Food

What does it mean when a restaurant is virtually empty on a weekend evening in mid-August? It usually means sayonara, ciao, baby, make like a tree and leave.

A North Fork food tour, slices after 10, and the return of Almond restaurant's Artists and Writers series

Few events offer as concentrated an experience of eastern Long Island’s culinary diversity, innovation, and entrepreneurship as the East End Food Institute’s annual Food Lab conference at Stony Brook Southampton.

Bel Mare Ristorante at Maidstone Park in Springs is offering daily specials on bar bites and drinks between 4 and 6 p.m.

New ice cream store in East Hampton, gluten-free pizza at Bel Mare, Share the Harvest benefit, and more

The Calvary Baptist Church on Spinner Lane in East Hampton held its annual barbecue on Sunday and it was a gloriously beautiful day.

First, let’s talk about ribs. There are several different kinds available in most markets. Spareribs come from the underbelly, or lower rib cage, of the pig. A full slab contains 13 ribs and weighs about three pounds. Baby back ribs (not from piglets!) come from the upper front end of the rib cage and are smaller than spareribs. Country-style ribs come from the upper rear end of the rib cage. Regular spareribs are fattier, which keeps the meat tender and moist during long cooking. Baby backs and Country-style can be prone to drying out if you’re not careful.

There were a number of new restaurant openings this spring and summer that were worthy of interest and celebration, but to many, the most exciting, happy-news opening, or more like return-to-from-whence-they-came, was Bostwick’s on the Harbor.

Alex Guarnaschelli, a Food Network star and the chef at Butter, will speak to Florence Fabricant on Sunday, and more

It’s unusual to have so many happy, enthusiastic diners who truly love everything placed in front of them, but such was the case at Morty’s Oyster Stand. I believe Mr. Cyril Fitzsimons would approve.

Plain-T cart, Amber Waves Farm dinners, and a chef's talk at Guild Hall

K Pasa is not a Mexican restaurant serving hefty portions of rice and beans. It offers tacos of all kinds, sandwiches, salad, and vegan offerings.

New restaurants, new menus, a Wolffer dinner, happy hours, and more

Do we really need another expensive Upper East Side Italian restaurant in our midst? More importantly, do we need a restaurant that (inexplicably) charges far more here for the same food that it serves at its Madison Avenue location? More even than the 1770 House, Nick and Toni’s, or Bell and Anchor?

Bel Mare in the old Michael's in Springs, new pizza on the stretch, a new market on Race Lane, new specials and more

For the record: If the reason some people are grumpy cats about Ed's Lobster Bar is that they miss the old Bay Burger, would it make them feel better to know that Joe Tremblay, an owner of the old joint, tried their lobster roll and loved it? I read that on the internet.

A New Carissa’s 

Carissa’s Bakery on Newtown Lane in East Hampton Village has opened a sister store at 221 Pantigo Road, also in East Hampton, that includes a bake shop and an adjacent cafe. The new spot will offer the same selection of breads, pastries, cakes, pies, soups, and sandwiches as the one in the village. Both are open daily from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., with breakfast service offered in the Pantigo Road cafe and lunch and dinner service to follow soon.

Farm Dinner

Showfish’s menu illustrates Chef Blutstein’s exuberant adoration of local fish and farms. Interestingly enough, his name is not on the menu but the names of over 13 farmers, fishermen, and cheesemakers are.

Amber Waves Farm in Amagansett will hold a pizza-making class Friday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The cost is $40. Tickets can be purchased on the farm’s website.

Have some Little Nipper signature cocktails, and break lumpia together, even better.

Bostwick's on the Harbor, Drinks for a cause, an award-winning cracker, and much more

Here is what I have learned from organizing a party long distance: Find your venue first if you can. Decide on a firm budget but be prepared to be flexible. Compile the guest list and pray that they will respond in a timely manner. Or at all.

Fancy picnic baskets, Southampton's Cheese Shoppe gets a rebrand, a Hamptons chef dinner benefit, and dinner at Wolffer

Strawberry season this year has been wonderful despite the rain. So far I have sampled berries from Open Minded Organics in Bridgehampton (no spray!), Pike’s in Sagaponack, and from the Mattituck Strawberry Festival.

Father's Day specials, a new butcher in East Hampton, and a new restaurant in Water Mill.

The season for asparagus won’t last much longer out here, so consider some of these cooking methods that you haven’t tried before. Or do as the northern Europeans do to celebrate the first harbingers of spring, build a whole meal around asparagus.

Have you ever tasted freshly picked asparagus? I mean, picked within hours of being hand harvested? It is remarkably sweet. Asparagus is similar to corn in that, once picked, it will use its sugars to survive.

Some of you may believe that French cuisine is the most complex. Many think the multi-layered pastries of Vienna are the height of refined cookery. But until you have tasted the mysterious and complicated mole sauces of Mexico, you have no idea how complex and refined a dish can be.

Levain Bakery’s chocolate chip walnut cookies should probably come with a warning label: These cookies are known by the State of New York to be highly addictive. Huge and gooey and packed with chocolate chips just this side of melting, they have been named to just about every best cookie list in New York, which helps to explain the famously long lines outside of Levain’s 74th Street and Amsterdam Avenue locations.

New in Montauk

The owners of Pulcinella, a pizzeria and restaurant in Massapequa, have opened Pulcinella East on Edgemere Street in Montauk. The menu features pasta dishes such as pappardelle Bolognese for $29, and spaghetti with clams for $38, as well as chicken, veal, and seafood entrees.