News for Foodies: 05.24.12

Local Food News

May. 22, 2012

Joanne Pilgrim

Farmers Markets Open

In Sag Harbor, the weekly farmers market on Bay Street, in front of the Breakwater Yacht Club, opened on Saturday with a vine-cutting ceremony in appreciation for the support of Sag Harbor Village and the hamlet’s chamber of commerce. The market will continue each Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through October. A complete list of vendors is online at sagharborfarmersmarket.org. Shoppers will find seasonal produce as well as other locally produced foods such as raw honey, grass-fed beef, cheese and other dairy products, fish, ice cream, empanadas, preserves, and baked goods. Among the new purveyors joining the market this year is the Blue Duck Bakery of Southampton.

The weekly East Hampton Farmers Market gets under way for the season tomorrow, in the parking lot of Nick & Toni’s on North Main Street. Also from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., rain or shine, the market features 22 vendors selling everything from produce to pastries, pickles, condiments, and more. Seven newcomers this year include Dolce Nirvana, serving up desserts; Goodale Farms, with fresh goat and cow’s milk products; Life Is Grruff, which sells natural pet treats; Joe & Liza’s Ice Cream, from Sag Harbor; Pierpont’s Blossom Farm, which grows herbs and flowers; Raw Oasis Foods, offering raw dairy and gluten-free foods including cheeses and sweets, and True Blue Estate coffee.

The market participates in the United States Department of Agriculture Nutrition and Food Service Program, allowing those with food stamp benefits to purchase items there, and accepts credit and debit card payments for all transactions.

At Andrra

A daily happy hour at Andrra restaurant on Gann Road in East Hampton from 4 to 6 p.m. will feature drink specials and orders of a dozen Little Neck clams or half a dozen oysters on the half shell for $6 each, along with the view of the sun sinking low in the sky over Three Mile Harbor.

On Sundays, Andrra is serving brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., for $30. The menu, to start, includes salads, Mediterranean seafood chowder, fried calamari, mussels, baked clams, and oysters and clams on the half shell. Entrée choices include spinach and feta omelette, barbecued shrimp, eggs Benedict, soft-shell crabs, grilled salmon, herb-crusted roasted flounder, burgers, and lobster rolls. For dessert, there will be house-made baklava, berries with Chambord and prosecco served with vanilla-bean gelato, and flourless chocolate cake, as well as cookies, biscotti, sorbet, and gelato. From 4:30 to 6:30 on Sunday afternoons, Telly Karoussos will play acoustic Mediterranean tunes.

Beer in Montauk

Zum Schneider Montauk, the eastern branch of a New York City restaurant and beer garden, is open and serving seven days a week, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Sandwiches on the menu include one made with a traditional Bavarian cheese spread of Brie, blue cheese, and beer, topped with onions, and another with thinly sliced white radish, Swiss cheese, and pickles. For starters, there’s a mixed plate of cold cuts, cheeses, radish, and pickles; potato pancakes, and several varieties of sausage. Entrees include Montauk bass marinated in smoked beer, with horseradish cream, Wiener schnitzel, roasted pork shoulder, and a variety of sausage platters.

Hometown Butcher

Ray Samot, a local butcher, has joined the staff at Hampton Seafood in East Hampton. Mr. Samot began working at Dreesen’s in East Hampton in the late ’70s, after that iconic store closed he worked at Citarella, and most recently at Cromer’s Country Market in Noyac.

Gosman’s Nightly Specials

At Gosman’s Dock in Montauk, a lineup of nightly prix fixes begins with Sunday lobster night, with a 11/4-pound lobster and fixings for $24, burger and brew night on Monday for $15, local catch night on Tuesday, with a fish dinner and a glass of house wine for $24, fried shrimp night on Wednesday, for $15, and steak night on Thursday for $24. Service begins nightly at 5 p.m.