News for Foodies
By Joanne Pilgrim
Almondito No More
The big news for foodies this week — maybe good, maybe bad, depending on one’s favored cuisine — is that Jason Weiner and Eric Lemonides, the owners of Almond in Bridgehampton and Almondito in Wainscott, have new plans for the Wainscott site.
Almondito will close later this month, to be replaced by Almoncello, a northern Italian restaurant. Mr. Lemonides, just back from a trip to Bologna and Milan, calls the food he found there “truly inspired cuisine.” Mr. Weiner, the chef, promises that Almoncello “will reflect this artisanal and seasonal approach.”
The restaurant will be redecorated in the style of “a relaxed Bologna-inspired trattoria,” according to a press release. The menu will include “honest rustic fare” such as braised veal cheeks with penne, caramelized onions, and grain mustard; wild boar ragu, and striped bass with salsify, savoy cabbage, pancetta, and crispy chickpeas. Italian wines from all regions, especially those made by small wineries, will be featured.
Almondito will have a “final fiesta” on Nov. 25, and Almoncello is expected to be open in mid-December.
Wintertime Mexican
Those jonesing for a Mexican fix will, however, have the option of going to La Fondita in Amagansett, which for the first time this year will stay open for an extended season, or “as long as people keep coming,” according to its owners.
New in Montauk
Another restaurant opening in the off-season will be the new eatery taking the place of Ruschmeyer’s in Montauk, reportedly to be called the Second House Tavern. Details about the venture, expected to open later this month, will be forthcoming.
Fall Fare at Plaza
At the Plaza Cafe in Southampton, the menu has been revised to reflect flavors for fall. New menu items include pumpkin lobster bisque, and butternut squash ravioli with Catapano Farms goat cheese, walnuts, and sage brown butter, as starters. New entrees include herb-crusted Chatham Bay cod with local littleneck clams and chowder broth, pan-seared wild Alaskan coho salmon, local monkfish, osso buco with prosciutto, roasted tomatoes, spinach, and saffron orzo, porcini-crusted yellowfin tuna, grilled sirloin steak, and duck, from Jurgielewicz Duck Farm in Moriches, prepared three ways.
Winter Lunch Combo
Babette’s restaurant in East Hampton is offering winter lunch specials, including a soup, salad, and sandwich combo for $12.95. A dinner prix fixe is offered on Friday and Saturday for $38.
Cafe Max Stretches Week
Cafe Max in East Hampton will extend its restaurant week special dinner for $21.95 through Monday. Long Island Restaurant Week, with numerous restaurants offering a prix fixe for $21.95, concludes on Sunday.
Taste of Italy
The Shagwong restaurant in Montauk has a nightly Italian prix fixe menu, with a choice of appetizer, entree, homemade dessert, and a glass of Italian wine for $27. Food is served at the Shagwong until midnight.
Cocktails at Matto
At Matto, an Italian eatery on North Main Street in East Hampton, there are some new specialty cocktails, including the “Matto-tini,” a drink made with Stoli Razz, Godiva and Bailey’s liqueurs, and Chambord. The others include the “Apple Pie,” the “Creamsicle,” the “Sicilian Kiss,” with Southern Comfort and amaretto, and the “French Kiss,” with Stoli Razz, orange Chambord, and cranberry juice.
Cooking School
The Loaves and Fishes cooking school in Bridgehampton will offer a “girls’ night” class tonight from 6 to 8. Jeanne Cuddy Peretz will preside over a wine and cheese sampling, during which women will make their own holiday pie. The cost is $69.
Tomorrow, the school will hold a fondue and wine dinner cooking class from 6 to 9 p.m., and on Saturday, Lia Fallon will present “traditions from France,” also from 6 to 9 in the evening. On Tuesday there will be a 6 to 9 p.m. class with John O’Connell, a chef at Almondito, who will teach students how to make signature dishes from the restaurant (a good idea for cooks who will miss the eatery after it closes later this month). On Friday, Nov. 16, Cynthia Battaglia will give a class on making a Thanksgiving feast, also from 6 to 9 p.m. Each session costs $99.
On Saturday at the Loaves and Fishes store on Bridgehampton’s Main Street, Chris Cariello, an instructor at the cooking school, will demonstrate how to make some of the recipes presented in its classes.
At Williams-Sonoma in Bridgehampton, recipes from the cooking store’s new cookbook, “Holiday Entertaining,” will be featured in a noon to 2 p.m. cooking class on Tuesday. The featured recipes will include butternut squash soup with ginger crème fraiche, sautéed green beans with onion and bacon vinaigrette, baked ham with spiced cider glaze, and rich chocolate brownie cake.