Food Seen: Westhampton Beach Dining, NoFoDoCo Explosion & More

Find out what’s cooking at Westhampton Beach restaurants, check out live music at Springs Tavern and Grill, read about NoFoDoCo’s recent explosion and more bits and bites from the East End “Food Seen.”

Westhampton Beach Dining

This year, there was a spate of new restaurant openings in Westhampton Beach, which might just be becoming the best Hampton out west! In the old Star Boggs spot, Fauna serves American cuisine on their seasonally-changing menu. Favorites include the roasted red pepper gnudi with foraged mushrooms, curly kale, black truffle cream and pistachio. The menu also pays homage to Boggs by serving his favorite dish, almond flounder, served over whipped sweet potato, with asparagus, rum-glazed banana and citrus beurre blanc.

Chef Laurent Tourondel, perhaps more known by his initials LT, expanded his iconic Sag Harbor burger joint, LT Burger, to Westhampton Beach. The same tasty burgers, fries and shakes can be enjoyed there and clued-in diners also know that the Kobe hot dogs are second to none.

If you’re in Westhampton and crave Hawaiian fare, visit Ivy on Main and if you seek fish, John Scott’s Surf Shack has your back.

Speaking of restaurant debuts, Leon 1909 opened their doors earlier this month on Shelter Island, slinging plates to lively crowds night after night. It’s named after co-owner Valerie Mnuchin’s paternal grandfather, whose affinity for romantic European adventures and seaside destinations inform the restaurant’s ambiance. A wood-burning hearth at the heart of the restaurant serves as its anchor, inspiring a Provençal-style menu showcasing regional ingredients. Favorites include the skewered shrimp and crab gougeres, and ribeye dressed in a Moroccan spiced chermoula.

More East End Eats

During the height of the pandemic, food pantries were overwhelmed by the amount of people that needed their assistance. This problem prompted Slow Food East End, a local nonprofit organization, to engage with approximately 40 volunteer bakers and donate more than 700 loaves of bread to local food pantries. The bakers make four loaves, keeping one and donating the remaining three.

The group intends to double their dough output this year and work with more pantries in the area. Thank you Slow Food East End for doing your part (and more) in combatting food insecurity on the East End and introducing people to the joys of baking.

To quote the enlightened philosopher Neil Young, “live music is better.” The newly-minted Springs Tavern and Grill has announced that they will host the Lynn Blue Band on Thursday, September 1 from 7–9 p.m. Enjoy great Van Morrison and Elvis Costello covers while noshing on menu items such as crispy calamari, tortellini alla bolognese and skirt streak. Be sure to look at the walls, which feature artwork from iconic East End artists such as Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner and Willem de Kooning. In fact, owner Alex Rossi studied Pollock extensively while studying to get his art history major.

There was a small gas-related explosion in the building where North Fork Doughnut Co.’s kitchen operates earlier this month. Thankfully no one was hurt by it, but the explosion has halted doughnut production and closed NoFoDoCo’s stores in Mattituck and Bay Shore for the time being. You can support NoFoDoCo during this trying time for their family and business by buying their merch and gift cards online.

Did You Know?

Vegan Wagon, the lifestyle brand and social club that celebrates the plant-based life, is hosting two events in the Hamptons this fall. On Sunday, September 11 at Villa de Amis in Bridgehampton, Chef Alex and Mino Netta will take guests on a plant-based culinary voyage under the full moon. At the same location on Sunday, October 9, guests will learn to cook a classic vegan meal and will learn the Wim Hof breathwork and meditation technique. Hof holds the Guinness World Record for holding his breath under ice and runs barefoot half marathons in the snow.

Rita Cantina serves many innovative cocktails, such as their piquant watermelon margarita, featuring Blanco tequila, watermelon juice, lime juice and simple syrup.

O by Kissaki combines Japanese AND Italian cuisine, a style known in Japan as Itameshi. In fact, many travelers claim that the best Italian food they’ve tasted was in Japan, due to the ingredients that the chefs use.

The décor inside K Pasa in Sag Harbor draws inspiration from the Californian coast. The beachy white oak and oversize fans balance well with the open stainless ducting and iron beam industrial feel of the interior. To add to the coastal feel, the health-conscious American taqueria offers panoramic views of the Sag Harbor Marina and Long Wharf.

Bits & Bites

Zakura is opening a takeout window on Newtown Lane next door to Hampton Chutney Co. in the spot Mary’s Marvelous used to inhabit.

Nick & Toni’s has a new dessert menu, including delights such as Stone’s Throw honey polenta cake, chocolate caramel cake and tartufo for two.

Springs Brewery has a new IPA, brewed with honey from Springs Apiary, English pale malt and wheat. It’s 7% alcohol by volume and has a citrusy, malty taste.

Sticking with craft beers, Promised Land IPA released a new can with art by Charles Ly depicting the Smith Meal Fish Factory which once stood in Napeague.

In other craft news, a Kidd Squid Brewing Company is the newest occupant of the 1870 Sag Harbor railroad freight depot station. The beer is brewed at the North Fork Brewing Co. in Riverhead, and you can get your sip on in the endearingly designed tasting room or in the table setup outside, which feels like a beer garden due to the flower shop located next door.

Food Quote

“Only the pure in heart can make a good soup.” ~ Ludwig Van Beethoven

Got a restaurant news item or tip? Email us at dansfoodseen@gmail.com!