Food

    A fun destination this time of year is Hank’s Pumpkin Town in Watermill. There are corn mazes, face painting, stuff to climb on, and . . . pumpkins! Most people probably see this as a fun fall activity with children. Me? When I drive by those acres of low-to-the-ground greenery with bright orange orbs by the thousands peeking out, I think food! I see Tunisian sweets, French soups, African stews, and American cheesecakes.

    Oktoberfest continues at Rowdy Hall in East Hampton, with a special featuring weinerschnitzel on the menu today and tomorrow. Starting Saturday, the $24 Oktoberfest prix fixe dinner menu will feature kassler rippchen — smoked pork chops — with braised red cabbage and house-made applesauce, plus a Black Forest trifle for dessert. The special Oktoberfest dessert is available a la carte as well. The restaurant’s German-style celebration, which includes beer specials, will conclude at the end of next week.

Southampton’s little/red

    In the 1830s, when the temperance movement was flourishing in America, fanatic teetotalers took up axes and flailed away at whole orchards of apple trees. With no thought for the delights of warm apple pie or syrupy baked apples or roast pork with applesauce, they were bent on eliminating the evil of hard cider.

    Ellenka Baumrind of Springs, who started by handing out a few jars of her ratatouille to friends about eight years ago, never expected to make a business out of it.

    But Ellie’s Country Delights — all-natural vegan vegetable stew in original, spicy, and mushroom forms — has made the jump from kitchen to local markets, to now being offered in 400 Stop & Shop stores in the Northeast, and is a recent addition to the Whole Foods Market lineup as well. Ms. Baumrind has gone from an original run of about 360 jars in 2005 to over 50,000 jars in 2010.

    This week brings the final opportunity till spring to purchase produce and other edibles directly from farmers, fishermen, and local producers at both the East Hampton and Springs farmers markets.

    Vendors will gather in East Hampton at the Nick and Toni’s parking lot on North Main Street tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Those who receive assistance through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or through the WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) program can cash in their coupons for scrip that can be used to purchase fresh food at the market.

    Tips for canning and preserving the seasonal produce bounty will be provided by Liz Moran during a program at Quail Hill Farm in Amagansett from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. Admission is free for farm members and $10 for nonmembers. Rain cancels.

Eat, Drink, and Be Happy

    Now that fall is here, lots of restaurants are trying to lure in a bar crowd by offering specials on drinks and bar food, or even free eats.

    Colin Ambrose, the chef and owner of Estia’s Little Kitchen in Sag Harbor, will present the next program of “Cooking With East End Chefs” at the Old Whalers Church in Sag Harbor on Wednesday. Beginning at 6:30 p.m., Mr. Ambrose will prepare roasted squash salad, striped bass, and cafe con leche flan, and will discuss his use of East End produce and goods. The requested donation for the event is $30. Wine will be served. Those interested have been asked to call to reserve a place. Payment can be made at the door.

Lobster Roll

    Here’s Ishmael, from “Moby-Dick”:

    “But when that smoking chowder came in, the mystery was delightfully explained. Oh! sweet friends, hearken to me. It was made of small, juicy clams, scarcely bigger than hazel nuts, mixed with pounded ship biscuits and salted pork cut up into little flakes! the whole enriched with butter, and plentifully seasoned with pepper and salt. . . . We despatched it with great expedition.”

Oh, boy! Here is yet another red-hot Montauk spot swarming with mini-dresses and cocktails and fedoras. The Crow’s Nest is red-hot because it was taken over by the restaurateur and hotelier Sean McPherson last year. I’m not sure what this means as far as the inn goes, but the restaurant has been transformed into an absolute delight.

    The Springs Farmers Market continues post-Labor Day each Saturday morning at the Ashawagh Hall green, at the junction of Fireplace Road and Old Stone Highway.

    The market offers vegetables from five different farms, plus specialty mushrooms, cheeses, breads and other baked goods, jam, flowers, homemade dog treats, pickles, coffee, and seafood.

Supporting Farmers

    The annual Hamptons Burger Bloodbath took place last weekend at the Gilt City Hamptons house in Bridgehampton, pitting eight chefs at separate grills against one another in creating the “ideal beach burger.”

    For the second year in a row, the winner was Mo Koyfman of Manhattan, whose entry featured a sliced tomato from Vicki’s Veggies farm stand in Amagansett and slices of Nana’s bread-and-butter pickles, made by Jane Bimson of Montauk, along with melted American cheese, shredded lettuce, and a special sauce.

I went to a lovely dinner party last night. The company and wine sparkled. Friends from childhood were gathered from near and far. The menu: grilled swordfish, burgers, corn, and tomato salad. At one point in the meal, a guest looked up from his plate and said, “This is really what it’s all about.”

Harvest Wine

    Tickets are on sale for several events to take place during the second annual Harvest Wine Auction and Celebration of Long Island’s East End, which begins on Labor Day weekend.

    On Sept. 3, the American Hotel will host one of several “wine salon” programs to be offered throughout the event. They will offer a behind the scenes look at viticulture and winemaking on Long Island, and feature discussions with some of the industry’s leading experts.

    I believe I have eaten at Banzai Burger more times than any other restaurant I’ve tried this summer. It is not grand, fancy, expensive, or trendy. It is whatever you want it to be.

    Looking for a casual spot to take the kids for a burger after the beach? Banzai has one with a special blend of beef, topped with local Mecox Bay Dairy’s Sigit cheese. Want sushi? Banzai has a sushi chef, Isao Yoshimura, who goes fishing for his own menu specials. Like desserts? In spite of the deceptively simple menu, all desserts are made in-house and they are delicious.

    The Atlantic Ocean has historically supported generations of East End families through fishing, boating, and tourism. Now an Amagansett couple, Natalie and Steven Judelson, have found a new way to garner the gifts of the sea. They have been harvesting, bottling, and selling Amagansett Sea Salt at local farmers’ markets since the beginning of the summer.

    The Judelsons have had a longtime interest in the culture of salt, starting in the salt flats of Brazil and on the island of St. Barth’s. “We loved collecting sea salts from around the world,” Ms. Judelson said.

Cooking Class Alfresco

    Silvia Lehrer, a cooking teacher and columnist who recently published “Savoring the Hamptons: Discovering the Food and Wine of Long Island’s East End,” will present a cooking class outdoors at Bridge Gardens in Bridgehampton on Friday, Aug. 26.

Lobsterpalooza!

    The Lobster Roll restaurant on Napeague is having a “Lobsterpalooza” throughout the month of August. Featured are lobster bisque, lobster and shrimp cocktail, lobster salad sliders, seafood mac and cheese, seafood chili, lobster-crab cake sliders, and steamed whole lobsters. To wash it all down there will be lobster ale, and a dessert of strawberries, peaches, and Captain Morgan’s rum.

Class With Karen Lee

    Peter Ambrose has been catering everything from clambakes to elegant weddings for the past 25 years.

    “My father is a native bubby,” Mr. Ambrose said of his dad, Joseph Ambrose. His grandparents built and owned the Three Mile Harbor Inn for 40 years. Mr. Ambrose’s mother, Christine, was born and raised in Sag Harbor, where Mr. Ambrose lives with his wife, Clare, and their three children.

    The Harbor Grill in East Hampton will host the Bracket Bash, a fund-raiser for the Travis Field Memorial Scholarship, on Sunday. The event will start at 7 p.m. and include a dinner buffet and live music, plus a cash bar. The cost at the door will be $15 per person.

    The 2011 Great Chefs Dinner to benefit Hayground School, now in its seventh year, will be held on Sunday with its usual roster of marquee chefs from near and far — plus the designer and television personality Isaac Mizrahi, who joins as a surprise guest cook.

    This year, the art auction that accompanies the culinary action is drawing as much buzz as the tastings and wine pairings.

    Gael Greene, the restaurant critic and author, will be on the menu along with French cuisine at a special event at Almond restaurant in Bridgehampton on Aug. 7.

    Three courses prepared by Jason Weiner, Almond’s chef, and paired with wines will be interspersed with readings by Ms. Greene from her New York Times best seller, “Blue Skies, No Candy,” as well as from “Delicious Sex: A Gourmet Guide to Pleasure for Women and the Men Who Want to Love Them Better.”

    Summer is a good time for foodies, not only because of the abundance of fresh vegetables and seafood, but also because, like regular folk, top chefs enjoy a chance to visit the South Fork and ply their trade for a good cause.

    The James Beard Foundation’s Chefs and Champagne event at Wolffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack on Saturday will feature culinary treats from a select group of more than 40 chefs. Among them will be James Carpenter, who heads up the kitchen at the Living Room restaurant in East Hampton.

Some of the descendants of the earliest European settlers, many of whom have been farmers for generations, are at the forefront of the resurrection of farming on the South Fork.

Taste of Two Forks

    The news on the scene this week, now that most of this year’s restaurant roulette has spun to a stop, is the opening of Banzai Burger on the Napeague stretch. The new eatery, which has a sushi bar as well, is in the spacious digs on the north side of the stretch between the Clam Bar and Cyril’s and is serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

    The burger menu has classic burger combinations for the adventurous, such as a burger with foie gras and Mecox Dairy cheese for red meat eaters, and offerings for those who don’t eat red meat, such as tuna or mako shark burgers.

    The Fourth of July weekend will afford foodies a number of opportunities to celebrate Independence Day with delicious fare.

Plate to Gate

   On Sunday at 4 p.m., Amber Waves Farm in Amagansett will help host a pig roast and crab boil featuring a wood-fired whole roasted pig, Long Island blue crabs steamed with local beer, and salads and grilled vegetables grown at the farm as well as at Balsam Farms in Amagansett. The roast/boil will be at Balsam Farms on Town Lane, Amagansett.

    Those with a hankering for jerk chicken or curried goat need look no farther than North Main Street in East Hampton to satisfy those island cravings. Thanks to Rena Hewie Stoutt, a long-time East Hampton resident originally from Hanover Parish, Jamaica, these Caribbean prizes, along with a large selection of dry goods, can be found at Jamaica Specialties, a store that opened last weekend.

Locavore Celebration

    At Townline BBQ in Sagaponack, Eat Drink Local Week will bring a beer and barbecue party on Sunday from 4 to 7 p.m. The cost is $40 for adults and $15 for children ages 12 and under. A wide selection of Long Island beers will be available on tap to wash down whole-smoked hog and spring lamb, griddle-roasted North Fork oysters, baby-back ribs, Balsam Farms kale, homemade bread and butter pickles, and more.

Local Week

    Jeanine Burge of Silver Spoon Specialties in East Hampton will demonstrate how to make a variety of appetizers at an East End Chefs program on Wednesday at the Old Whalers Church in Sag Harbor.

    Ms. Burge will give instruction in making mozzarella cheese, and will prepare eggplant Parmesan with tomato and mozzarella, grilled vegetable napoleon with cheese and homemade pesto, pesto on crostini, bruschetta with prosciutto, mozzarella and basil served with balsamic reduction, and homemade chips topped with chili-lime shrimp and avocado cream. Wine will be served.

Taste Top New Zealand Wine

    Andrew Harris and Sally Richardson of Montauk, the owners of Stonecrop, a 20-acre vineyard in Martinborough, New Zealand, will be on hand at a tasting of their sauvignon blanc and pinot noir wines at Domaine Franey Wines and Spirits on Montauk Highway in East Hampton on Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m.  The vineyard’s handcrafted wines have received international accolades, including a recent New York Times rating of the Stonecrop pinot noir as New Zealand’s number-two pinot noir.

Lovely Lobsters