Hamptons Epicure: It’s “Schmoozuary” in the Hamptons!
If you’ve ever been to the Hamptons, you know that eating and name-dropping can easily fill your days and nights in the high season. Well, my fair weather friends, I’m here to tell you that these dizzying rounds of fabulousness are every bit as happenin’ in the way-off season.
Here are some snippets of a week in the life of a Hamptons editor and food columnist:
Sunday I “had to” head to the Sag Harbor Baking Company to shoot some photos for an upcoming article by Joan Baum. It’s not hard to imagine why I volunteered for this detail. Artisanal breads, croissants…Of course I stopped at Cavaniola’s Cheese Shop on the way home for a hunk of my favorite French Brie. After depositing my goodies I was off to the Lowell House for an estate sale. I picked up some antique kitchenalia and a book of poetry with a handwritten inscription from Tony Harrison to Robert Lowell—something about a “restraining shadow.” Later my husband and I were off to the Serve Sag Harbor fundraiser at the Corner Bar hosted by April Gornik. We can walk home from the Corner Bar…
Monday, Husband and I went to the Jedediah Hawkins Inn in Jamesport to do a review for Dan’s Papers. We were joined by Dan’s Web Editor Brendan J. O’Reilly and his fiancée Allison Bourquin. You can read all about this adventure in next week’s magazine. Of note: Get the Chef’s Whim Flatbread!
Tuesday night we closed the paper and I ordered in my usual from The Princess Diner in Southampton: a Greek Salad Wrap with the vegetable of the day. It’s not haute cuisine, it’s the healthiest thing I’ve figured out to get me through the night.
Wednesday found me at Almond in Bridgehampton for one of their great Artist Dinners. This one featured Christine Sciulli, whose mind-bending sculpture is currently on display in the Parrish Art Museum’s “Artists Choose Artists 2013.” In addition to hearing about working artists’ dreams and visions in their own words, the artists work with Chef Jason Weiner (yes, he’s Anthony Weiner’s brother) to develop the evening’s menu. Sciulli’s featured Squid Ink Cavatelli. The last artist dinner we went to—performance artist Cynthia Hopkins’—featured her choice of a rustic Hungarian Goulash, which Chef Weiner followed with jelly donuts in celebration of Hannukah. Fun.
Thursday included lunch at Le Chef in Southampton and dinner at Townline BBQ in Sagaponack. A very “full” day. Lunch was with my fabu friend, model-cum-designer Maria Scotto. I got to see the latest photos of her four-month-old granddaughter—she’s looking more and more like her grandma, the lucky girl! Townline is where my husband and I end up every Thursday in the off-season—for Trivia Night. Thankfully the food has been good for the last couple of weeks. Perhaps Executive Chef Joe Realmuto had a refresher with his staff in the New Year. There’s a difference between barbequing and incineration, and liquid smoke is NOT a condiment.
Friday Marc Zowine colored and trimmed my mane back to the “power hair” he transformed it into a couple of years ago. He took it from cave girl to haute hippie—you can see the before and after shots here. We chatted about fashion, his buddy Michael Kors and about how far too many women in Milan sport “menopause magenta” hair, but mostly we talked food. Marc was aglow from his recent tour of Hans Van de Bovenkamp’s studio. He admired his work and Van de Bovenkamp gave Marc two chicken eggs fresh from his coop. He raced home and cooked them up immediately. I think Marc’s buff bod is made up almost entirely of chicken, eggs and fish.
Friday night was, of course, for dancing at Bay Street Theatre with the Nancy Atlas Project and keyboardist Danny Kean. On the way there we stopped for the dinner prix fixe at Muse in the Harbor. It’s a go-to for Sag Harborites—such a luxury to be able to walk to “dinner and a show” (and a minor miracle if we can walk back home). Chef Matthew Guiffrida treats us villagers well.
Saturday saw the launch of Tom Colicchio’s Topping Rose House’s first-ever farmers market — I felt right at home!