THE BEST HAMPTONS PROFRESHIONALS!

Hamptons Farmers Markets Are Back!

Back in the day I would get excited about going to clubs and hearing the latest music but not anymore. Instead of getting psyched for fresh beats I now get excited by fresh BEETS! Ha. Sorry. Hamptons foodies rejoice! Farmers markets are back, or coming back, this summer. With markets up and down the South Fork, we’ll have no shortage of fresh produce and locally sourced goodies until the leaves change. I, for one, cannot wait to dig into the many organic and artisanal delights, like local honey, gourmet mushrooms, fresh pies and heaps of fruits and veggies.

SEE THE SITES AND HOUNDS OF EAST HAMPTON FARMER’S MARKET ON SUNDAY MORNINGS!!

Navigating all that’s out there can be challenging, so I’ve put together this handy list of markets along the South Fork, from Montauk to Westhampton Beach.

Montauk Farmers Market
New vendors and returning favorites will convene on Village Green (743 Montauk Highway) every Thursday from 9 a.m.–2 p.m. starting June 3. The day switches to Fridays on September 17 and will continue with the same hours every Friday through November 19. Covid rules remain in effect, including masks, social distancing and one-way aisles.

East Hampton Farmers Market
This local favorite returns on Fridays at its new Herrick Park location starting May 28 and will continue every Friday from 9 a.m.–2 p.m., rain or shine, through December 12. The Sunday market is already underway at Herrick Park, but the final day is slated for May 30, following the return of Fridays. You’ll find something for every taste, including your dogs.

Look for: Arlotta Foods, Artisan Knives by Gary Parker, Balsam Farms, Blue Duck Bakery, The Complete Burger, The Cookery: Cyn & Trudy, East End Apiaries, Eli’s Bread, Finn’s Smoked Fish Dip, Hamptons Barkery, Hamptons Sourdough, The Hampton Grocer, The Heavenly Hive, Island End Farms, Knot of This World Pretzels, L’Acquolina Pasta, Manna Sauces, Mecox Bay Dairy, Montauk Scallop Co., Open Minded Organics, Papa Pasquale Italian Specialties, Peck’s of Maine, The Perfect Pickle, Regina’s Farmstand, Rena’s Dream Patties, Sand & Soil Farm, Sang Lee Organic Farm, Sharp Cat Knife Sharpening, Solemate Cakes, South Fork Bakery, Terra Nut, The Ferm, The Tumeric Store, Tulo’s Milk, Wickham’s Fruit Farm and Wolffer Estate Vineyards. Personal fave…. The Cookery with Cyn and Trudy! They have amazing fruit tarts, breads and pies!

Fruit Tart from THE COOKERY WITH CYN AND TRUDY!

Sag Harbor Farmers Market

Kicking off next Saturday, May 22 and continuing every Saturday on the corner of Bay and Burke streets from 9 a.m.–1 p.m. through Halloween, the Sag Harbor Farmers Market has all the requisite fresh foods, produce and local products from a long list of vendors. You might even spot a celebrity or two.

Amagansett Farmers Market / Amber Waves Farm and CSA
Operating on land conserved by the Peconic Land Trust in 2008, Amber Waves Farm focuses on their effort to unite food and community “with the mission to provide rich educational opportunities in agriculture for aspiring growers, thoughtful cooks and eaters of all ages.” Visit seven days per week to find fresh, locally grown vegetables, fruits and herbs, among other goodies, from 8 a.m.–5 p.m. at 367 Main Street. And ask about their CSA program if you want to go full-on crunchy granola.

Westhampton Beach Farmers Market
Open Saturdays from 9 a.m.–1 p.m. at the Village Green (Main Street and Beach Lane), the Westhampton Beach Chamber of Commerce’s market hosts over 60 vendors, growers and producers offering locally grown, caught made items such as breads, fruits and vegetables, herbs, honey, local wine, pickles, mushrooms, Greek yogurt, shellfish, ravioli, fudge, cheese, cakes and pies, eggs, fish, flowers, sauces, spice rubs, chicken, gourmet items and much more.

Go to one or go to them all! This is Hamptons living done right.

SOULCYCLE GETS A NEW NEIGHBOR IN WATER MILL! YOU KNOW IT’S SUMMER WHEN….

In what’s probably one of the better business moves this summer, Sag Harbor staple Provisions will be adding another location at the former site of Citerella in Water Mill shopping center.

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Smoothies and Salads and Bears… oh my!

A smart move considering every Saturday and Sunday, the area swarms with Lululemonites loitering after the SoulCycle classes next door.  Which means getting a green juice or smoothie just got a lot easier!! Thank the lord…. or at least the owners of Provisions.    If you’ve never been to Sag Harbor location, it’s probably one of the best natural food markets anywhere and the organic cafe is always packed!!    According to highly placed sources (the guy at the cash register yesterday), the Water Mill location will be opening sometime in Mid-July.     While I’m sure it will swamped like their other location,  they may want to burn some sage to be safe.     It couldn’t hurt to clean some of the possible bad juju that sunk Citarella (in that location), Avanti market (which I loved), West Elm and Blockbuster video (damn you streaming video!)!    Anyway, you can check out their website by clicking here for more details.

Well, the calendar says it’s June and the summer season is defintiely upon us.    But like the traffic jams on 27 and the blooms of the rhodaden… Roudaden….. Rhodamorgenterns… errrr… RHODODENDRON (like you know how to spell it?) there are other signs that that it’s that time of year in the Hamptons!   Here are a few that I always look for…

Wolffer Vineyards becomes the Pumpkin Town of warm weather on Friday Nights!  Screaming kids, parents that ignore them, jazz music and cars lining up and down the highway…. all with Summer in a Bottle… it’s beach living at it’s finest!

People are constantly asking every store, restaurant, real estate office and bank for their wifi password!  Cell service sucks in the Hamptons…. we all know it.    It’s even suckier in the summer!  Period.    Listen I get it…. it’s isolating and frustrating.   But maybe this summer we can try checking our social media accounts when we get home people!?  Nahhhh. I hate talking to people in person too!

There’s a stranded German luxury car on the beach!    If you drive two days a week for 12 weeks a year, maybe getting a Range Rover or MercedAudibeach9es G-Class isn’t such a great Mercedeesbeachidea (also other people need parking spaces too!)   Try starting with something smaller and easier to handle and perhaps watertight like a VW bug.    Just because you have 4 wheel drive doesn’t mean your car is good for beach driving, especially as the high tide is coming!

Restaurant Managers get Amnesia!    If you’ve ever seen the movie “What’s Up Doc,” you’ll remember the scene where Madeline Kahn gets dragged out of a banquet by her heels when her fiance says “I’ve never seen this woman before in my life.”   Well that’s how more than a few of us feel this time of year when we head out to eat on weekend night.   Ummm, I’m the guy who comes in every Monday in October and April and I’m the only one in the place?!   Patrick?!  No!?   Grrrrrr. 

Anyway, enough complaining…. I’m loving the warm weather, the calls from my long lost relatives and paying double for everything!  It’s summer in the Hamptons everyone!!!  Party on!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SIGNS OF SPRING!!!

I feel it!  Spring has finally arrived on the east end.   How do I know?  Because Round Swamp Farm has reopened.  YES!   Now, I no longer have to drive by longing and

round swamp
Elastic waistbands optional… ROUND SWAMP FARM!

slobbering in vain for my Mexican Layer Dip,  Sour Cream Coffee Cake or Brussels Sprout Caesar Salad or cinnamon rolls or guacamole or Lisa’s Oatmeal Raisin cookies or Claire’s Lemon Pound Cake or BBQ chicken or … no, I must stop.  Lucky for us they don’t publish the calorie counts on anything they make!

Another sign of spring is the Roses are in bloom!   By the way,  I’m not talking about the flowers I’m talking about Wolffer’s Summer in a Bottle.     After a shortage last year when supplies went dry at the end of July, production has been upped and everyone will be able to enjoy their Rose for breakfast throughout the summer!    The colorful

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THE BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS?

bottle which is a work of art itself hasn’t changed since last year but it is a new vintage.  In case you’ve been out of the loop, Summer in a Bottle retails for about $25 and is available at Wolffer Estate Vineyard or virtually every spirit shop in the Hamptons.        Remember, life may be a cabernet but rose is better!

 

 

Sag Harbor Shuffles….. Plus Memorial Day – Benefit Update!

He former home of The Cuddy!

Big news in Sag Harbor, the site of the former Phao… The Cuddy… and whatever else… well it is now becoming a branded restaurant for Wolffer Wines.    Yes, I will miss The Cuddy’s burgers! Early reports had the property opening soon as a tasting room but I’ve heard it’s actually going to have a full blown menu and be a real restaurant.   It will have a “high profile” chef that has already signed on to get behind the grill… or the stove… or the deep fryer… whatever they’ll have!    No word on weather they’ll have a steady reserve of Wolffer Rose to last through the summer.   Remember last year, our rose cups runnith dry!

Meanwhile, don’t cry for Espresso Argentina… they’re coming back to town.   Yes, the home of the best turkey focaccia sandwiches ever..anywhere… will be going into the space formerly occupied by Cigar Bar…. hopefully they’ll get rid of stale beer and stale cigarette smell. The property was vacant for the past few seasons and is already undergoing renovations! So now, you can get your sandwich and have your Yummylicious too (you know the place that looks like a “Hello Kitty” brothel).

Finally, one of the big benefits for years in the Hamptons was The Miracle House Memorial Day Kickoff at Bridgehampton Surf and Tennis Club.   It was wall to wall people every year and guests mingled with celebrities like Taylor Dane, Andy Cohen and Cheyenne Jackson.   Well the organization which housed severely ill adults in NYC sadly shuttered last year.   It was a loss for the community in NYC and created a hole in the all important Hamptons benefit schedule.   Well now comes word that the date and the location have been reserved by the  LGBT Network of Long Island.   Tickets will start at a affordable $250 for the cocktail party and are already available with additional information on the organizations website!