Jon plus 8… in the Hamptons they hate!!

I’ve been busy, now leave me alone! But I’m here blogging, ain’t I!?!?!

You may have missed me… but things haven’t changed much. I did get a big chuckle this morning when my friend John Pascarella who does his daily gossip blurb which he sends to my blackberry had this headline… “DISASTER! Jon Gosselin (Jon and Kate Plus 8) was nearly LAUGHED out of a swanky Hamptons event!” I love that!!! Apparently this reality star who has never heard of Rick Rockwell or Darva Conger… if you haven’t either “google”… is taking himself a bit too seriously! Not looking to win any father of the year contests (his kids are hanging in PA), he was cruising at Polo this weekend in Bridgehampton and apparently got heckled for wearing cheap clothes! Funny when it happens to him… obnoxious when it happens to me!!! Anyway, I poked around and got another scoop, Mr. Gosselin was shocked when he asked a group of folks if they wanted to have their picture taken with them, when they asked “WHY?” he did a quick bee-line to the other side of the tent. Curious about Jon’s outfit.. which doesn’t look that awful; go to

http://www.okmagazine.com/2009/07/jon-gosselin-laughed-out-of-hamptons-party/

They made fun of that?!?! If you think that’s bad go search out the photos of the centenarian hippies boogeying at that fun fest known as the “Bay Street Gala.” To quote Rodney Dangerfield, they all “must have been something before electricity!”

Finally, some fun photos. Gerry Logue and Sean Cassidy … no relation to David … held there annual “Cocktails by the Bay” at their waterfront home in Sag Harbor benefiting Miracle House (www.miraclehouse.org). Check out the photos below. It was really a special event on a beautiful night. My only regret… I didn’t get my photo taken with Joan Allen… A REAL CELEBRITY!

The Hamptons get a topless bar!!!

Did I say topless? I meant tapas.. sorry. The old Allison on School Street just got a make over with a latin flair. COPA is the newest restaurant to enter into the Hamptons food derby.

I managed to make it in there last Friday night. The bar crowd was a bit Bobby Van’s-ish, which means lots of botox and overpriced watches but it was pretty hopping. The layout of the restaurant was impressive, a center zinc topped bar surrounded by dining. I had the meatballs, fried zucchini fritters with dill yogurt sauce, salmon satay, tomato flat bread and a greek salad. The food was amazing and the service was terrific too. THIS, ON THE SECOND NIGHT OF BUSINESS IS A HUGE ACHIEVEMENT. The price was about $50-60 per person including drinks. While this might seem pricey considering the small plates but I walked away full and this is the Hamptons.

Copa is located 95 School Street, Bridgehampton. I don’t know if they take reservations but it can’t hurt to call… 631 613-6469

The only negative comment I have!? They may have a hard time explaining the menu to some of the clueless. Walking out of the restaurant a patron remarked to me, “it was terrific but it got annoying having to order all of those little dishes.” TRUE COMMENT!

Finally a warning for anyone going to the 7-11 in Southampton… the coffee is more expensive than you think!!! On the way back from a recent expedition into the city I decided to stop by and get a cup of coffee. As I reached into my pocket to get a couple bucks, I dropped a $10 bill on the floor. Ask anyone who knows me, I always crumple up my money and have been known to lay it around the office or house like a trail of breadcrumbs out of the woods. Anyway, as I went to reach for the money, the manager reached down and grabbed the bill. Did he hand it to me?!?! NO! I said to him, I dropped that just now! He remarked, “no you didn’t… that’s been there for a long time.” Yeah, 10 dollars was sitting on the floor of 7-11 for more than 20 seconds unclaimed. True story!!!

The best burrito in the Hamptons continues to be from 7-11 in Sag Harbor!

I got another round of nasty comments about the New Blue Parrott in East Hampton. Overpriced, tiny portions, bland and too much attitude are the most common complaints. Sure, Mr Bon Jovi or is it Mr. Jovi occaisionally shows up but if you’re actually going to eat it sounds like that isn’t the place where you want to go. It’s obvious the Hamptons needs a good southwestern or mexican restaurant… why can’t we get one???

I forgot a few weeks ago to mention a great place on the water in East Hampton. While I love the food and view at Bostwicks, I hate the wait. So, if you want to have food with a great view without waiting for 45 minutes, try Harbor Bistro. The prices are actually pretty decent and the menu is ecclectic and interesting without being so exotic you’re scratching your head. My personal favorit is the “seared tuna with soba noodles.” AWESOME! They also have a really friendly and competent staff. Harbor Bistro is located on Three Mile Harbor Road, next to East Hampton Point (where I recently had one of the worst meals of the summer— yes you can ruin a basic chicken breast)! The view is above left.

Finally, This Saturday… Stuff to do. Mercedes-Benz Polo Challenge at Two Trees Farm on Hayground Rd, 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm A portion of proceeds from the Mercedes-Benz Bridgehampton Polo Challenge will go to South Fork Breast Cancer Coalition. The VIP tent continues to play host to a large overdressed and overly liquered crowd that cares absoloutly nothing about the polo players, horses or anything else other than who else is in the tent and how much cooler they are!!

And for the un-chic set. Fireworks on 3 Mile Harbor this Saturday starting at 9pm. If you have friends on the Harbor, call now!

UGGGGH! I’ve been busy but I have some rental stories from hell!!

Sorry, I haven’t been around lately. I was busy doing this and doing that and I had a house full of Canadian Guests!!! They fly south every summer and stay for a weekend and usually bring good gifts… much easier than Canadian Geese!

Anyway, I’ve been talking to a few friends and myself included and here are a few rental stories from the war zone!

A couple has rented a 10,000 square foot house south of the highway called the land lord and started berating him!! Why?!?! Because there was NO TOASTER! Let’s just put it this way, the rental was well over $100k for A MONTH… and they’re pissed about a toaster!!! When my friend the landlord stated that indeed there was a toaster over in the kitchen, the horrified response from the renter was “Are you kidding, EVERYONE knows there’s a difference in how toast tastes from a toaster oven!”

Hmmmmmm… ok. On to the next. Things are a little slow in the purchase department lately although it IS picking up. None the less, some top agents are still taking out folks looking to rent…even short term. I recently had one who was looking at rentals up to $80,000 for July and August. When they finally found a house, where do you think they came in at?! Yup, $25,000! The landlord was gracious and declined the blue light special to his house. His comment, “I won’t travel and I’ll just stay home.”

Another story from the NW Woods where a house was infested with wood ants. Just imagine the horror of the agent who showed the house which was asking for $18,000 for the month of August, only to find piles of wood shavings all over the house and on top of mirrors and dressers (apparently that’s what happens with wood ants. When the agent apologized for showing the house in the current condition, the potential renters said, “I’ll take it but I want a bigger discount!”

A story from East Hampton, a tenant rents a house with a heated pool. The pool is heated by propane which comes in tanks and is delivered on an automatic basis. Well as everyone knows the weather has been a bit chilly lately. Well guess what happens when you run your pool gas heater all week?! It runs out of gas!!! Now the tenant who calls on Saturday is angry because she has a pool party for her 7 year old on Sunday afternoon…and the kids will have to swim in a cold pool! “You need to do something,” she yells at the landlord. Who actually can’t do anything… as anyone who has ever called Pulver gas on a Saturday afternoon can tell you! Anyway, enough for today, I have to get back to work. I promise I’m back!!