News for Foodies: 12.20.12
At the Living Room restaurant at c/o the Maidstone in East Hampton, the menu was changed at the beginning of the month to reflect a Scandinavian or Nordic influence, with a selection of dishes featuring seasonal items. Another section of the menu is devoted to items that are “always at the Living Room,” such as the Lojrom caviar served with a crispy potato cake and herring three ways. The seasonal portion of the menu will change approximately four times throughout the year.
The Living Room’s Christmas Table menu items will be available on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as a la carte choices.
The restaurant’s new culinary team includes the chef, Mathais Brogie, who recently came from Stockholm, and his partner, Mark Saavedra. Adam Lancashire, formerly of Luce and Hawkins on the North Fork, is the new restaurant manager.
Vegan Foods
East Hampton Gourmet Food is now offering a line of ready-to-eat vegan gourmet dishes, available at its Newtown Lane takeout and catering shop. Items include a veggie burger, pate, meatloaf, crisp breads in five flavors, and three different spreads.
The East Hampton Gourmet Food vegan line will also be available in retail locations including chain stores, as well as wholesale for restaurants, country clubs, caterers, schools, and more. They can be ordered through the distributor, Red Bell Foods, at [email protected].
Another new offering from the shop is ready-to-bake cookie dough. Information can be found at the Web site, easthamptongourmetfood.com.
Foodie Gifts
Those still seeking gifts to give will receive a bonus upon purchase of a $50 gift card for the Harbor Grill in East Hampton — a complimentary $10 gift card for themselves, or to give as another gift.
Harbor Grill will open at noon on Christmas Eve and offer happy hour-priced drinks and free appetizers at the bar all day.
The cheesemongers at Lucy’s Whey cheese shop in East Hampton have designed a variety of gifts, including a gift box featuring a selection of cheeses for dessert, along with dried fruit; another with “Lucy’s Favorites,” including 2.5 pounds of cheese and a selection of crackers, preserves, and charcuterie, and a “cheese of the month” subscription, entitling subscribers to receive three hand-selected artisanal cheeses each month.
Holiday Scheduling
Indian Wells Tavern in Amagansett will close on Christmas Eve at 3 p.m. and be closed Christmas Day. They will be open on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day with a special New Year’s Day brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
In Montauk, the Shagwong will be open Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
A Christmas Eve prix fixe will be offered at Muse in the Harbor in Sag Harbor from 4 to 9 p.m. on Monday. Reservations have been recommended.
At the Plaza Cafe in Southampton, Christmas Eve will bring the traditional Italian “feast of the seven fishes.” A seven-course prix fixe, to be served beginning at 5:30 p.m., will feature smoked salmon, sauteed calamari, barbecued oysters, Peconic Bay scallops, grilled seafood sausage, pumpkin lobster bisque, and seafood shepherd’s pie. The cost is $75 per person plus tax and gratuity. A limited a la carte menu will also be available.
Take-Home Holiday
Art of Eating Catering in Amagansett has a menu of takeout items that can be ordered for festive holidays at home. Although today is the last day to place Christmas Eve orders, the deadline for orders for New Year’s Eve is next Thursday.
Among the organic and local winter menu offerings prepared by Cheryl Stair, the company’s executive chef, are hors d’oeuvres and appetizers such as a relish tray, chicken liver pate, buratta with grilled figs and burnt orange marmalade, homemade potato chips and dip, and filet of beef and crispy vegetable rolls served with horseradish cream. Seafood choices include oysters Rockefeller, smoked Faroe Island salmon, baked salt cod and potato spread, and monkfish osso bucco. On the entree list are paella, stuffed loin of pork, pepper-crusted beef filet, grilled vegetable lasagna, whole grilled salmon, and a slow-roasted North Sea Farms turkey, among other choices. Soups, salads, vegetable dishes, and desserts are available as well.
For a Break
A new happy hour at Almond in Bridgehampton will provide a chance to order $5 glasses of wine, a New York State microbrew beer, or a specialty cocktail. A bar nibbles menu includes pork terrine, cheeseburger “singles,” a brussels sprout Caesar salad, prosciutto with dried fruit and grilled bread, hand-cut fries with truffle oil, or a cheese plate, for $8 each, or shrimp cocktail for $2 a piece.