News for Foodies

By Joanne Pilgrim

Saturday will be a big day for foodies, when a host of local restaurateurs and wineries serve samples of their fare at A Taste of the Hamptons, the annual Family Service League fund-raiser. This year, the event will be held at the Wolffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack, from 5 to 8 p.m.

Participating restaurants include Tierra Mar, Saracen, Alison by the Beach, Oasis, East by Northeast, the Harvest, and Chinda's. Tickets, which can be reserved by calling the Family Service League office in Huntington, are $150 in advance and $175 at the door.

Robert Tebinka, formerly a baker and chef at Loaves and Fishes in Sagaponack, is now the corporate chef for the Golden Pear cafes, with locations in Stony Brook, Southampton, Bridgehampton, and East Hampton. The cafes have added cases full of prepared foods to go, including yogurt with berries, gazpacho, smoked trout dip, and spinach salad.

Cookshop Classes

On Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m., the Golden Pear in East Hampton will showcase its catering menu with complimentary food tastings and a martini bar. Visitors can enter to win a $250 gift certificate, and those who book a party that night will receive a free bag of Golden Pear coffee.

The new Loaves and Fishes Cookshop in Bridgehampton has a summer lineup of cooking classes. Sybille Van Kempen, the owner, will teach a baking class on foccacia and savory breads today from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at a cost of $75, and a class on how to make Spanish tapas tomorrow night from 6 to 9. It costs $100. Preregistration is required.

Serious cooks have serious knives, and treat them like gold, making sure they are ever sharp. Representatives from J.A. Henckel, a German knife manufacturer, will sharpen carbon stainless steel knives for free at two Hildreth's department stores this weekend. Sharpening will take place on Saturday at the East Hampton Hildreth's store from 9 a.m. to noon and at the Southampton Hildreth's from 1 to 4 p.m.

Guest Chef

At the Channing Daughters Winery tonight, there will be a class on white wines of the Loire region of France from 6 to 8. Admission is $55 and reservations are required. The winery is on Scuttlehole Road in Bridgehampton.

Jay Shaffer of the Shaffer City Oyster Bar in Manhattan will be the guest chef at the Maidstone Arms in East Hampton tomorrow night. A three-course dinner served from 6 to 10 p.m. will cost $85.

The Oasis Waterfront Restaurant and Bar in Sag Harbor, where new items have been added to the summer menu, is offering a three-course, prix fixe dinner for $28 on Thursday, Sunday, and Monday. Boaters can arrive by water at Oasis, which has three slips available for diners.

New Name, New Owners

George and Nina Boden, who in 1998 took over Schmidt's market in East Hampton, have changed its name to Hampton Marketplace, East Hampton Village. The produce, grocery, and deli, which includes Hampton Prime Meats, is unchanged, except for a bright new coat of red paint. The Bodens are unaffiliated with Schmidt's market in Southampton and said the new name will help establish their autonomy and perhaps pave the way for a second location some day.

The Springs General Store has new owners. Kevin Reynolds, a massage therapist and retired policeman, and his wife, Kristi Hood, a professional chef who runs Molly Rose catering, took over on June 18.

Ms. Hood will house her catering and specialty cake business there, and the store will continue its deli and grocery business, with an addition to the homemade fare of some vegetarian selections, such as veggie burgers.

The couple have not only set up shop but have moved, with their children, to the apartment above the store, which overlooks Accabonac Harbor. Kayak and canoe rentals will continue, with picnic lunches for paddlers available at the store.

Savanna's restaurant in Southampton has a new executive chef. Shawn Mills, whose culinary education began in childhood at his family's Jersey Shore restaurant, worked most recently at Amici restaurant in Palm Beach, Fla. In the Savanna's kitchen, he is making homemade pastas and dishes featuring local seafood, organic produce, exotic game, and prime steaks. The restaurant also bakes its own bread in a wood-burning oven.