News for Foodies: 12.28.17

The Mercado Mexican restaurant in Bridgehampton is offering a bonus gift card, in $10 or $20 denominations, to those who purchase a gift card for the restaurant for others. The offer is good through Tuesday. Beginning in January, Mercado will offer a free birthday entree to those who become its Facebook friends, as well as a three-course taco meal on Sunday nights, served family style after 5 p.m. 

New Year’s Eve Options

O’Murphy’s in Montauk is taking reservations for its New Year’s Eve dinner to be served from 5 to 11 p.m. The a la carte menu includes a choice of grilled filet mignon, rack of lamb, pot roast, roast duck, spicy tuna, shrimp scampi, and more. O’Murphy’s remains open through the winter.

Another New Year’s option is the Service Station restaurant in East Hampton, which will be serving on both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

At the Highway Restaurant and Bar in Wainscott, an a la carte New Year’s Eve menu will include seasonal dishes such as grilled lobster, short rib, and pear tarte Tatin for dessert. Meals will come with a complimentary glass of champagne paired with local oysters and mignonette sauce for the table. The complete menu can be found on the restaurant’s website.

Baron’s Cove in Sag Harbor will ring in the new year with an early dinner seating at 5 p.m. for $120 per person, and a late seating starting at 9:30 p.m. for $135 per person, which includes party favors and a champagne toast at midnight. Both prices exclude tax, gratuity, and drinks. Reservations are required; the menu is posted on the Baron’s Cove website. On New Year’s Day, Baron’s Cove will serve brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

  The folks at Nick and Toni’s in East Hampton will offer a la carte specials for New Year’s Eve, and serve brunch starting at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, and dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. A brunch special will be lobster benedict with crispy prosciutto, tarragon hollandaise, and mixed greens. At dinner the specials will include butter-poached lobster as an appetizer and a wood-grilled milk-fed veal chop as an entree.  

New Year’s Eve dishes at Almond in Bridgehampton will be made with local ingredients. A five-course prix fixe will be served that night starting at 9. For $115 per person, guests will receive party favors and a champagne toast alongside a meal that includes choices of crispy sunchokes with burrata, Hudson Valley foie gras, and Peconic Bay scallops, followed by entrees such as Maine halibut, smoked duck, and ribeye steak. Earlier in the evening, diners can order from an a la carte menu that will include holiday specials.

In Sag Harbor, Lulu Kitchen and Bar will host a New Year’s Eve celebration that includes an early, 5:30 p.m., seating and a later second seating at 8 that comes with a glass of champagne, party favors, and a four-course prix fixe. Alfredo Merat will play live music. The cost is $125 per person plus tax and gratuity. On the menu will be an oyster amuse-bouche, followed by starter choices such as a potato crepe with trout, venison and foie gras en croute, and truffle goat cheese ravioli. Entree choices will include wood-fired grilled halibut and octopus, poached lobster, and beef Wellington. A sampler of desserts will be served to conclude the meal.

At Rowdy Hall in East Hampton, the holiday will bring a la carte specials on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, offered for lunch and dinner on the last day of 2017, and at lunchtime only on the first day of 2018. The specials menu on Sunday will include short rib grilled cheese, potato leek soup, grilled calamari salad, rack of lamb, and profiteroles. The next day Rowdy Hall will serve “hair of the dog soup” as well as sweet potato and brisket hash with poached eggs and hollandaise, and a smoked salmon omelette. 

Over in Amagansett, a la carte specials on New Year’s Eve at Indian Wells Tavern will include oysters Rockefeller, warm spinach salad, lobster and shrimp bisque, prime rib, braised short rib, halibut, and ravioli. 

Holiday dining at the 1770 House in East Hampton this weekend will include a four-course prix fixe tasting menu at $110 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Diners may opt for an extra cheese course and wine pairings selected by the restaurant’s wine director. Champagne lovers will find 19 champagne and sparkling wine selections, including three by the glass, such as NV Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve. 

On New Year’s Day, the 1770 House will serve dinner from 5:30 on in the dining room and in the downstairs tavern. 

Pierre’s in Bridgehampton is also a New Year’s option, with a holiday dinner to be served. The menu is to be posted on their website.