Wine Time Again
Looking to wet your whistle after an arid January? Park Place Wines and Liquors is offering a full season of classes to reacquaint yourself with the salubrious (depending on whose study you read) effects of wine.
Thursday's class is devoted to the hidden joys of French wines off the beaten path, which are also great values. Taste the terroir in samples from regions such as the Cotes du Rhone, the Languedoc Roussillon, and southwestern France. According to the sommeliers at Park Place, the class is "ideal for wine lovers looking for wines with endless charm and character that won't break the bank." Pairings of complementary treats will be provided by The Cookery in East Hampton.
The class runs from 6 to 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased on the Park Place website. Coming up on Feb. 16 is the Many Faces of Syrah. Classes, each focused on a different region, country, or topic, are held biweekly and run through May. Most tickets are $25.
FoodLab + Almond
Almond restaurant's Artists and Writers dinner series continues next Thursday with Sylvie Bigar. The author of "Cassoulet Confessions: Food, France, Family, and the Stew That Saved My Soul" and an eclectic mix of other books will visit the Bridgehampton restaurant to discuss her life and work as a food writer and perhaps her fixation on the fabled French stew as well as her collaboration with Daniel Boulud for his book "Daniel: My French Cuisine."
Ms. Bigar writes regularly for The Washington Post, Forbes.com, The New York Times, Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, and others. She is also a recipe tester.
The dinner, which consists of three courses served family style, is $59 and includes one glass of wine or draft beer. The gratuity is not included. Reservations can be made by calling the restaurant at 631-537-5665.
Midweek Mexican Madness
Coche Comedor's bar has a new winter promotion featuring flights of margaritas for $15 and small plates designed by the chef, Juan Juarez, that will change weekly. These Las Noches de Salud, or "nights of cheer," will take place Tuesday through Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. in the bar area only.
Off-Season Specials Return
Bell and Anchor has brought back its popular specials nights with value pricing for a two-course dinner. On Sundays, the restaurant offers moules frites for $34. Tuesday is pork Milanese night for $36. Wednesday's lobster night comes with a few choices at different price points. Lobster with corn, basil, and saffron cream over garganelli pasta is $42, a steamed lobster with haricots verts and fingerling potatoes is $65, and a butter-poached lobster tail with a seven-ounce filet is $72.
Each night's special entree comes with a choice of chowder or a Caesar or arugula salad to start. Tuna poke or burrata are available for an additional charge. Dessert can also be added to the meal for a $6 supplement.
Winter Warmers
The Cookery is offering some new soups for the cold days of winter. Recent choices have been corn and bacon chowder, a Filipino sweet-and-sour soup, chicken meatball soup with vegetables, curry black lentil, and spicy shrimp, coconut, and bok choy soup. A small soup and half sandwich special is $12.
It is also still baking cakes such as orange Creamsicle, blueberry lemon pound, and Valrhona devil's food with orange buttercream, as well as tiramisu, and real chocolate pudding. Cakes are available in medium and large sizes as well as by the slice.
The Cookery is on Springs-Fireplace Road in East Hampton and is open Thursday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Winter Vacations, Returns
Loaves and Fishes as well as the Bridgehampton Inn are back in business after a January break. Both locations reopened yesterday and the restaurant is participating in Long Island Restaurant Week with a $44 three-course menu and a number of supplements to elevate the meal.
Doubles in Amagansett will return from its pause on Friday with new menu items. During the winter it will be open from Thursday to Sunday.
Carissa's Bakery locations, including its website store, will be closed until March 2.
