News for Foodies 12.05.13

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.