Late Afternoon Eats

    With dark coming early on winter afternoons — even though the solstice has come and gone, bringing just a little more daylight now each day — an early supper or amuse bouche might be in order. The Hampton Seafood Company in East Hampton has a Thursday “happy hour” from 4 to 6 p.m., when fish tacos are served up to customers for $3 and shrimp tacos cost $4.

At the Bar

    Michaels’ at Maidstone offers its bar patrons a beer-and-burger special on Monday nights, with a burger and a pitcher of beer going for $16. Wednesday nights draw steak lovers to Michaels’, when various cuts of steak are served at special prices.

    The restaurant, which is in the Maidstone Park section of East Hampton, has a prix fixe special every night and serves dinner from 5 to 9 p.m. seven days a week.

    Rachel Maddow, the MSNBC host, is quite a mixologist. She occasionally pops up on “The Late Show With Jimmy Fallon” to demonstrate various cocktails. On a recent episode she demonstrated a classic martini. While shaking and stirring and measuring she informed Mr. Fallon that vermouth is a wine, therefore expires after two weeks. She encouraged the audience to toss out that old bottle of your granny’s that’s been collecting dust in the liquor cabinet and buy a fresh one. I obeyed. I sampled a fresh bottle. What a difference!

    Until this revelation, vermouth was never on my radar. I didn’t even know what it is, it was just an ingredient . . . collecting dust in the liquor cabinet. A fortified wine, vermouth is a bit higher in alcohol than wine, and is aromatized with various botanicals. There is red vermouth and white vermouth. The red originated in Italy; the white in France around the 1880s. It was made from a neutral wine, fortified with brandy that had not been aged, and then flavored, and in the case of red, sweetened. The brands we are most familiar with are Noilly Prat and Martini, but there are now some domestic, boutique vermouth makers, most notably our very own Channing Daughters Winery in Bridgehampton, which has several variations.

    After doing some in depth research, I learned that you really don’t have to throw an opened bottle of vermouth out after two weeks. It should last about three months if refrigerated, and will keep even better if you seal it with a Vacu-Vin cork. Cooking with vermouth is similar to cooking with wine, you just use a bit less and cook the alcohol out a fraction longer. It is delicious with scallops and sole, cream sauces, and poultry. I recently tossed a bit of dry vermouth into some sauteed mushrooms that then went into crisp little phyllo dough cups. It added just the right mysterious background note.

    The name vermouth comes from the German word “vermut,” so called for its main ingredient, wormwood. As wormwood is toxic in large doses (this is the same ingredient that absinthe used to be made with), vermouth no longer contains it. In many European countries vermouth is enjoyed on its own as an aperitif, served with bread, cured meats, and cheese. Julia Child was known to enjoy a “reverse” martini: four parts vermouth to one part gin. Winston Churchill disdained vermouth, insisting that a glance at the open bottle was enough. Some stories go that he merely glanced in the direction of France, and that alone was enough vermouth for him.

    Some of the current producers of vermouth add some crazy sounding ingredients. Bianca Miraglia, maker of Uncouth Vermouth out of Brooklyn, uses mugwort, a relative of wormwood, along with apples and mint. Imbue Bittersweet from Portland, Ore., apparently tastes like a honey Ricola candy. Atsby Amberthorn from Mattituck has a finish similar to sweetened liquid rye bread, according to Alice Fiering of The New York Times. Interesting. Channing Daughters spring 2013 Vervino vermouth is sauvignon blanc fortified with grape brandy, flavored with 30 botanicals, all “grown or foraged” locally, and sweetened with local honey.

    Because of these unique flavorings, you want to use vermouth in recipes that can stand up to its funkiness. For savory dishes try dry vermouth with fennel and cream, penne with roasted beets, barbecued salmon with chives and tarragon, or mussels with shallots. Sweet vermouth can add a lot to fig jam, grilled peaches, and baked apples.

    Of course, cocktails such as the Manhattan or a Negroni have to be made with sweet vermouth. And now that you know that freshness is key, start with a new bottle of French, domestic, or better yet, local vermouth and experiment with recipes and cocktails of your own.

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Artists, Writers, Food

    Almond restaurant in Bridgehampton will hold its next Artists and Writers Night on Wednesday, featuring a family style three-course meal and an appearance by Christine Sciulli, a light and video installation artist whose work is currently in a show at the Parrish Art Museum. The evening begins at 7 and costs $40 in advance, or $45 at the door. In addition to the meal, the price includes a glass of local wine or craft beer, tax, and gratuity. Reservations are a must.

Bonac Farms Herbs

    Bonac Farms, which sells produce in season from a stand at the Springs General Store, has dried and cured organically grown, non-genetically modified herbs and spices for sale online, at $2 an ounce or $20 a pound. Among the choices are several types of basil, and dill seed and coriander, available whole or milled fresh to order at a specified coarseness. Tea blends are available as well. Bonacfarms.com is the website.

Of Pierre Franey

    The children of the late Pierre Franey, the renowned chef, New York Times columnist, and cookbook author who lived in Springs, have created a website in tribute to him: pierre­franey.com. The site includes a biography, bibliography with links to purchase books, videos of several cooking show episodes, and monthly new and ar­chived recipes, including potential wine pairings selected by Mr. Franey’s son, Jacques Franey, the owner of the Domaine Franey wine and liquor store in East Hampton. It also includes photographs, among them several of Mr. Franey with Craig Claiborne, a chef friend and collaborator who also lived in East Hampton, and of the chef serving his crepes from a booth at the Springs Fisherman’s Fair, which he did for a number of years.

Lunch Special

    The Living Room restaurant a c/o the Maidstone inn in East Hampton has announced a lunch special: soup and salad for $19. A glass of local wine can be added for an additional $8.

At Pierre’s

    At Pierre’s in Bridgehampton, which is open daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, a two-course  prix fixe is now offered for $28. Three courses cost $34. The special is served nightly, though just until 6:30 p.m. on weekends. Chicken Oriental soup has recently returned to Pierre’s menu.

    The Smokin’ Wolf barbecue takeout shop in East Hampton, which is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, has a weekly lineup of winter specials, including a $7 lunch menu. Wednesday is burger night, for $8, Thursdays quesadillas are $8, on Fridays whole chickens — roasted, barbecued, or fried — are $10, and on Saturdays a whole slab of ribs is $18.

1770 House

    A winter prix fixe menu is offered at the 1770 House in East Hampton Sunday through Thursday, excluding holidays. For $35, diners can get three courses prepared by Michael Rozzi, the chef.

Chefs’ Class

    The next East End Chefs cooking class at the Old Whalers Church in Sag Harbor will be next Thursday with Todd Jacobs of Fresh in Bridgehampton. Formerly the executive chef at the American Hotel in Sag Harbor, Mr. Jacobs will prepare a curried butternut squash soup, served with Greek yogurt and anise toast, followed by pan-seared local yellowtail flounder in an organic carrot, lemongrass, and ginger broth, served with savoy cabbage and beans. Dessert will be creme brulee.

    The cost is $20. As space is limited, advance reservations have been suggested and can be made by calling the church. The class will begin at 6:30 p.m.

Colicchio Cooks Game

    Tom Colicchio, the chef at the Topping Rose House in Bridgehampton, will prepare a game dinner to be served in the barn at Topping Rose on Saturday. Courses, to include wood pigeon, partridge, duck, and venison, will be paired with wine from the Shinn Estate vineyard in Mattituck. The cost of the dinner is $195. Those who wish to make reservations have been asked to email Eliza Nordeman at enordeman@topping­rosehouse.com.

Wine, Hors d’Oeuvres, Music

    Also this weekend, wine and snacks will be served at an open house on Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. to mark the opening of Wainscott Main Wine and Spirits, at 354 Montauk Highway in Wainscott. The Seafood Shop, a neighboring business, will serve oysters and clams and other bites. East End wines from Bedell Cellars and the Channing Daughters Winery will be poured. Some local music will be offered as well: Mamalee Rose and Friends will play from 2 to 5 p.m. All are welcome to attend.

Wolffer Wines

    Every Tuesday evening is “industry night” at the tasting room at the Wolffer Estate winery in Sagaponack. From 4 to 6 p.m., employees of restaurants and wine shops that sell Wolffer wines can order glasses of wine and cheese plates at half price.

Reserve Now

    With Valentine’s Day approaching, reservations are being taken for a baking workshop on linzer tarts, Austrian cookies that could serve as appropriate “sweets for the sweet” on the holiday. Deborah Shaughnessy will lead the workshop on Feb. 6 at the Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton starting at 6:30 p.m. It will be limited to 20 bakers — who will be asked to take their own cookie sheet — and costs $25 for library members, or $35 for nonmembers.

    Reservations are also being taken for a late-February fund-raiser for Gerry Hayden, a chef suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or A.L.S. The event will take place from 4:30 to 7 p.m. on Feb. 23 at Kontokosta Winery in Greenport, a sponsor along with Slow Food East End and participating chefs, who will honor Mr. Hayden’s culinary accomplishments, support of local, sustainable agriculture and healthy foods, and the restaurant he has run with his wife and co-chef, Claudia Fleming, in Southold, the North Fork Table and Inn.

     Chefs from across the East End will contribute hors d’oeuvres, including Colin Ambrose of Estia’s Little Kitchen in Sag Harbor, Peter Ambrose of Hampton Seafood Market and Peter Ambrose Events in East Hampton, Todd Jacobs of Fresh, James Carpenter of Cittanuova, Gretchen Menser of Fresno, Cheryl Stair of Art of Eating Catering, and Jason Weiner of Almond. Numerous North Fork chefs will contribute as well.

    Tickets are $75 for Slow Food members, $100 for nonmembers, and include selections of Kontokosta wines and Greenport Brewery beer. They can be reserved through the Slow Food East End website.

    Parents, if you send your boys and girls off to college without having educated them on nutrition or taught them some rudimentary cooking skills, I can assure you, they will flounder. They will very likely live on ramen noodles and pizza (boys) and/or yogurt and cottage cheese (girls).

    When I attended Kenyon College many years ago, all students lived on campus and had to survive on the meal plan. The meal plan provider was a company called Saga. Saga had four levels of food service meal plans, A, B, C, and D. The A and B levels were probably for well-to-do corporations. The C and D levels were for prisons and mental institutions and . . . Kenyon. There were no other choices in tiny Gambier, Ohio, other than a mediocre pizza parlor and the Village Inn, a charming little place that was famous for its glutinous cheese soup. A lot of us merely survived on a ghastly concoction of cottage cheese with granola, honey, and peanut butter smushed into it. I gained 20 pounds.

    The kinds of foods available on college campuses sparked my interest recently when I spent four days in New Haven, Conn. In general, New Haven is a very depressed city, full of empty storefronts and panhandlers. In the midst of this is the glorious campus of Yale University. Surely such a fine Ivy League college would offer all kinds of healthy options, have plenty of grocery stores and affordable ethnic restaurants. Sadly, not so. Pizza is everywhere, noodle shops have proliferated, and for some reason, there are four or five Thai restaurants in a two-block radius. Since I was carless, I explored all the dining options I could on foot, as I assume most students have to. I sought out many restaurants, dives, and local specialties that were recommended by students.

    Some were spectacular (the mashed potato pizza at BAR) and some god-awful (the Lithuanian coffee cake smothered in sugary frosting and denser than cement offered at a coffee shop).

    After polling numerous friends on Facebook, I learned that many of us had to get very creative in our search for sustenance during our college years. My godmother Mary, Stanford, class of 1942, ate cottage cheese with jelly, Terrell swirled Sanka coffee powder into soft-serve vanilla ice cream. Eileen recalls pinto bean loaf and Justin remembers millet casserole. One of my Ken­yon classmates would consume five glasses of milk and a slice of chocolate cake after soccer practice, followed by 10 p.m. pizza. There were quite a few grits horror stories, obviously submitted by Yankees who were down South for the first time in their lives, poor dears. And a few were lucky: Doug lived off the Berkeley campus right near Chez Panisse, and Tom went to the Culinary Institute of America.

    When my son attended McGill in Montreal, it took him a while to take advantage of the 10-percent discount offered by the grocery store one day a week. As the drinking age is 18 in Canada, he was more intent on stocking the Madmen-James Bond-esque bar he had set up than the refrigerator. But he caught on eventually, figuring out that cooking up big stir fries and pots of rice would provide a few days worth of meals, that frozen vegetables were okay, and two good knives are all you really need.

    If you are about to send a child off to school or they are already on their own, here are some suggestions to help them navigate the world of “cooking and eating on your own.” Give them a blender. Nowadays kids are inclined to make healthy smoothies. Give them a jar of protein powder to go with it. Give them a big frying pan and two good knives, making sure they know how to use them! A paring knife and chef’s knife should be enough. A big salad bowl can be a hint to eat right. Make sure they take advantage of the discounts at grocery stores and coffee shops and restaurants that are always available to students in college towns. A copy of “The Joy of Cooking” and perhaps an easy casserole cookbook will help make cooking on their own less daunting. If your children are forced to subsist on their school’s meal plan, hopefully they have learned how to make balanced meal choices.

    Temptations are everywhere when a kid goes off to school. At Yale, there is a place called Insomnia Cookies. They open at noon and deliver cookies until 3 a.m. Can you imagine the delight of hard-studying students and stoners at this discovery? The Chinese restaurants run the gamut from pretty good to dreadful. Ivy Noodle, a real hole in the wall, had delicious, cheap broth soups full of fat noodles, but my takeout from Royal Garden was doughy, greasy dumplings with no filling and fried mystery meat smothered in orange sauce.

    So while your kids are away at school getting an education, make sure they are also learning the life skills they will need forever — eating right and economizing.

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Midweek Lobster

    Wednesday is now lobster night at the Bell & Anchor in Sag Harbor, when several options for a three-course lobster meal will be offered at prices ranging from $35 to $45. Along with a choice of chowder or salad for a starter, and dessert, the special will include lobster garganelli, butter-poached lobster claws with filet mignon, or a steamed 1 1/2-pound lobster. Raw bar specials on Montauk Pearl oysters and littleneck clams will be offered as well, at $1 each.

Prix Fixes

    At Little/Red in Southampton, a $19.95 special is offered from Monday through Thursday, with a different entrée each night. Monday’s is duck grilled cheese; Wednesday, veal Milanese; Thursday, hanger steak frites, and on Tuesday, the chef’s choice. Burgers are also on special at Little/Red on Wednesdays, with a bistro burger platter — a burger with French fries, lettuce, tomato, Vidalia onion, and spicy bread-and-butter pickles — for $10. Add-ons include avocado, black truffle mousse, and cheeses.

    In East Hampton, Fresno’s prix fixe, two courses for $30 or three for $35, plus tax and gratuity, is served all night on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. It offers a choice among such appetizers as smoky chipotle hummus with grilled flatbread and marinated olives, chicken liver pate with pickled beets and rye toast points, salads, and soup, and entrees such as steamed mussels with fries, orecchiette with sausage, broccoli rabe, and white beans, chicken Milanese, burgers, and Scottish salmon.

At Fresh

    Fresh restaurant in Bridgehampton has new winter hours. Lunch is served daily from noon to 4, and brunch on Saturday and Sunday. Dinner hours run from 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and from 5 to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Now on Tap

    New beverages are on tap at Townline BBQ in Sagaponack, which has installed a custom system featuring two taps reserved for wines and another for a seasonal cocktail. The keg wines, a white and a red, are provided by the Gotham Project in New York City, with varieties changed according to season and availability. One beer tap will pour a pilsner from the Czech Republic. The restaurant’s food and beverage director, Richard Scoffier, is developing a recipe for a Manhattan that will be served from the tap.

    Today Napeague, tomorrow the world, or at least the East End. That is apparently the mantra of the cousins and entrepreneurs Mark Goldberg and Paul Wayne. The team behind Goldberg’s Famous Bagels, Flagels, and Deli has signed a 10-year lease to open another store, this one on the Napeague stretch in Amagansett, at what is now Espo’s Surf Shop. The new tenants will take occupancy on Feb. 1.

    In addition, Mr. Goldberg, independently of Mr. Wayne, is opening a Goldberg’s in Bridgehampton, with stores also slated to open in Mattituck and Riverhead. The store in Bridgehampton will on Montauk Highway across the street from the K-Mart shopping center, in a building that had been the Pizza Place.

    “Napeague could be our busiest location, with that summertime population density,” Mr. Wayne said Sunday. He and Mr. Goldberg own shops together in Southampton, East Hampton, and Montauk.

    “On the stretch, there is no place for coffee, no place for sandwiches. There are all those hotels and condos, and Hither Hills,” Mr. Goldberg said on Sunday.

    According to Mr. Wayne, local motel and resort owners have already been in contact with the duo. Breakfast deliveries to hotels are a definite possibility.

    The fare will include the standard bagels and flagels with paper-thin slices of lox, along with wraps like the Power House (egg whites with turkey and cheese) and sandwiches like the Hobo (two eggs, bacon, and cheese on a roll), but will also be more beach-oriented, with cold salads ready to go, Mr. Wayne said.

    According to Mr. Goldberg, the pair plans to add hot dogs to the menu, and a beach bagel burger may be on the horizon, as well.

    On Napeague, there is no external construction needed, but the interior will get a makeover. The partners do not feel that the new store will be strictly seasonal, either. “I don’t know about year round, but we will push it as far as we can,” Mr. Wayne said.

    “When we opened in Montauk,” he said, “we didn’t know for sure, but we definitely wanted to give it a full go. The support of the Montauk locals made it a pleasure to be open seven days a week, year round.” The Montauk store will celebrate its two-year anniversary on July 3.

    Parking will be available in front of the new store, as well as in front of the residence to the east, which the two are also renting. Staffing is always an issue on the East End, but in the Goldberg empire, promotions come from within.

    One of the key posts is that of counter-manager, or, perhaps better put, head schmoozer. That is the role that Mr. Wayne currently fills in the East Hampton store on Pantigo Road. He calls out the names of customers as they enter the store, and has an encyclopedic memory of what their “usuals” are. That role, in the new Napeague store, will be filled by Doug Ryan, now the East Hampton counterman, who has worked at that store for two years.

    The hours at the new store have yet to be determined. Business gets rolling before 6 a.m. at the East Hampton store. “I tell customers, ‘if you get here before six, you get free coffee, and you get to complain all you want. After six, you’ve got to smile,’ ” Mr. Wayne said.

    The Napeague store should be ready for business by late April, Mr. Goldberg said.

Noah’s

136 Front Street

Greenport

477-6720

Dinner, Thursday through Monday

Lunch, Friday through Sunday

Brunch, Saturday and Sunday

    Noah’s in Greenport is a delight. It is always a wonderful surprise to explore new places you know nothing about and decide immediately, “I’m coming back for that dish. And that one, and that one.”

    Noah’s is a pretty big restaurant on Front Street with high ceilings and a long marble bar. The walls are a sea foam green and there are pale blue banquettes along one wall. The entire restaurant is decorated with massive fish prints by Montauk’s Annie Sessler, which are pretty on a smaller scale and majestic on this grand scale. The owners, Noah Schwartz, a chef, and his wife, Sunita, have wisely installed a good number of undulating pieces of soundproofing on the high ceilings. On the day of our visit Noah’s was quite busy but the noise level was civilized.

    There is a good selection of raw bar items and a great part of the menu is taken up by small plates — one of my favorite concepts, as I get to try more food. We began our meal with some of the naughty beer and bacon glazed almonds, mache salad, Gorgonzola rosemary fries, cauliflower gratin, crab tacos, calamari fritto misto, and pulled duck barbecue.

    The glazed almonds were a nice savory sweet nibble with our glasses of local Sparkling Pointe brut. Mache is a fragile, delicately flavored green that can easily be overwhelmed if you fuss with it too much. This mache (from nearby Satur Farm) was treated with respect, lightly dressed in a sweet fig balsamic vinaigrette and topped with a few dried fig quarters, toasted pecans, and mild goat cheese. The Gorgonzola fries were excellent, crisp yet fluffy and sprinkled with parsley and rosemary and just enough Gorgonzola bits to add an occasional sharp salty bite. The cauliflower was smothered in mild curry cream sauce and topped with Gruyere and garlic bread crumbs. It was superb and simple.

    The crab tacos were also excellent. Two crisp little shells were filled with Tasmanian red crab (whatever that is) and bits of apple. The calamari fritto misto was outstanding. Some restaurants only serve the cute rubber bands of calamari because I guess some guests get squeamish seeing the lovely creepy tentacles. Noah’s had those crisped up tentacles proudly topping a pile that included fried slices of lime and paper-thin jalapeños. The beer batter was perfectly seasoned, and the smoky chipotle aioli was just right with it. Last among the “small” plates was the pulled duck barbecue on smoked cheddar polenta. This was the only dish that was good, but not particularly distinctive, the barbecue sauce being rather mild and sweet.

    For entrees we ordered the yellow fin tuna burger, fish and chips, a Kobe beef burger, and a brunch special of eggs benedict with andouille sausage. The tuna burger was very good, served rare on a Blue Duck Bakery brioche bun with seaweed salad, wasabi aioli, fries, and pickles. Quite a bargain at $16. The fish and chips were excellent, moist pieces of cod fried in Greenport Harbor beer batter and served with a zesty remoulade and a light purple cabbage slaw. The burger was also excellent, mostly because it had a good charcoal grilled crust and flavor, like an outdoor summer barbecue burger. This was also served on Blue Duck brioche. The eggs benedict were just right. The hollandaise was good and they were served on top of brioche toast with smoky andouille sausage.

    The service on the day of our visit was excellent. Our waitress knew her stuff and was good with recommendations on the dishes and local wines. The prices are moderate. We found that plenty of the small plates could be entrees. “Tastes” are $3 to $7, small plates are $8 to $18, raw bar selections are $6 to $49 (seafood tower), full plates are $15 to $24, and desserts are $9. The wine list is heavy on local wines. We tried a crisp Kontokosta sauvignon blanc.

    For desserts we tried the roasted apple hazelnut cake, key lime pie, and creme brûlée trio. The cake was very good, moist, and full of apple slices and plenty of hazelnut (or Nutella) flavor. The salted caramel sauce and whipped creme fraiche complemented it nicely, adding sweet, salty, and tart tastes. The key lime pie, served in a big square, was very good. It was fresh and tangy and the graham cracker crust was thick and still crunchy.

    The creme brulée trio, however, was the best. Three tiny ramekins were filled with perfectly bruléed sugar toppings that you had to crack through to get to the rich, silky smooth custards. This is a simple dessert, folks, but not necessarily easy. One was faintly flavored with lavender from East Marion, one was orange, one vanilla. The lavender essence was barely detectable but perfect. Too much and you may think you are tasting Granny’s bubble bath. The vanilla was excellent, and the orange was delicious as well.

    It’s not often you can please a large group of people with disparate tastes, but Noah’s succeeded in this. It was also heartening to see the use of so many local resources, not just the seafood, but the baked goods and goat cheese and cauliflower and lavender and so on. I found myself muttering throughout the meal “I’m coming back, I can’t wait to come back, I will definitely come back to Greenport to go to Noah’s.” My guests all agreed and I think you will, too.

Mozzarella Making

       Jeanine Alfano Burge of Silver Spoon Specialties is offering lessons in making mozzarella. The class costs $40; gift certificates are available as holiday gifts for foodie friends. Ms. Burge and her catering business have a Facebook page, through which she can be contacted.

       Silver Spoon will soon be taking over the cafe at the Sportime arena on Abraham’s Path in Amagansett. Details will follow.

Highway Diner Hours

       The Highway Diner in East Hampton has new winter hours. It is now closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, but will continue serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner the other days of the week.

Holiday Wine Tasting

       Park Place Wines in East Hampton and the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons will co-sponsor a holiday wine tasting, featuring more than 50 wines from around the world, at the Highway Diner on Saturday from 3 to 6 p.m. Wines will be available for purchase.

       Tickets for the event, the proceeds of which will go to ARF, cost $10 in advance or $15 at the door. Tickets will also entitle the purchaser to a 10-percent discount on breakfast, lunch, or dinner at the diner. Reservations can be made by calling Park Place Wines.

New Wine Shop

       The wine and liquor store adjacent to the Seafood Shop in Wainscott is under new ownership and has been named Wainscott Main Wine and Spirits. The owner, Joel Kaye of that hamlet, has tapped Chimene Macnaughton to buy for and run the store. Ms. Macnaughton has been involved in a number of East End restaurants, including Della Femina, Fresno, and Rugosa. The shop will take orders online at its website, wainscottmain.com.

Driver’s Seat Specials

       The Driver’s Seat in Southampton has a weekly lineup of specials, including a daily $9.95 soup and salad, or beer and burger, special for lunch. On Wednesday, the restaurant continues its offering of two-for-one entrees, on Thursday a pasta special includes three courses and a glass of wine for $13.95, and on Friday, New York strip steak costs $21.95. Saturday nights, a three-course prime rib dinner is $22.95.

       At the bar on Sunday afternoons beginning at 1, sports fans can order wings for 25 cents each, and other appetizers for half price. During football games Monday night there are $5 burgers and the two-bit wings from 5:30 p.m. until closing at the bar.

Jamaican Specialties

       Jamaican Specialties, a takeout food shop on North Main Street in East Hampton, has a daily lunch special Monday through Friday from noon to 3 p.m. for $5. Served along with fried plantains and rice is a choice of a chicken dish — with options such as jerk chicken or curried chicken. Occasionally, other lunch specials are added to the menu.

       On Fridays, fish is on the dinner menu, with entree choices including main dishes such as steamed snapper or fried porgy. They are served with yellow and white yam, boiled banana, and boiled dumplings, at a $15 to $20 cost.

       Sundays at Jamaican Specialties bring a buffet-style brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with a variety of choices — as many as you can eat — for $12. Menu items include fried saltfish, boiled banana, fried chicken, cornmeal porridge, and festival, a seasoned fried dough.

Swedish Holiday Fare

       The Living Room restaurant at c/o the Maidstone inn in East Hampton will once again offer its annual Swedish Christmas Table menu through Dec. 23. The prix fixe, for $36 per person plus tax and gratuity, includes a first course of herring served three ways, a second course of Swedish Christmas ham, gravlax, country pate, and accompaniments, followed by roast pork loin with braised red cabbage and potato puree or codfish with horseradish, winter kale, brown butter, and potato terrine. A trio of desserts will conclude the meal, followed by coffee and Swedish Christmas candy. Nordic glogg, or mulled wine, will be available. The special is available only until 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

       The Living Room is also offering a 30-percent discount on selected bottles of wine on Thursdays, and, during December, two dinners from the a la carte menu for the price of one Sunday through Thursday nights, including the Swedish Christmas Table special. Tax, tip, and alcohol and other beverages are not included.

Inlet on Break

       Inlet Seafood in Montauk has closed for the winter. The restaurant will reopen around Valentine’s Day.

Gingerbread Session

       Bill Bertha, a pastry chef, and pizza makers from the Red Horse Market in East Hampton will be the next presenters at the East End Chefs cooking class series, during a session on Wednesday beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Old Whalers Church in Sag Harbor.

       Mr. Bertha will make a number of pastries and will demonstrate how to put together a holiday gingerbread house, while the pizza chefs will demonstrate how to make a variety of pizzas at home. A drawing will be held to award the gingerbread house to one lucky winner. Space is limited, and reservations can be made by calling the church. The price is $20; wine and water will be available for purchase during the class.

Chicchetti Menu

    Taking a page from Italian wine bars, Nick and Toni’s restaurant in East Hampton has added a list of small dishes, or “chichetti” in Italian, to its menu. The items include crispy chickpeas, house-cured duck prosciutto served with caramelized pearl onion, local cauliflower fritti, and fried foie gras ravioli with truffle oil, among others. Nick and Toni’s is now serving dinner Wednesday through Monday.

    On Thursdays at Nick and Toni’s, the bottomless glass wine special, available at the bar from 5:30 to 7 p.m., features continuous pours of selected wines for $25. The special will not be offered during holiday weeks.

Open House

    The Loaves and Fishes Cookshop will have an open house all day on Saturday at its Bridgehampton Main Street storefront. There will be treats to sample, a warm beverage to sip, and a lottery for store discounts.

Holiday Plans

    Those forming holiday plans for dinners out can put Almond on the list of places serving a special dinner on Christmas Eve.

    On Dec. 24, the Bridgehampton eat­ery will present its 13th annual roast suckling pig extravaganza, featuring the main dish served with cabbage, cara­melized apples, and spaetzle for $31. A portion of the proceeds from dinners served that night will be donated to the Pajama Program, a charity that provides new warm pajamas and storybooks to children in need in the United States and throughout the world. Almond will be closed on Christmas Day.

    The Living Room restaurant in East Hampton is planning holiday meals for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Three courses on the a la carte menu will feature choices for starters such as Peconic Pride oysters, classic gravlax, a herring plate, or country pate, followed by entrée choices including cod with horseradish and winter kale, whole roast beef tenderloin Provencale, crispy slow-cooked pork belly, flounder meuniere, grilled Arctic char, and herb-marinated rack of lamb. The dessert list includes gingerbread cake, bread pudding, grilled apricot compote, chocolate ganache, and a trio combo.

    Service will be from 5:30 to 10 p.m. on Dec. 24 and from noon to 3 p.m. on Dec. 25.

For the Manly

    Fresh restaurant in Bridgehampton is hosting Manly Mondays each week from 8 to 10 p.m. at its bar, when the TV will be tuned to Monday Night Football. A dinner special featuring a New York State grass-fed beef burger or a grilled veggie burger, served with a Blue Point draft beer or a glass of house wine, will be $10.