News for Foodies 12.03.15
Blagg for Dinner
Max Blagg will be the next host of Almond’s Artists and Writers Night on Tuesday. The Bridgehampton restaurant will serve a family-style three-course menu for $45 with a glass of wine or craft beer while Mr. Blagg reads poetry from his new book.
Mr. Blagg’s performance credits and readings extend from the Guggenheim to the old CBGB and the National Arts Club. His latest book was inspired by artists and their work. He has collaborated with artists such as Alex Katz, Richard Prince, Keith Sonnier, Billy Sullivan, and Donald Sultan.
Reservations for the dinner, which starts at 7 p.m., are necessary and can be made by calling the restaurant or online.
Grapes of Roth Merlot
New York wines have hit a new peak with the elevation of Roman Roth’s Grapes of Roth merlot to the Wine Spectator list of the top wines of 2015, ranked 64 out of 100 wines that made the list. Its rating of 92 makes it the magazine’s highest rated red for New York State to date. Mr. Roth has been the winemaker at Wolffer Estate in Sagaponack since 1992. This wine is from his personal label, using grapes sourced from the North Fork. It is a blend of 82 percent merlot and 18 percent cabernet sauvignon.
Wolffer Kitchens Warms Up
For those who might like to try some of Mr. Roth’s wines with food, the Wolffer Kitchen, the vineyard’s sister restaurant in Sag Harbor, serves Wolffer wines and recommends pairings for its dishes. The restaurant is now offering winter-themed dishes on its regular menu and new prix fixe menu specials to further satiate the cooler-weather appetite. For $35, the prix fixe includes three courses and a glass of Wolffer wine. A recent menu included a beet salad and soup for starters, chicken and salmon main courses along with farro and pasta options, and a fruit strudel and gelato for dessert. Warming offerings from the new winter a la carte menu include braised short ribs, wild mushroom risotto, rigatoni with a braised lamb ragu, and butternut squash ravioli with kale, walnut, and sage limoncello brown butter. The restaurant is now serving brunch on the weekends as well.
What’s Special at E.N.E.
East by Northeast is having both a daily prix fixe menu and happy hours for winter. The $29 prix fixe menu is available daily from 5 to 7 p.m. A special sushi and sake prix fixe is available at the same hours for $50, not including holiday weekends. Live music will add to the fine dining atmosphere on Tuesdays as well. The happy hour specials include half-price house sushi rolls, $8 apps, and drink specials in the bar and lounge daily from 5 to 7 and all night on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Reservations are also being taken for a five-course dinner, featuring pig from Wells Farm in Riverhead on Dec. 18 at 6 p.m.
Hanukkah in East Hampton
Nick and Toni’s and Rowdy Hall will both offer two special Hanukkah menus in December. Nick and Toni’s will serve a prix fixe menu of three courses and an amuse bouche for $40. Menu items will also be available a la carte. From Sunday to Wednesday, the menu consists of chopped chicken liver crostini, potato latkes with house-cured salmon and creme fraiche, braised beef brisket, and apple fritters for dessert. Next Thursday, the menu changes to cured salmon salad, roasted beet soup with herb creme fraiche, braised lamb shank, and apple cake for dessert. The restaurant will serve the second menu through Dec. 13. The holiday items will only be available a la carte on Dec. 12.
At Rowdy Hall, there are lunch and dinner specials for Hanukkah. Lunch begins Monday with special menu items that include potato leek soup, short rib grilled cheese, and apple cake. The same soup and dessert will also be served at dinner, beginning on Sunday. Other items on the dinner menu from Sunday through Tuesday will be roasted beet salad and braised beef short ribs with maple whipped sweet potatoes and root vegetables for $28. Beginning next Thursday, the soup changes to beet puree, but the dessert remains the same. A smoked salmon and chives omelette and braised brisket sandwich will be the new lunch additions. At dinner, braised brisket with honey glazed carrots and potato cake at $28 will be the new entree selection. Appetizers are $13 and dessert is $11.
More details about the menu items and pricing are available on the restaurants’ websites.