News for Foodies: 07.10.14

The Winner Is . . .

East Hampton Gourmet Food got the top “outstanding new product” award for its gluten-free lentil rice crispbread at the 2014 sofi (specialty outstanding food innovation) Awards at the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City on June 30.

The shop’s entry beat out 449 other contenders in its category to win what is considered the Oscar of the food world. Over all, 2,737 products were entered into the 32 awards categories of the Specialty Food Association competition. The finalists were selected by a panel of specialty food professionals from organizations such as Whole Foods, Dean and DeLuca, and FreshDirect, and the winners were determined by votes cast by 275 buyers at the food show.

Bastille Day at Pierre’s

Pierre’s restaurant in Bridgehampton will celebrate Bastille Day on Saturday with tastings all day of Nicolas Feuillatte champagne and oysters, as well as a specialty summer cocktail made with Cointreau and Botanist gin. There will be live clarinet and guitar music throughout the day, and Pierre’s staff will appear in period costume.

Montauk Pearls

The growers of Montauk Pearl oysters, harvested in the water off Rick’s Crabby Cowboy Cafe on Montauk’s East Lake Drive, are celebrating the oyster’s rise in popularity over the last few years with a daily shellfish happy hour at the restaurant. From 4 to 6 p.m. a dozen oysters or clams cost $12.

Lobster Night

Wednesday is lobster night at the Bell & Anchor in Noyac, with a three-course special offered beginning at 5:30 p.m. and featuring various options for a lobster entree. They include lobster garganelli, a steamed 11/2-pound lobster, and butter-poached lobster claws with filet mignon.

Bar Bites

Monday through Saturday from 5 to 6:30 p.m., and on Sunday beginning at noon, the Harbor Grill in East Hampton offers a selection of bar bites for $6 or $8. They include corn fritters, cheesy bread, zucchini sticks, cheese quesadillas, baked clams, and two kinds of chicken wings. More than 40 kinds of beer are available to wash it all down.

Dining and Fireworks

Reservations are being taken at the Harbor Bistro for dinner seatings on July 19, when the Great Bonac Fireworks Show can be seen in the skies from the restaurant’s waterfront perch. Weather permitting, Mamalee Rose and Friends will perform outdoors that evening beginning at 6, and the backyard area will have a beer-and-wine bar set up with a seating section for fireworks viewing. Dinner seatings are available beginning at 6 p.m.

Karen Lee Returns

Karen Lee, a New York City-based cooking instructor, caterer, and the author of five cookbooks, including “The Occasional Vegetarian,” will give a cooking class in Amagansett next Thursday from 6 to 10 p.m. Students will prepare and eat marinated and grilled local sea bass with papaya relish, marinated and grilled split organic chicken with a dry rub, quinoa pilaf, roasted zucchini and red peppers, a seasonal side dish, and sour cherry tart with creme chantilly. The cost is $115 per person; participants can bring their own wine. The session is limited to 12 students. Reservations can be made at karenleecooking.com.

Foodies Weekend

Numerous East End restaurants, food purveyors, and chefs will participate in the GrillHampton competition and the Taste of Two Forks event this weekend.

Among those to square off at GrillHampton tomorrow night at Sayre Park in Bridgehampton from 8 to 11 are Peter Ambrose of Peter Ambrose Events, Arthur Wolf of Smokin’ Wolf, Emanouil Aslanoglou of the Old Stove Pub, and Victor Tapia of the Palm in East Hampton. The event will be hosted by Robert Irvine of the Food Network’s “Restaurant: Impossible” and include music by the Nancy Atlas Project. Tickets are $120.

At Taste of Two Forks on Saturday night at Sayre Park, Anna Pump of the Loaves & Fishes store, a chef, baker, cookbook author, and innkeeper at the Bridgehampton Inn, will be honored for her contributions to the East End culinary world. Among the local restaurants participating are Bay Kitchen Bar, Fresno, the Living Room, and Smokin’ Wolf in East Hampton, 668 the Gig Shack, Lynn’s Hula Hut, the Westlake Fish House, and the Harbor Raw Bar and Lounge in Montauk, Fresh Hamptons in Bridgehampton, Doppio Artisan Bistro and Page at 63 Main in Sag Harbor, and the Bell & Anchor in Noyac.

Numerous artisanal food purveyors will also be on hand, and there will be wines from local wineries. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. for V.I.P. ticketholders (at $240), and at 7:30 p.m. for those with $160 general admission tickets. Ticket packages for both events are available. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to All for the East End, which benefits East End nonprofits. Information and tickets are available at danstasteofsummer.com.

What to Eat, and How

The Amagansett Food Institute and the Amagansett Library have teamed up to present “A Place on Your Table,” a series of food-related events beginning tonight at 7 at the library. The program will feature the Dock-to-Dish community-supported fishery program and Amagansett Wine and Spirits for a discussion of “what’s fresh, how to prepare it, and what goes with it.” The evening will include a tasting. The program is free, though reservations with the library are a must as space is limited.

Iced Coffee

Red Thread Good Coffee, a Sag Harbor-based woman-owned company that donates a set portion of the sales of its coffee, concentrates, and coffee beans to a charity, has launched a line of cold-brewed iced coffee in different flavors using organic, fair-trade beans. Along with the company’s other products, it is sold at Sylvester & Co. in Sag Harbor, the Amagansett I.G.A., the Red Horse Market, East Hampton Gourmet, and Dylan’s Candy Bar in East Hampton, and the Old Stone Market in Springs.