restaurants

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!

Spring Clean Up Time…. and are you Dirty Dining??!

“Spring has sprung, the grass has riz’.  I wonder where the birdie is?   The little bird it’s on the wing.  No that’s absurd the little wing is on the bird”  – Curly Howard

Yes, spring is beginning to poke its head in the Hamptons.   That of course means time to get your  house and home ready for the avalanche of new friends and guests that seem to appear about the same time as the tulips and daffodils bloom!     But as we all know, those bulbs and flowers don’t bloom themselves.   A beautiful garden takes prep!  It also requires a spring clean up and recently I discussed this very topic with the talented and affable Frederico Azevedo from Unlimited Earth Care in Bridgehampton.     Here are some of his basic suggestions to make sure you have a house beautiful!

Speaking of seasonal clean ups, there are a few food establishments on the East End that need to get their acts together.   In case you missed the headlines, there has been quite a stir in the city lately with the home of the “cronut” Dominique Ansel bakery... (I’ll have cronut hold the Mickey please)…. and Per Se having lots of drama with health inspectors.    So that got me thinking (yes occasionally that happens),  “Self,  are the restaurants in the Hamptons clean?”

This is a better image then seeing a mouse in a kitchen, right?

While it would be great to see those grades on windows like they have in the city, no such thing exists in Suffolk County. So naturally that means you need to go on the web and do some snooping of course!  Now, I’m happy to report that while all my favorite establishments have received a clean report card, there are others in the Hamptons that weren’t so lucky.  So what are some of the violations?  Well, not to gross you out but apparently inspectors found everything from moldy cheese, improperly stored fish and poultry, uncovered rodent bait stations to some employees who don’t like washing their hands!!!     So, who were the guilty parties?  I’ll never tell you need to go the link here and see for yourself.   Be careful,  you might not like what you find!!!

Holiday Hangover … How to make the Hamptons Happy… Again!

I’m back after the holiday week/weekend.  It wasn’t that I was lying back and taking it easy.   In fact, it continues to be for me along with most real estate agents, one of the busiest seasons in recent memory.    So, I took a breather from the blog and immersed myself in the summer of 2013.

While every year people seem to say the traffic and the crowds are worse than the year before, this year they’re right.  It’s a war out there!   But there is a chance for peace in the Hamptons and I’m making my attempt for a Nobel Peace Prize for my fine work right here with Hamptons Chatter.     So how can we turn our little piece of heaven into a shangri-la?
First of all, you avoid the places that make your blood pressure boil.   Last year, I had one of my most successful blogs ever talking about the most unfriendly places in the Hamptons (Hamptons Hostility 7/13/12).    But this year,  I’ve learned to be more of a “glass is half full” kind of guy.  I’m going to offer solutions for the problems of the east end.   So here they are in no particular order, my “pointers” for making a happier Hamptons.

Terror awaits the hungry diner at Topping Rose!

1)   Improve the Service !   –  Last Monday, I went to the Topping Rose in Bridgehampton.  In case you weren’t aware, this is celebrity chef Tom Colicchio’s new restaurant at the spa and Inn of the same name.   While the food was actually dynamite the service made me want to go postal.   Now, I don’t mind mediocre service when I’m at a…. say… Friendly’s or TGIFriday’s.     But when you’re paying top dollar for the food, you shouldn’t have to wait 50 minutes after your reservation time just to get seated and another 10 minutes to get water! UGH!   I’m sorry throwing a skimpy cheese plate on the house doesn’t compensate for getting dinner at 10:40pm on a 9pm reservation.      Guys, people are spending the bucks on the food and the booze so hire the extra bus person and the extra cook.  Also, it’s not a bad idea to admit you screwed up and not blame it on the other patrons!   Other than the Topping Rose, this is also good suggestion for Serafina (updated… had dinner there tonight… AWFUL service and no air-conditioning) and The Living Room.       By the way, I know none of you are going to listen to me so go try it yourself!

The devil is in the machinery!

2) Get Rid of Those Auto Check Outs and HIRE SOME PEOPLE! –  Here’s my ancient Chinese secret, if you need more Calgon on the weekend, wait.    Besides the way the lines move at the K-Mart, CVS and Walbaum’s stores in South and East Hampton it’s quicker to order it from Amazon!    I know, I keep harping about this but at least hire some extra check out people.   Those scanners don’t work!!!    Besides, there are some people who these things just scare the bejeezus out of.  It’s the equivalent to them of appearing on stage!  They sweat!  They panic!   They freeze… then they freeze the machines!    It’s like Lucy in the chocolate factory.   I like my machines in movies…  example “The Terminator 2”.. not when I buy my milk.

3) Get Ample Parking and Force  Commuting! –  As anyone who’s been to Soul Cycle, Fly-Wheel or any of the gyms out here knows, half the work out is finding a parking space.   I’ve actually heard reports of fist fight in one particular spin studio!!!  Blood is not a good color on Lululemon!   So here is my idea… ride your bikes to spin class people!!! DUH!   You don’t have to do two classes this way and

It’s my space and class is starting!!!

you’re actually helping to save the planet (watch that Al Gore movie it will explain)!    On top of that gym/spin studio owners could help themselves by offering incentives to patrons that commute!   How about free water for everyone who comes in a car of two or more.  I know free water… it still cracks me up I’m willing to pay $2.50 for water!   My grandmother is rolling her eyes in her grave every time I do it!   But back to the topic… how about at least a free stain remover for those who have blood stains from the fights in the parking lot!!?  I know, it’s a brilliant idea!    OK, there it is my treatise on how to make the Hamptons happy again!  Have a great summer everybody!!!

 

The birthplace of Hannibal Lechter? Plus, where would he go for lunch?!

 

Pass the fava beans!!! It’s Hannibel’s house!

 

We all know that Sag Harbor has been a haven for artists and writers of all types for years.  John Steinbeck, E.L. Doctrow and the late great Spaulding Gray have all found their inspiration among the waters of the fair Harbor and the stale beer of Murph’s.  Well, maybe Steinbeck never went to Murph’s but I bet he would have loved it!    But I digress… so, I learned something new the other day when talking to a friend of mine in Hamptons.  The house is located on Jermain Avenue in Sag Harbor and to be honest,  I fail to see how this sweet property could have ever been the birth place of the red wine swilling cannibal known as Hannibal Lechter.   The house is currently on the market for a little under  $1.5 million dollars and listed with Gioia DiPaolo of Douglas Elliman in Sag Harbor.    You can see the listing here…. and yes it’s walking distance to Murph’s!  That alone makes it worth more than the asking price!!  So make and offer and tell them I sent you… and who knows if you buy it, maybe you too can be inspired to write one of the most frightening best sellers of all time!!

our Sag Harbor office.

Sidewalk dining at Madison and Main

So speaking of Sag Harbor and dining but not the cannibalistic kind; the town was recently voted one of the friendliest places in the country.   But now I think it deserves another honor.  I’m declaring Sag Harbor the “Lunch Capital of the Hamptons.”   Sure, there are plenty of restaurants in the Hamptons but where can you go to have a good lunch (especially during the week)?   With the recent addition of Madison and Main, Sag Harbor is by a long shot the best place for the mid day meals.     While East Hampton has Ralph Lauren and Bridgehampton has real estate offices, the Harbor has more eating restaurants per foot than any other town.   It’s also the only one where you can dine out doors without breathing in the exhaust from Rt. 27.   Let’s think about this, you have the American Hotel (I suggest The Cobb salad), LT Burger (I recommend the fries and turkey burgers), Dockside (the tuna wrap), Madison and Main (tuna tacos), Bay Burger (the burger duh) and Page (you’re on your own) all with open air dining.     So why am I writing this?  Well because when you have your weekend guests and you want to get them out of the house for some privacy Saturday afternoon, send them to Sag.  See this blog is good for something!