Food

Reopening Celebration

    A wine dinner tomorrow night will mark the reopening, after a month of renovations, of the Living Room, which is the restaurant at c/o the Maidstone inn in East Hampton. A wine-tasting in the cellar will be followed by a sit-down dinner, with seatings at 6:30 and 7:30. A maximum of 14 diners can be accommodated at each, so reservations have been recommended.

    We all travel, and we all have to eat. Why is it often the case that our nutritional needs go right out the window when traveling? We surrender to junk food and spend too much. I don’t know about you, but I eat too much when traveling; I think it’s boredom.

Mary's Marvelous, a favorite Amagansett and East Hampton coffee, pastry, and lunch spot, received some love on Twitter this week from the actor Alec Baldwin, a regular customer when he is staying at his South Fork house.

On Tuesday, Mr. Baldwin — who tweets as @ABFalecbaldwin to some 1.07 million followers — shared a link to a story in The Guardian about the dwindling number of local pubs in the United Kingdom and wrote: "If Mary's in Amagansett closed, I'd be bummed. #savethepubs."

Coffee Farmer Visits

    The Hampton Coffee Company in Southampton will have a visit tomorrow from Ric Hariyanto of Sriwijaya Coffee, who grows coffee beans in northern Sumatra that are imported for Hampton Coffee brews.

    From 3 to 5 p.m., Mr. Hariyanto will be at Hampton Coffee’s Coffee Experience store to discuss his life, his coffee farm, and the beans during a slideshow and talk. He will answer questions and provide tastes of his Dolok Sanggul coffee.

Culinary Artisans Speak

    When you go through the grocery store this time of year, do you just walk by the odder, wintry vegetables and head for the simpler, “safer,” more familiar ones like zucchini, lettuce, string beans, and so on? I am guilty of this, too. It is so easy to just grab those people-pleasers. You can do anything with zucchini year round, and who doesn’t like green beans with shallots or toasted almonds?

    The indoor farmers market held at the Topping Rose House in Bridgehampton on the third Saturday of each month will take place this weekend beginning at 11 a.m., with the closing hour now extended to 3 p.m.

    Among the vendors that have participated are Lorna’s Nuts and Goodies, Amagansett Sea Salt, East Hampton Gourmet, Plain-T Ice Tea, Cavaniola’s Cheese Shop, and Gula Gula Empanadas.

    What kinds of foods are our athletes, their families, and fans eating in Sochi at the 2014 Winter Olympics? Well, you needn’t fret over the nutritional needs of the United States ski team. They are not residing in the athlete’s village, but are in the mountains above Sochi cocooned in comfort with private chefs attending to their every culinary need. Almost. It actually appears that they are eating a lot of Asian-inspired meals full of rice noodles and fish sauce.

The overall atmosphere at O’Murphy’s was warm and welcoming. Located in the heart of downtown across from the circle, O’Murphy’s is small and cozy, with a bar to the left of the entrance and tables with green-and-white-checked oilcloth table­cloths all around. There are two flat screen TVs in the bar area and enough decorative flotsam and jetsam to cover most other surfaces.

    Valentine’s Day is approaching, and our minds turn, if not to love, then chocolate. Registration is under way for a chocolate truffle-making workshop to be offered by the Peconic Land Trust at Bridge Gardens on Mitchell Lane in Bridgehampton on Feb. 15.

    From 2 to 4 p.m., Rick Bogusch will demonstrate the easy steps to make a basic truffle as well as truffles flavored with spices and liqueurs, rolled in cocoa powder and nuts, and dipped in melted chocolate. Samples and recipes will be provided. The cost is $10 a person, or $5 for Bridge Gardens members.

    Coming right up is the January weekend devoted  not only to a contest between football teams but to a fair bit of noshing — indeed, of pigging out.

    Chicken is a delicious, economical meat accessible to all. Chickens are filthy, germ-ridden animals we shouldn’t touch. Which do you believe? Both are true. Sadly, chicken “production” in this country has been steered in the same direction as hothouse tomatoes; the desire for more profit and efficiency has produced utterly tasteless, Vegas showgirl-breasted foulish fowl. However, we are very lucky out here having such fine establishments as Iacono Farm in East Hampton and Browder’s Birds in Mattituck, to name just two poultry farms.

    Today Napeague, tomorrow the world, or at least the East End. That is apparently the mantra of the cousins and entrepreneurs Mark Goldberg and Paul Wayne. The team behind Goldberg’s Famous Bagels, Flagels, and Deli has signed a 10-year lease to open another store, this one on the Napeague stretch in Amagansett, at what is now Espo’s Surf Shop. The new tenants will take occupancy on Feb. 1.

Midweek Lobster

    Wednesday is now lobster night at the Bell & Anchor in Sag Harbor, when several options for a three-course lobster meal will be offered at prices ranging from $35 to $45. Along with a choice of chowder or salad for a starter, and dessert, the special will include lobster garganelli, butter-poached lobster claws with filet mignon, or a steamed 1 1/2-pound lobster. Raw bar specials on Montauk Pearl oysters and littleneck clams will be offered as well, at $1 each.

Prix Fixes

Noah’s

136 Front Street

Greenport

477-6720

Dinner, Thursday through Monday

Lunch, Friday through Sunday

Brunch, Saturday and Sunday

    Noah’s in Greenport is a delight. It is always a wonderful surprise to explore new places you know nothing about and decide immediately, “I’m coming back for that dish. And that one, and that one.”

    The Smokin’ Wolf barbecue takeout shop in East Hampton, which is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, has a weekly lineup of winter specials, including a $7 lunch menu. Wednesday is burger night, for $8, Thursdays quesadillas are $8, on Fridays whole chickens — roasted, barbecued, or fried — are $10, and on Saturdays a whole slab of ribs is $18.

1770 House

    Parents, if you send your boys and girls off to college without having educated them on nutrition or taught them some rudimentary cooking skills, I can assure you, they will flounder. They will very likely live on ramen noodles and pizza (boys) and/or yogurt and cottage cheese (girls).

Artists, Writers, Food

    Almond restaurant in Bridgehampton will hold its next Artists and Writers Night on Wednesday, featuring a family style three-course meal and an appearance by Christine Sciulli, a light and video installation artist whose work is currently in a show at the Parrish Art Museum. The evening begins at 7 and costs $40 in advance, or $45 at the door. In addition to the meal, the price includes a glass of local wine or craft beer, tax, and gratuity. Reservations are a must.

Bonac Farms Herbs

Late Afternoon Eats

    With dark coming early on winter afternoons — even though the solstice has come and gone, bringing just a little more daylight now each day — an early supper or amuse bouche might be in order. The Hampton Seafood Company in East Hampton has a Thursday “happy hour” from 4 to 6 p.m., when fish tacos are served up to customers for $3 and shrimp tacos cost $4.

At the Bar

    Rachel Maddow, the MSNBC host, is quite a mixologist. She occasionally pops up on “The Late Show With Jimmy Fallon” to demonstrate various cocktails. On a recent episode she demonstrated a classic martini. While shaking and stirring and measuring she informed Mr. Fallon that vermouth is a wine, therefore expires after two weeks. She encouraged the audience to toss out that old bottle of your granny’s that’s been collecting dust in the liquor cabinet and buy a fresh one. I obeyed. I sampled a fresh bottle. What a difference!

Bay Burger

1742 Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, Sag Harbor

899-3915

Wednesday through Monday,

11 a.m.-9 p.m.

Chicchetti Menu

    Taking a page from Italian wine bars, Nick and Toni’s restaurant in East Hampton has added a list of small dishes, or “chichetti” in Italian, to its menu. The items include crispy chickpeas, house-cured duck prosciutto served with caramelized pearl onion, local cauliflower fritti, and fried foie gras ravioli with truffle oil, among others. Nick and Toni’s is now serving dinner Wednesday through Monday.

       Conca D’Oro is the kind of pizza joint-restaurant that every town should be so lucky to have. It is fast, reasonable, and good. In a way, it is two establishments. Come into the front for a quick slice, takeout, or to enjoy your pie in a booth. Go to the back for sit-down service, a variety of specials, and pasta dishes big enough for Fred Flintstone to bring home in a doggy bag for Dino.

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

    La Fondita in Amagansett is serving new brunch specials on Saturdays and Sundays between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Items on the takeout menu include chilaquiles — tortillas sauteed with salsa verde, a fried egg, cheese, and crema, served with rice and refried beans — and a breakfast burrito filled with eggs sauteed with peppers, onions, tomatoes, rice, and black beans.

Wine Specials

    What is your favorite kind of cookie? Chocolate chip? Me, too! Oatmeal raisin, gingersnap, peanut butter, shortbread? All of those, too. Are you a crisp and delicate cookie aficionado, or a jumbo half-baked shopping mall cookie fan? Super sweet, short and crumbly, filled with jam or just plain Jane, there is a cookie for everyone.

Holiday Treats

    Debbie Geppert, an East Hampton caterer, along with Dreesen’s Catering, is taking orders for Thanksgiving pies and cookies. Choices include pumpkin, pecan, apple, and apple crumb pies, as well as peanut butter, oatmeal, molasses, and chocolate chip cookies.

    Ms. Geppert is also offering classes for holiday-time cooks at the Dreesen’s kitchen on Lumber Lane in East Hampton.

    If ever a tribe of cannibals wanted to fatten up some homo sapiens like the poor geese of Perigord, New Orleans would be the place to do it. The geese of Perigord are force-fed through a contraption called a gavotte, which engorges their livers to create, in some people’s opinions, delicious foie gras fattiness.  Take me to New Orleans and I will voluntarily consume every oyster, etouffee, gumbo, Sazerac, beignet, muffaletta, remoulade, Abita beer, po’ boy, mudbug tail, and praline I can get my hands on — making me one tasty and large human liver.

Farm Bounty

    Balsam Farms farm stand on Town Lane in Amagansett is still overflowing with fall bounty, but with a more limited schedule. The stand is open Friday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., except for Thanksgiving week, when it will be open Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, as well.

Empanadas to Order

    Without a doubt, trying to make a truly delicious vegan dessert is a challenge. Trying to make a flaky, delicious vegan pie crust even more so.

    Some recipes for vegan desserts are better left ignored, or improved upon, or at least challenged. Ignored because some things just don’t taste very good with alterations. Improved upon because some recipes show promise but are sloppy. And some should be challenged because there really is no substitute for whipped cream or meringue or many other things, taste and texture-wise.

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