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.

       Conca D’Oro is the kind of pizza joint-restaurant that every town should be so lucky to have. It is fast, reasonable, and good. In a way, it is two establishments. Come into the front for a quick slice, takeout, or to enjoy your pie in a booth. Go to the back for sit-down service, a variety of specials, and pasta dishes big enough for Fred Flintstone to bring home in a doggy bag for Dino.

       On a recent evening we dined in the back room, spruced up with a Christmas tree, wreaths, and stockings. We ordered a lot of food, not because we needed a lot, but wanted to try a lot. It is guaranteed you can share all of the salads and entrees and still have leftovers.

       We began our meal with the gorgonzola salad and bruschetta. Since you already get salads and garlic knots with your meal, this was all we needed. The gorgonzola salad is a favorite here, a combination of iceberg and romaine lettuce, tomatoes, red onion slices, black olives, artichoke quarters, shredded carrots, and roasted red pepper strips. The gorgonzola cheese is scattered over the top in little bits and is not too strong or overwhelming. The dressing is a light, mild Italian. The bruschetta was very good, lots of fresh, diced tomatoes with garlic and basil piled onto crisped up hero rolls with gobs of melted mozzarella cheese. The house salads are also good, simply crisp lettuce, shredded carrots, quartered tomatoes, black olives, and red onion. The garlic knots are excellent, basically pizza dough molded into little knots and doused with garlicky olive oil and parsley.

        For our entrees we tried two specials — the fettucini Paglia Ofieno, bucatini with broccoli rabe — and two regular menu items — the eggplant Parmesan and penne with meatballs — and a side order of broccoli with garlic and oil. The fettucini was a combination of spinach and plain pasta in a pink cream sauce with mushrooms and ham. It was riiiiiich and tasty. The bucatini had a variety of ingredients, broccoli rabe, sun-dried tomatoes, sausage, zucchini, and garlic. My guest felt it needed some salt and cheese; I thought it was very good. The penne with meatballs was, like all the dishes, huge. The meatballs were mild and fluffy, the marinara sauce simple and delicious. The eggplant Parm was pretty good. It came with some margherita topping as requested (fresh chopped tomatoes and basil), and is served piping hot in the casserole dish it is baked in. As I am an eggplant Parm aficionado, I would give this one a B-. Not bad! The side order of broccoli was huge, the broccoli a tad overcooked but good nonetheless, studded with lots of fried garlic chips.

       One of the things I especially appreciate about Conca D’Oro is that every request is honored if the kitchen can manage it and has the ingredients to do so. Our waitress, Angelica, was sweet and attentive. Prices are $4 to $10 for soups, salads, and breads, $14 to $24 for pizzas, $14 to $23 for dinners and pastas, specials from $18 to $23, $5 to $9 for sides, and desserts $4 to $6.

       For desserts we tried the tiramisu, cannoli, and tartufo. The first two items are made in-house. I have come to the conclusion that all tiramisus taste the same; all I ask is that they taste freshly made. This one was good. The cannoli was excellent, a crisp cinnamon-y outer shell filled with fresh ricotta and studded with two neon pink glaceed cherries. The tartufo was also very good, a slight detour from the traditional chocolate shell filled with various ice creams, this one had chocolate and strawberry flavors.

       You can’t do a review of Conca D’Oro without talking about the pizza, as this is probably the main source of energy for every teenager in Sag Harbor. It is excellent, simple, moderately thin-crusted pizza with a good red sauce. I recommend the veggie, although most of those under the age of 20 have probably never even tried it.

       Another aspect of restaurant dining I pay particular attention to but seldom mention is cleanliness. As we were leaving Conca D’Oro, business was winding down and the front pizza prep area had been put to bed for the night. It was nice to see that everything was clean and neat and organized. This can tell you a lot about a restaurant, folks!

       As I said at the beginning, Conca D’Oro is the kind of place every town should have. It is reasonable, family-oriented, quick if you just want a slice, and warm and cozy if you want to stick around and have a big bowl of pasta.

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.

Bay Burger

1742 Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, Sag Harbor

899-3915

Wednesday through Monday,

11 a.m.-9 p.m.

    For some reason dining at Bay Burger the other night got me to thinking about the Raymond Carver short story “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.” Bear with me here, this will make sense eventually. The title of the story came to mind when I posed the question to my guests: “What do you look for in a burger; what is your idea of the perfect burger?” People’s very strong opinions on burgers are as varied and particular as they are on the topic of love.

    I had never been to Bay Burger before, but people frequently ask me which restaurant has the best burger. I answer Rowdy Hall, or LT Burger, or the 1770 House. Now I will answer Bay Burger, for Bay Burger serves the simplest, stripped down (or dressed up) version of a burger you could possibly wish for. When I posed the question, everyone agreed that the quality of meat and how it is handled matters. Check. Cooked to specifications? Check. Served on a fresh homemade bun? Bonus points for Bay Burger. Kerrie, the teenage expert on this expedition, prefers patties, easier to handle than those high mounds offered at some establishments. We pretty much agreed all around that the Bay Burger was as close as you could get to a homemade burger.

    From the outside, Bay Burger looks like a fast food joint or soft serve ice cream parlor, kind of like the old A and B Snowflake in East Hampton. It’s a small box with a big parking lot. The inside is simple as well, pale blue walls, wainscoting, white picnic tables with silver aluminum chairs. There is a back room with a big flat screen TV that looks like it would be good for sequestering sugared-up, ill-behaved, Manhattan babies in the summertime. You order your food at the counter, take a number, and your food is delivered to your table.

    We began our meal with burgers . . . and stuff . . . a wide variety. Fish burger, falafel burger, buffalo chicken sandwich, a plain burger, a cheeseburger, wedge salad, fries, and fries ’n’ tots “loaded,” which means with melted cheese and bacon on top. Oh, and onion rings.

    The fish burger was a nice, fresh piece of cod, served on one of the delicious homemade rolls with lettuce, tomato, and mayo. It was excellent. The falafel burger had the traditional flavors, a seasoned chickpea mixture formed into a patty, crisp on the outside, served with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and a mild tahini sauce. The buffalo chicken sandwich was ridiculously good, crisp chicken with just enough spice to make it interesting. The burgers were just right, perfectly cooked to order. The wedge salad was okay, but perhaps just a bit too ice cold for a snowy evening meal. The bacon on it looked sad. The fries are very good, probably frozen, but a high quality skin-on variety. And what can you say about fries ‘n’ tots smothered in cheese and bacon? Just surrender. The onion rings were delicious, super crunchy and served with a slightly sweet chipotle mayonnaise.

    If you are so inclined, beer and wine are available and extremely reasonable. There are four beers on tap, and one is only $2 per pint: Narragansett. The wines are local, from Wolffer, Martha Clara, and Palmer, among others from the North and South Forks.

    The prices at Bay Burger are extremely reasonable. Sandwiches and burgers are $3 to $9, the wedge salad is $8, fries and tots are $3, ice cream is $3.50 per scoop. As far as service goes, the nice fellow behind the counter was smiling and got our order right. You can’t ask for much more from a place like this.

    The only places that come to mind that are comparable to Bay Burger are the In ’N’ Out Burger chain of L.A. and Five Guys, both of which I have tried. The In ’N’ Out is pretty good for a drive-through, as long as you eat quickly in the parking lot. Five Guys is, in my opinion, over-rated. The one I visited recently was dirty, the service perfunctory, and meat just okay.

    For desserts we had to try the justifiably famous Joe and Liza’s ice cream, made in-house. We tried the peppermint stick, bourbon pecan pie, chocolate, and vanilla. As someone who has been making ice cream professionally for 20 years, I have very strong opinions on this subject. The tricky part is infusing it with enough flavor, as this becomes dulled by the freezing process. What may taste good warm or at room temperature does not necessarily stand up to freezing. You really have to load up on the chocolate or coffee or vanilla ingredients. The peppermint stick and bourbon pecan pie ice creams were very good, but the vanilla and chocolate were the best, especially the chocolate, which was full of deep, dark, cocoa flavor.

    The Raymond Carver short story “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” was published in The New Yorker after being heavily edited by Gordon Lish. Like many of Carver’s beautifully written stories, it is blue collar, a bit sad sack. Too much gin is consumed, and a lot is revealed. There is sweetness and simplicity and clarity in his writing. And after being edited by Mr. Lish, the story is even more touching and clear and kind of perfect.

    Joe and Liza Tremblay are the owners of Bay Burger, which opened in 2007 and is now open year round for the first time. They have filled a niche in the community: a pared-down, simple, fresh, and delicious burger joint. What could have been merely good, they have made better. This is what we talk about when we talk about burgers.

    After 23 years at the helm of Cafe Max, Max Weintraub has turned over the wheel to Sami Krasniqi, who began his restaurant career at the iconic eatery as a dishwasher two weeks after it opened. But not much, if anything, has changed. Mr. Weintraub is still involved from afar and has inked a deal with Mr. Krasniqi in which the two share in profits.

    “I don’t want to be intrusive,” Mr. Weintraub said last week on one of his few recent visits to the restaurant that he and his wife, Nancy, tended for so long. Mr. Weintraub occasionally shows up to butcher meat or answer questions the new proprietor might have about maintenance or insurance.

    One thing Mr. Krasniqi doesn’t need help with is cooking. He worked his way up over the years, doing just about any job necessary, from busboy to runner, till finally becoming Mr. Weintraub’s sous chef.

    Mr. Krasniqi emigrated here from Kosovo and was introduced to the Weintraubs by his uncle, Tasim Kastrati, the longtime maitre d’ at Gordon’s in Amagansett.

    After experimenting with a change in menu once he took over last winter, Mr. Krasniqi said, he “was put in my place by my customers who don’t want any change.” He tried “to freshen it up with a little Mediterranean” but found that the clientele balked at “too much spice or esoteric cooking.”

    The customer base is made up of a mix of Maidstone Club members, who have followed Mr. Weintraub since he was a sous chef there after graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, and former patrons of Mr. Weintraub’s restaurant at the Maidstone Arms, which he ran in the 1980s.

    What Cafe Max customers do demand is fish, and lots of it, “very moist and very fresh,” purchased directly from Gosman’s in Montauk. Mr. Krasniqi buys a few pieces of many varieties — up to 15 kinds at any time, from gray sole to swordfish to striped bass. He’d rather “run out of something” than serve a dish that wasn’t straight off a boat.

    The kitchen is gearing up for scallop season, which begins Monday. “That first week we do more than 60 percent in scallops,” said Mr. Krasniqi, who is happy to prepare them any style a customer desires — plain, in garlic and oil or a beurre blanc, deep fried, Provencal. “If we have the ingredients, we accommodate.” And that goes for the preparation of other fish. “So far I haven’t said no to anyone.”

    “If people want crazy froufrou cuisine, they can go to other places,” Mr. Krasniqi said. Indeed, a decade ago when a Zagat’s diner declared the restaurant to be “unHamptons,” the moniker stuck, and Mr. Krasniqi’s apron is emblazoned with it.

    He once received some sage advice from a marketing man: “If you can’t describe your restaurant in one sentence, you’re going to fail.” His description is of a no-frills seafood joint that provides comfort food to locals. And, of course, weekenders.

    Leonard Goodman, who was eating dinner there last week, remarked that he has followed Mr. Weintraub for more than 30 years. “We always come when we’re out; we gravitate to a place that feels like home,” he said, also referring to the “warmth” generated by the cedar-clad walls, the intimate dimensions of the 44-seat space, and the welcoming staff.

    Continuing in an unpretentious vein, Mr. Krasniqi declared, “We don’t raise the prices in summer the way most places do.” Like many restaurants that stay open in the off-season, Cafe Max offers a heavily discounted prix fixe menu. Even on Friday nights, $18 gets diners a two-course meal. “As much as food costs are going through the roof,” said Mr. Krasniqi, “we still want to offer our customer value.”

    Mr. Krasniqi is grateful to have been handed the reins. While Mr. Weintraub could have gone with another chef, he knew “that I wasn’t going to change” the formula. Then there’s the familial factor. “Max is like a father to me,” he said of his mentor. “There’s an enormous amount of trust.”

    Mr. Krasniqi has followed Mr. Weintraub in more ways than one. In 2007 the younger chef left Cafe Max to take over the kitchen at the Maidstone Arms, where Mr. Weintraub had worked 20 years before. When the new owner purchased the inn, she bought out Mr. Krasniqi’s lease, as had happened to Mr. Weintraub a generation prior. He then went on to open Andrra, a Mediterranean-style boite in Springs, before selling his share to his brother.

    As for the Weintraubs, “We miss it,” said Nancy, who ran the front of the house and bought the wine for which the restaurant received 10 Wine Spectator Awards. “We never had children; this was our baby in a way.”

    Yet, for Max, after years of toil he’s content now with a simple routine of going to the gym and doing yard work. Even reading the newspaper is a new pleasure, something that his long days in the kitchen didn’t allow. When he does come into his creation, he gazes around proudly at what he built. These days the children of his former Maidstone Club patrons are bringing in their families.

New at Harbor Grill

    The Harbor Grill, on Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton, has a new menu reflecting a fresher and healthier take on some comfort food selections. Damien O’Donnell, the restaurant’s chef, who is also at the helm of the seasonal Harbor Bistro, now closed for the winter, has added starters such as a vegan hummus-and-guacamole duo serv­ed with vegetable sticks and tortilla chips, baked clams, spinach-and-artichoke  dip, and a shrimp and avocado cocktail, along with a soup of the night. Entrees, served with a cup of soup or a small salad, include Mongolian-style barbecued baby ribs, lump crab-crusted swordfish, teriyaki grilled salmon, pork Milanese, strip steak au poivre, Texas-style beef brisket, shrimp linguine, and herb-roasted chicken.

    The burger and sandwich section of the menu includes classic burgers, a veggie black-bean burger, chicken, steak, roast beef, and brisket sandwiches, and a chicken quesadilla.  Macaroni and cheese has been added to the kids’ menu, and desserts include thick shakes and root beer floats, as well as nightly cake and pie specials. The Harbor Grill also has a $12 burger-and-brew special at the bar, live music every Saturday night starting at 7, and happy-hour prices on drinks and appetizers all day on Sunday from noon to closing.  Sundays also bring free meals for kids 10 and under, and a $14.95 Sunday brunch.

Sag Harbor’s Sen

    Sen restaurant in Sag Harbor has new fall hours. The restaurant will serve dinner until 9:30 p.m. from Sunday through Thursday, including a tasting menu, featuring a choice among seven categories of items, for $28.

Thai Cooking Class

    Members of the Boahirun family, which oversees Boa Thai restaurant in Southampton, will present the next East End Chefs class at the Old Whalers Church in Sag Harbor next Thursday. The menu will include Thai spring rolls and wontons served with plum sauce, Thai salad with peanut dressing, and Pad Thai noodles with sliced chicken, along with gelato for dessert.

    The session begins at 6:30 p.m. and costs $20. Wine and water will be available for purchase. Space is limited. Reservations may be made by calling the church.

New Hampton Coffee

    The Hampton Coffee Company has a new location at the State University at Stony Brook, called the Corner Café. Run by students and overseen by the college’s Faculty-Student Association, Lackmann Culinary Services, and Hampton Coffee Company managers, the site is the first licensed location for Hampton Coffee Company, which is based in Water Mill and run by a local family. Additional campus locations on Long Island and in New York City are planned.

Duck, Red Wine Dinner

    Almond restaurant in Bridgehampton will present a dinner featuring duck and Long Island red wine next Thursday at 7 p.m. Wines by the Channing Daughters Winery and Paumanok Vineyards will be served, along with such items as duck prosciutto and torchon, duck confit ravioli, and duck breast served with baby beets and pistachios. The cost is $75 per person.

Soup and Salad Lunch

    A soup-and-salad lunch special at the Living Room in East Hampton is offered from noon to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, for $19. A glass of local wine can be added for $8. Soup choices will vary, while the salad offered will be the Living Room Salad —  arugula, endive, dried cranberries, candied nuts, and shaved cheese, with an apple cider vinaigrette and a choice of grilled chicken or salmon.

    Winter’s a ‘comin’, the days are darkening early, what to do? Girls nights! Gentlemen, you can turn straight to Jack Graves’s sports page or reread the police blotter, this column is not for you. It is for me and my girlfriends.

    What is it about a gathering of good friends getting together to eat and drink and talk that is so fun and so vital? And I’m not talking about a night out on the town with your gal pals or a weekend in Vegas. I’m talking about a gaggle of friends at home, eating junk food, playing cards, talking about books, work, life, whatever. This kind of activity is restorative for us.

    I grew up with two brothers and no sisters. Hence I was a tomboy and hung out with my brother’s friends. They were so easy, so black and white. It was “Let’s go find some M-80s and blow stuff up down by the pond,” not “I’m not sure if Susie likes me, she’s acting all weird and is hanging out with Molly more than me, do you think it’s because I talked to her boyfriend, Jocko?” By high school, I recognized the ultimate and infinite value of female friendship.

    Once we are adults and are busy with families and work, the time we spend with our girlfriends becomes that much more important. Some of my friends have book groups, but I know for a fact these books are often dense and dull and some of you don’t even read them! Some friends have game nights, with card games, Bunco, Scrabble. But really, it all comes down to the eating, drinking, conversation, and company.

    My friend Amanda gets together with her fellow alumni from a documentary they worked on together years ago. They “eat hummus and pita, crudites, cheese and fruit, pate, dolmades . . . drink wine, generally, although we’ve been known to make margaritas or martinis. We talk, catch up on news and gossip, compare notes on films and books we like. . .and play charades,” she said. “That’s the best part, I love charades.”

    Judiann gets together with her “Scrabble bitches” once a month. “Aside from our very competitive games, we eat some pretty amazing fare. . . . Just last week Nicolette prepared the most incredible boeuf bourgignon served with rice and roasted vegetables made in true French style. The month before it was another amazing meal of grilled meats, sauteed kale and spinach and some other amazing tidbits,” she wrote. “We are talking gourmet Scrabble!”

    Ellen’s groups starts with wine and/or martinis or rum punches depending on the season. “Lots of hors d’oeuvres, pimento cheese, hot artichoke dip, bacon wrapped breadsticks, smoked salmon spread, pigs in a blanket, anything normally naughty and off limits . . . and cards, bridge, or Wizard. As the evening progresses . . . lots of talking and a lot less cards.” She also tried something once called Reuben dip, recipe to follow.

    To make it easy for whoever is hosting, make it a potluck or just serve appetizers. You can make it a movie night, a pampering spa night, D.I.Y. pizzas, or a book swap. Serve Cosmos and cupcakes. Have a wine tasting. How about cheese or chocolate fondue? Counting calories over fondue is a fondon’t.

    A University of California, Los Angeles study conducted in 2002 found that girlfriends are stress-busters and have an impact on our overall mood. Women with a lot of female friendships live longer. A Harvard University Nurses Health study found that “not having regular contact with girlfriends was as detrimental as smoking or gaining weight.” Pass the Reuben dip, girlfriend!

    Again, I hope the gents aren’t reading this because it is a scientific fact that the life expectancies for men are shorter than for women. Our women friends become a very important source of social support.

    We know our children and families and doggies and friends and husbands and lovers adore us. Our bosses rely on us and the house doesn’t clean itself. But sometimes we just need to be ourselves, laugh, kick back, and know we are loved and appreciated among friends, friends who don’t mind that you’re entertaining in your Uggs and there’s a speck of dolmades grape leaf stuck on your teeth. Our girlfriends are a mirror of ourselves. I like what I see.

    As a final note to all the dudes who couldn’t resist putting in their two cents worth on Facebook: No, Doug, you can’t photograph us, and thank you, Jimmy, for your menu suggestion of dripping brisket sandwiches on foot-long hoagies with dark stout ale followed by Cohibas. I think we’ll stick with your wife’s awesome corn chowder!

Click for recipes

Farm Bounty

    Balsam Farms farm stand on Town Lane in Amagansett is still overflowing with fall bounty, but with a more limited schedule. The stand is open Friday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., except for Thanksgiving week, when it will be open Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, as well.

Empanadas to Order

    Those missing the taste of Gula Gula Empanadas, which were sold at farmers markets this summer, do not have to wait until spring to get their fix. Empanadas with such fillings as bison, seasonal greens, ham and cheese, chicken, fish, and more, can be ordered via the business’s website, gulagulaempanadas. com. And, in November, Gula Gula is offering a two-for-one deal. Those who buy a dozen empanadas can get their second dozen of equal or lesser value at half price.

Danish Coffee Bread

    For the next cooking demonstration at Loaves and Fishes in Bridgehampton, people can learn how to bake wienerbrot, a Danish coffee bread, based on a recipe from “Country Weekend Entertaining” by Anna Pump with Gen LeRoy. The demonstration, on Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m., is free.

Swallow East

    Swallow East in Montauk is offering a fall prix fixe featuring two items from its “small plates” menu plus a dessert, and a drink for $24.95. Sunday is “funday,” when $3 Bud Lights pair with $11 jumbo wings.

Bloody Mary Bar

    Riding the D.I.Y. cocktail wave, Nick and Toni’s has recently introduced a new item to its brunch experience called “the board,” the establishment’s version of a Bloody Mary bar. The concept allows guests to customize their own drink using the elements provided from four categories. They can choose from an assortment of liquors (think house-infused sweet pepper, onion, and basil Absolut), mixes, garnishes (from stuffed olives to mozzarella balls), and condiments that include the usual horseradish but also some surprises. The board costs $29 and serves two to four people.

Holiday Entertaining Class

    Debbie Geppert, an East Hampton caterer, will share what she knows about the art of “easy entertaining,” just in time for the holidays, with classes on Sunday at 3 p.m., Nov. 20 at 7 p.m., and Dec. 3 at 6 p.m.

    Each costs $50 and will cover designing holiday cheer and making easy recipes with phyllo dough and puff pastry. They will be held at the kitchen of Dreesen’s Catering on Lumber Lane in East Hampton. Reservations may be made by e-mailing [email protected].

Traveling Lunch Truck

    Starting this week, the North Fork Table and Inn’s food truck will be making a new stop at the Hampton Jitney terminal on County Road 39A in Southampton. Menu items available Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. through the end of the year include an artisan hot dog for $5, a Berkshire pulled pork roll for $10, organic spicy chicken posole for $12, and a lobster roll for $16.50.

Wine, Beer, Conversation

    Myles Romanov of Martines Wines will be on hand at the Riverhead Project this week as part of an ongoing series of Tuesday wine dinners. The dinner, which will begin at 7 p.m. will feature a multi-course menu paired with Martines Wines and a discussion of the pours. The dinner will be served family-style at the restaurant’s long farm table and costs $40. Reservations are required. The restaurant is at 300 East Main Street in Riverhead. The restaurant also offers a similar series of beer dinners, book dinners, and dinners and discussion with its executive chef, Lia Fallon. A full list can be found at riverheadproject.com.

    Without a doubt, trying to make a truly delicious vegan dessert is a challenge. Trying to make a flaky, delicious vegan pie crust even more so.

    Some recipes for vegan desserts are better left ignored, or improved upon, or at least challenged. Ignored because some things just don’t taste very good with alterations. Improved upon because some recipes show promise but are sloppy. And some should be challenged because there really is no substitute for whipped cream or meringue or many other things, taste and texture-wise.

    You can make a vegan version of whipped cream but it is time-consuming (it takes three stages of whipping, temperature monitoring in and out of freezer, and will cost ya!) and is just as sugary and fatty as a dairy version.

    My theory about fake bacon, mock meat, faux cream, etcetera is just don’t bother. These things simply don’t taste good and they certainly don’t taste like what they are engineered to mimic.

    My long and arduous experiment into vegan pie dough was educational. After a good deal of research I settled on two recipes, one from Food 52, an awesome and reliable website, and one from About.com. Another website, Post Punk Kitchen, was fun to read but sure had a lot of curse words and opinions about ex-boyfriends and stuff.

    The Food 52 recipe called for coconut oil. The flaky vegan piecrust from About.com called for margarine. I also made some of my own favorite pie dough for comparison.

    Having never worked with coconut oil or margarine, I made mistakes with both. I chilled the coconut oil, which made it flaky and chunky, too hard to measure until I let it come back to room temperature. With margarine, I made the really stupid mistake of buying tub margarine instead of stick. This has more water. The first batch of dough was very soft as a result. I went back to the drawing board and repeated the recipe with stick margarine.

    As a professional pastry chef, I had great confidence in my ability to make the doughs properly, not overwork them, measure meticulously, and roll at the correct temperature without too much flour. I made all of them in a food processor, a quick and reliable method. The Food 52 dough came together nicely and rolled out well once chilled. It did, however, have a few solid chunks of coconut oil that reminded me of candle wax. The About.com recipe also came together nicely and rolled out into a disc cooperatively, but then completely fell apart when moved.

    For taste tests, I made each dough into cookies and apple turnovers. Although it looked like a holy mess, the margarine dough tasted okay and had a short texture. The Food 52 recipe was sturdy, very sturdy. My own recipe, with butter and a bit of shortening, was divine and flaky.

    After testing and tasting and tasting and testing, I began to wonder, how does one cleanse the palate between piecrusts? Fat is fat and flour is flour and regardless of what kind you use, your tongue is going to start feeling coated with spackle after a while.

    I also began to question some of the vegan websites I came across in my research. There are few vegan dessert cookbooks in the mainstream so these resources are all I had to go on. One recipe for vegan chocolate cake suggested chocolate chips for the frosting. Not vegan chocolate chips, just chocolate chips, which contain milk.

    The vegan website Ohsheglows does point out that the most popular desserts are anything no-bake, quick and easy, and chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. So perhaps this is the way to go. I am not going to include the recipes I tried; they are not worth it. If you think you have a good vegan piecrust recipe, don’t send it to me, make it for me. In the meantime, my vegan friends will have to be content with frozen banana “ice cream” with caramelized nut topping. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it?

Click for Recipes

Holiday Treats

    Debbie Geppert, an East Hampton caterer, along with Dreesen’s Catering, is taking orders for Thanksgiving pies and cookies. Choices include pumpkin, pecan, apple, and apple crumb pies, as well as peanut butter, oatmeal, molasses, and chocolate chip cookies.

    Ms. Geppert is also offering classes for holiday-time cooks at the Dreesen’s kitchen on Lumber Lane in East Hampton.

    An Easy Entertaining class on Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. will help students learn what to have on hand for last-minute entertaining, from holiday cheer to savory bites and items to set a festive table, and cover easy recipes using phyllo dough and puff pastry; one recipe that can be used to make three different appetizers; freezer and pantry must-haves for easy entertaining, and great holiday cocktails for a crowd, as well as tips for setting a beautiful holiday table. The cost is $50, prepaid. Class size is limited to 12, and reservations may be made by e-mailing [email protected].

    Ms. Geppert will also continue to offer her Holiday Cookie Bake Shop sessions. A three-hour class for mothers and children will be held tomorrow afternoon at 3, with a second on Dec. 12. Sessions for adults, which are four hours long, will take place on Dec. 4 at 3 p.m., Dec. 7 at 10 a.m., and Dec. 15 at noon. Several varieties of cookies will be prepared, and students will be sent home with all the recipes and enough cookie dough to make 10 dozen cookies, which can be kept in the freezer or refrigerator for six to eight weeks. The cost for adult classes is $75; mother-and-child classes are $100.

    Ms. Geppert will schedule additional sessions if requested for groups of eight or more. Among the cookies students will learn to make may be molasses cringles, vanilla and almond spritz butter cookies, peppermint cream chocolate sandwich cookies, lemon gems, and holiday biscotti.

Oysters and Wine

    Fresh is taking reservations for a dinner pairing Howard Pickerell’s Pride Oysters and Paumanok Vineyards wines on Dec. 6. The six-course dinner will cost $95 per person, plus tax and gratuity, or $85 plus the extras for members of the Paumanok Wine Club or Fresh Hamptons Rewards programs.

For Taco Lovers

    At Fresh restaurant in Bridgehampton, Tuesdays are taco nights, with a family-style taco dinner served from 5 to 8 p.m. at a cost of $19 per adult and $10 for each child under 12, plus tax and gratuity.

    Thursday is the taco night at La Fondita in Amagansett, when a taco dinner to go for four, at $30, includes ingredients to assemble a meal at home: 12 handmade soft corn tortillas, a quart of filling (carne asada, carnitas, chorizo, chicken, or chayote) and fixings such as lettuce, cheese, cilantro, and onions. A quart of rice and a pint of black beans are also included, and a salad can be added for $8.

    La Fondita also regularly offers a “nachos supremo” kit for preparation at home, for $11.50. It features meat and vegetable options, along with tortilla chips, refried beans, cheese, pico de gallo, and crema.

Fall Special

    Bostwick’s Chowder House in East Hampton, which is open Thursday through Monday, offers a three-course dinner special on Thursdays and Sundays, from 4:30 p.m. until closing. It includes a choice of starters, such as salad, chowder, baked clams, fried calamari, steamed mussels, or chicken wings, and a soft-serve ice cream with two toppings for dessert. Entree choices, which will dictate the price of the special, include daily specials as well as dinner entrees on the menu, or a lobster roll.

New Face in Kitchen

    Justin Finney has joined Ed Lightcap in the kitchen at Rowdy Hall in East Hampton, as a co-chef. Mr. Finney, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, was a sous chef at Meeting House in Amagansett before working in that capacity, most recently, at Nick and Toni’s in East Hampton, where he also was in charge of the restaurant’s vegetable garden. 

    The two chefs have created a new snack menu that includes chipotle deviled eggs topped with house-made tasso ham, steamed pork buns, candied bacon with blue cheese dressing, crispy eggplant fries with spicy tomato sauce, butternut squash pierogi with spiced sour cream and gingersnap crumbs, and house-pickled vegetables, among other items.

Last Meals

    Some changes are afoot on the Water Mill restaurant scene. Foody’s, the unpretentious but acclaimed restaurant run by Bryan Futerman for the last eight years, closed as of Sunday.

    Word has it that Mirko’s, a longtime Water Mill mainstay, is closing as well.

At Driver’s Seat

    The Driver’s Seat in Southampton, which saw a drop-off in business in early fall after it was reported that a former waiter had been treated for hepatitis A, has issued a press release and copy of a County Health Department report verifying that the illness was confined to the one worker.

    A number of the staff and patrons were inoculated against hepatitis at Southampton Hospital as a preventive measure, and, according to the press release, the Health Department found no evidence of illness among the staff during several visits, and, the release said, found the restaurant “spotless.”