to our tastings. We announced the Guardsman on Facebook and got a response from a Coast Guard station in California.”

    Unfortunately, the Montauk brewery is unable to fill that particular West Coast demand, at least for now, because of laws governing interstate sales. “We had no idea it could go countrywide.”

    Saturday’s event is by no means the first time the Montauk Brewing Company has given back to the local community. They have rolled out kegs at a number of local benefits and celebrations over the past three years.

    “The town has been so welcoming. We want to give back,” Mr. Cutillo said.

    We all travel, and we all have to eat. Why is it often the case that our nutritional needs go right out the window when traveling? We surrender to junk food and spend too much. I don’t know about you, but I eat too much when traveling; I think it’s boredom.

    Planes, trains, and automobiles. Jitneys and ferries. The chances of finding a decent meal or snack in, around, or on these modes of transportation are slim. Granted, you have more control over your food when driving yourself. You can pack what you want, bring a cooler, stop whenever and wherever you want, but it’s still a hassle. It’s just easier to stop at that K.F.C. on the New Jersey Turnpike and gobble that extra-crispy chicken sandwich.

    Have you ever had a decent bite of any kind on the New London or Port Jeff ferries? Me neither, and I’ve tried just about everything they offer: crumb coffee cake, ham, egg, and cheese on a kaiser roll, bagel, Jack and Coke. As a restaurant critic, I also can’t resist peering intently into their “food preparation” area. It’s gross. But you see people lining up at the snack bar as soon as they disembark from their cars. You’d think the ferry ride was 14 hours the way they carb up!

    We’ve all ridden on the Jitney. I think it’s nice that they offer you party mix and a pee-specimen-size container of lemonade or four ounces of water. The party mix is fun, first I get rid of the pretzels, then dig around for the extra salty, super-orange cheese doodly things. Then I wish I had a napkin or they had running water in the excellent air freshener-infused lavatories. Have you ever checked the fat content on those little muffins they give you? It’s staggering. Again, I confess, I eat this stuff. My back issues of the New Yorker can only hold my attention for so long.

    Don’t eat the food on trains, ’nuff said.    Air travel is the ultimate challenge. You have less control, and the time you spend in the terminal, on the runway, and in the air can take up several meal times. If you are traveling with small children you must bring your own food. Years ago I was on a plane stuck on the runway for four hours, and the parents next to me had not packed a single snack for their young ones. The flight attendants wouldn’t serve them a thing, and those poor kids got crankier and crankier and hungrier and thirstier. That’s child abuse.

    Bring crackers, Baby Bel cheeses, fruit, and carrots. Make some homemade gorp, any mixture of nuts, dried fruit, and chocolate chips. Freeze Go-Gurts (the size complies with T.S.A. rules), pack granola bars, and purchase water after you go through security. Instant soups and dehydrated oatmeal can be prepared with just some hot water from your friendly flight attendant. No kimchi or Limburger, please.

    Apparently Legal Sea Foods has opened branches in many airports, and people have started bringing clam chowder onto planes, stinking up the cabin for hours. Don’t do this to your fellow passengers! I do confess, however, that my favorite emergency meal for the jitney is a Greek salad with grilled chicken from John Papas Cafe. Is this passive-aggressive behavior? Probably, but I do it for the person who sat behind me once and . . . clipped her nails. You don’t want to sit next to me anyway. I have narcolepsy, a bladder the size of a titmouse, and the flu. Just kidding.

    As the food on airplanes gets worse (salami and jelly beans, anyone?), more expensive, or simply nonexistent, the food in airports is improving. There is a chain called Cibo Express that has okay sandwiches, decent hummus, even sushi. I stick with the brown rice with vegetables. If you are lucky enough to travel through Chicago, San Francisco, or Detroit you will have some tasty options before you board. If you go through Minneapolis, Houston, or Las Vegas, the choices are grim. The JetBlue terminal at J.F.K. has become legendary for restaurants offering tapas, bistro food, Japanese, and Italian. I have never been on Etihad, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Air France, or Turkish Airlines, but apparently their in-flight meals are excellent. I have been on Singapore Airlines, and its food and service were exceptional.

    So what kinds of foods travel well? Whole wheat pastas for salad, quinoa, and tabbouleh. These are fine at room temperature for three to five hours. Also, have no fear of commercial mayonnaise, this is safe and stable at room temperature. It’s the eggs and chicken and meats you should be careful about. Bring bananas, grapes, apples, clementines, carrots, celery, snap peas, edamame. If you bring sandwiches (focaccia with tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella is good) wrap in plastic, then aluminum foil. Use an insulated, collapsible sandwich bag. And don’t forget Wetnaps or Handiwipes.

    Some professional chefs have offered suggestions for airplane food. Josh Capon of Lure Fishbar in New York City freezes shrimp cocktail and brings sauces in little containers. That’s a bit labor-intensive for the rest of us, and I’m not sure I want to get a whiff of his crustacean extravaganza on a five-hour flight. Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin never eats on the plane; he likes Wolfgang Puck’s Express, which has outlets in many airports. I have tried the Chinese chicken salad and it is excellent, full of cabbage and carrots and white meat chicken with a tasty sesame dressing. Beats Cinnabon. Another chef brings burrata cheese and thin slices of toasted Tuscan bread. One fellow swears by a Slim Fast bar with a glass of champagne! And let’s not forget, folks, that most basic of childhood sandwiches, the good old peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Click for recipes

Dish Is Closing

    Dish restaurant in Water Mill has announced that is closing permanently, due to the takeover of their space by new landlords.

    Peter Robertson and Merrill Indoe opened the 16-seat eatery five years ago and offered a chef’s choice weekly menu for a four-course prix fixe.

Sunday Soup Day

    Break out the soup bowls, because this weekend brings the fifth go-round of Empty Bowls, a fund-raiser for the Springs Seedlings gardening project, sponsored by Project MOST at the Springs School.

    From noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday, an impressive lineup of local chefs will be dishing out a wide variety of soups at the American Legion Hall in Amagansett. For $12, adults can have their soup bowl — taken along from home — filled and refilled as many times as desired. The cost is $5 for children ages 5 and up; those under 5 can taste for free.

    Among the participating cooks are Cheryl Stair of Art of Eating, Debbie Geppert of Debbie Geppert Events, Damien O’Donnell from the Harbor Grill, Joe Realmuto of Nick & Toni’s, Chris Eggert of Indian Wells Tavern, Jeanine Burge of Silver Spoon Specialties, and Gretchen Menser of Fresno. There will also be vats of soup made at the Springs General Store, Old Stone Market, Pepperoni’s, the Seafood Shop, One Stop Market, Simply Sublime, Hampton Seafood Market, and more.

Writers at Almond

    The Artists and Writers Night program at Almond restaurant in Bridgehampton will feature writers on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in a program titled “Telling Lies: Fiction on the East End.” Organized by David Kozatch, a writer himself who will read from a recently completed literary thriller, it will include additional readings by Jen Seft and Kara Westerman.

    For $40 in advance, or $45 at the door, plus tax and gratuity, attendees will be offered a three-course dinner served family style along with a glass of local craft beer or wine. Reservations are required.

    Coffee is one of the most important beverages in history. As a flavoring in desserts and sauces it is one of the most intriguing ingredients, along with vanilla and chocolate.

    How was this little berry and its stimulating properties discovered? Supposedly by a herd of goats in Ethiopia in the 9th century. Their herder noticed they had become quite frisky after nibbling some off a bush. At first, humans ate the berries whole, then crushed and mixed with fat. Later the fermented pulp was made into a kind of wine. Around 1000 A.D. a concoction was created from the dried fruit, beans, and hull. Roasting began in Yemen in the 13th century and the beverage extracted from the roasted beans was called qahwah, originally a poetic name for wine.

    Sufis enjoyed the stimulating effects as this energized them for hours and hours of prayer. Dervishes and Muslim pilgrims are responsible for spreading the use of coffee throughout the Middle and Near East and North Africa.

    When did coffee arrive in Western Europe? It was introduced to France by the Turkish ambassador in 1688 but may have already been drunk in Venice. Apparently the Turkish ambassador gave exotic parties, one of which was floridly described by Isaac d’Israeli:

    “On bended knee, the black slaves of the ambassador, arrayed in the most gorgeous Oriental costumes, served the choicest mocha coffee in tiny cups of egg-shell porcelain, hot, strong, and fragrant, poured out in saucers of gold and silver, placed on embroidered silk doylies fringed with gold bullion, to the grand dames, who fluttered their fans with many grimaces, bending their piquant faces — be-rouged, be-powdered, and be-patched — over the new and steaming beverage.”

    At times coffee was seen as a subversive beverage. Islam perceived the conviviality of coffeehouses a threat to religious life. Authorities at the Vatican saw it as “Satan’s latest trap to catch Christian souls.” However, once Pope Clement VIII tried it, he deemed it okey dokey.

    Coffee is, without a doubt, one of those drinks that people are extremely particular about. Just wait in line at any Starbucks or Jack’s Stir Brew in Amagansett and you will hear a litany of requests, requirements, and customizations for practically each and every person. I am proud that I “forced” my son to work as a barista at Jack’s as soon as he graduated from college. Nothing will give a young man incentive to get that big boy job more than waiting on fussy, impatient New Yorkers.

    How we brew our own coffee at home is also almost as varied as the types of beans and grinds available to us. I like a dark roast in a French press. Starbucks brand will do just fine. The Nespresso and Keurig machines confuse me. How are we supposed to know or remember what Bukeela ka Ethiopia or Linzio Lungo taste like? Instant coffee is an abomination, although okay to use in a pinch for ice creams and cakes or as part of a dry rub for pork or chicken.

    Coffee is the second most sold commodity in the world, after oil. New Yorkers consume seven times more coffee than people in any other U.S. city. There are about 50 species of coffee, a relative of the gardenia, and most are grown in Africa, Brazil, and Colombia. Hawaii is the only state in the United States to produce coffee commercially.

    The caffeine in coffee is believed to be all right in small doses. If you attempt to drink 100 cups of coffee it could be fatal, although Teddy Roosevelt was known to drink a gallon a day . . . which explains the unfortunate color of his teeth. Light coffees, along with black and green teas, contain antioxidants, but espresso-type coffees can have an undesirable effect on blood cholesterol levels. So pay attention to the type of coffee you drink and how it is prepared. One or two cups a day should suffice.

    The morning ritual of having a good, freshly brewed cup of coffee is a nice way to start the day. Meeting friends for a late afternoon latte is a pleasant pastime, catching up and winding down. If you’ve ever been lucky enough to sip an espresso in Milan, or thick, sweet Cuban coffee in Little Havana, or better yet, spend half your life staring at passers-by in a Paris cafe, you can appreciate this special drink’s long and interesting history, both cultural and culinary.

Cafe Brulot 

Cafe Brulot is a fragrant, after-dinner drink from New Orleans. It is often served in restaurants, with a great show of flaming brandy drizzled down a curl of orange peel into your demitasse cup. I’m not giving you that recipe. Keep it simple. This is also delicious served cold.

Zest from 1 orange
12 whole cloves
1/3 cup brandy
1/3 cup Cointreau
3 2-inch strips of lemon peel 2 Tbsp. sugar 

3 cups hot, strong coffee, preferably with chicory 

Stud the orange or lemon peel with the whole cloves. Combine all ingre- dients in a saucepan and bring just to a boil. Simmer a minute or two, then serve. 

Costa Rican Coffee Glaze 

This recipe is based on one from Douglas Rodriguez’s “Latin Flavors on the Grill.” I have changed it considerably and simplified it. I would also sug- gest adding a bit more sweetness and rum as my friend Kathleen did before she marinated a pork tenderloin in the glaze and tossed it on the grill. You will have extra sauce to freeze. This would probably also be great with grilled chicken. 

Makes three cups. 

3 Tbsp. oil
1 cup diced white onion
2 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
2 serrano chiles with seeds, diced (I used jalapenos) 4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 Tbsp. molasses
1 cup dark rum
2 Tbsp. ground coffee
1 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp.. vanilla extract
8 cups brewed coffee
3 Tbsp. butter, softened
Salt to taste 

In medium saucepan heat the oil over medium-high heat. Saute onion un- til caramelized, about 10 minutes. Add ginger, chilies, and garlic. Cook a few minutes more, then add molasses. 

Remove from heat and add the rum, being careful that it does not flare up. Stir and cook about two minutes. Add ground coffee, cocoa, cinnamon, vanilla, and two cups of brewed coffee. Reduce liquid by half, then add rest of coffee and continue to cook until reduced to three cups. This will take a while and will make your house very fragrant. Remove from heat and cool. 

Puree in a blender with the softened butter, adding salt to taste. Use at once, store in refrigerator for up to two weeks, or freeze. 

Kahlua and Coconut Ice Cream 

This is a wonderful, quick dessert I learned from my friend Michel Plitt Wirth years ago. It is rich and naughty and guests always love it! 

For each serving:1 scoop high quality vanilla ice cream 2 Tbsp. toasted coconut
2 Tbsp. Kahlua or Tia Maria liqueur 

Place scoop of ice cream in pretty dish or bowl. Drizzle with Kahlua. Top with toasted coconut. Go nuts. 

    Coming right up is the January weekend devoted  not only to a contest between football teams but to a fair bit of noshing — indeed, of pigging out.

    Those who would rather not slave in the kitchen to prepare their own snacks can order Super Bowl Sunday takeout from a number of places. From La Fondita in Amagansett, Mexican fiesta fare is available, including a new layered fiesta dip, with refried beans, seasoned cream cheese, shredded jack and cheddar cheese, and diced chiles, for $7.50. Fondita also has “make your own taco” packages for $35, which include a choice of taco meat, homemade tortillas, and chopped cilantro and onions — enough to make 14 to 16 tacos.

    Seafood lovers will find Super Bowl Madness at the Hampton Seafood Company. Among the catering packages for the big game day are a chips and dip platter, a taco bar, full or half pans of mac and cheese, including goat cheese and smoked barbecue chicken or shrimp versions, along with more traditional varieties, Creole-spiced peel-and-eat shrimp, honey hot wings, and quarts of beef, beer, and black bean chili. Also on the menu are seafood, chicken, and sausage jambalaya, racks of barbecued baby back ribs, and an herb-crusted seared tuna platter. Orders for Sunday must be picked up on Saturday or, if prepaid, can be picked up between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Sunday.

    Super Bowl Sunday at Townline BBQ in Sagaponack will bring house specials, takeout specials, and raffles at the end of each quarter for those watching the game at the bar. New bar menu items being unveiled during the game are steamed pork belly buns with Asian barbecue sauce and pickles, pig poppers, which are jalapenos stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon, then smoked, buttermilk fried chicken sliders, and spicy chicken rolls. The barbecue joint’s traditional snacks — hush puppies, nachos, wings, and more — and barbecue and takeout specials will also be offered.

    Rudy DeSanti and Debbie Geppert at Dreesen’s Catering have some aptly named party packages, each for 15 guests and for varying prices. The Kickoff features shrimp cocktail, a Tuscan board, salsa, guacamole, chips, and crudités with spinach dip. The Touchdown includes buffalo chicken wings, stuffed potato skins, chicken quesadillas, and pigs in blankets, along with chips and dips and crudités. Orders may be placed at [email protected], or with [email protected].

Comfort Food Snail Supper

    An alternative on Sunday will be Slow Food East End’s Snail Supper, taking place at a residence in Orient, with a  midwinter comfort food theme. Those who attend the 4 to 7 p.m. event are asked to take along a dish to share that will serve six to eight people. The cost is $15 per person for Slow Food members, and $20 for nonmembers. Space is limited — enough for 35 guests — so reservations must be made by emailing Rona Smith at ronacom13@optonline. net.

N.Y.C. Wine and Cheese

    Roman Roth, the winemaker at Wolffer Estate in Sagaponack, will lead a wine class and tasting from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 7 at the Murray’s Cheese shop at 254 Bleecker Street in New York City. Jordan Zimmerman, an educator from the cheese shop, will pair each wine with a complementary cheese, using selections from across the globe. The cost is $75 per person. More information is available by e-mailing [email protected].

Kitchen Renovations

    The Living Room restaurant at c/o the Maidstone inn in East Hampton is closed until Feb. 28, while the kitchen is being renovated. The inn remains open, as does the bar, where cold cuts, olives, and other snacks will be served, gratis.

    Chicken is a delicious, economical meat accessible to all. Chickens are filthy, germ-ridden animals we shouldn’t touch. Which do you believe? Both are true. Sadly, chicken “production” in this country has been steered in the same direction as hothouse tomatoes; the desire for more profit and efficiency has produced utterly tasteless, Vegas showgirl-breasted foulish fowl. However, we are very lucky out here having such fine establishments as Iacono Farm in East Hampton and Browder’s Birds in Mattituck, to name just two poultry farms. You may pay a little bit more for these birds but you can be sure they were “raised up right” as we Southerners say, and they taste “chickeny” as Julia Child once said.

    Although I don’t eat a lot of meat, I love chicken. Roasting a whole one and making gravy and mashed potatoes to go with it always makes friends and family feel special even though it’s such an easy thing to do. Well made fried chicken is a treat and dishes such as Thai drunken noodles, Chinese kung pao chicken, and Indian curries are perfect ways to enhance this rather bland meat.

    I gave up on cheap chicken years ago, brands like Perdue and Tyson and whatever the one is that has Paula Deen’s face on it are just god-awful. For a while I liked Empire Kosher because they have been brined and are tasty. But they’re always covered with a few residual feathers and most often expire before the sale date says they will. Bell and Evans used to be pretty good but even those have tasted dull lately. I strongly suggest you only buy birds from local farms.

    Chickens are descended from an aggressive red jungle fowl of northern India and southern China, the Gallus gallus, a member of the pheasant family. They were probably domesticated in the vicinity of Thailand before 750 B.C., and arrived in the Mediterranean around 500 B.C., according to Harold McGee in his book “On Food and Cooking.” They were merely farmyard scavengers until the 19th century when Chinese birds were imported and started a craze of chicken breeding in Europe and North America. Mr. McGee points out that the modern bird is “an impressive feat of agricultural engineering to produce a four-pound bird on eight pounds of feed in six weeks!” The faster they grow, the blander they are.

    If you follow some very important rules and suggestions you have no need to ear this dirty bird. If you’re going to buy your bird from the grocery store, put it in an extra plastic bag, don’t want those juices leaking out. Make it the last item in your cart so it remains as cold as possible. At home, store it (and all meats and fish) in the bottom of your refrigerator. Wash your hands after handling raw chicken! Wash the chicken before preparing to cook. Keep all cutting boards and knives scrupulously clean, these can retain bacteria not just for hours but for days. Cook to an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees and use a good meat thermometer.

    As for some currently popular language used to describe the chicken you buy, a big percentage of it is total B.S., excuse my almost bad language. “Natural” is a meaningless term; there are no inspections required to verify this. Same goes for “cage-free.” No chickens raised in this country are kept in cages, but there is no assurance they have access to the great outdoors, either. “Free-range” may simply mean that they can go frolic outside on a cement slab for five minutes. They’re still crammed together. The descriptives you do want to see are “no antibiotics,” “no hormones,” “no G.M.O.s,” and “certified humane.” “Pasture-raised” is not a legal definition so it is meaningless unless the label indicates “animal welfare approved.”

    And now for a bit more scary news before I share some delicious recipes. Consumer Reports recently conducted tests on more than 300 raw chicken breasts from around the country and regardless of quality, price, or origin, 97 percent harbored bacteria. Every one of the major brands contained “worrisome” amounts of bacteria, these being Tyson, Pilgrim’s, Sanderson Farms, and Perdue. Even those labeled “antibiotic free” contained some inevitable bacteria due to processing. The United States Department of Agriculture is useless in helping with this problem, and is in fact considering new rules that will allow the slaughter of 175 birds per minute (up from 140 per minute), and transferring the duties of its inspectors to the plant’s own employees.

    In 2000 Denmark’s pork industry stopped using antibiotics to promote growth of their piggies. Rather than hampering the industry, this contributed to a 50 percent growth in pork production. The success of this action is attributed to the laws banning use of antibiotics, vigilant enforcement, and rules to prevent veterinarians from profiting by selling antibiotics to farmers. Why can’t we do that with our poultry industry? Okay, stepping off of my soapbox now. . . .

    The average cost of plain old supermarket chicken breasts is $3.68 per pound, for antibiotic-free it’s about $5.49 per pound, and organic chicken runs about $6.99 per pound. I think you and your family are worth it, don’t you?

Click for recipes

    Valentine’s Day is approaching, and our minds turn, if not to love, then chocolate. Registration is under way for a chocolate truffle-making workshop to be offered by the Peconic Land Trust at Bridge Gardens on Mitchell Lane in Bridgehampton on Feb. 15.

    From 2 to 4 p.m., Rick Bogusch will demonstrate the easy steps to make a basic truffle as well as truffles flavored with spices and liqueurs, rolled in cocoa powder and nuts, and dipped in melted chocolate. Samples and recipes will be provided. The cost is $10 a person, or $5 for Bridge Gardens members.

    Space is limited, so reservations are required and can be made by calling the land trust offices in Southampton, or through events@PeconicLandTrust. org.

Dinners for Two

    Those thinking about a Valentine’s Day dinner out may wish to know about Almond’s special offering on Friday, Feb. 14: a four-course menu of seasonal dishes with a blood-orange theme. It will include a choice of appetizers, such as Montauk Pearl oysters with blood orange granita or quinoa salad, followed by duck and foie gras ravioli a l’orange or sea scallops, and, for entrees, roasted rack of pork or smoked and grilled salmon. Dessert will be a hazelnut and blood orange torte for two, served with crème fraiche sherbet.  The cost is $65 per person. For an additional cost, complementary wines can be added.

    The Valentine’s Day theme at the Bell & Anchor in Sag Harbor will be oysters and champagne. An $85 special will include a dozen Montauk Pearl oysters with a bottle of Paul Laurent Brut champagne or a half-bottle of Billecarte-Salmon Brut Rose. Dinner specials and a la carte items will be available.

    At Nick & Toni’s in East Hampton, reservations have been suggested for Valentine’s Day, when dinner service will begin at 6 p.m. In addition to the regular menu there will be some specials, including foie gras torchon with toasted brioche, baby arugula, and pomegranate syrup as an appetizer. Entrees include pan-roasted red snapper with a saffron-cockle broth and grilled ribeye steak for two with truffle butter. Among the holiday desserts is champagne sorbet, and the cocktail of the evening will be the box of chocolates, a drink with prosecco and house-made sour cherry liqueur served with an orange twist in a glass with a rim dipped in dark chocolate.

Winter Farmers Markets

    A new indoor farmers market is taking place on Saturdays in Riverhead, in the space once occupied by Swezey’s Department Store, at 117 East Main Street.  The hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. through May 17. Participating vendors are selling cheese, eggs, pork, honey, homemade baked goods, granola, yogurt, coffee, wine, pickled veggies, canned tomatoes, empanadas, seafood, spices, yarn, soap, pasta, mushrooms, and more.

    In Bridgehampton, an indoor farmers market at the Topping Rose House restaurant will continue on the third Saturday of each month from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with the next to be held on Feb. 15.

O’Murphy’s

Restaurant and Pub

99 Edgemere Street

Montauk, NY

668-5005

Lunch and dinner, seven days

    Reviewing restaurants isn’t always unicorns and rainbows and Topping Rose and Nick &s Toni’s and slow-food movement and “this asparagus was plucked at the peak of its virility five minutes ago from Mr. Jones’s farm.” Sometimes reviewing a restaurant, especially at this time of year, is simply finding a place that is 1) open in winter, and 2) serving some decent and reasonable fare.

    O’Murphy’s Restaurant and Pub in Montauk is just such a place. Open seven days a week for lunch and dinner, O’Murphy’s serves simple and hearty pub grub, some of it damn good.

    Located in the heart of downtown across from the circle, O’Murphy’s is small and cozy, with a bar to the left of the entrance and tables with green-and-white-checked oilcloth table­cloths all around. There are two flat screen TVs in the bar area and enough decorative flotsam and jetsam to cover most other surfaces. One such piece of decor is a portrait of an austere and proper looking lass, perhaps the original Mrs. O’Murphy? Maybe one of Carl Fisher’s mistresses? No one seemed to know.

    As O’Murphy’s has an entire page devoted to a martini menu, we began our meal with those. When in Rome, y’all. One of them was pretty good, the other tasted like what I imagine “purple drank” or “sizzurp” tastes like. If you know what I’m talking about, shame on you. I have only myself to blame for ordering a drink with Chambord and pineapple juice.

    We then ordered chicken wings, mussels, and baked clams. The chicken wings were ordered medium heat and were fairly mild but very tasty. They were served with the traditional accoutrements of celery sticks and blue cheese dressing, all fresh and good. The mussels were excellent, a huge portion served with slices of grilled garlic toast. The sauce was as good as you could hope for, full of freshly minced garlic in a savory, creamy broth. The baked clams were also very good, four per serving. They were well chopped and fairly bread but delicious.

    For entrees we ordered the steak sandwich, Irish lamb stew, and fish and chips. My friend ordered the steak rare, and it was. It was served on a hoagie roll with melted mozzarella cheese and a side of fries. The steak itself was tender and well seasoned. The Irish stew, again a huge portion, was very good and enough for two people. It was full of tender chunks of lamb, carrots, and potatoes. The Irish brown bread served alongside was so good we wished we had some proper Kerrygold butter to slather all over it. The fish and chips weren’t quite as successful. The fish (fluke, yay!) was just a whisper away from being truly fresh. (Boo-hoo.) The fries served with it, however, were excellent, skin-on fries.

    The service on the day of our visit was as nice as could be. Our waiter (son of the owner, it turned out) was fun and funny, friendly and knowledgeable. He was full of recommendations and even snuck us an extra loaf of the good brown bread. The overall atmosphere at O’Murphy’s was similar, warm and welcoming.

    The prices at O’Murphy’s are inexpensive to moderate. Appetizers are $10.95 to $15.95, soups are $4.25 to $9.50, salads are $5.50 to $14.95, entrees are $10.95 to $17, and desserts are $8 and $9.

    We were truly way too stuffed for dessert but managed to try two anyway. Most are made in-house. We tried the Bailey’s Heath Bar ice cream cake and blueberry pie. The Bailey’s Heath Bar ice cream cake was very good, rich, sweet, and creamy as you can imagine, with a very good, thick, crunchy crust. The blueberry pie should not have been served — at least until it was thoroughly baked. When doing a review I never, ever complain or send things back. I just take one for the team. My guests are perfectly welcome to say what they please, but I try to blend in with the curtains (plaid in this case, very difficult) when on the job. But this time I just had to point it out to our waiter. The dough on the top and bottom was completely raw, pale as veal. I should have kept my mouth shut, as this made our waiter very sad, but I thought they should know. The filling was good, though!

    If you live in East Hampton or Sag Harbor you have plenty of high- and low-end dining options year round. However, in the currently hipster hamlet of Montauk, not so much this time of year. Four out of four pizzerias are closed, for Pete’s sake. O’Murphy’s Restaurant and Pub, which has been open for 25 years, fills the needed niche of affordable comfort food in a welcoming environment.

    Go raibh math agat, O’Murphy’s! That means thank you.

    The indoor farmers market held at the Topping Rose House in Bridgehampton on the third Saturday of each month will take place this weekend beginning at 11 a.m., with the closing hour now extended to 3 p.m.

    Among the vendors that have participated are Lorna’s Nuts and Goodies, Amagansett Sea Salt, East Hampton Gourmet, Plain-T Ice Tea, Cavaniola’s Cheese Shop, and Gula Gula Empanadas.

    Representatives of several local vineyards have also been at the market, along with vendors selling chocolates, energy bars, seasonings, yogurt, granola, mushrooms, lotions, soap, pottery, jewelry, and more.

For Valentine’s Day

    The Harbor Grill in East Hampton will extend the Valentine’s Day love with the onset tonight of a special three-course prix fixe, which will be offered through Sunday.

    The menu, for $38 a person, will include a glass of champagne or house wine. Diners may choose from appetizers such as lobster bisque, pistachio oysters, avocado and shrimp, calamari, and warm burrata cheese with prosciutto, followed by entrees such as seared sea scallops, pork saltimbocca, surf and turf, shrimp scampi, New York steak au poivre, and chicken breast with spinach-mushroom veloute sauce. Dessert is included as well. The Harbor Grill has live music every Saturday night at 6. Reservations have been recommended.

    Cafe Max in East Hampton, which reopened yesterday for its 23rd season and will be serving dinner nightly, except Tuesdays, starting at 5:30, will offer a two-course prix fixe for $40 for Valentine’s Day.

    At the American Hotel in Sag Harbor, the a la carte menu tomorrow will include Valentine’s specials such as crab bisque, foie gras saute, and Petrossian caviar, to start, and entrees such as steamed lobster, brace of quail, rack of lamb, and steaks. A holiday prix fixe will be offered for $95 per person, with lobster thermidor, Long Island duck, pheasant, and filet mignon as the entrée choices.

    In Montauk, Manucci’s, which is open nightly for dinner at 5, will also have a special menu for Valentine’s Day. Reservations have been suggested.

    At Fresh Hamptons in Bridgehampton, a five-course Valentine’s prix fixe to be offered tonight through Saturday is being billed as an “aphrodisiac’s delight.” The menu, which is subject to change, may include several choices of oyster dishes, beef short ribs braised in merlot with oyster sauce as an entree, and chocolate desserts. The cost is $95 per person, plus tax and gratuity.

    Those planning to make a special meal at home might want to note that jumbo lobsters — those three pounds and up — are on sale at Stuart’s Seafood in Amagansett for $9.99 a pound.

    Specials continuing all month at the Hampton Coffee Company in Water Mill include the Valentine’s coffee flavor, chocolate cherry kiss, as well as crème brulee lattes. Last-minute holiday treats are also available, including chocolate-dipped biscotti and canisters of teas in flavors such as chocolate-strawberry, raspberry-rose hibiscus, and red velvet.

Shagwong Specials

    The Shagwong on Montauk’s Main Street has daily lunch specials for $7.95, and a $15 prix fixe menu all day, every day.

Looking Ahead

    Balsam Farms in Amagansett is signing up members for its community-supported agriculture program. Four different levels of memberships are available, entitling purchasers to a weekly share of vegetables, herbs, and fruit for various periods between May 30 through Nov. 22. The costs range from $420 to $765. A weekly delivery of an additional item, with flowers, fruit, mozzarella, local cheese, and prepared foods to choose from, may also be purchased for prices between $100 and $280. Information is available at balsamfarms.com.

Open Again

     Inlet Seafood in Montauk will reopen tomorrow for lunch and dinner. Both meals will be served on Saturday, with brunch added on Sunday, and lunch service will be offered on Monday for the Presidents Day holiday. Thereafter, Inlet will be open for lunch and dinner on Fridays and Saturdays, and for brunch, lunch, and dinner on Sundays.

For the Thirsty

    At Villa Italian Specialties in East Hampton, fountain drinks and coffees of all sizes are $1. Villa, some might not yet know, serves breakfast daily beginning at 8 a.m., in addition to its offerings of meats, groceries, and prepared Italian foods.

    What kinds of foods are our athletes, their families, and fans eating in Sochi at the 2014 Winter Olympics? Well, you needn’t fret over the nutritional needs of the United States ski team. They are not residing in the athlete’s village, but are in the mountains above Sochi cocooned in comfort with private chefs attending to their every culinary need. Almost. It actually appears that they are eating a lot of Asian-inspired meals full of rice noodles and fish sauce.

    Let’s face it, while some Russian food can be delicious, it is generally very heavy due to long winters and a lack of fresh fruits and vegetables. The “Today” show recently offered a demonstration of some traditional Russian dishes — borscht, beef stroganoff served with either egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or white rice, and tartlets filled with jelly or lemon curd. This on the day that the show was promoting awareness of heart disease in women! But that wasn’t the worst of it. This belly bomb of a Russian meal was followed by a segment with Giada de Laurentis smilingly demonstrating crisped slices of salami to dip into sour cream as a fun and easy snack.

    Maria Losyukova, a Sochi spokeswoman, told one newspaper that “borscht is just one example of Russian dishes that will be served in the Olympic park. Other classic dishes are pelmeni and shashlyk. Also traditional hot pastries, cakes, and blinis.” F.Y.I., pelmeni are dumplings filled with meat or fish, and shashlyk are like shish kebabs, i.e., more meat. They estimate that approximately 2.1 million meals will be served to volunteers and 70,000 gallons of borscht will be a part of those meals. And yes, there is a McDonald’s on site for those looking for the ghastly comfort of fast food from home.

    On a website called “Way to Russia,” the need and necessity for highly caloric foods is explained. “The food should give us much energy and warmth to survive during the winter time. So essential components are the ones which provide more carbohydrates and fat rather than proteins. Fresh fruits and vegetables are rarely used in food. The top five components of a Russian meal are potatoes, eggs, bread, meat, and butter. Other popular foods are cabbage, milk, sour cream, curds, mushrooms, lard, cucumbers, honey, sugar, salt, garlic, and onions.” I didn’t know lard and salt and sugar are “foods.”

    One popular dish found in many Russian restaurants and homes is a potato salad called Olivier, named after the Belgian chef who invented it. Tiny diced potatoes are combined with carrots, peas, and onions and bound with mayonnaise. Another dish, most common in Moscow restaurants, is zhulien, a casserole of mushrooms combined with sour cream and Emmentaler cheese. Blinis are divine, served as either a sweet dessert with cooked berries or as a savory topped with smoked salmon or caviar.

    The vast differences between the food of the wealthy and of the poor are apparent in every country but are especially noticeable in Russia. For the less well off, the standard diet includes many sour and pickled items from cucumbers to beets to rye and dark wheat breads to kvass, the fermented beer-like drink made from black rye bread. Vegetable varieties are fundamental: cabbage, beets, and turnips. Onions, garlic, dill, and horseradish provide seasoning and curd cheese and sour cream the fat. Mongol conquerors get credit for introducing spices from Asia, and tea arrived in the late-17th century. Tsar Peter the Great gets credit for bringing a more European (mostly Scandinavian) flavor to the food of the wealthy. In the 19th century, French chefs flocked to St. Petersburg and Moscow.

    The mushrooms of Russia deserve special attention, as it is a favorite pastime to forage for the many varieties. There is even a children’s marching song called “Panic Among the Mushrooms,” in which a general commands the mushrooms to go to war. The mushroom types are identified by their willingness to march to their deaths. The morels claim they are too elderly, but the gruzdi (probably milk caps) are brave and do battle. There are field mushrooms, morels, ink caps, chanterelles, boletus, and white boletus, which are similar to the cepes of Bordeaux.

    Some members of the media at the Olympics have sent out some snarky tweets and pictures of the living conditions in Sochi; you have probably seen, heard, and read some of these. Shame on you, you little mushrooms, you are guests in this country! It won’t be long before you come home to grocery stores that offer anything you could possibly want to eat, fluffy down pillows, and clean water. In the meantime, I hope that the athletes from around the world and their families and guests will sample some of what Russia has to offer. It is a cuisine born of necessity, but served with pride.

Click for recipes