A WEEKEND WITH THE DUKE & ALEC… STACKS OF CONTROVERSY IN SAG…. BADLY BEHAVING BEAGLES!

Curious what to do this weekend in the Hamptons?  Well here are a few suggestions to keep yourself from going totally nuts with cabin fever!

One easy thing you might want to consider is going to see a good movie.    So what’s playing in down this weekend?  Let’s take a look.

Wait, I don’t know a single one of these movies!  FULL TIME?  Is that a porn flick?    Where is “Jupiter Ascending” or at the very least “March of the Penguins”….. which I think is still playing here!  Oh wait, “Managers” isn’t that the direct to video movie with Dane Cook?   Well if none of these titles appeal to you Pilgrim, maybe you’d want to go see John Wayne in “The Searchers” at Guild Hall.  Alec Baldwin is hosting another in the Hampton’s Film Festival’s Winter Series with a special screening of the John Ford Classic.   For more information you can try clicking here!     Personally, I’m still waiting for them to host a screening of director Jack Smight’s masterpiece “Airport 75.”    It’s an epic story which analyzes man’s inhumanity to man in the metaphor of a 747 without a pilot!    Helen Reddy’s tour de force performance as Sister Ruth and Charlton Heston’s romantic chemistry with George Kennedy… it’s no wonder why this epic is considered a classic!

Stacks and stacks of controversy!  The new Harbor Market!

Meanwhile, if you want something with a little more drama you can go online and read all about how some residents of Sag Harbor trying to stop the opening of a new market!   The Harbor Market and kitchen is to be located at the site of the old Espresso!    Apparently neighbors are fuming over an upgrade in the ventilation system and what is being perceived as a potential new noise maker!   Now Espresso has been there for years and some are criticizing local residents for trying to have things their way…. after the fact.  Meanwhile opponents are saying it’s just a bit too industrial for a residential neighborhood.      Now we all know it’s hard enough with all the regulations out here for small businesses to survive.    So, I’m not getting into the fray here but I do think sometimes those who live in illegal glass houses should be careful before throwing stones!

Busted! Bella trying to hide her butts!

Finally, longer days can’t come fast enough for me… when is daylight savings time anyway?  But while I’m wishing for warmer longer days, I am going to share a little something that makes spying on my dogs Bella and Russell in the backyard at night a little easier.    They’re called NightIze and they sell for about  $6 on Amazon . It’s as simple as a a clip on a collar and squeeze on the light to use.   Do they work?   Well let’s just put it this way, I’m finding a lot less strange dogs hanging around ….and no more cigarette butts and beer bottles from my two trouble makers going outside.

I hate when my dogs smell like tobacco!

p.s.   I don’t have an editor on this blog, I’m just happy I’m getting it done.    I’ll fix it over the course of the next few days but lighten up folks… I have another job!

A LITTLE ARTIC FUNK…. BRING OUT YOUR INNER SOMMELIER…. AND SOMETHING NEW TO CHEW IN EAST HAMPTON!

It’s snowing again!  So I guess that’s why my brain is now frozen. Yes, I’m falling into my “Arctic Funk.”  But I’m trying desperately to find a way to work my way through it.  I’m remaining positive and focusing on the good stuff.

I want to dress like a food wrapper!

work through it.   In fact, I’m not even going to mention my strained back or the exorbitant bills from the driveway plowing or the fact I have half-fast inter net… thank you very much Cablevision!   Today, I’m  going on a stream of conscious blogging adventure.  It’s cathartic for me…. kind of like Katy Perry dressing like a bag of Wonder Bread or Cheetos and dancing with a shark.   I would have preferred if she had gone dancing with the Jets to be honest!   So, today if you’re looking for some sort of thematic thread from Hamptons Chatter (the most inconsistent blog in the Hamptons) forget it!   Go read somewhere else!

Wainscott Wine and Spirits… Facebook Photo

It’s Winesday/Wednesday according to Kathie Lee and Hoda!  So what better way to celebrate the hallowed hump day festivities then getting your buzz on!    Starting February 25th, Chimene Visser Macnaughton will be hosting a series of wine tasting events at  Wainscott Wine and Spirits.   Some of the topics to be discussed  will be “You say Spumanti, I say Frizzanti” and “Tresors of the Loire Valley.”   Classes start at 5:30p in the store located located at 354 Montauk Highway, Wainscott… in the shopping center right next to the Seafood Shop.   Call the store a 631-537-5800 to register or e mail them at WAINSCOTTMAIN@gmail.com.   The cost is $10 and that’s a bargain for some good wine and mingling with your Hamptons neighbors!  Hopefully I’ll see you there and as the old Liza Minellli song goes, “life is a Cabernet!”

Finally some food news… the restaurant formerly known as “Nichols” has a new tenant.   A sign has now appeared that it’s going to be known as “Winston’s.”    While I don’t have a name of who exactly is opening the place, it’s apparently going to be a Lobster and Steak house.   After all the restaurants that bit the dust in the past 12 months (maybe I should write them all obituaries?), it’s good to finally hear someone is here to help fill the void!

Meanwhile is anyone else depressed that the former Peconic Coast…. JL East…. Beach House…. Hamptons Polo Club space is becoming a garden center?!    Cue the Barry Manilow song.

Hamptons Snow and Tell… Meredith’s Mistake… and Sag Harbor’s Newest Chef!

Meredith…. what went wrong?

Yes, the weather outside is frightful…  so frightful in fact I actually stayed inside, drank coffee and while I was loading kerosine into heaters and batteries into my zillions of lanterns, I watched  the “Meredith Vieira Show!”   I know, I sound like a doomsday prepper!   Anyway, it’s  so sad,  Meredith had the potential to be the new Phil Donahue but instead she’s busy trying to imitate the “Ellen” show.  Why????!   I guess what the television executives are thinking is nobody with half a brain watches television during the day.  Well I guess they’re not wrong but with the ability to watch TV on your phone and everyone having a built in DVR, won’t audiences follow smart programming?  Vieira was great on The View, 60 Minutes and the Today Show.   She was smart and approachable and added a spark to most anything she touched.  What happened!? Oh well but I digress…

Something’s cooking at Baron’s cove!

Some interesting news is thawing around town, while construction continues on the former Baron’s Cove Hotel, the restaurant that’s going into the new facility has apparently lined up a new chef to run the roost.   Rumor around town is that chef Matt Boudreau will be overseeing the new waterfront eatery.    In case you don’t know the name, Matt was the chef at Vine Street Cafe on Shelter Island for the past few years.     While I do love spending the extra $16 bucks and 40 minutes travel time going to “The Rock”, I’m kind of excited to make the trip for some good bolognese a little closer!  Hint to Matt – – – the bolognese on the menu!      In case you weren’t aware, Baron’s Cove was bought by Cape Advisers the folks behind the Watchcase factory a few years ago.  They’ve since started a major renovation of the site and after some back and forth, got permission to open a restaurant on the site with some restrictions.

Meanwhile, the numbers are out and things are looking up for real estate in the Hamptons!   Douglas Elliman just released it’s fourth quarter 2014 “Elliman Reports” for Long Island, Hamptons and North Fork, as well as our Decade (2005-2014) versions of those same markets. The reports are produced in conjunction with Miller Samuel and provide “the most comprehensive and neutral market insight available.”

The Hamptons finished the year with a strong performance. The quarter totals had the most sales in nearly a decade and the highest median sales price in more than seven years.  Along with the rise in sales, inventory remained stable which kept the market moving at a fast pace.

 

If you’d like the read the rest… check it out on Elliman.com!

Snowpocalypse… Snowmageddon….. Blizzard ’15. Here are the pictures!

OK, so this is a good transition blog for me.   I took some time off to recharge my creative juices.     So look for a new blog tomorrow.  I promise.  In the meantime, I took a drive around town so you don’t have to go outside.

Yes……. I have to include Bella and Russell!