News for Foodies 09.15.16

Jason Weiner, the chef and owner at Almond in Bridgehampton, the new Zigmund’s bar, also in that hamlet, and several New York City restaurants, will help kick off this season’s international brunch series at the Watermill Center. At noon on Sunday, Mr. Weiner will present a family-style meal centered on seasonal farm-fresh ingredients. A menu can be seen at watermillcenter.org. The meal will follow a presentation by Tori Wranes, an artist-in-residence at the center, and be followed later that afternoon, at 4 p.m., by “INXILE,” a collaborative dance performance and ritual presented by another resident artist, Alvaro Restrepo, and his dance troup, El Colegio del Cuerpo, in collaboration with members of the Shinnecock Nation. Tickets are $75 per person, and advanced registration is required through the center’s website. 

At Nick and Toni’s

Speaking of brunch, Nick and Toni’s will start serving its version this Sunday and continue through the off-season. The a la carte menu will consist of pizzas, including a breakfast pizza with eggs and pancetta, salads, breakfast pastries, sandwiches, pasta, and more breakfast-like fare such as French toast, frittatas, and a pancetta benedict. It will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

A dinner at Nick and Toni’s on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. will feature the products of La Quercia Cured Meats of Iowa during four courses to be served with wine pairings from Channing Daughters Winery of Bridgehampton. Herb Eckhouse of La Quercia and James Christopher Tracy of Channing Daughters will be on hand to talk about their crafts. There will be a cocktail hour with passed hors d’oeuvres. The cost is $95, including wine, or $75 for dinner with soft drinks only, plus tax and gratuity, and reservations are a must. 

On the tentative menu are dishes such as clams casino with pancetta, halibut wrapped in prosciutto, and garganelli with lobster and spicy pork salami. 

Almond’s New Specials

And speaking of Almond, the restaurant has a new fall menu featuring daily specials such as a three-course prix fixe for $29 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Meatless Mondays continue with a $35 prix fixe menu all night. Tuesday is steak frites night with a $19.95 special. Thursday nights, six Montauk pearl oysters are $10, and a shrimp cocktail is $10 at the bar or at tables. Sunday night is beer and burger night at the bar for $15. The prix fixe menu includes items such as delicato squash “doughnuts,” day boat scallops with curried cauliflower, bacon, apples, and onion, and Joe and Liza’s ice cream for dessert.

Oktoberfest Begins

Rowdy Hall restaurant in East Hampton has scheduled the start of its eighth annual Oktoberfest with a festival from 3 to 5 p.m. on Saturday. The restaurant will be transformed in German beer garden style, with picnic tables in the courtyard and communal dining tables inside, and German bar snacks, including pretzels and wursts, will be available to purchase. There will be Bavarian music from 4 to 6 p.m. and Oktoberfest beer specials, including a $10 tasting flight. 

Oktoberfest will continue at the restaurant through Oct. 2 with a $27 prix fixe dinner special each evening beginning at 5. The menu will change regularly. From Saturday through Wednesday, it will feature knockwurst, bratwurst, and bockwurst with German potato salad, sauerkraut, and mustard, and German cheesecake with caramel apples for dessert. Next Thursday through Sept. 25 it will be kassler rippchen with braised red cabbage and grilled apples as an entree, with Prince Regent torte for dessert. The Oktoberfest entrees will not be sold a la carte.

Other Small Bites

The Hayground School Farmer’s Market will remain open through the end of September. Its hours are 3 to 6 p.m. on Fridays and it takes place on the school grounds at Mitchell Lane in Bridgehampton.

Tickets are still available for the At the Common Table benefit for Quail Hill Farm on Saturday. This year, Joe Realmuto of Nick and Toni’s is overseeing the chefs who are cooking the meal and hors d’oeuvres using the farm’s produce and regional fish and meats. Dinner, served at 4 p.m., is $250, and the cocktail hour, which begins at 2:30, is $60. Tickets are available through Robin Harris at the Peconic Land Trust, 631-283-3195 or rharris@peconiclandtrust. org. 

Mexican Independence Day will be celebrated tomorrow at La Fondita with a special dish that displays the colors of the Mexican flag — green, red, and white. Chiles en Nogada is a poblano pepper stuffed with picadillo with a walnut cream sauce and pomegranate seeds. It will be served with rice and beans for $14. Pozole rojo, a pork and hominy stew, will be offered in two sizes, for $5.75 and $11.